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Published: January 6th 2009
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Entry by Jules
Sunday 04/01/09 Our last morning on Magnetic Island was spent lounging by the pool at the hotel. It was the only thing we could really do in the humidity. We then caught the ferry part to the mainland and the town of Townsville before boarding a tilt train which was going to take us south to a place called Proserpine.
Travelling on the tilt train was excellent. For some reason we had booked business class tickets which meant extra leg room and plenty of space to relax. It seemed that everyone else on the train had done the same as all the carriages looked the same. The train was, however, to travel beyond Proserpine, onto Brisbane, which would have taken all night so the additional cost is properly more than justified. The seats also had fold out monitors showing various channels and movies - free! The was even a channel showing a real time driver’s eye view.
The tilt train was the last train journey we would be taking (other than local trains) and certainly added to our positive view of public transport in Australia. Everything was spacious and comfortable. The food
was very impressive with full, proper meals being served at extremely reasonable prices. And most importantly everything arrived on time!
We were picked up at Proserpine by a small coach to take us on the 20 minute journey to Airlie Beach, our destination whilst we were staying in the Whitsundays region. As we were the only ones on the coach our driver took us on a bit of a tour of the town, as dusk fell, so that we got a feel for the place. Airlie Beach is a fairly big town with something like 35 bars and restaurants. It is very much based on tourism as so many people, like us, use the town as a base for the various day trips around the islands and out to the Great Barrier Reef.
Monday 05/01/09
We were up early, again, this morning in order to be ready for collection by coach for the short journey to Shute Harbour. From there we boarded a ferry which was going to take us out to the Great Barrier Reef. This day was something I had been looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. Visiting the reef
is probably one of my top three must-dos whilst in Australia but the prospect of having to swim in the deep ocean (where there are sharks, albeit very timid reef ones) was weighing on my mind. I soon forgot about that however as we boarded the ferry and one of the crew was telling the man in front of us that he might was to take some sea sickness medicine as it was going to be really rough. I thought he was joking (as did the man in front) but he wasn’t - the bar was selling the medicine and handing out sick bags! As I get sea sick sitting in the harbour on a boat I had already taken my tablets.
The journey out to the reef takes around two and a half hours, navigating through the islands which make up the Whitsundays before crossing open water to the reef. Whilst within the islands we were largely shielded from the winds and waves although it was still bouncy. The crew did keep telling us that it was just a taster of things to come. Once beyond the islands we discovered what they meant when waves up to 2.5
metres became crashing against all sides of the ferry and we were rocked in all directions. So far so good with the tablets though, despite plenty of others all around us making us of the complimentary sick bags.
Our destination at the reef is a man made 2 storey permanent platform positioned about 20 metres from the edge of the reef itself. On the platform is everything we would need for 4 hours we were to spend at the reef including toilets, showers, a sun deck, an underwater viewing area and two submerged glass bottom boats. The whole trip is very organised but I guess it is worth mentioning that all this tourist activity may be damaging the reef itself. The reef is made up of millions of bits of coral which is a living organism. If part of the coral is damaged, broken off etc then this could result in years worth of damage as some corals only grow 1cm a year.
The best way to appreciate all the living creatures which make up the reef - the amazing fish and the corals themselves, is to snorkel or scuba dive. Again this involved donning a stinger suit
so it was my turn to laugh at Rich wearing a fetching turquoise number! Photos not included I’m afraid as they really were bad.
After selecting masks, snorkels, flippers and life jackets (useful floatation aids in the strong currents) we headed down to a small platform for entry into the sea. At this point I started to get very nervous. I hate going in the sea and here I was about to launch myself into deep ocean. But, we had come all this way and I really did want to experience the reef, see all the fish and coral etc.
Once you get over the initial stage of getting into the water, largely dictated by the waves splashing against you, and then take your first look under water through the masks it doesn’t seem too bad at all. The hardest part of the exercise is breathing through your mouth and the snorkel without saying “wow! Look at that!”. This would clearly result in a mouthful of sea water.
Swimming over the coral was amazing. It was staggering to see the colours, shapes and sizes of all the fish living there, some of which came very close to
us you could almost touch them. We did buy an underwater disposable camera to take some photos so we don’t have any of the fish and coral to add here at the moment, perhaps later if they are any good (although snorkelling, swimming and taking photos of moving fish whilst swaying around in the current is a bit of a difficult task so the quality might not be so great). For now I will try to describe what we saw as much as I can.
In terms of the reef, made up by the coral, it stretches miles and miles off the coast of Australia. Where we swam it was perhaps 10-15 metres wide and just 2-3 metres beneath us. On one side it blends into sands whilst on the other is a cliff edge dropping sharply into the black deep ocean. It is on this edge where the amount of coral and number of fish are at their greatest.
The coral we saw came in all shapes and sizes but were largely hard. Some notable shapes were the brain coral (the names tell the story here) and the stag horn coral - some of which were blue
ended. Large clams were present amongst these including ones which are suspected to be 350 years old - these were huge! There were a few soft corals floating in the current but there were harder to pick out whilst snorkelling.
In terms of the fish these were spectacular. So many vivid colours including iridescent blues, yellows, rainbow colours, oranges and deep reds. Various shapes and sizes too. I kept looking for Nemo, as well as a reef shark, in the waters but no luck - there just wasn’t enough soft coral around, their favourite hiding place.
After our last swim, we went onto one of the glass bottom boats for a different view. This took us along the edge of the cliff where we were able to more clearly see into the depths of the water. Here we finally saw Nemo much to the satisfaction of the children on the boat (including me!).
Whilst we had four hours on the platform, this really wasn’t enough. I could have spent all day in the sea, snorkelling around and looking at it all (something I really didn’t believe I would ever say). It was certainly well worth ignoring my
fears and heeding my feelings of not wanting to miss out on anything. Whilst I don’t think I would be rushing to get into the sea everywhere we go on holiday I certainly know I can do it if there is something worth looking at. What a great day; one which I hope I will remember for a very long time.
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