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Published: April 14th 2013
The Great Barrier Reef
So beautiful! Just like swimming in an aquarium.And I'm back into the real world, for the most part. For the last 3 1/2 weeks I have been doing what I have always dreamed of, diving the Great Barrier Reef. It was everything I could ask for and then some.
I will say the trip there was a bit rough. Before I left, the house threw me a "going away" party (with tacos!) and things got a bit wild. So needless to say waking up at 4am to catch a flight was a bit rough. After two flights, I finally made it to Gladstone, Queensland to catch the boat to Heron Island. I had heard about the rough ride, but wasnt concerned, and fell asleep about 15 minutes after i got on board. About 45 minutes into the trip, I was awoken from rough seas, and other people being seasick. Out of the 80 people on board, 24 of them were sick, I mean
really sick. Finally, I arrived in paradise. But they lost my bag. Apparently it had been tagged with a
RESEARCH tag which sent my bag onto the research boat that was out of radio contact. Awesome. I had no dive gear (a diver's worst
nightmare is wearing rentals) and only a backpack of clothes. Luckily, my bag made it to me safe and sound the next afternoon.
Accomidations were mediocre, but I was staff and the island is only a 3 star resort. My bed gave me the worst backaches of my life, you can probably see from the photos that it had a nice bowl shape going on. And sand got
everywhere, so there was no point in trying to clean the floors. We had our meals in a staff canteen that had breakie, lunch, and dinner. I got sick of the food real quick and found myself wanting noodles. Just plain noodles and butter seemed like heaven. I did try something new on the island that I never thought I would enjoy, fish. Sounds crazy but I never liked the texture. But when the boat captains went out for their fishing trips, they would bring back their catch and cook it up every time they had the chance. WOW, freshly caught fish with homemade beer batter is.... amazing. Showers, what do I say about this. Nothing positive. There were no lights, only one hot water tap that worked in the sink,
Filling Tanks
One of my jobs throughout the day, staying on the boat to fill tanks. and a roof that was leaking and ready to collapse. Since I didn't usually finish my day til the sun went down, I was forced to shower in the dark.
Work was fun, but it was such a long day. I woke up each morning about 615am to go for a run and see the sunrise over Shark Bay. I dont know if I could explain how beautiful this was and I am so glad that I made this part of my day. I then made my way to breakie and was at the shop by 745am. I then opened the shop (put gear away, vaccuum, talk with customers,ect) and began to make my way down to the jetty about 830am. 9am dive (divers only) was the one I most enjoyed becasue the seas were calm and usually around high tide so the visibility was awesome. After we got back, I would stay on the boat and fill tanks for the 11am dive, by the time I was done, it was time for the 11am dive. This dive had snorklers, which I led most often, and divers as well. After this dive, I would fill tanks and then head
Sunrise in Paradise
Enjoying one of the beauties of life on a tropical island! to lunch. After lunch, I would work a bit in the shop before heading down to the boat for the 3pm dive. This dive also had snorklers as well, and usually was the one that would be cancelled becasue the seas would get to rough (
DIVE TIP- always sign up for the earliest dive possible). After this dive, I'd fill tanks, head to the shop to help close it down, and my day was over by 530pm. Aftetr that, sometimes another run, a shower, dinner, and the workers would gather on the end of the jetty to watch the sunset. After that, either a movie or hanging out with other people on the island before bed. I had to wear earplugs on the island everynight becasue of mutton birds. Not only do they dig their nests in holes in the gound, but at night time, they make the most obscene noises. If and earplug fell out, I was awake instantly. Just a slight downside to an otherwise beautiful island.
I met some really awesome people on the island. People from all over the world, all ages, all with amazing stories to tell. Many of them were around my age,
Mouse House Party
Hanging out with some of my new friends on the island! and working in all different departments on the island. In total, Heron Island only has about 80 people on staff, and they really like to let loose. I was on the island with a girl that I met at Abyss in Sydney. Kristy (Canada) and I were partners in crime, and we really had an awesome time letting our hair down after work. Drinking happened alot more then I was expecting, since you can only by alcohol two days a week on the island, you have to ration it out. I was sad to see Kristy go (she was there only 2 weeks), but she did get in a fight at the bar that led her to be NBO (next boat out) a few days early. Like I said, things got a bit wild.
But the real reason that I was there was to gain work experience in diving. And boy oh boy was there diving. It was literally like swimming in an aquarium, millions and millions of fish and corals as far as the eye can see. I don't know if I have ever seen so many differnet kinds of marine life in one place. Sharks, turtles (my
Turtle
Just taking a nap on the reef. fav!), rays, eels, mantas (8ft wingspan minimum), and so many fish I'm not even bothering to list them all. Each dive, I would see 5 turtles and 3 sharks (average), and I a new kind of fish that I would then look up in the shop. Since I've been in Aussie, I've become somewhat of a 'nudi nerd' and have found myself searching each and every dive for differnent nudibranchs (slugs). I was lucky enough to find the world's largest nudi, a spanish dancer, on two of the night dives. The water was about 84 degrees and I dove with no wetsuit, only a rashie. People thought I was crazy, but I thought
they were crazy becasue it felt like bathwater to me. Man will I miss diving the Great Barrier Reef. It truely was a dream come true, and it really is nature's wonderland.
I deffinatly had a crazy 3 weeks. So much happened at the shop, so much happened on the island, and so many great things happened to me. I really got a good understanding as to what a life being a dive instructor is really going to be like, what life abroad would be like.
Such a great experience from a work standpoint, but such an eye opening experience for me as a person. When it came time for me to leave, alot of people came to see me off, it was really a great way to end my trip. After the boat ride back (which was much better then the way there) and two flights later, I was back at the intern house in Sydney. All my friends here were so happy to see me and hear all the gossip about my trip, and tell me what had been going on since I was gone. While laying in my bed that night, I found myself thinking that it was all a dream. That I had fallen into the rabbit hole twilight zone that is Heron Island. But it wasnt a dream, it was real, and I had one hell of a time on the Great Barrier Reef.
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Lynda
non-member comment
Great!
Thank you for the wonderful entries! It's so much fun reading them and learning about places I'll never get to go to! It's almost like being there.....