Great Barrier Reef

The night before our dive trip we went to a presentation called 'Reef Teach' which was great They told us about all the fish we would be seeing and some interesting stories about them: the clown fish (aka nemo) if the mother is killed the baby fish will turn themselves into females and mate with their father to produce more babies. There are fish that have penis fights... the loser is forced to carry the babies. Fish that queue to be cleaned by a cleaning wrasse fish. Trigger fish that get mad when you invade their territory and will chase you for ages armed with their poisonous spike on their head. Octopusses that take photographs of themselves. - So you see that fish aren't boring as some people think, they have a lot of character and we were looking forward to seeing them in their natural habitats.

We took a 2hr boat ride to meet the larger motor yacht we were to be staying on overnight on the reef. The crew are young and the atmosphere is fun, it's all go! Boarded the large boat and checked into our cabins (ensuite, pretty good) and had a briefing and quick lunch – in true Australia style we are being served real slap-up meals, definitely what you need to build up your energy for diving. The water is so warm here so we don't have to wear wetsuits, we do have to wear stinger suits though (all-in-one lycra suits) as it's jellyfish season and they have some pretty mean jellyfish here!

Al's dives:
He has yet to add this in... am trying to persuade him...


Al's course mates:


[Underwater photos still to be developed and added... coming soon!]
Vix's dives:
18.12.08
1pm: First dive was with a group of certified divers (7 of us in total) and a divemaster to get us up to speed again. We weren't under for too long as one of the group used up his air quite quickly which was a bit disappointing for the rest of us. The weather wasn't too great and visibility reduced. Still we saw loads of small amazingly coloured fish, some nemos: bright coral, a giant clam and parrot fish and held a sea-cucumber.

4pm: Second dive it was just me and two guys to be my buddies. My first dive without a divemaster/instructor to guide the way. We saw a turtle and reef shark: among other fish and I got to try out my new camera. My air consumption is pretty good these days – my buddies were down to 70bar of air when I still had 130.


7pm: Third dive of the day – night dive! And my first dive with Al as my buddy – yey!! We went with an instructor and saw some amazing coral formations, whole cliffs made of coral and huge 'giant fingers' of blue coral sticking up from the ground. We held a 'spikey' sea-cucumber. We saw a puffer fish puffed up – pretty rare, I stroked him but he didn't look too happy. Poor thing, puffing up is a form of defense for them and they are only able to do it around 3 times in their lives apparently. We also saw a blue spotted ray (twice) and a parrot fish asleep. The sea was a lot quieter at night time with most of the fish sleeping. Tried to look out for a shark but to no avail. Apparently one of the other groups saw one though. Held Al's hand underwater which was nice.

The day ended with a few drinks on deck and to bed by 10.30 for our early start...

2nd day: 19.12.08
6am (we got up at 5am!!), 9am, 11am
What a day! Three dives in a row, separated by an hour for breakfast, tea and lunch.
Al and I dived together for the first and third dive. His third dive was as a CERTIFIED diver!! It was up to me to navigate... I did quite well considering this was the first dive I've led I did pretty well and we saw lots of fish and I managed to bring us back to the boat ok – yey!
Later on we watched dolphins swimming beside the boat and a group of small fish jumping out of the water to escape them. It was pretty awesome.


Oh and Al would like to introduce you to his new hat - wild kangaroo leather and crocodile teeth, you'll be seeing quite a lot of it:



Soon it was time to leave the reef and depart from Cairns. Everyone slept on the way back, exhausted from their awesome trip.


We reeeally enjoyed this part of our trip. The great barrier reef is amazing and there's too much to explore in a lifetime. Apparently there are other, even more spectacular parts, which you can go to see (bit more pricey but worth it) so there will have to be a 'next time' here. There were some people on the boat who just snorkeled and even they loved it. The dive company (Cairns Dive Centre) are great, the staff and crew were helpful and great fun, though they do give quite a few sales pitches trying to get you to buy their videos/masks/more dives etc which can be annoying, but if you're a seasoned traveller like we are then you don't buy into those things anyway. Definitely recommended!!!