Good Reef – Scuba Diving at Australian Coral Reefs
I was in Cairns post-‐festival so the next thing to do on my list was the Great Barrier Reef. I booked a tour and chose the expensive option of the ‘Silver Swift’ boat. I could have shopped around but I decided that I wanted to get on with it and spend as little time in hostels as humanly possible! I think they are a good option for backpackers but I prefer my own space and sharing a room seems a bit circa-‐ 1997 school trip to me!
Ahoy!
All aboard the Silver Swift, it was a nice smooth boat which is ideal for people
prone to sea-‐sickness –no names mentioned! The crew, were professional and upon seeing my declaration of being an asthmatic, they advised me to wear a life jacket and have a travel buddy at all times. A little excessive I thought, and I completely shunned the idea of the jacket. It was bad enough that I wasn’t allowed to dive due to my respiratory ailment, so I thought I would survive snorkeling without a life jacket-‐I mean how wimpy would that make me look! I did recruit a nice German lady called Isabel to be my’ buddy’ though.
I opted to hire a ‘stinger suit’ for the day for a mere seven bucks-‐a small price to not be murdered by a deadly box jellyfish. We were in ‘Stinger season’ after all. Some of the jellyfish were the size of a human thumb and could still kill you! Yikes!
The Greatest Shoal on Earth!
The boat was to take us to three sites on the outer reef. It was my goal to see a sea turtle and get a cheesy photo of me swimming next to it as we made eye contact while I gave a thumbs-‐up. Alas this did not happen and although some of my counterparts reported turtle and shark sightings, the biggest creatures I saw were Parrotfish and a giant clam. I was a bit disappointed by this but you can’t predict what mother nature’s watery world will display.
I was not disappointed by the surroundings. The reef is a stunning colorful city under the sea. The coral houses are amazing, and there are so many varieties of resident fish to see going about their daily business in the azure ocean. The Great Barrier Reef is so huge it’s visible from space!
Starring role in ‘Open Water’
As the crew told us to freeze and stand in the same position for a head count, I had flash backs of the film ‘Open water’. It’s about an American couple that are stranded on a similar diving excursion on the Great Barrier Reef., due to an inaccurate headcount. Some of the crew told me stories about this really happening to people in recent times! Luckily the ones who were accidently abandoned were later rescued. With this firmly planted in my mind and slightly freaked out I decided not to venture too far!
I Sea an Alien!
We went on a snorkel tour with one of the guides. He pulled out a weird black sea cucumber type thing out of the sea. I held it and it felt squidgy. To score higher pints in the weird-‐sea creature stakes, he dived back down and this time pulled out a bizarre orange thing with tentacles. He jokingly put it on his baldhead to create a living wig. I thought it was quite amusing. He held it up to a Japanese girl who started screaming hysterically-‐ even more entertaining! I held it too and wasn’t freaked out at all. I kind of wanted it as an obscure pet. Can you imagine people’s faces if you walked down the street with that on a lead?
I had some good times on the reef but it was very tiring being at sea all-‐day and snorkeling is exhausting! I was looking forward to getting back to have a good night’s sleep. Little did I know this wasn’t to be.
Bugging Me!
That night I moved into a new hostel. It looked really nice and had good communal areas. I chatted to some random people and decided to leave the conversation when one of the guys started chatting about serial killers and how many of them live in Australia. That is always a conversation killer -‐no pun intended, and I wondered if he was one of them. Happy to not be sharing a room with him, I met me new roommates, a German couple (not as seedy as it sounds).
We were happily chatting away when the girl started itching and hitting her legs. Complaining in Deutsch, I asked what she was saying. Her boyfriend casually explained that we had bed bugs in the room. Say what? He helpfully pointed to my top bunk bed. I looked and to my abject horror saw big bed bugs crawling all over the mattress. I jumped away in disgust and stared manically spraying the bed with ‘Bushman’s’. The German girl practically had a coughing fit so I apologized profusely and opened the door. I left the room to think about my next move.
It was midnight, reception was closed and everyone was in bed so I couldn’t complain. I formed an escape plan and as fast as you could say ‘bug’ I was speed dialing every hotel in Cairns until I found one that was willing to check me in so late. I went back in the room to collect my backpack and found that Hans and Gretel were in the same bed kissing. Awkward. Bedbugs and an amorous couple-‐not really the ingredients of a decent nights sleep-‐I was so happy to be out of there and in a clean private room!
