Blogs from Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 2

Queen Mary Day 5 What a start to the day, sunrise and passing through the Whitsundays. It took quite a few hours from start to finish. The decks were awash with people and many oohs and ars were to be heard. There was a special Pilot brought on board and on the half hour would give a commentary about the various islands, the history and landmarks. Places like Hamilton Island the Molle Islands, Daydream etc were all mentioned, along with Shute Harbour. As we passed through the passage, many small boats were seen including speed boats while yachts of various shapes and sizes were sailing the multicoloured waters. The usual superb meals were served and Jenny went to a lecture on Feet care while we both attended a session on Yorkey’s Knob, the landing area for ... read more

We made a day trip to Great Barrier Reef. Start was in harbour of Cairns, rain again. A boat took us out to a platform. The heavy swell was heavy for many stomaches. Ferry ride took 90 minutes. At platform it is possible to snorkel, to boat with a semi sub/ glass-bottom boat. Lunch is included. You can also make some charged trips from platform: a helicopter flight, a diving excursion, a helmet tour. I snorkeled twice, ate lunch and made a glass-bottom boat tour. During snorkling I saw a lots of fish and corals. After four and a half our the boat took us back to mainland. Light swell so it was easy to boat back.... read more

Wow. Just wow. I don't know how to even begin trying to write about The Great Barrier Reef other than by saying it was one of the single best experiences of my life. Me and the Contiki's on tour boarded "Reef Magic" - a boat dedicated to reef trips. I was incredibly excited. Whilst I was planning my trip to Australia, the Great Barrier Reef was one of the places I thought about most. It's the world's largest coral reef system, is composed of over 2900 individual reefs and 900 islands. It contains 400 types of coral, in all covers over 100,000 square miles and can be seen from outer space. All sounds impressive and amazing, but even knowing all of that I still wasn't quite prepared for the wonder it was. The Reef Magic boat ... read more

Got back from my 3 day scuba trip last night. All I can say is, WOW! It was truly remarkable. I had some reservations as I heard how damaged the reef has become due to pollution, warm waters, shipping, etc. But I was not let down. The weather was perfect, the water was a great temperature at about 79 degrees. Didn't need a wet suit but wore a stinger suit due to the possibility of jelly fish. Didn't seem necessary though, but I guess better to be safe. Don't need an Irukandji stinging you! The pictures barely do the place any justice. The videos are better, but too big to upload right now. So many fish, so much coral. Sea turtles, reef sharks, nurse sharks, barracudas, eels, you name it! Amazing place!... read more

Heron Island was THE BESTTT. Our group spent a week tanning on the beach and snorkeling. And the crazy thing was - that was class. I had a "research" project where my team had to dive to the bottom of the ocean floor to measure the rugosity of corals and count the number of dascyllus aruanus fish species there. But really, that meant some chill snorkel time and moments spent out of a classroom. Life really can't get better than that. I once woke up at 5:30am for a morning snorkel out on the jetti. The wetsuits hung dry and ready for us on the racks by the bathroom. I'm pretty sure I never used the same snorkel twice - ew. We saw dolphins, sharks, rays, giant sea turtles, bahjillions of fish, and a floating platyhelminthe ... read more