Rock and Roll Reef Ride

Today we took the Wavelength boat, which is a small snorkeling boat (30 snorkelers max) out to the outer reefs.  It was a bit overcast and the wind has picked up but the ride out to the first reef that we were going to snorkel at wasn't too bad.  It was an hour and a half ride out and once we were ready to get in the water a squall came along and the water got really rough.  I made it about 5 minutes away from the boat and I turned around.  The waves were so high that they were going over my head, into my snorkel and I was like, I'm done.  I wasn't the only person who decided that.  The skipper didn't stay there more than 30 minutes because the wind was picking up even more and people were coming back in. 

We went to a second site that was much calmer, so that made me happy.  Again, the coral blew us away.  The coral was bigger than the other reefs we previously had been.  But some parts got really shallow and even though the crew warned people to not go over those sections, people got back on the boat with coral cuts on there legs--urgh.  Love people who don't pay attention and kill the coral by being stupid.  We snorkeled there for over an hour then jumped back on the boat for lunch.

The skipper, John, warned everyone that it was going to be a rough ride going home as he was checking the weather reports while we were out.  Even though the sun was shining, he said we were in for some big swells on the way back and that people should take sea sickness medicine.  I had already taken another dose and I was feeling just great!

We moved to a third and our final reef, where we had a bit over an hour to snorkel there.  When I got back to the boat, more than half the snorkelers were already on boat as the water was getting rough again.

John was not kidding when he said it was going to be rough on the way home.  I felt like I was on an episode of the Deadliest Catch.  (Glenn said they would laugh at the swells and the fact that it was in the 80's, so nice and warm).  I felt like we were on a roller coaster going back and before we knew it, people across the boat from us were getting sick.  Guess they didn't listen to John and take anything!  We were sitting on the "not sick" side luckily and I felt fine, other than freaking out that the boat was going to capsize, which Glenn assured me it wouldn't.  I realized that when John slowed down or took a sharp turn left that I needed to white knuckle it and get ready for the hit!

We made it back safe and sound and I was excited that I felt fine!  We got back around 5 and since then we've been doing laundry and packing--booo!

We drive back to Cairns tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Gladstone.  The next day we catch our boat to Heron Island for about 8 days.  Heron Island doesn't have phone, computer or TV access, so we'll be going quiet on the blog until we get back to Sydney in about 10-11 days.

Until then, enjoy some more reef pics from today.

One of the most amazing days of our lives.....

I'm having much difficulty even putting words on the paper for what we experience today.  We wanted to do a helicopter ride over the reef to take pictures and then I found a place that would take us to a deserted sandy cay in the great barrier reef where we'd stop for about 2 hours to snorkel and have lunch.  We decided to do this and we are so glad we did it.

Michael, our pilot, picked us up at the hotel and took us to the airfield, where he went through the safety talk.  He was amazing and funny and we loved that Glenn and I both had great cameras, as he is into photography also.  We donned our lifevests since we'd be over water most of the time and got settled into the helicopter.  Neither of us have ever been in a helicopter and I have to say, I LOVED IT!!!

After take off, we head over the sugar cane farms to the coast

 4 mile beach by our hotel:

 Manta Ray--huge!

 Lower Isles where we were yesterday:

 6 humpback whales playing together:

The very dark marks on this coral are turtles:

 Gorgeous reef!!

Our private sandy cay for the afternoon:

 About to touch down on the cay:

Glenn enjoying the day

We went snorkeling around the cay right away--the water was warm so no wetsuits were needed!

While we were snorkeling, Michael set up an amazing lunch for us. He had some beer and wine ready for us too--this is the life!!!

Goodbye Sandy Cay!

 We saw a lone humpback on our way back--he loved hanging out on his back!

 Where the reef meets the rainforest....

 Daintree Rainforest

 The inlet at Port Douglas

We didn't want to leave or end the day!

Happy Fliers!

Touchdown!  Back to reality

Great Barrier Reef Take Two

Yesterday we had a relaxing day at the beach.  The beach is expansive and gorgeous with the mountains surrounding it.

Today I spent the morning at the beach again then we did a half day sail out to the lower isles of the Great Barrier Reef.  There wasn't enough wind to put the sails up which was disappointing but the hour ride out there was relaxing.  As we approached the reef and got near a beach island, a humpback whale was swimming by our boat.  The crew was surprised that it was so close to the island.

Our ride for 4 hours this afternoon:

The cute island in the lower isles part of the reef:

Humpback going by the boat:

I was blown away again by the variety of corals--the different types and colors were just amazing.  I could have stayed in the water all afternoon just floating around.  It was a wonderful, relaxing day.