Blogs from open water, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 2

Well the big day arrived and I was very excited, off to the Great Barrier Reef. The weather had been hot and sunny for three or four days with no rain and the day I went out was pretty much perfect. The sea was calm the sun was hot and not too much wind. The first stop was to be Michaelmas Cay which has been formed from coral and sand, it is part of the middle reef. We had to wear stinger suits as its still stinger season these consist of head to toe suit which includes a hood. By the time you have this on, your mask snorkel and fins there is not much of your body showing. The water was warm and the fish were plentiful I decided to enjoy the experience rather than ... read more

Today was a free day, and to steal a line from Ice Cube, today was a good day. As I wrapped up yesterday’s blog I was up early for a flight to Cairns up in northern Queensland. My first day there I had nothing to do, I arrived at 9:25 and hopped on the shuttle that took me to Hotel Cairns, it is a nice place close to the Esplanade which meanders along the water and plays host to a ton of different things. There was a little village with what appeared to be circus tents like one might see at a county fair, there were little sculptures along the path, and a ton of interesting people. Cairns is a real tourist city and it was made clear very early in my experience by the variety ... read more

The Great Barrier Reefis one of the greatest natural wonders of the world running from the northernmost tip of Australia to just north of the border. The great barrier reef stretches over 2000km along the countries coast. The reef is a sanctuary for well over 1000 fish species, whales, turtles. An impressive amount of birdlife live on the reef. The coral which forms the reef itself is also a living thing, made up of 1000's of tiny creatures. When it dies it turns white, and creates the basis for more reef growth. Different species of coral grow at varying speeds, while some are quite quick to grow, some take well over a hundred years to mature. The colours are not formed by the coral but by the growth of algae living on it. The reef lives ... read more

To preface this day, let us first take a step back to planning of the trip. From the start, we have greatly anticipated and also slightly feared snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. Both of us have snorkeled before and really enjoy it, and the Great Barrier Reef is one of those things you have always heard of and wanted to see. However, what our elementary school books never said (or at least ours didnt) was that from November to May is what is known as Stinger Season. The warm water off the coast brings in the Irukandji Jellyfish, a 1 cm box jellyfish with a sting that has been described by people as the worst pain they ever felt (almost always requiring several days/weeks of hospitalization) and has even killed several people. The prior day, ... read more

The boat leaves the Cairns Marina at 8:30am for day trips to the outer reef, so we got up early around 7am to make sure we will not miss the boat. Got to the Marina at 8am, had to check in... in the big building just before the pier, so many people going on various boats, feels rather like an airport... reef tax is compulsory at $20 per person... The diving was really awasome We did the Norman reef first Average depth 10m, max depth 18m, water temp at 30! Time at 45 minutes with 50 bar in reserve... Hired a underwater camera the previous for $30 for the day, you pick it up around 7pm the previous night and after you dives, you drop of the camera and they will upload all your pictures on ... read more