February 29th - Great Barrier Reef

There is Queen Vic through the palm trees!

"See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil"....Larry, Don and Chuck in their Poseidon hats!

" The girls" being welcomed back to the ship by some native Aborigines!

We struck out this morning for the Great Barrier Reef on a boat called “Poseidon”….so I guess we could call this entry “The Poseidon Adventure”. (Except that we didn’t end up upside-down on the ocean floor with Maureen McGovern singing “The Morning After”!) The forecast had been for clouds and rain but we ended up with absolutely PERFECT weather. (Maybe a little too perfect as far as my sunburned back is concerned!) The Great Barrier Reef stretches in a band that is longer than the west coast of the United States and is the largest living thing on earth that can be seen from space. And we know this because Walter Cunningham, the Apollo astronaut, is on board giving a series of lectures and he showed us photographs!

We were taken to three different areas on the reef for snorkeling. It’s the height of the season for box jellyfish, also known here simply as “stingers.” Their sting is extremely lethal so we wore special “stinger suits” to protect us. (It’s a fact that Australia has more things that will kill you than anywhere else on earth….and more of them live in this northeast part of the country – Queensland - than anywhere else!) The stinger suits are bright blue and even have hoods and mittens to go over your hands. We looked like a band of flippered smurfs going into the water! We didn’t actually see any jellyfish…but we did swim with the sharks! Yes! They were reef sharks who, although curious about our presence, didn’t seem to include us on their list of dietary delights! Having the chance to gaze into this underwater world was absolutely surreal! We were captivated by the steep coral canyons and spectacular drop-offs. And the brilliant colors of the fish and the coral absolutely took our breath away!

The second area was called “Stonehenge.” It was obvious how it came by its name when we saw all the pillars of ancient coral emerging from the water. This one was maybe my favorite since it consisted of a series of channels leading to secluded reef areas….each with its own amazing treasures. We saw a beautiful pale blue stingray, a 150 year-old giant clam and coral in the most incredible periwinkle blue!The last spot we went to was the spot where, in 1998, an American couple was inadvertently left out on the reef while diving. It was two and a half days before anyone noticed they were missing and no trace of them was ever found. The upshot of this is increased vigilance on the part of the tour operators. A very serious headcount was conducted before leaving any site. Happily, we returned to terra firma with all snorkelers accounted for!

Our Belgian friends, Jean-Louis and Claudia, visited the other major attraction of this part of Australia – the wet and steamy tropical rain forest. The salt water crocodiles here are the biggest on earth and they saw one named “Jack the Ripper” who, their guide claimed, had eaten twelve of his wives. I guess you wouldn’t want to be married to him….but, then again…. you probably wouldn’t be for long!

We have really LOVED New Zealand and Australia. We hate to leave this idyllic part of the world. Yes…we could live here! Especially in New Zealand where they don’t have all the nasty creepy-crawlies that populate Australia! But we are really looking forward to the exotic ports coming up. Next stop…. Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.

PS Just a quick word here about the annoying Australian flies…their persistence makes one understand those hats the people here wear with corks and various paraphernalia dangling from strings around the brim. It seems the pesky little nuisances are just seeking moisture from various facial orifices…. they say that an Australian fly will try to suck the moisture off your eyeball! Yikes!!