5/13/10 (gbr) - special segment

Cairns - Hastings Reef – Saxon Reef – Cairns

We figured the Great Barrier Reef deserved its own special daily detail segment since it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. We checked in at 7:30am at the Reef Terminal ready to meet Nemo. We boarded the Osprey V with about 40 other people though the ship can hold up to 100 people so there was plenty of room for everyone. There was muffins and hot tea/coffee waiting for us, as the crew got ready to leave the port. We left the dock promptly at 8:30am heading for the Hastings Reef, which was about an hour and a half away from Cairns. It was a bit cloudy and very muggy outside. Shortly after we left Jon started to feel a bit seasick even though both of us had taken the ginger pills. It was a bit rocky out on the sea. 

When we arrived at Hastings, we put on our wet suit and snorkel gear. I was a bit hesitant being out in the big ocean so for an extra safety measure I also put on a life jacket. With the wet suit we felt pretty warm in the ocean, which was about 25 degrees Celsius. I joined a guided snorkel tour, which looped around the reef, while Jon ventured on his own. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to see all the sea creatures and corals. There were fish everywhere and schools of fish would swim right in front of me. After the guided tour, Jon and I joined up to explore the reef on our own. We took the camera under with us and tried to capture what we saw. We were able to identify a lot of the fish we learned yesterday at the Reef Teach. We saw lots of butterfly fish, rabbit fish and angelfish and some were so small that you sometimes didn’t realize you were intruding on a school of fish. There were also lots of sea cucumbers on the ocean floor. The corals had amazing colors and shapes though we were warned not to touch them since they are living creatures. After snorkeling for about an hour and a half we stopped for some lunch. By this time Jon still wasn’t feeling any better so we hopped some food and calm waters would help. After lunch Jon rested while I went out on the front deck to soak in some sun.

At about 12:30pm we headed toward Saxon Reef. There is a resident fish named Wally, which is known as the dog of the ocean since he’s quite playful. You can even go up and pet him. As we arrived at Saxon Reef the crew were feeding the fish and swarms of them came right up to the boat. By this time Jon was feeling a bit better so we headed out to ocean. This time we saw even more fish. Some were completely black with a yellow or orange spot near the tail. Others were shades of blue, green and bright turquoise. We learned not to get too close to fish with bright colors and patterns since the colors and patterns are meant as a warning to others. Jon saw a Maori wrasse, which he followed with his video camera. The wrasse has a pattern on its body similar to what a Maori has painted on his face. Jon also saw some damselfish (aka Nemo) and tried to swim down to get a better glimpse of them but had difficulty doing so with his buoyant wetsuit. One of the coolest fish I saw was barracuda though I didn’t realize what it was until I asked Jon. Several times I tried to follow schools of fish to see where they were going but it proved to be quite difficult since they swim back and forth very quickly. 

After snorkeling for a few more hours we were ready to take a break. We jumped on the semi-submersible boat, which had an underwater viewing station. The boat toured around the reef and Elvis, our entertainment guide, explained a little more about the structure of the reef and corals. We also caught another glimpse of damselfish. An interesting fact we learned at the Reef Teach about damselfish is that they are all born male. When the mom dies the biggest damselfish in the family changes into a female and mates with another male in the family. It does make you wonder what would have really happened in the movie Nemo. Technically, when Nemo’s mom died in the beginning of the movie the dad would’ve turned into a female and mated with Nemo. Yikes!! I guess Disney would have had a hard time spinning that story. Anyway, back to the reef adventure. 

We then got on a small boat headed for a helicopter-landing pad for our ride home. There was one other person joining us for the ride home and we later found out she was from San Diego. She had gotten really seasick and last minute decided to take the helicopter home while her husband stayed on the boat. The helicopter was a four-seater so Jon got to sit up front with the pilot. We had on lifejackets in case of any accidents and headsets so we can talk to each other. We flew over the reef, a sand island and Green Island. Being so high up gave us a different perspective of the reef and showed us just how massive it was. The helicopter ride took about twenty minutes and we landed safely at the Cairns airport. The helicopter company gave us a ride back to our motel.

When we got back to the motel we were exhausted. Jon mustered up some energy to do some more video work while I took a long needed nap.

It was an amazing adventure and one that we will remember forever. The experience gave us a greater appreciation of Mother Earth and reminds us that we are only a small spectacle in this beautiful world.