The end of the road

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Fruit from Rustys was my hangover cure, and I was soon in town booking up a string of activites and transportation down the east coast. At 13:00 I made my way across to the offices of my dive tour operator Explorer Ventures and met my new cabin mates: Kim, Lizette, Maddo, Jo, Magnus and Mikaela - all of whom seemed really nice. After introductions and coffee we were whisked off to Cairns airport for our transfer flight to Cooktown.

We were loaded up into 7 seater Shrike Commander aircraft, and were soon flying low over the reefs and rainforests on the way up to Cooktown. It was a spectacular flight - not quite as low as dad flies, but altitude never topped 1000ft even over the mountains. The Turbulence was incredible over the rainforests, and the whole experience seemed almost like an amusement park ride - in a good way!

We arrived in the deserted Cooktown high street after an hour of aviation adventure, and I swore I could hear the banjos starting to play in the distance. "Closed til March" read one sign, but displaying no year I can only assume they dont mean March '06. We wandered around trying to find somewhere we could get a cold beer and some food, but we ended up with cold colas outside the Gill'd 'n' Gutt'd fish and chip shop. In fairness despite the interesting name, it was the best fish and chips I have ever tasted. Ever. Full stop. End of story.

At 6 we joined the Nimrod Explorer - our house and home for the next 3 nights (oh if only we knew....) and settled in. There was space for 16 guests, but there were actually only 7 of us so I got my own cabin, despite having paid for a 4 share - and only half price of that! We sorted out our scuba gear as the plan was to dive at 7 the next morning, and then sat down the monstrous and fabulous meal that our Chef, Richard, had prepared. Then came the ubiquitous safety announcements, but with a slightly more serious undertone than most. "You'll be a long way out to sea - so dont get bent" said Reece. "You'll be in pain for a good 24 hours - but dont worry about us - we have ear defenders".

We started steaming out to sea at about midnight, and I was forced to lie flat on my back to stop from rolling out of my bunk as the ship rocked and rolled around. If only I knew what was to come!

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Photos

Shrike Commander
Am I right on this one dad? Anyway - this was our transport to Cooktown.

Where the reef meets the rainforest - from the air!
Am I right on this one dad? Anyway - this was our transport to Cooktown.

Nimrod
My home for the next few days (taken by Scotty)