Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

Saturday, 2-26 in Cairns, Great Barrier Reef

We have a fantastic room at the Hilton in Cairns.  We are on the 9th floor, which has a view of the Coral Sea, aka the Pacific Ocean.  It also has an Executive Lounge = free breakfast and free appetizers and drinks in the pre-dinner hours.  “Free” is a relative term, of course, as I paid a modest upgrade charge over the points used to acquire this lodging, but it is definitely worth it as we continue our fantasy of upper class living.

View from our balcony at the Hilton.  Great Adventure Boats dock.  Note low-hanging clouds.

Today we headed out on our Great Barrier Reef Adventure on the Great Adventures boat line.  We went first to Green Island, a unique island which formed on top of the Great Barrier Reef and over time developed into a rain forest.  And just to make sure we understood that, it began pouring down rain as we walked the interpretive boardwalk that circumnavigates the island.

Karen on a very wet interpretive walk at Green Island.

There was a little wildlife park called Marineland Melanesia (which we called A Way To Get Out Of The Rain) which had a crocodile-feeding show.  The croc you see here is over 15 feet long!  I learned a lot about crocs on this and other outings described in future posts.  They are amazing creatures and are the only reptile still in existence from the dinosaur era, due to their ability to continually adapt to a changing environment, whereas most species are unable to do so.

Estuarine crocodile - 15 feet long!

Back on the boat to continue to the Reef.  They have a permanent pontoon over the reef, from which the diving and snorkeling activities can be launched.  I had signed up to snorkel and had confirmed many times with Karen that she did not want to, but to my great surprise, when we got there, she changed her mind.  We had a personal guide, so that helped immensely with the preparations and the snorkeling activity.  The most difficult part of the preparation is putting on the Lycra suit to protect from jellyfish stings.  The suit is skin tight; no, it is tighter than my skin, surely worse than putting on pantyhose!  Of course, it was made somewhat easier when the guide politely pointed out that I was trying to put my leg into the arm…

Have I mentioned rain yet?  As we prepared to launch into the water, it was pouring down rain again and we got all wet!  OK, the irony in that statement was intentional, but the disadvantage of the rainy, cloudy day is that visibility is reduced in the water, so the colors are not as vibrant as they are if the sun is shining.  The guide took us to all the best places to see the incredible coral formations and gave us two encounters with sea creatures, including touching a sea cucumber and a face to face view of a Napoleon fish, which seemed to genuinely enjoy our company.  Here are pictures of these animals from a display on the boat.

Judy Petricevic had loaned me her underwater camera, which she will be glad to know I didn’t destroy!  However, the pictures I took are vastly inferior to hers, partly because of the overcast day, and partly due to the incompetence of the photographer/snorkeler.  Therefore, I will use the pictures she took and claim them as my own.  (Don’t tell anyone!)  Here are 2 of my better efforts.  OK, to be honest, the only good shots out of 104 taken…

It was a great day nonetheless, and we have now seen the Great Barrier Reef with our own goggle-covered eyes!  Dinner that night was a pizza at Villa Romana on the Esplanade in Cairns, watching the people walk by and the rain come down.  Have I mentioned the rain?