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| The beautiful McKay Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef. The snorkeling was excellent! |
| Erin's Journal for 2/12 to 2/13//03 Queensland Today was a special day - we'd go out on a boat to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. There is only one company that runs out of Cape Tribulation, meaning that there are very few other divers or snorkelers in this section of reef, and it's therefore much less damaged than the areas around Cairns where people have been mobbing for years. We hurried through breakfast and met our bus at 8:15am, along with a couple of the ladies from the pool yesterday. Mandy is from South Africa, and Pietra is from northern Germany. We were quickly driven to the beach at Cow Bay, where we were taken in a small boat out to the catamaran called Rum Runner. We joined a group of about 25, with a crew of 5, and sailed for about an hour out to the Mackay Reef. This area has a small white sand island surrounded by reef, with some pretty shallow areas and a crowd of birds breeding on the island. We were given strict instructions regarding the equipment and avoiding damage to the reef, then told to enjoy ourselves for the next couple of hours until lunch! Some folks were paying a little extra for some diving instruction, but that's never been an interest of mine, and I took a floaty noodle out with me to have a lazy snorkel. What we saw out there was just fantastic! The colors were so vivid, the water so clear, and the fish so numerous and beautiful, it is impossible to describe for you. The water was balmy, and the worry of stingers (box jellyfish, which can kill you) was not a problem way out here at 20km offshore. I snorkeled for about an hour, even being lucky enough to have a sea turtle come gracefully swimming past! I went back to the boat a little early, as my snorkel was leaking seawater into my mouth, making for some sore, salty lips! A short while later, we had a big lunch on board and a little informative talk by our crew. After that time to digest, we reapplied sunscreen yet again (3rd time for me in just 3 hours), and headed back out for more snorkeling. This time Glenn and I managed to find a sea turtle having a nap in the coral beds, then followed him around as he woke up and went around looking for food. I also saw a pretty huge fish biting off big chunks of coral and spitting them back out, much to the delight of the crowd of smaller fish around him! He finally found a crab or something and spent the next 10 minutes biting on it, when I was distracted by a big school of rainbow parrotfish. The sound they make as they stop to eat is almost loud, even underwater! It was just a superb experience, and I didn't even notice how badly I was burning until it was way too late. Back on the ship, I started to notice that it was uncomfortable to sit down. We had fruit and wine as we sailed back to shore, and I ended up standing the rest of the way. By the time we were dropped off back at the Beach House, all I wanted was to get the salt off me and rub some lotion on. When I saw my burn, I knew it would be a bad one. Sure enough, I required some after-sun lotion, borrowed from new friends, 3 beers, and a quick game of pool with some other friends after dinner to get me to attempt lying down. I didn't sleep at all well, being unable to lie on my back or sides at all, and traditionally unable to sleep on my stomach! 2-13-03 This morning my burn was even worse. I knew I'd never make it back to Cairns for 2 hours sitting in the car, and ended up lying across the back seat on my belly for the trip. We stopped in Port Douglas, a trendy high-end beach town on the way, for lunch and a bit of window shopping, and ended up stopping in to a pharmacist to see what they'd recommend. The pharmacist cringed when I showed her my misery, and recommended some 97% pure aloe vera gel, as well as solarcaine to numb the burn. We drove to our place in Cairns before applying any, and settled into the luxurious Lakes apartment by me laying out on the bed with goop all over my back. Glenn reapplied it for me a few times, and I made a good dinner in our kitchen (another luxury), before attempting sleep again. It was another uncomfortable night, but not because of the bed! Still, burn and all, the Reef was so worth it!!! I'll just wear full clothing next time!!! |
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| OOOoooowwwcchhhh!!!! |