March 27 – Airlie Beach, Australia

---

This morning we arrived in the bay off the coast of Airlie Beach. It is located 20 degrees south latitude and it turned out to be a little cooler today than in the recent past (only about 80 degrees most of the time). That may have been because it was cloudy most of the day, but still we had a good day – no rain.



We had an early wake-up call for our excursion, so we had everything packed in our carry bag last night and the clothes laid out. So when the wake-up call came at 5:45 (that doesn’t sound like something to do on a vacation L) we got right to business. We went to the buffet for breakfast and got to the theater before our 7:00 tour.



We never actually got to Airlie Beach today. There were about 230 people signed up with us to go see the Great Barrier Reef. A 3-decker catamaran pulled up beside our cruise ship and we went directly aboard. Otherwise we would have taken the “personal yachts” (lifeboats) for a 25 minute ride to town and boarded there. So this was much more

Efficient, but we still had a 2-hour ride out to Knuckle Reef for our excursion.



We sat on fairly comfortable bench seats arranged for 3 on each side of a table. Two other people sat across from us and we didn’t have to squeeze in 3-per-side. Their names were Marlene and Peter, and we have seen them occasionally ever since our first excursion back at the Bay of Islands. Needless to say they also took both cruises. They are from Canada and have taken even more cruises than us. Anyway, we talked and compared view of the cruises, the excursions, and many other topics. So that helped pass the time.



Knuckle Reef has a semi-permanently moored pontoon beside the reef. On the way out to the reef the crew gave information about the options available for snorkeling or scuba diving, just swimming, going in their semi-submersible boat, to explore their underwater observation station, and the lunch they would serve. To do the swimming, you have to put on a “wet suit” for protection from the stinging jellyfish. We elected not to try to scuba (we were over the maximum age for beginner divers) or the snorkeling, so we concentrated on the dry activities. Some might think we had missed the chance to say that we had been swimming in the Great Barrier Reef, but actually neither option allowed you to get close to the reef itself. Instead they swam with fishes, but out in areas set up with nets and buoys, so it was sort of a large deep sea-water swimming pool with some fish.



The ride out from shore had been fairly smooth most of the way, but during the second hour it started getting kind of bumpy. We did not have any problems (Janet still was wearing her sea-sick patch), but a couple of people got pretty sick. The crew passed out bags for anyone who thought they needed one, but we were fine all the way. By necessity they had bathrooms on the boats, but not for being sick. Anyway, we have a good ride out to the pontoon.



We went on the sub first and it “drove” around parts of the coral reef. We saw Staghorn Coral, Brain Coral, Platter Coral, and a fourth kind. The tide was pretty much High Tide so the sunlight had to filter through more water than if it had been Low Tide. And since it was cloudy today, the light under the water was even less than on a sunny day. But we could see and it was very interesting. The sub holds up to 40 people and is actually not a submarine, but instead is a small boat with a lower deck under the water, where the walls are primarily viewing windows. There are pull-down seats and we were able to see pretty well everything considered. Unfortunately, the pictures did not turn out very well, but we have our memories.



After returning to the pontoon, we went down into the observation platform. This does not overlook the coral reef, but instead had a large number of fish (they lowered a bucket of fish food and lots of fish were attracted). We took a bunch of pictures or lots of different kind of fish, but actually we did not identify any specific ones. We could stay as long as we wanted, but eventually we went back up on the pontoon deck.



From there we returned across the gangway to the catamaran and had lunch. This was about noon and we are programmed not to have to wait 6 hours between meals (since breakfast). These served a variety of salads and some cold-cuts with various rolls. Janet had had a couple of cups of tea on the way to the pontoon, but for lunch she needed something like Sprite, but here they call it Lemonade. It tasted similar and made her feel better (she had been getting a little queasy).



After lunch we walked around and looked at the view from the upper deck of the catamaran which had brought us out to the pontoon. David took another ride on the semi-submersible. It wasn’t as crowded this time because a lot of people were eating lunch now. At 1:15 they blew a horn and everyone had to get out of the water and start putting their gear away.



At 1:45 they had everything buttoned up and they were doing a final count of passengers to make sure everyone was back aboard. They had to count 3 times because they kept coming up one short. It was beginning to look like somebody might have drown, or swum away, but finally they found a person curled up somewhere sound asleep and then they were able to head back to the Sun Princess.



We asked how fast the boat traveled and were told somewhere around 26 knots. Since it took two full hours to get out and the same to get back, that makes the distance about 60 miles out into Whitsunday channel. This area has a lot of islands near shore, but out at the reef there are no visible landmarks (the original sailors must have had a hard time mapping the reefs). The Great Barrier Reef is about 2300 kilometers long, so we only saw a tiny fraction. Altogether though we were impressed with what we did see and are certainly glad that we got to make the trip. After it was all over we were told that periodically the wind is too high (rough seas) and sometime the port call is cancelled entirely – that would have been a real disappointment.



On the way back to the ship they served an afternoon snack with coffee or tea. Apparently they understand that people on cruises cannot go more than a couple of hours without suffering from starvation! We never actually got to Airlie Beach. We could have taken the tender to town for a short visit, but would only have about 45 minutes before we would have needed to catch the return tender, and it just didn’t seem worth it.



Back at the ship, Janet went to the cabin to rest. David went ahead to go swimming in the pool (not quite the same as reef swimming but it was refreshing). Then we still had time for showers to refresh ourselves. We had a glass of wine and listened to a lady playing the piano in the atrium outside our dining room. This is a restful lifestyle that we are going to miss when we finally have to go back home.



For dinner this evening, we both got Shrimp Cocktail. We had tried it a couple of times before and they served it with a white cream sauce that wasn't particularly good. On the afternoon ride back, we were told that you just have to ask for “American Red Sauce” and they will bring standard cocktail sauce. So tonight we both had standard shrimp cocktails and we enjoyed them a lot. Afterwards we both had French Onion Soup, which was very good too. For her entrée, Janet had roast chicken with vegetables and David had roast beef. So we survived the starvation rations on the boat today. For dessert, Janet had “mile high meringue with strawberry sauce and chocolate shavings”, with a side order of chocolate ice cream. David had the Suchar torte (he had it the first cruise too) with vanilla ice cream.



We went to the Vista Lounge tonight to watch the International Crew Talent Show. This is the show put on by ship personnel who are not the professional singers and dancers. We saw it before and it was ok, but we went back again. The show was the same as before. Also, it was simulcast in the Vista Lounge too, so there was no other show. But that wraps up today’s adventure – tune in tomorrow for the next episode.

---