We Found Nemo!

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Day 153

5^th February



We were meeting at the marina for our Great Barrier Reef trip so the next morning we wandered down to be there for the requested time. (7.30am) We checked in with no problems and were soon getting onto our catamaran and heading off to the reef! The boat was great, very spacious and they served a little breakfast while we sailed out as it was a fair distance to the reef. Ellory had decided he would like to learn how to scuba dive and what better place than on the Great Barrier Reef?! So he booked an introductory dive, I however decided to pass and just snorkel for two reasons. One, the thought of not being able to get to the surface quickly freaks me out a bit and two, I had a slight cold which had appeared after cyclone yasi and I couldn’t get the pressure in my ears to equalise properly. We were both very excited! We had been warned that it wouldn’t be as clear as normal because of the cyclone but we weren’t too worried and by the number of people on the boat, they weren’t too worried either.



The guides told us a bit about the reef on the way out and the types of aquatic life that lived there which was very interesting and it was good to find out what we could hopefully see. When we reached the first dive site we all donned our ‘stinger suits’, highly attractive wetsuit style things made out of thin material that would stop us getting stung by jellyfish and jumped in. Ellory had a better experience at this site than I did. Because of the cyclone the visibility at this site wasn’t great and i, bobbing about on the surface, couldn’t really see the bottom of the ocean however I did love it when fish came up to the surface to swim around me! Ellory on the other hand was having his first diving experience and was loving it. He was struggling a little with the equalising the pressure in his ears but could see considerably more than I could and we’d decided that he would have the underwater camera as he could get much closer to everything than I could. Normally the company we went with goes to two sites, Michaelmas Cay and Paradise Reef, unfortunately Paradise Reef was off because of the cyclone which is why we stopped at this other place. It was lovely swimming around though, the water was so warm and we both got to see some really cool fish!



After about an hour or so at this site we headed off to Michaelmas Cay. Again this was a pretty long trip and lunch was served in the meantime, and what a lunch! Lots of fresh prawns, meats, salads, breads etc. Everything was absolutely delicious and after our swimming that morning, we were starving!!! Our hostel had recommended this company to us and so far we were not disappointed, everything was great.



Eventually we reached Michaelmas Cay which is well known for the birdlife that migrate there and the fact that the reef is very close to the beach. We moored about 100m away from the cay and we all got in to snorkel or scuba. Ellory decided to have another scubu lesson and I was very happy to swim around looking at the amazing coral and fishes. This site had not been shaken up so much by the cyclone and it was absolutely beautiful. Both Ellory and I definitely had our ‘Finding Nemo’ moment. It is so difficult to describe, the coral was a million different colours and shapes, there were huge clams about a metre across were sitting sedately on the ocean floor and so many different types and colours of fish. Ellory could get much closer than I could and got some amazing pictures of the coral and wildlife. It was just fantastic.



I decided to take a little break and swam to the beach where I sat on the gorgeous white sand and enjoyed the view, it was loads better than being back in cold England! We were so glad that we had been able to do this after our trauma with Yasi. Sadly we had to eventually head back and we all swam back to the boat. When I got onto the boat I sat for a moment on the side, and all of a sudden there was a big wave which hit me. I was fine but then I realised that my wedding ring had gone! Yes admittedly it was my fake ring, my real wedding ring was in England but I had worn it for the 5 months of our travels and I was very attached to it. I was absolutely gutted, the diving instructors saw what happened and they offered to dive down and look for it. I was very touched and agreed but was not holding out much hope. But to my absolute amazement, they found it! My fake wedding ring came in two parts as well and they found both! Those guys are geniuses.



Drama over we headed back and they put the sails up for the journey back and we just lazed in the sunshine on the deck of this lovely boat and enjoyed the ride back to Cairns. Thank you Tim and Carol for this wedding present, the Great Barrier Reef was just amazing and we had a fantastic day!

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