Travel Blog: Day 138

OK, so nobody else wants a postcard? I put this question at the beginning of this post because I figured that lots of people only read the first few sentences that appear on Facebook…

But now to something completely different…as the world’s best comedy group would have said. I finished my last post telling you about my short trip to the Whitsunday Islands. To make it short: it was incredible! Best thing I have done in Australia! I decided to go on a boat which was almost brand new and had its focus on diving and chilling, rather than one of the big party boats. It was a little more expensive but it surely provided more luxury. When we got on the boat we were all rushed into the common are where some snacks were already waiting for us. There we were given some briefings about the life on board, diving and snorkeling etc. When we got outside onto the deck for the first time I instantly realized that this was going to be a great trip. The crew was caring and entertaining and ‘mom’ always kept us well fed. Honestly, this was the best food I had in quite a while! The boat itself and the other travelers were very nice – and luckily there was only one other German.

On our first day we made our way to Blue Perl Bay on Hayman Island – our first diving site. We only had 3 certified divers on board so all the others (obviously including me) made a little introductory dive there. We started in shallow water where we would get used to breathing under water….and then we were off. Saw lots of fish there (one Nemo) and I felt like being in a huge aquarium. The fish and the corals were way more colorful compared to my first dive in Columbia. This is not to say that there are no good dives sites there, it’s just that in Columbia we dived really close to Santa Marta harbor.

After the dive I went snorkeling discovering still more exciting things about the underwater life in the Great Barrier Reef. Back on board we had some snacks and later dinner. Then we would all gather in the common room to get a little lecture about marine life and were shown the pictures of the day on a big plasma TV. Some things that I remember:

• - Turtles eat jelly fish…and get high from that. Remember the turtles in “Finding Nemo”?
• - All Clownfish are born as males. There is only one female in every ‘family’. When this one dies the most dominant male turns into a female.
• -‘Loser Fish’ (I forgot the real name) stay together with their partner for their whole life. They are always seen swimming in pairs. If one partner dies, the other one dies shortly after. I personally don’t like to call these creatures ‘Loser Fish’…

After the slide show everybody went back outside to enjoy the sunset. When the sun was gone and the stars came out you cannot be surprised to hear that the view was amazing. With no big cities nearby polluting the night sky with their light, you could see a lot more stars that in your average Western European sky. I even spotted four or five shooting stars!

The next day began with breakfast in Tongue Bay where we spotted a few turtles coming up for their morning air. The rest of the day consisted of two more dives and some time on Whitehaven Beach – where all the ‘funny’ pictures were taken. The certified divers went for another dive at night time. Wish I could have joined them.

On the last day I missed out on the diving opportunity for two reasons. I was disappointed of the visibility on the afternoon dive the day before. And I quite possibly had broken my toe slipping on the stairs, so I could not put on my right flipper. I just went snorkeling instead…with only one flipper. Made me feel quite like Nemo with his lucky fin :-)

After that we motor sailed back to Airlie Beach where this great adventure came to a close at around 11am. If you ever go to Australia’s east coast this is something you should definitely do. And if you are into diving spend some extra money on a 3-day trip that takes you to the Outer Reef for one day. I’ve been told the visibility there is way better than close to the Whitsundays.

The day ended for me in a 10 hour night bus to Cairns where I am right now. I wish the busses here in Australia were as good as the ones in South America. I hardly caught any sleep. This is one reason why I am not quite eager to discover the city on foot today, even though I am leaving here again tomorrow. Next time you hear from me I am probably going to be in Thailand!