Bruce
Wallace's Trip to Australia
Fall '98
The
Coral Sea
By Bruce
Wallace
I flew into Australia, arriving late at night. Spent some time acclimatizing to Cairns by just browsing and wandering around the city.
On the second day, I went out on a boat to the Great Barrier Reef, my first tropical water dive. The dive staff convinced me that I would need a wetsuit, but then I spent the rest of the dive flooding my suit in order to keep from overheating. Tropical diving is everything it claims to be: vivid colours, visibility between 60-70 feet, and magnificent sea-live. I met "Big Wally", the resident Mauri wrasse who liked to play with the divers. The weather was a bit stormy, but it was a great dive and we were back on shore in time for dinner.
Next,
my first live-aboard: the RumRunner I,
for three days of great diving. We went about 120 nautical miles
out to Holmes Reef. It was rough sailing out to the site, but
that didn’t deter this skin diving Canadian. We did: Wall
dives, current dives, and drift dives, all with +150 feet of
visibility. There were White-tipped sharks and Reef sharks. In
fact every dive had sharks.
I was
able to view a shark feed. After chumming the area the boat crew
would run a line down to thedivers, then run a rod with bait down
the line so that we could watch the sharks feeding. There were
more types of sharks that I could count, with White-tips swimming
right out in front of me.
The colours of the coral reef are unbelievable. Green Sea Turtles would float by moving like flying saucers. They would hover in mid-water, then shoot off at an amazing speed.
Shark Feeding viewed from
"Down Under"
Some of the
sharks are pretty big.
Next
I booked a live-aboard on the Taka II. We went to the Cod Hole, Ribbon
Reef and Osprey Reef.
I saw another shark feed and a Potato Cod feed.
We did night dives where we saw Leatherback turtles and more White-tip sharks. I took an Underwater Photography course while on board so I had an opportunity to photograph some of the Lionfish, Scorpion fish, Clown fish, sea anemones, and sea urchins that I saw.
The diving platform on the Taka II
The galley (kitchen) on the
RumRunner I
There were more than sharks, some weird
mammal (Bruce) stopped by to pose for the camera.
If you are patient, you can take some great
pictures.
Another great shot of a local fish.
The reefs and corals were just spectacular.
In
seven days I managed 22 dives! Afterwards, I toured the
Australian outback and tropical rainforest. I even got in some
shore diving from the rainforest beaches.
Well, there's a traffic sign we don't see every day!
The best thing about the trip: The Coral Sea. Super clear diving, warm waters, incredible colours and life.
The worst thing about the trip: On shore, seeing the Cockroaches and Gecko Lizards running around on the walls.
What would I do differently: I would spend more time on land between the live-aboards.
What would I do the same: The Holmes Reef trip on the RumRunner.
All photographs copyright © Bruce Wallace
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