Early the next morning, we took a coach far up the Cpt. Cook Highway to Port Douglas.
There we boarded a vessel that took us to the semi-permanent pontoon fixed in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. Our destination? Agincourt Reef – a ribbon reef near the edge of the continental shelf in the Coral Sea.
The boat that took us out was a needle-hull catamaran that was over 150 feet in length and glided so effortlessly on the water’s surface that you barely knew you were on the water. The ship was considered a “wave-piercer” and you really felt nothing as we shot across the water and headed out to sea. As we travelled, we shared some tea and biscuits and booked a snorkeling tour with in-house marine biologists, Suz and Matty.
In retrospect, I’m more than glad that we decided to book this bio-tour because otherwise, I really feel that we would be have been too awe-struck to swim anywhere, but would have instead just peered through our goggles and floated with the current until the end of time, staring and marveling at the beauty that lives just barely beneath the water’s surface.
Upon arrival at the pontoon, we put on all of our gear: Lycra body suit (to protect us from stingers such as jellies), black wetsuit (which was an excellent insulator and doubled as added buoyancy), fins, mask and snorkel. We also had rented an underwater camera …which was essential for me. I cannot go for longer than a few minutes without taking a picture of something. This once in a lifetime experience was no exception.
On a side note: I fell over laughing at Brian today! First of all, I’ve learned that Brian is not a fan of wearing head-to-toe Lycra. But really, who would be? Did you know Brian is a fan of Superman? Well if not, yes he is, ever since he was a little boy. So this means that Brian owns several Superman t-shirts. One of his favorites is a gray sleeveless T. Brian scurried off to put on his Lycra suit and I waited holding our gear and ‘whatnot.’ And then it happened. Out he came, head-to-toe blue Lycra, unzipped, exposing his “S.” And of course, Brian works out, a lot. So when one sees a guy, wearing head-to-to Lycra, with super “s” exposed, looking quite like a superhero, a girl just has to fall over laughing. My husband is Superman. Several people around me must have thought the same thing because in a variety of languages, I heard laughter and the word “superman” uttered. We all had a good laugh and exchanged a moment. Some German lady said to me, “Picture!” and motioned for me to take a picture of him. And take a picture I did.
We followed our biologist down to the reef entrance level, where we sat on a semi-submersed deck and put on our fins. Helpful snorkeling tip for you: before you put on your mask, spit in it. Yup, spit. Put a decent amount of spit on each lens, rub it around with your finger making sure to cover all the glass and then dunk it in the water to rinse it before putting it on. Doing this will prevent the mask from fogging up.
Brian and I gave each other one final glance before sliding into the cool, clear, salty water of the reef. And this was the first moment that took my breath away. Below me, approximately 15 meters below me, existed a blue world. All I could see was an expanse of white sands and coral and thousands of fish gliding around. I forgot to breathe for a second and inhaled. All you could hear coming out of my snorkel, however, was an extended exclamation and sigh. Something like “Wowaaaaaaahhh” followed by another gasp and then repeated exclamation…this time more like “whoaaaaa.” Popping my ears up for a second, I realized that I wasn’t the only one. Brian was reacting in chorus and the two of us exchanged diver signs for “OK” and off we swam, bug-eyed and awe-struck.
Suz lead us to a deep part of the reef where below lived this entire alien universe. Pristine white stands, mountainous corals, incredible variety of exotic fish and giant clams. Now on that note, when I say giant, I mean GIANT. Picture Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck – the cartoon oyster that housed the pearl that closed around the shrunken Daffy? Well I think that either of us could have fit into that clam just as easily, but no one would have to shrink us! It’s not likely for me to successfully describe it other than to say that it is the thing that inspires imagination and is impossibly large and old. At minimum it was 4 feet by 3 feet by 2 feet perhaps? It had a scalloped edge that was covered with soft green algae. It just sat there, allowing the current to bring food. Suz dove to brush her hand by its florescent green eye-spot and slowly, ever so slowly the clam began to close. One would have to be incredibly slow to get trapped within the giant reef clam, to be sure!
At any given time, in any direction you cared to look or point, you would, no doubt, be looking at something amazing. Beneath us passed schools of baby barracuda, trumpet fish, fox-faced rabbitfish, yellow butterfly fish, schools of indescribably tiny blue and green fish. Then of course you are looking at stag horn coral, brain coral, other varieties of hard and soft coral. Suz would dive deeper and bring up various creatures. Now you aren’t allowed to dive down and touch anything – coral is alive, as are the sea stars, snails, sea cucumbers. Touching these delicate creatures would certainly harm them and it’s important to respect the environment. Call me a bleeding heart liberal hippie (and I’ll thank you!!) but watching some of the other tourists disregard the rules of this World Heritage site, diving down and breaking off pieces of coral (at times razor sharp coral mind you), ignites in me a sort of rage that rarely bubbles to my surface. But I digress. Suz would bring a creature to the surface, talk a bit about it and then ask us to gently and respectfully pass it around and then she would return it to where it lived. During this dive, we held a giant sea cucumber and giant sea snail, some staghorn coral and a mushroom coral.
When holding the mushroom coral, it began to ooze this clear slimy secretion that I’m told offers excellent anti-aging qualities. I also want to mention how amazingly salty the water is in the Coral Sea. Once you enter the water, which is cool for only a second, but then instantly feels like the most luxurious bath water, it splashes a bit in your mouth and it tastes like the saltiest water on earth. It also makes your skin feel delicious! Not only did I get to experience the reef, but also felt as though I spent a day at the spa. That’s a win-win for any girl!
The one thing both of us wanted to see was a shark. Any shark would do of course, but I wouldn’t accept travelling for over 24 hours by plane, coming to the Southern Hemisphere, the other side of the world, go Down Under, take a 2 hour boat ride to the continental shelf and not see a shark! And wouldn’t you know, whilst diving, out from under a little shelf of coral popped a 4 -to 5-foot White Tipped Reef shark! Suz knew him and said he lives there year after year and has lovingly named him “Bitey.” And being the superior photog that I am (sniff), I got a couple shots of him a mere 5 feet from us. Of course, as soon as he saw us, he shot right back under his little coral shelf to hide from us. Please don’t make the mistake of falling into the “Jaws” mentality and assume that sharks are violent people-eaters. You couldn’t be more wrong. In the case of most sharks, they are extremely shy, beautiful, sleek and subtle creatures that want nothing more than to live in their homes and eat their food and be, and do that as far away from things like scary human beings as possible. Under the water, Brian and I exchanged our “OK” dive sign and swam along. We slowly made our way back to the platform, taking in every single moment, stretching it with every push of my fin, every breath I took, and once again, to take it with me. I will never forget this experience. (and yes, I will be doing this again and again)
We’re on to the rainforest tomorrow. So after a day of paddling and diving and snorkeling, I do believe it’s time to get some shuteye and recharge for tomorrow’s adventure.
Cheers and love,
m
**For ALL reef shots, you'll have to wait until we return to the states, as I have a card from the camera I rented with all 164 shots... and alas, no way to download them at the moment. Guess you'll have to come to our BBQ in August!**
PS - Incidentally, the island below is the one where they filmed that God awful movie The Island of Dr. Moreau. The woman that owned it used to rent it out to morons after the movie's debut for $45,000 per night ...Eh, a mere bag of shells!
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