Jul 2008

Yacht out to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Michaelmas Cay, off of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia

After our roadtrip up the Queensland coast we kissed our psychedelic van, Velma goodbye in the tropical city of Cairns and checked into a hostel. We were on the eve of one of the most exciting travel reunions of our year away: a month-long visit from Linda and Chuck, Megan's parents. They were to arrive the next morning, after spending an exciting few days on their own in Sydney.

We were exhausted after our long-haul north to Cairns and spent most of that afternoon and evening shamelessly lounging in the Travellers' Oasis backpackers' pool and chatting with a railroad conductor from Melbourne about the mining boom out west in Perth, the strength of the Aussie dollar, and the general economic awesomeness of Australia and suckiness of the US these days. By the time we got out of the pool it was dark, we were prunes, and our dorm-mates were fast asleep. Threw some quarters in the window A/C unit, and we were out.

The next day we moved accommodation to a flashier backpackers, the Northern Greenhouse (surprisingly awash in blue and teal decor despite the name,) whose quad room was complete with A/C and a TV and waited in the fan-cooled, spacious second-level common area for my parents. Sure enough, they arrived, fresh from Sydney that afternoon. We hadn't seen them in almost seven months! They were surprisingly well-adjusted from the grueling 20 hour different from Portland, OR and had managed to already have had several adventures during their time in Sydney- capped off by complimentary tickets to a show at the Sydney Opera House thanks to a friendly Turkish box-office employee who hit it off with Dad.

That evening we took a stroll down to the massive Cairns lagoon (pictures to come) on the waterfront. Like other lagoons, it was free to the public and a wonderful way to relax and unwind for a few hours on a hot afternoon. We stayed in the water, floating around and relaxing until well after sunset. Mom really developed a love of Queensland lagoons that day (she would talk about how great the Cairns lagoon was for weeks after!) Afterwards that evening Catt and I were able to catch about an hour long street performance done by some local "fire people" (quasi-hippy buskers that take their travelling roadshow to various street corners all over Aus.) There was a trike with flaming handle-bars, a flaming hat, and even a mermaid. Quite a show, considering it was free.

The next day dawned sparkling and blue, and the four of us made for the harbor and quite possibly one of the most exciting days of our year away: our trip out to Australia's famous Great Barrier Reef, and Catt and my intro scuba dive. There are a mind-boggling number of options if you want to do a cruise out to a cay on the GBF and have a snorkel or a dive. Best really to turn up in Cairns and research your options, since at any given time there is a good chance that at least one of the many cruise operators have a great deal on offer. The outfit we ended up using was Ocean Spirit- their "budget" boat was out of commission, so everyone was being bumped up to the luxury yacht. That, and for some reason, they were throwing a FREE introductory scuba dive into the package so long as you signed up in advance. Usually the dive alone sets you back at least $100- so of course we were in!

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world, made up of almost 3,000 individual reefs and is the largest single structure in the world composed of living organisms (coral polyps). It can even be seen from space! The Great Barrier Reef was selected as a World Heritage site in 1981.

The boat was fantastic. We were able to secure four mats on the deck of the yacht for a relaxing trip out to the reef. Here are some pictures from the journey:

Lantzes in their wetsuits

Fish in the water off of the Great Barrier Reef

Michaelmas Cay on the Great Barrier Reef from a distance

Meg and Catt on the Ocean Spirit boat- Michaelmas Cay in the background

Catt, Linda, Chuck and Megan on the Great Barrier Reef

The weather couldn't have been better- it was sunny, breezy, and the water and the sky were a glorious pallet of azure. After about an hour and a half at sea, we anchored about 100 meters off of Michaelmas Cay and Catt and I suited up for our dive. The only hitch in an almost perfect sail out was my seasickness- despite my love of water, I suffer from pretty intense motion sickness on boats... and yes, I did "feed the fish" my breakfast before suiting up for my dive. Not the best way to prepare for your first dive, but I soldiered through it...

Diving was thrilling, but a little bit scary, too. We had hoped to get our PADI open water certification when on Ko Tao in Thailand, but the bad weather out there and horrible visibility made it a no-go. Because of this, we didn't have certification and had to rely on our Dive Master to control our descent and ascent, which required us to trust him, and our equipment. Surprisingly, after a year of adventurous activity, Catt deemed diving to actually have been the scariest challenge for him (I voted for NZ bungy jumping, or crossing the street in any Vietnamese city I loved diving, but the oxygen tank and equipment definitely feels heavy and a little bit more confining than I had anticipated. We were also a little freaked out by the exercises at the beginning, where they ask you to take your regulator out of your mouth while underwater and practice putting it back in. All in all, though, we loved it. We dove down only about 20 meters, or 60ish feet. Once on the bottom we saw giant clams, all sorts of fish, and even a sea turtle from afar. No sharks this time. Pictures:

Before our dive

While we dove, Mom and Dad enjoyed snorkelling and beach combing off of Michaelmas Cay. After our dive, we joined them. Simply stunning beach, and the bluest water I have ever seen. They loved the snorkelling, too:

Meg and Catt post-dive on Michaelmas Cay, our boat in the background

Catt on gorgeous Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Meg on the beach at Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, with our boat in the background

Linda going out for a snorkel

Meg and the birds nesting on Michaelmas Cay

Linda and Chuck on Michaelmas Cay

Megan

We also had the chance to take a 20 minute trip in a submersible, where we got an up-close look at the reef and some turtles, as well:

Turtle from afar

Meg and Catt in the submersible, Great Barrier Reef

Linda and Chuck in submersible, Great Barrier Reef

After a day of snorkeling, diving, beachcombing and sunning (not to mention great snacking on the free food provided by our boat,) we headed back to Cairns. The sail back was beautiful... and we were presented with certificates for our dive, too!

On the sail back to Cairns...

Champagne on the trip back

Meg and Catt with newly-minted diving certificates

All in all it was a memorable trip. We can't wait to come back to the Great Barrier Reef again. It's important, though, to note that it is in danger- wikipedia:

The most significant threat to the Great Barrier Reef is climate change. Mass coral bleaching events due to rising ocean temperatures occurred in of the summers of 1998, 2002 and 2006, and coral bleaching will likely become an annual occurrence. Climate change has implications for other forms of life on the Great Barrier Reef as well - some fish's preferred temperature range lead them to seek new areas to live, thus causing chick mortality in seabirds that prey on the fish. Climate change will also affect the population and available habitat of sea turtles.

To learn more about planning a visit to the Great Barrier Reef and inform yourself re ongoing efforts to preserve it, please visit the official website:

http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/

Next up: Atherton Tablelands, the Daintree, and Cape Tribulation!