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Published: June 22nd 2015
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Boarding
The SilverSonic in the background. As we went down the ramp to board, John slipped and fell flat on his back, much to the families amusement. We had to be up early for our day on the reef. After a 7:30 pickup from our hotel we were en route to the reef by 8:30 aboard the SilverSonic along with about 70 other snorkelers and divers. The speedy boat makes the 70 km trip to the outer reef feasible as a day trip with plenty of time mid-day to explore the reef. Although sea-sickness medicine was offered on-board, seas were calm and no one looked bothered by the ride. We opted for the simplicity of snorkeling and there was still plenty to see. Snorkelers were encouraged to wear stinger suits to protect from possible encounters with jellies or other things that sting and scrape. The water was a warm 77F, but it was still difficult to regain body heat after long periods in the water. Sonia opted to don an additional short wetsuit in the middle of the second snorkel and was thereafter much more comfortable. At each stop, the crew would announce “The pool is open!” to indicate we could get in the water…and like a pool it was, crystal clear and calm, but filled with sea life. The outer reef is worth the long trip to
Ready to Snorkel
In our lycra stinger suits before our first trip to the reef. enjoy the crystal clear water and abundant sea life. In hindsight, the first of the three stops on the Agincourt Reef (“the point”) may have been the best, with a tremendous variety of beautiful sea creatures, including many tropical fish, at least one reef shark and some enormous giant clams. Unfortunately, one of the passengers had a medical emergency at this stop and our trip was delayed for a bit while they brought in a helicopter to airlift her out. It was quite a production as they lowered the medical team onto a platform that was anchored at this popular dive site and then later packed up the patient to be hoisted back to the helicopter. We were happy to hear at the end of the day that she was recovering well at the hospital. We moved on to our second site and got lunch before exploring “Phil’s Reef” for an hour. The third site (“Castle Reef”) included a guided tour by one of the staff who explained some of the differences between the corals and how they are adapted to different niches. He made an impressive free dive to scoop up a sea cucumber for us to look at
John and Andrew below the waves
One of several photographs provided by the professional photographer. The photos of fish and coral are our own underwater photography. and hold. Back at the hotel Andrew headed straight to the pool. Sonia was happy to make a quick dash across the pool to the hot tub and warm up after her day in the ocean. John followed and made the long circuit of the pool with Andrew practicing his ability to grab his father’s legs and toss him into a summersault. The key objective appears to be to do this fast enough that John can’t plug his nose and gets to enjoy a sinus lavage. As the sun went down we went in shifts to get cleaned up for dinner in town with Lauren and John heading to the hotel restaurant for an appetizer and cocktails. Lauren is one month older than legal drinking age in Australia and there was some amusement over the awkward young waiter’s asking for her ID several minutes after he had already served her ”Summer Bliss”. Dinner in Port Douglas at “Zinc” was excellent, maybe the best meal of the trip thus far, although it remarkably took us 20 minutes of driving around tiny downtown Port Douglas and TWICE asking directions to find the restaurant because no one gives addresses here and its name
Lauren and Andrew
Beautiful coral in the background. was inconspicuously displayed under a much larger name for something else. We enjoyed a delicious meal and good conversation at an outdoor table, but somewhat late in the evening, and by the time we made it back to our room, we were quite ready to sack out after a fabulous day on the reef.
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