The Great Barrier Reef - up close and personal!

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This past weekend I spent in Cairns and it was the first time I really went on my own. I travelled up with the Robson family but after they dropped me off at the hostel for the night that was it! (They did say that I was more than welcome to stay with them in their hotel room, but I really wanted to see what hostels were all about first hand so I could stop worrying about it).

Well . . .lets back up, Monday Heather arrived from Perth, that was also the day we finally finished putting all of the camping stuff away, and the power went out! So out all the camping stuff came for dinner (which was Kangaroo chilli)! At least we were warm, dry, and mozzie free!

The next night I got very sick and didn’t do much on Wednesday since I was recovering from the night before. Luckily Thursday I was back at it again and Erin and I went to Magnetic Island together. Erin is the oldest of the Darrigan girls at 21. She had been away in London for the past year and it was her first time back to Maggie in over a year.

We arrived on the island around 11 am and I had my first meat pie soon after that. I could only manage to eat about a quarter before I just couldn’t stomach it anymore. It was a “Steak and Onion” meat pie, but it looked more like ground up beef and gelatine dog food in a pie crust (and tasted similar too – not that I have eaten dog food).

We ate lunch at a Italian pizza joint and it was very interesting to hear an Italian radio station on with the DJ’s speaking Italian but playing American music, and I am listening to this thinking wow, Italian radio, playing Rhianna, while on an island in Australia, Culture-o-Rama!

After lunch we went on to Radical Bay. It was a bit of a hike but Erin knew where we were going since the 3 families (Darrigans, Robsons, and Newells) had rented the giant house that sits right on the bay. The easiest way to get to the Bay is by following the road to the house; this road is also riddled with signs saying private property. We get by the house and peak around to see if anyone is home and there wasn’t so we continued our way to the bay. It was pristine, and there wasn’t a soul there besides Erin and I. It was just magnificent that it was that so pretty and so large and there wasn’t anyone to be found! We talked about travelling, life, school, and the woes of financially supporting yourself. It was really nice to openly talk to someone my age.

When we walked back from the bay, we took the trail that you are supposed to take. Now I say, “trail” but like I said in my last post, Maggie is allergic to signs! Good thing Erin knew where she was going because you have to walk part of it in a shallow river, nothing is marked, and it’s not a very pleasant walk. Now I know why no one takes the trouble to goProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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o that particular bay!


The day before I had I volunteered to take Heather to the airport, so the next morning I awoke at 4:45 am and had Heather at the airport by 5:15, Heather was flying to Cairns and we were driving and meeting her there later on in the day. She had to be up early because she was hosting an event for the Uni that has a campus in Cairns that she is the student advisor for. We were coming up later since Emily had field hockey games all weekend in Cairns.

After dropping Heather off I picked Erin up and we walked up Castle Hill at 0dark:30. I said goodbye to the Hill since it would be the last time I would walk up it. We made our way down and I dropped Erin off at her house and told her goodbye since it would be the last time I saw her as well!

I got back to the house and started packing since we were leaving for Cairns at 1 pm.

I got to ride in the front seat all the way to Cairns! (About a 4 and a half hour drive)

Once we got to Cairns we reunited with Heather and then set off to check into my first hostel, Gilligan’s.

Gilligan’s had been recommended to Erin from a friend who had stayed there, and she passed on the recommendation to me. We rounded the corner and saw that Gilligan’s was huge! 4 stories tall and took up most of the block! The family walked up with me but I went in alone to reception and must have gotten there at rush hour because after I had waited and waited to check in, there was no longer a line.

I ran up to my room (a six bed dorm with a balcony) and set my backpack down on an empty bunk and made my bed. It was around 6:30 and only one other bed was taken. I couldn’t see if anyone was on it because they had put up a blanket on one side, towels on the short side, the other long and short sides were up against the wall, and they were on the bottom bunk. Since it was so early I didn’t think anyone would be sleeping so I wasn’t trying to be too quiet until I saw the blanket move, oops. I was almost done in the room anyways and headed back down to meet the Robsons so that we could all go to dinner.

I get back out and Simon says he has been trying to explain to Emily’s curious mind what Jell-O wrestling is. . . .Uhoh . . . Now you have to get the picture of this place. It turns out it is a huge party hostel! And there were a bunch of signs around the front of it where Heather, Simon and the kids are waiting, and Emily read one of the signs that advertised weekly Jell-O wrestling competitions. . . good luck explaining that one Simon!

I had no idea what this place had in store for me and Heather told me that there was plenty of room in their hotel room if I needed it.

We headed out to find a place to eat and we settled on Turkish! We all basically ordered the entire menu (or at least it seemed that way once food kept coming to our table) and it was all very good, but it made me even more excited since I get to eat the real deal in a week!

We were all exhausted (Heather and I have been up since the crack of dawn) and we headed back to our separate places a little after 9. I get back to my room at the hostel and I am ready to immediately hit the sack, but as I walk in the door I see that that was not going to be the case for a very long time. I walk in and there are 6 guys out on the balcony. I say hi and they kind of acknowledged my presence but not by much. They have music blaring, all the lights on, and are drinking booze. I couldn’t believe it, a hostel room is not a place to party – there are so many places surrounding Gilligan’s to party, it is a place to hit the sack after partying/skydiving/adventure seeking/etc. These guys were breaking all the rules. I didn’t want to rock the boat so I didn’t say anything. Thank goodness at one point (after 11pm mind you) a security officer came to our room and told the guys to keep it down that people are trying to sleep. About an hour after that, at midnight, they finally left to go join a party elsewhere. As it turns out only 1 of them was booked in the room! With another one was sleeping in the same bed as him, so they were cheating the system as well. (During the many times I woke up in the middle of the night it was hilarious to see 2 guys trying to sleep on the same twin bed and not look gay- they slept head to toe) I didn’t get much sleep at all and had to be up at 6 am because I was going diving on the Great Barrier Reef in the morning!

I got up and tried not to make too much noise to wake everyone else up (a few people checked in very late, but were respectful that I was trying to sleep). And got ready to catch the bus to Port Douglas, about an hours drive north of Cairns, to then get on the boat to take us to the reef.

Once we arrived in Port Douglas (so pretty -the coast line, the ocean, small rock islands in the distance – I think Oprah vacationed there once, and I highly recommend it for anyone who has the dough to come here) we took off our shoes and boarded the boat.

I chose the company Poseidon, since Heather had recommended them, and they did Introductory Diving. Basically you don’t have to be a certified Diver to go Scuba diving and you can go on these Intro dives where they give you an overview of diving while we drove out to the reef and then get you all set up with a wetsuit, weights, mask, and fins. Then get you in the water and do a basic skills test.
The skills test is made up of 3 parts. 1st part is you go about a foot underwater and take your regulator (the thing you have in your mouth so you can breathe) out and then put it back in your mouth and expel the water from the regulator and then breathe through it again. The 2nd test (still about a foot underwater) is to take your regulator and throw it away from you then do the specific arm motion to then get the regulator tube and mouthpiece back within reachable distance, stick it in your mouth and expel the water from it, and the 3rd and final test is to get the water out of your mask while underwater.

On the way to the reef it was a bit bumpy and before we left it was advised to take anti seasickness pills, which were on sale for $3, (best $3 I have ever spent). I didn’t get seasick once while on the boat (its about an hours drive to the reef from Port Douglas) but sadly a lot of other people did.

The crew was hilarious explaining the procedures on board, especially the point system they have for throwing the vomit bags overboard (the bags are biodegradable and start to dissengrate soon after vomiting into them). They joked around with each other and us and looked like they thoroughly enjoyed their job, they really put everyone at ease and got everyone excited about diving and snorkelling while teaching us how stay alive during our dives.

It was finally time to get all the gear on! Wet suits were given to us and boy do I want a wet suit for Christmas, I loved that thing! It really does help to keep you warm in the water! They had holes for your right leg and for your arms, then the zipper started at your left leg and went diagonally up to your throat, I needed help getting mine zipped up around my thighs and one of the dive instructors made jokes about my American thighs! Lol! The instructors were so funny!

After you have your wet suit and weights on you get your mask and flippers and walk down the steps to the unloading shelf that is lowered by a hydraulic wench so that you can sit down on the edge of the shelf and get your dive gear on then just gently fall into the water. The crew was great, as soon as you sat down you put on your flippers and mask and the crew does the rest. They set the vest and tank down behind you and you just put your arms through, they Velcro and snap you in and inflate your vest so you float once you get in the water.

I was sitting there all strapped in and ready to go with my regulator in and getting used to breathing compressed air when it was finally my turn! I am literally shaking with excitement, I fall into the water and my instructor takes my hand and we both swim to a rope that is connected to the boat and to the bottom of the Ocean. I grab onto it and we start my skills test. (Hopefully I remember how to do everything he showed us earlier from the safety of the cabin!) My dive instructor, Nick, asks me to deflate my vest and I do. As soon as I am underwater and breathing at the same time my brain goes a bit haywire, like you aren’t supposed to be breathing! It’s very unnatural! I regain my composure and take the regulator out of my mouth then stick it back in and say the word “two!” loudly which expels all of the water out of the regulator. Good I passed the first test. Now the more stressful one (luckily we are only a foot underwater so if I don’t get it right its not too big of a deal) I take a deep breath in and take my regulator out and throw it away from me. I do the big arm motion, first touching my knee, then my hip, then a big circle with my arm and my regulator is back over my shoulder and I stick it in my mouth and yell “Two!” Yay! I passed #2. And #3 was a piece of cake; good I can now go diving. There were 4 people in my group that Nick was looking after so we one by one passed and then it was time for the actual dive!

Everyone was told to deflate their vests and go under. Such a weird feeling, we follow the rope down and every meter we had to pop our ears to get the pressure in our ears right. We get down and Nick holds all 4 of our hands as he swims backwards. He made a joke earlier on the boat that if a girl is stressed, nervous, or scared then holding her hand makes her feel safe and thus calms her down and the dive instructor has done his job. Now if a guy is feeling stressed, nervous, or scared and the dive instructor holds his hand the guy wants to calm down so the instructor doesn’t hold his hand anymore, and again the dive instructor has done his job.

We get down to the bottom and it is just amazing, the reef, the fish, the being right there! Nick picks up Mushroom coral and lets us hold it; he also takes us to the biggest clam I have ever seen! It was almost 3 feet long, and a beautiful velvety purple colour! I saw so many types of fish, and so many corals it was amazing! At one point Nick took me by the hand and we started ballroom dancing and doing a sort of Scuba tango, (I was in love) It was so fun since you are weightless you can do whatever you want! The dive was about 20 minutes long and it went by way too fast, we slowly made our way back to the surface where the crew was there to help us out of the water and out of our tanks. What a rush! I still can’t stop smiling!

It was about a 20 min drive to the next spot where we anchored again. We got suited up and were back in the water, only this time no more skills test, yippee! It was definitely a lot less stressful now that you knew you weren’t going to die and you kind of had a grip on what was going on!

We did have two girls who were signed up for the intro dive, but chickened out the first time, that wanted to do it the second time. So once they passed their skills test we went down again, this time since I was the only one in the group that had already done a dive, Nick and I showed off again (ok now I am really in love with this guy) we did the tango, and he twirled me (its funny since you can’t talk so he is giving me all these hand motions on what he wants me to do) he also spun me head over feet a few times! After we were done showing off we headed down some more to the reef and it was just as amazing as the first time. We saw sponges, and anemones’, and some huge fish! Again, it was over way too fast and we were headed up to the surface again.
We ate lunch and then headed to our final dive site of the day. Sadly I was not in Nicks group this go around, but John was just as good. We went down and John is a less hands on type of instructor and kind of let us do what we wanted as long as we stayed no more than 4 or 5 meters away from him. I was swimming around getting really up close to the coral and fish, it is just amazing to swim right next to these guys, they don’t care! Saw a ton of clownfish, a huge lobster, and 2 big sharks! It was so majestic and I just took in the moment. When the dive was over I was sad, but I couldn’t stop smiling because that was one of the coolest things I have ever done. It was amazing to see the one of the natural wonders of the world up close and personal and to see fish I have only seen in pet shops or on TV.

We then all packed up and headed back, I was one tired gal, but so thrilled about the day.

I got back to the hostel and I met the new crew (great improvement over my last roommates)! The other guys had checked out and there was a group of very cool people now staying in the room. It turns out that all 6 of us were from a different country, how cool is that! There was Finland, Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, and me USA. Everyone was really nice and I had dinner and ice cream with Finland, Germany, and Canada. I was going to go out with them as well since it was Saturday night, but I was so tired from Friday morning and night’s events, and from diving all day that I passed out around 8:30.

When I got up around 6:45 most everyone had left to do their adventures (Cairns has so much to offer, bungee jumping, sky diving, white water rafting, etc) I packed up but didn’t check out yet (I had til 10 am) and went for a walk. It was just before 8 when I got to the markets, bananas were only $5 a kilo (they are $13 in Townsville) and I had been going through some serious banana withdrawal, so I bought one banana ($1.50) and a latte and enjoyed my last day in Cairns. I then went back to the hostel, checked out, and went to find the Robsons. We ended up meeting back at their hotel around 12:30 and were on the road back to Townsville by 1pm.

We got in and I wanted to get this blog written before I went to sleep since in the morning I leave the wonderful town of Townsville and the every more wonderful Robson family. As we drove back into Townsville I thought to myself that I am going to miss it and I enjoyed my time thoroughly here. The Robsons are such a cool family and during the 5 weeks I was with them there was only 1 weekend they didn’t have anything planned. This is their life and I was glad I could be a part of it; they never slow down and certainly live life to the fullest! Emily wrote me the cutest note and gave me a hand made brochure about Townsville that she made in 3rd grade ☺ I am going to miss them!

Tomorrow I will be in Brisbane by 11 am to visit distant family; it is my - Mom’s, -Sisters (Aunt) -Husbands (Uncle) -Brother (Brother to my Uncle) -Son. Whew, trace that one back. His name is Rick and in my e-mail correspondence with him he seems like a very welcoming and wonderful guy! I am taking the train into the city, which is where he works, and then we take it from there! So the next time I will write it will be from the South of Queensland. The kids, Heather, and Simon are all taking me to the airport in the morning, lets hope I can keep it together while I am saying goodbye!

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Photos

Kangaroo!
Its whats for dinner!

Me about to eat a meat pie
I am looking excited!

Cane Toad Races?!
Sign me up! What excitement!

Castle Hill
Last time climbing Castle Hill - a bit cloudy!

Gilligans!
My Hostel

Jello Wrestling
Hmmm . . Emily did you ask a question?

The Boat
Out on the Ocean next to the Great Barrier Reef

Getting suited up!
Lets go Diving!