May 28, 2005
Down to my last 24hrs in Australia I headed into town for one last wander around Cairns and some last minute souvenir shopping in the market. I tried repacking my rucksack a few times before admitting defeat and accepting that all my stuff would no longer fit in the one bag. Then I turned in early for a good sleep ready for my 4am wake up to go to the airport.
With 22hrs of flying ahead of me I had plenty of time for the fact that I was going home to actually sink in... and plenty more time to look back and appreciate all the amazing experiences I'd had over the last four months (addmitedly most of them aided by a small piece of plastic belonging to my parents but amazing all the same). It's hard to believe that exactly four months ago I was landing in Fiji with all this stretching in front of me not knowing what to expect. Now it's all over it was beyond anything I could have hoped...
...THE END...
(until next time!)
Up with the sun
May 27, 2005
To fit in our final two dives before we had to return to Cairns we were up early in the morning to dive Hogs Breath site before breakfast. The site was more pleasant than the name might lead you to believe and it felt very peaceful in the water in the early morning light.
Our final dive was at a site called Split Bommie which was a nice chilled dive to finish off the trip. There was still a huge amount of life to appreciate but there was definitely a significant change in the reef, it seemed much less spectacular than those reefs we visited further north.
Arriving back in Cairns mid afternoon I headed back to my accommodation and promptly fell asleep for a solid 14hrs! A tiring but truly fantastic experience.
To fit in our final two dives before we had to return to Cairns we were up early in the morning to dive Hogs Breath site before breakfast. The site was more pleasant than the name might lead you to believe and it felt very peaceful in the water in the early morning light.
Our final dive was at a site called Split Bommie which was a nice chilled dive to finish off the trip. There was still a huge amount of life to appreciate but there was definitely a significant change in the reef, it seemed much less spectacular than those reefs we visited further north.
Arriving back in Cairns mid afternoon I headed back to my accommodation and promptly fell asleep for a solid 14hrs! A tiring but truly fantastic experience.
Watery Garden
May 26, 2005
The following morning we took our first dive at a site called Clam Gardens, so named because of the many Giant Clams present. It was a great site with yet more fantastic coral and plenty of other marine life including a Humphead Wrasse, a free swimming Eagle Ray and a Green Turtle.
Our second dive of the day was at a fantastic site called Steve's Bommie with loads to see in a relatively small area. There was a White Tip Reef Shark at the bottom of the Bommie and loads of schooling fish. Seeing some beautiful Tubastrea Micrantha coral reminded me of Fiji (one of the scuba instructors favourites) and there was a really interesting Flame File Shell half way up the Bommie. You can actually see the electrical current passing through it's outer edge.
Our third site, Temple of Doom, was similar to Steve's Bommie but larger. There were a lot of Unicorn fish around and I was particularly pleased with myself for spotting a tiny blue and yellow Nudibranch.
The final dive of the day was a night dive at the Beer Gardens where we were followed, for the majority, by a Potato Cod. We saw loads of little shrimp, a pretty Feather Star and a Puffer Fish. There was even a little phosphorescence which we enjoyed on our safety stop.
Another day of tiring but fantastic diving.
The following morning we took our first dive at a site called Clam Gardens, so named because of the many Giant Clams present. It was a great site with yet more fantastic coral and plenty of other marine life including a Humphead Wrasse, a free swimming Eagle Ray and a Green Turtle.
Our second dive of the day was at a fantastic site called Steve's Bommie with loads to see in a relatively small area. There was a White Tip Reef Shark at the bottom of the Bommie and loads of schooling fish. Seeing some beautiful Tubastrea Micrantha coral reminded me of Fiji (one of the scuba instructors favourites) and there was a really interesting Flame File Shell half way up the Bommie. You can actually see the electrical current passing through it's outer edge.
Our third site, Temple of Doom, was similar to Steve's Bommie but larger. There were a lot of Unicorn fish around and I was particularly pleased with myself for spotting a tiny blue and yellow Nudibranch.
The final dive of the day was a night dive at the Beer Gardens where we were followed, for the majority, by a Potato Cod. We saw loads of little shrimp, a pretty Feather Star and a Puffer Fish. There was even a little phosphorescence which we enjoyed on our safety stop.
Another day of tiring but fantastic diving.
Heading 'Down Under'
May 25, 2005
On arrival in Cairns Cress, Nicki and myself went about getting ourselves booked onto a dive trip to see the thing Cairns is most famous for, The Great Barrier Reef.
With Nicki and Cress having only a few days left in Australia they opted for a one day trip onto the reef, with two dives, which they said were great.
I had a little more time left so decided to go for a four day trip on Taka to the northern part of the reef to dive Cod Hole.
Boarding at around 5pm on Tuesday we had an all night steam to the Cod Hole area, on the way learning how the boat would be run and working out our dive buddies for the duration of the trip.
Our first dive was at a site called Challenger Bay on Wednesday morning. The coral was amazing with a huge amount of life to be seen. With many similar species to those I saw in Fiji I really enjoyed the dive. It is so much easier to appreciate what you are seeing when you know what it is you are looking at.
We then went to Cod Hole for our next two dives, the first of which was a cod feed. The trip director came down with a bucket of fish to feed the four huge Potato Cod which visited the feeding site. On our second dive we were able to explore the site of Cod Hole at our own pace and take in more of the amazing coral reef and fish life.
We returned to Challenger bay for our final dive on Wednesday which was to be a night dive. Loads of Red Snapper and Trevally followed us throughout the dive using the light of our torches to hunt. We spotted a couple of Moray Eels and some sleeping Parrotfish encased in their mucus sleeping bags.
On arrival in Cairns Cress, Nicki and myself went about getting ourselves booked onto a dive trip to see the thing Cairns is most famous for, The Great Barrier Reef.
With Nicki and Cress having only a few days left in Australia they opted for a one day trip onto the reef, with two dives, which they said were great.
I had a little more time left so decided to go for a four day trip on Taka to the northern part of the reef to dive Cod Hole.
Boarding at around 5pm on Tuesday we had an all night steam to the Cod Hole area, on the way learning how the boat would be run and working out our dive buddies for the duration of the trip.
Our first dive was at a site called Challenger Bay on Wednesday morning. The coral was amazing with a huge amount of life to be seen. With many similar species to those I saw in Fiji I really enjoyed the dive. It is so much easier to appreciate what you are seeing when you know what it is you are looking at.
We then went to Cod Hole for our next two dives, the first of which was a cod feed. The trip director came down with a bucket of fish to feed the four huge Potato Cod which visited the feeding site. On our second dive we were able to explore the site of Cod Hole at our own pace and take in more of the amazing coral reef and fish life.
We returned to Challenger bay for our final dive on Wednesday which was to be a night dive. Loads of Red Snapper and Trevally followed us throughout the dive using the light of our torches to hunt. We spotted a couple of Moray Eels and some sleeping Parrotfish encased in their mucus sleeping bags.
Animal Magnetism
May 20, 2005
We spent a night in Airlie Beach before heading up the coast to Townsville to catch the ferry across toMagnetic Island.
The weather was pretty good so we spent a few days relaxing on the beach at Alma and Horseshoe Bays and doing a little snorkeling in Alma Bay.
We had heard that Magnetic Island was a good place to see Koalas so Nicki, Cress and myself went for a walk to see if we could spot one. We took the track towards the 'Forts' and after some great views down over one of the bays we met a guy who had just seen a Koala and took us to show us where it was.
After a few photos of a particularly sleepy looking Koala we returned to a fantastic home cooked meal, courtesy of Tiffany, and a movie before a good nights sleep to prepare for our trip up to Cairns.
We spent a night in Airlie Beach before heading up the coast to Townsville to catch the ferry across toMagnetic Island.
The weather was pretty good so we spent a few days relaxing on the beach at Alma and Horseshoe Bays and doing a little snorkeling in Alma Bay.
We had heard that Magnetic Island was a good place to see Koalas so Nicki, Cress and myself went for a walk to see if we could spot one. We took the track towards the 'Forts' and after some great views down over one of the bays we met a guy who had just seen a Koala and took us to show us where it was.
After a few photos of a particularly sleepy looking Koala we returned to a fantastic home cooked meal, courtesy of Tiffany, and a movie before a good nights sleep to prepare for our trip up to Cairns.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
