Diving Down Under
We arrived in Cairns on Thursday, June 8th, around 10 in the morning. We checked in with the dive company's office and were told that we wouldn't be boarding the dive boat until 7pm so we walked around town, had breakfast, saw a movie, had a late lunch / early dinner and then finally met our group and proceeded to the boat.
The boat is a twin engine catamaran named SpoilSport. Purpose designed and built for diving she is roomy and is stable at sea. We shoved off around 11pm, heading for the Great Barrier Reef. The wind was blowing 20-30 knots and the seas were rough, but the ride was comfortable enough especially since Holly and I had only slept 2-3 hours the previous night during the flight from Hong Kong.
Friday, June 9th
We woke up Friday morning to cool cloudy skies and the wind still blowing hard enough to take the top off of the waves. We did three dives that day and were thrilled with the pristine condition of the reef. This particular cruise is focused on minke whale watching as it is the time of year when they are sighted in this area; they move through the Coral Sea in June and early July, - we didn't spot any the first day. The good news was the chef on board had taken time off from a 5 Star restaurant to spend time on the sea and enjoy life a little. The restaurant's loss was our gain, all of the meals were wonderful.
Saturday, June 10th
Day 2 of the cruise dawned with the sun in place of the steely grey skies that we had seen the previous day. The wind also laid down which made entering and exiting the water much easier, not to mention life in general on the boat. Holly and I were swimming back to the boat after our second dive when we noticed our crew mates seemingly abandoning ship. When we came to the surface one of the crew yelled to us that they had spotted whales "thar she blows") and pointed us in the direction. The Australian government has very strict rules concerning interaction with whales. The first rule is that you cannot approach them, they must approach you. The second is that anyone in the water during whale contacts must be tethered to the boat by a rope, cable etc. We were pointed in the direction of a line that had been attached to the stern. When we were about 75 feet from the boat we saw our first whale.
To tell you it was a near religious experience does not do it justice. It was a magical experience, as in - Disney eat your heart out - magical. Over the next two days the whales continued to find us (the SpoilSport crew will say it was the other way around, but I believe the whales hold all the aces in this game) and they continued to get closer. By the end of day two they were coming within 6-8 feet at times, eyeing us with what can only be described as a conscious curiosity. I stayed in the water for hours laying face down with a snorkel protruding from my mouth and a mask on my face. The water was in the mid 70's, which is cold for those of you who are not familiar with such things, but I could not get enough of being close to an animal that was large enough to do whatever it pleased yet only wanted to get close enough for a good view of the alien creatures that were on the peripheria of it's world. It was amazing!
Sunday, June 11th
Our last dive was at the famous Cod Hole where we saw Potato Cod that weighed up to 400 lbs. Impressive fish when nothing is between you and them but the glass in your mask. Fortunately they are not interested in people and didn't even aknowledge our presence by moving as we swam by.
The last night on the boat we had a BBQ on the back deck with Captain Pete and Crew Shae bringing out their guitars and entertaining us with both American and Australian songs followed by another great meal. After dinner we had a photo contest that I was honored to win with a close up shot of a surfacing whale that I had taken from the top deck of the boat. The prize, a fine bottle of Australian red wine.
Monday, June 12th
This morning we woke with the boat moored in a protected harbour at Lizard Island and the end of our trip. we took one of the tenders ashore and caught an 8 passenger plane for the hour long flight back to Cairns. The wind was back to 20-30 knots and the flight had to be kept under 1000 feet because of dive retrictions that involve the amount of nitrogen that accumulates in your body while diving. This has to do with the "bends" or decompression sickness as the nitrogen bubbles in your blood stream if you move to an enviroment of less pressure to quickly after breathing compressed air under pressure.) Needless to say the flight was a little rough but we had a good pilot and made it without any problems.
We've attached the winning picture and a picture of Holly and I for your enjoyment. Sorry for the length of this posting, but it has been a very full 5 days. I wonder if this is the model for this trip as we never know when we will have online access.
Until next time.
Just a note; We are having trouble uploading images and will post them as soon as the problem is resolved.
The boat is a twin engine catamaran named SpoilSport. Purpose designed and built for diving she is roomy and is stable at sea. We shoved off around 11pm, heading for the Great Barrier Reef. The wind was blowing 20-30 knots and the seas were rough, but the ride was comfortable enough especially since Holly and I had only slept 2-3 hours the previous night during the flight from Hong Kong.
Friday, June 9th
We woke up Friday morning to cool cloudy skies and the wind still blowing hard enough to take the top off of the waves. We did three dives that day and were thrilled with the pristine condition of the reef. This particular cruise is focused on minke whale watching as it is the time of year when they are sighted in this area; they move through the Coral Sea in June and early July, - we didn't spot any the first day. The good news was the chef on board had taken time off from a 5 Star restaurant to spend time on the sea and enjoy life a little. The restaurant's loss was our gain, all of the meals were wonderful.
Saturday, June 10th
Day 2 of the cruise dawned with the sun in place of the steely grey skies that we had seen the previous day. The wind also laid down which made entering and exiting the water much easier, not to mention life in general on the boat. Holly and I were swimming back to the boat after our second dive when we noticed our crew mates seemingly abandoning ship. When we came to the surface one of the crew yelled to us that they had spotted whales "thar she blows") and pointed us in the direction. The Australian government has very strict rules concerning interaction with whales. The first rule is that you cannot approach them, they must approach you. The second is that anyone in the water during whale contacts must be tethered to the boat by a rope, cable etc. We were pointed in the direction of a line that had been attached to the stern. When we were about 75 feet from the boat we saw our first whale.
To tell you it was a near religious experience does not do it justice. It was a magical experience, as in - Disney eat your heart out - magical. Over the next two days the whales continued to find us (the SpoilSport crew will say it was the other way around, but I believe the whales hold all the aces in this game) and they continued to get closer. By the end of day two they were coming within 6-8 feet at times, eyeing us with what can only be described as a conscious curiosity. I stayed in the water for hours laying face down with a snorkel protruding from my mouth and a mask on my face. The water was in the mid 70's, which is cold for those of you who are not familiar with such things, but I could not get enough of being close to an animal that was large enough to do whatever it pleased yet only wanted to get close enough for a good view of the alien creatures that were on the peripheria of it's world. It was amazing!
Sunday, June 11th
Our last dive was at the famous Cod Hole where we saw Potato Cod that weighed up to 400 lbs. Impressive fish when nothing is between you and them but the glass in your mask. Fortunately they are not interested in people and didn't even aknowledge our presence by moving as we swam by.
The last night on the boat we had a BBQ on the back deck with Captain Pete and Crew Shae bringing out their guitars and entertaining us with both American and Australian songs followed by another great meal. After dinner we had a photo contest that I was honored to win with a close up shot of a surfacing whale that I had taken from the top deck of the boat. The prize, a fine bottle of Australian red wine.
Monday, June 12th
This morning we woke with the boat moored in a protected harbour at Lizard Island and the end of our trip. we took one of the tenders ashore and caught an 8 passenger plane for the hour long flight back to Cairns. The wind was back to 20-30 knots and the flight had to be kept under 1000 feet because of dive retrictions that involve the amount of nitrogen that accumulates in your body while diving. This has to do with the "bends" or decompression sickness as the nitrogen bubbles in your blood stream if you move to an enviroment of less pressure to quickly after breathing compressed air under pressure.) Needless to say the flight was a little rough but we had a good pilot and made it without any problems.
We've attached the winning picture and a picture of Holly and I for your enjoyment. Sorry for the length of this posting, but it has been a very full 5 days. I wonder if this is the model for this trip as we never know when we will have online access.
Until next time.
Just a note; We are having trouble uploading images and will post them as soon as the problem is resolved.
posted by Gary and Holly Davis @ 1:14 AM
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