Nora in Australia
The one was dated 8-23 THE REEF
...
This was The Great Day.
Felt a little rough this morning, but got it
together. We headed down to the marina to catch The
Wavelength, our boat for the reef. Matthew was our
skipper, and just as cute as a button. Sun bleached
hair, tanned, lean, Aussie accent, blue eyes. Full
of fun was our Matthew. Fleur was his mate and a
fine Aussie woman she was, too.
There were about 20 of us, and the trip out takes
just over an hour. I'd fortified myself with Dramo,
and luckily there were nice seats up on the pilot
deck with plenty of air and sun. Lots of roll, but
I felt okay with the breeze going. It's gorgeous
out there.
We saw a pod of dolphins. They're wonderful. They
come and play around the boat, aiming at it like
torpedoes. God, they're fast. Then zipping around,
leaping out, often in that amazing two by two
routine you see in Sea World. But these dolphins do
it for the fun of it. The water's so clear and blue
you can see them swimming under it.
You can tell you're getting close to the reef by
the splotches of dark water, then all at once you
see this swatch of grass green banded by bright
blue. The colors are spectacular. Matthew pilots
the boat through the reef and as you get further
out it looks like an island of green and blue and
vivid yellow. You'd swear it was solid, but it
undulates. And there in the middle of the South
Pacific waves break as if onto a beach. It's a
fabulous sight.
We get our gear on. I rent a wetsuit as the water's
in the 70's and that's too damn cold for me. Even
with it, it takes awhile for me to adjust. And I'm
thinking we're out in the middle of the ocean and
just jumping into the water. I have to exchange my
mask because mine leaks, and it takes me a few
minutes to remember how to snorkel. But then, God.
You can see forever, and there are great colorful
formations of coral in shapes I've never seen
before. Yellows and blues and reds. And the fish
are huge. Big red ones, little blue ones, one
enormous multi colored homely one that hung around
the boat the entire time. I didn't see the giant
clams, which was a disappointment. Others did, but
I missed them. I did see a reef shark and was very
proud of myself for not panicking and drowning
immediately.
You can swim through this walls of coral, over it,
around it. There are caves and tables and bright
green grassy things that sway in the current.
I stayed out about an hour, but got chilled. Ears
were bothering me so I stayed on the deck in the
sun during the other snorkeling times. Very
relaxing. We say manta rays just under the surface,
and another pod of dolphins.
Then on the way back....whale. It was fabulous.
Three of them, humpbacks surfacing then sounding
and blowing out their holes with a wonderful
whooshing sound. Just beautiful.
We're having dinner shortly as the Nautilas, as it
was recommended by everyone I told I was coming to
Port Douglas. This is our last night with Is and
Steven. They go home in the morning.
But it was a perfect last day.
Nora
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