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Published: November 7th 2017
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TANGALOOMA TAFE TRIP (31.10.17- 01.11.17)
6am Tuesday morning the class met at the Tangalooma wharf on Holt st Pinkenba in Brisbane. We collected our boarded passes from the front desk and checked in the bags that we wanted taken to our rooms which I thought was a cool service to have as it meant people didn’t need to carry around their bags while waiting for their room to be ready. At about 6:45 we began to board the ferry, which sat roughly 340 people in total, although on this morning there were not to many people aboard. The ferry was very comfortable and had its own café and toilet facilities. The trip over was very smooth and only took just over an hour to get to the Island. It was an absolutely stunning day with bright blue skies and warm weather. We were greeted at the jetty by Hana one of the lovely Tangalooma staff members who directed us where we would have to meet for our 10 am snorkeling tour and gave us a quick tour of where everything was. While waiting for our snorkelling tour to start we decided to go and get some food from
the coffee lounge. It was a nice little place to sit and relax with a view of the ocean. The food was nice and simple cafe food and although it may have been a little pricy you have to expect that for an island resort.
10 am came around so we made our way down to the meeting point for snorkeling and got suited up and ready to go. We made our way out to the Tangalooma wrecks, which is a series of 15 vessels that were deliberately sunken in 1963 as a result of lobbying by recreational boat owners for a safe anchorage. These wrecks have now created an amazing snorkeling and dive site. The crystal clear waters are now teaming with beautiful coral formations and an abundance of marine life including turtle, wobbegongs, starfish and array of tropical fish and much more. The Tangalooma water sport team was very organized and professional making the experience even nicer to enjoy. This would have to be one of the best places I have ever snorkeled and I would highly recommend this incredible adventure to anyone looking for a nice place to snorkel or dive. Once we finished
up we went and enjoyed lunch and were then advised that our rooms were ready. The rooms we had were located in the Dolphin lodge and were very nice with a magnificent view. They were very clean and comfy however they were located right next to the heli pad making it hard to have a rest during the day when they had helicopter tours every 5- 10 minutes.
Nighttime came around and we got ready for the wild Dolphin feeding experience. Firstly we were met by Jessica who gave us a nice talk in the marine education center about the history of the wild Dolphins and the dedication of conservation efforts to save marine life in the Morten Bay area. Next it was of to see the Dolphins and the herd of Asian tourists that flock to the island daily. It was an incredible experience to be able to feed a dolphin and see them that close, they truly are incredibly intelligent animals. This feeding experience plays a major role in the conservation of marine life around the island as it is the main attraction for tourists all around the world.
We ate dinner
and breakfast at Tursiops buffet and the food was less that impressive although if you were visiting the island on a budget this was probably the best value for money. After breakfast Trevor the resort manager gave us a tour of the resort, which I found to be extremely educational. He explained to us some more about the conservation efforts of Tangalooma and how they aim to be industry leaders in eco- tourism and are members of Earth check, the worlds leading scientific benchmark, certification and advisory group for travel and tourism, and a global eco accreditation program that assists corporations like Tangalooma to lift their game when it comes to protecting the environment. He also explained that the resort is completely self-sustainable with their own power station and sewerage plant and are constantly looking for new ways to improve.
After a quick lunch I headed on the desert safari tour with a few girls in the class. We went on a bumpy 4WD bus tour through the national park into the Tangalooma desert were you could see evidence of lightning strikes that’s had fused together the silica particles in the sand. Once in the middle of
the desert we Tobogganed down a 30m sand dune, which was a pretty thrilling experience. Overall this trip was a very educational and exciting experience and I highly recommend it for anyone that would like to visit an Island getaway that’s only an hour away from Brisbane. It’s the perfect place to take your family and friends for a relaxing holiday with plenty of activities to offer so you we never get bored. It will also open your eyes about how you can live a more eco friend life to help support our beautiful oceans so we can continue to enjoy them for many years to come. So grab your swim wear and towel and head on over you really wont need much more than that.
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