Cairns Ending as it Started

Though my last day at work had been long and hard it hadn’t been a bad day and in reality it was like many other Sundays before which was why I always had Monday off. Therefore on my first day on my return to being a backpacker I didn’t feel like one. I got up at 6am and did what I had done on many days off before. I put on sunscreen, packed my bag and headed out to wait for my ride to a boat. The reef was calling and I was finally answering. I was finishing my time in Cairns as I had started it, diving!

Any remaining grumpiness from the previous day and early start soon dissipated with the spectacular views as the bus made its way along the beautiful coast road to Port Douglas.  Once there the marina was our first stop and I was soon in my element once more barefoot on a boat heading away from land. The boat was Poseidon and the food and crew were great however I did find it awful crowded which was odd because whilst there were more people than there had been on the sail boats I had been on it was also a much bigger boat with more space per person. I think I’m just a small boat person, which considering my dislike of large groups isn’t actually that surprising. One advantage f a new big boat is it’s speed. Poseidon got us to our first location in record time and we barely had time for the usually safety talk, form filling and dive briefing before we were suiting up and preparing to get in to the water. I did have one scary moment where my temporary card was questioned. My actual card was sent to the UK but my temporary card was only valid for 90 days. When I went out on Poseidon it had been almost three month and I was still within the 90 days however the crew were unsure about accepting it as there is no photo to prove it is me. Thankfully because I had learned in Cairns they were familiar with the company I learnt with and a few questions satisfied them that I was one of the many who came for a visit and ended up staying.

As with previous trips I found myself getting nervous as we approached the first dive site. It had been over a month since I had last been out and I had completed less than 20 dives. I was still a newbie! What if I forgot everything? Of course I didn’t and the crew ere obviously used to this as they reassured me that as soon as I was in the water I’d forget all that and of course they were right. As soon as I was in the waster my worries started to fade as the wonder f the reef took over. There were some nerves as we descended but our guide kept and eye on us and soon my confidence returned as I discovered that I did indeed remember how to dive. Despite the length of time between dives I felt that even my first dive that day was an improvement on my previous ones. The site was beautiful and I was soon snapping away with my underwater camera which I had thankfully remembered to borrow from the hostel the previous night despite the busy evening. Too soon it was time to leave the water and as we emerged I experienced and unfamiliar feeling, I was cold! I secured my tank and removed the first stage as quickly as possible so my air could be refilled then headed straight to the deck for some sunshine. Imagine my delight on discovering there were muffins and biscuits up there too! As many of us enjoyed the sunshine one of the crew appeared with some laminated enlarged photos and started telling us about the reef and the creatures who call it home, sadly before she was done it was time to gear up again. My disappointment at missing her talk was short lived though as the excitement of seeing the reef surfaced again. Getting all the gear on is never fun, the tanks are heavy, the fins are awkward to walk in and half the time I forget to unhook my tank thus anchoring myself to the deck but it’s always worth it the minute I’m in the water.

On our second dive our guide took us through a short tunnel system which was the highlight of this dive for sure. I had never been underwater and not able to see the surface and predictably I loved it, which is good news as I want to learn wreck diving as soon as I can. I managed most of it just fine only hitting my head once and mostly managing to avoid any surfaces. I even managed to stay close to the ocean floor without landing on it! After our second dive it was time for a fabulous buffet lunch before we moved on to our third and final location. I tried to ignore the fact that it would also be my final dive for sometime but it was on my mind as we geared up.

We didn’t venture far from the boat this time and I did feel that we were more crowed on this dive than the others. We were three groups of six divers including our guides and usually we ventured in different directions this time though we didn;t venture too far from the boat. This was obviously their playground fro their tricks. They fed fish scraps so that the fish swam close around and in between us. Then later the photographer coaxed a tame larger fish out of hiding to be stroked by us so they could take our photos. I would have disliked this last dive except for the part in between these events. We were right at the continental shelf in between the first and second fish ‘show’we saws our second reef shark for the day and the biggest ray I have yet to encounter. I also saw and managed top photograph  a couple of smaller rays who were obviously disturbed by our presence as they both got up and replicated themselves slightly before settling back on to the sand.

 

All together it was a fabulous day out and a great end to my time in Cairns and the tropics. The crew were fabulous and the food was great and the locations were as beautiful as I have come to expect. IN fact this worried me. I mentioned to my manager on my return that visibility hadn’t been so great, it had only been about 10m whereas on other days I had been lucky enough to experience 20m. I think that once I start diving elsewhere I am going to have to seriously re-adjust my definition f ‘good’ visibility. Before I get that far though I hope to dive the reef in the winter when I have heard the visibility can be even better than I have so far experienced, now that will be something worth seeing. 

Living at the Reef

Ok so Cairns isn’t actually the Great Barrier Reef but it’s close as I could get without living on a boat or tiny island. As well as loving living so close to the reef I was working in housekeeping and reception at the hostel whilst enjoying the company of my friends old and new during my time off. In fact my Broome friend and I even went on a snorkelling trip together.

As lone travellers we were both used to going on trips by ourselves so we wanted to take advantage of each others company to do a trip with a friend for a change! We had both been out to the reef separately but both wanted to go back so a backpacker budget boat trip seemed the ideal way to end my friends time not just in Cairns but in Australia. We had a great day, even if we did sleep rather a lot on the boat and both managed to burn out bums. Not content with snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef and taking many photos with our hired underwater camera we made a proper day of it. We finished the day with a glass of wine at a local bar before heading in to the city for a forty minute massage at the night markets and a burger at my favourite Aussie burger chain, Grill’d; a place where the food and service is ten times better than MacDonald’s or Burger King/Hungry Jacks any day of the week. It was a great day even if it was a little sad as my friend had recently applied for and been granted her New Zealand working holiday visa and would be flying over there in the next few days.

Before she left my Broome friend had a surprise for me. She gave me a thank you/early birthday present in the form of a pair of platypus earrings. I had been happy to help her out with some visa stuff. Since I had already completed the process myself it was easy to get her through the online process quickly, especially as she only wanted the one year visa however I was delighted with my present and really appreciated the thought as well as the funky earrings themselves. I was definitely sad to see my Broome friend go but she left me with some good company. I was getting on well with my co-workers and spending time out of work with them, so much time in fact that I seriously neglected my TEFL course and my blog. After all when you have a friend who isn’t just willing but eager to go on walks along the sea front and to the botanical gardens what can one do but get out there and enjoy the city?

It wasn’t just my new friends distracting me from the more mundane things in life it was also the Great Barrier Reef. I decided to splash out and buy myself an overnight diving trip for my birthday but apparently I couldn’t wait until then as the week before I was due to head out I booked a last minute trip out to Green Island on one of my days off. I was fortunate to get one of the last places on the Ocean Free sail boat which put more emphasis on getting there and back in style as opposed to the other boat I was considering which was more about getting there quickly. I am so glad I choose the trip I did as I had forgotten until I got to Green Island that I don’t actually like the beach that much. Don’t get me wrong Green Island is beautiful and I loved walking through the trees glimpsing the sea occasionally until got to the end of the path then there was this beautiful beach framed by lush forest panorama in front of me.  Green Island is a resort so it has great facilities as well as a crocodile/koala park but none of this could hold my attention for too long. See as well as being a great way to get out to Green Island Ocean Free will take you on a dive. Yes, I know the point of Green Island is that you can walk in to the coral and snorkel but further out by the boat the coral was in much better condition and the chance of a dive was just too much for me. Not only did I get to dive but I was able to borrow the guide’s camera and have a bit of one-on-one tuition as he gave me some tips to improve my diving. It was a pretty sweet day off and made all my hours housekeeping more than worth the while.

Not content with my impromptu diving trip on my return I managed a quick shower before a friend and I were off to the cinema to see Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Quite by chance my day off happened to fall on Valentine ’s Day, usually I’m not fussed either way about the day but in this occasion I was glad since it meant I got to see this classic film on the big screen and share it with my newest young friend. I hadn’t seen it in years and it was very different watching it in my thirties than it had been seeing it in my twenties. In fact I asked my friend to try and re-watch it in ten years time as I had since it made such a massive difference to how I saw the story and the characters. Let’s just say I was a lot more sympathetic to Holly this time round.

It was yet another fabulous day off and more than enough to keep me going through my next six days at work. Usually I worked two or three days with my days off split up but I had swapped some shifts so I could work right though to have a day and a half off together. I even organised things so I could work on my birthday, all so I could finally get back to the outer reef for two days and one night of serious diving. 

The Deep Blue Sea and Me

Our final morning on the sea and I woke up at 5:30am. As much as I love to sleep once awake I find it very difficult to stay in bed unless I have a book. I did not have a book, well I had my dive books but I didn’t think they were really suitable early morning reading. So I got dressed as quietly as possible and headed upstairs. I grabbed a biscuit and said good morning to the on board cook but he was busy and I prefer to wake up before I attempt conversation in the mornings so I continued on up to the deck. Here I struck gold, I had the place to myself and the dawn light was producing some beautiful colours on the horizon which I sat and watched until the sun rose. A few people came and went and then as the sun finally appeared above the horizon the whole boat started to stir, it was time for another dive.

We had a quick dive briefing explaining how we would play a game to test for nitrogen narcosis and have a look at a colour card so we could see how different colours looked that deep down. Once in the water we slowly descended until we reached our maximum depth. Here we assumed our usual places kneeling on the ocean floor whilst we used our fingers to show prove we could add up to fifteen even at that depth. One of our group had trouble but she swears it was a misunderstanding, hmmmm. Anyway I was fine and so I was happy and then it was a quick look at the colour card with and without a torch to show how bleached out red becomes that deep down. I get the science behind the deep blue n all but it was still pretty cool to see it in action so to speak. I did have a slight moment of panic as one of my ears felt a little funny during the dive. It seemed t sort itself out but as we ascended I felt a slight but definite pain in my ear. As instructed I waited until the others had ascended and then our instructor came back and we ascended very slowly. The wait and slower ascension did the trick and once on the boat all seemed fine once more. I talked to a couple of people and discovered that sometime this happens when a person does a lot of dives in a short time span, especially if their body is unused to all the pressure changes.

Post stupid o’clock morning dive it was back on the boat for breakfast where our class was reunited at ‘our’ table and just happened to be first in line for the food, for a change. Before we knew it was time for us to hit the water again. This time three of us had opted to try underwater photography and our fourth fish identification as our final adventure dive. I did listen in on the fish identification talk but I still don’t really know what I’m looking at down there apart from very pretty/ugly/interesting small/medium/large fish. That didn’t stop me taking as many photos as I could of all the fish and of the fabulous scenery. On land I love landscape photography so I wasn’t sure how I would take to underwater photography as I didn’t realise that the underwater ‘landscape’ would be so amazing. It was frustrating as it was even harder to do it justice with the camera than it is on land still that didn’t stop me from trying. Too soon it was time to return to the boat but since it was so we could get our next level of certification we didn’t mind too much, also there was the post lunch dive to look forward to! Fortunately on this dive my ears behaved themselves and any worries I had of doing damage to them disappeared.

Sadly the time had come for our final dive. I went with two of my class mates and took my camera with me. One of the other girls took the lead and we followed her around the coral gardens for the last time. We swam against the current as instructed on the way out and with it on the way back however we misjudged it slightly and overshot the boat. We attempted to swim back but the current proved too strong for us. We headed to the surface and raised our hand for a lift back. We were slightly embarrassed but less so once we discovered we weren’t the only ones who had to ask for help back. I also have to admit I quite enjoyed the tow back and even more importantly having done it once I know I would do it again if I had to which makes my much more confident about going out as a certified diver.

Back on the boat it was time for our last meal together before the ride home. On the way home we chatted, looked at all our photos and made sure that we could all find each other on facebook, after all you never know when we might next be in need a dive buddy.

Certifiable....

Two days in a classroom and pool and 4 ocean dives and we were all certified and it was time to head out on our own. After lunch we paired up and headed up the deck to hear the dive briefing paying close attention as it would have been very embarrassing to get lost our first time out. One of the advantages of being certified was that we no longer had to disassemble and reassemble our gear. We had left it all set up after the last dive so it was a case of checking our air and getting everything on as quickly as we could so we could head in to the water.

The scenery was still fabulous but there was something special about being out on our own. Of course we did bump in to the others as we swam about. Since we were all new we were keeping pretty close to the suggested route around the reef. There was lots of checking on each other and even a quick surface check at one point to make sure we were where we thought we were but even with those we still saw the usual array of colourful fish as well as a reef shark, a trigger fish which my dive buddy spotted and warned me about and also a blue spotted ray. I wasn’t that fussed about rays before but they are growing on me. They cruise about the ocean floor taking their time and seeing what’s what, I like that. On the way back we also had a close encounter with a parrot fish. Now I know everything is magnified underwater but it was fairly big and headed straight for us, I felt like we were playing the fish version of chicken. Obviously we did not collide with the fish but it was close, I swear it was!

We were really lucky on or trip. The first dive of the day had been cut short for the certified’s so the crew organised for an extra dive to be squeezed in which mean that soon I was back in the reef this time with a different dive buddy and my camera. Once again there were lots of cool fish but the highlight of this dive was that we swam through what a short almost tunnel. It wasn’t much but it was very cool and both my buddy and I loved it so much we both declared out intention of doing some wreck diving in the future, in my case asap.

The next trip  in was different again as it was a night dive. This time we were a smaller group as three of  our class opted to do a few adventure dives. For me the lure was that once I had done them I would be allowed to dive to 30m and thus dive a wreck further down the coast. You can’t go in to this wreck but you can do you wreck adventure dive and it’s meant to be one of the top ten dives in the world so it seemed worth it since I was already out there ‘n all. We had to show that we could navigate with our compasses then it was a guided tour of the ocean at night. Apparently some people don’t like that when they look back all they see is black but I loved it. I had spoken to some certifed’s about their night dive so as per their instructions I hid my torch and waved my hand through the water and sure enough lots of little light spots appeared, bioluminescence in action, very cool!

The next morning we had another early start but instead of getting an early night I stayed up to talk to some of the other divers. I was just to hyped up to go straight to sleep. I did feel a little uncomfortable as I sat with some of my class mates who within ten minutes and all headed off to bed leaving me with people I had never spoken to. Still we were soon friendly enough and passed a pleasant half hour or so until I had finally calmed down enough that I felt it was time to head to bed and sleep.

Another Life Changing Experience

Ok that sounds a bit scary considering how this all started but this time it was in a good way and nowhere near as complete, so please stop panicking. The week that changed my life started in a boring classroom where I tried not to fall asleep as I watch videos about everything and anything that can go wrong when diving. Two days of classroom and pool activities seemed so innocuous even though I knew they were building up to the main event: scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Everyone who had been diving and told me I would love it. I have already said that I found the pool decidedly less exciting this time round but I did distantly remember the excitement of the first time I swam whilst breathing under water. However getting cold in the pool two days in a row and then struggling to find a mask that didn’t leak meant I was slightly apprehensive about how much I would really love being out in the water. Between the alternating excitement and worrying bouts I doubted I would get any sleep but I guess I had been working harder than I thought in the pool because I went to bed then before I knew it six am had arrived and it was time to check out of the hostel and head for my boat!

I met up with the rest of my class and the other passengers at the dive shop we had visited the previous day. From there we were taken to the reef terminal and our boat and home for the next two nights. Once we were on our way to the reef we were given the safety talk, shown yet another video and of course assigned our cabins and bunk mates. Having met someone who had been on the trip previously I was assured that though small the cabins weren’t as bad as she had feared. I think this is because she was certified. Our cabins were fine, they were after all only a place to sleep but I am sure they put us learners in the smallest ones and me and my bunk buddy in the smallest of all. I am sure this is karma’s retribution for being unable to pack lightly. Small as they were they were perfectly adequate for our needs. Stuff duly dumped and safety info absorbed it wasn’t too long before we were out on the reef and even from the surface it looked stunning. I don’t think I quite took in that I was looking at one of the natural wonders of the world. I was too taken by the way the rainforest surrounded the city we were leaving being and then continued all along the coast as far as I could see. It made me quite sad that after lugging it from the hostel to the shop to the boot my SLR had decided to stop working (ungrateful piece of technology!). Thankfully it was such a stunning memory I hope to hang on to it without the aid of my camera for once.

By 11am we were at our first dive site and it was time for us to suit up (not not like in How I Met Your Mother) and assemble and get on all our scuba gear for our first open water dive! We were out at the Milln Reef and the sea looked gorgeous. It was blue, clear and flat and I wanted to jump on in; which was quite fortunate as soon that was exactly what we were doing. Finally it was time to put all our pool practice to the test. We were in the open water. It was quite simply amazing. It is the most amazing thing I have ever done. We had to do a few skill tests but we did them kneeling on the sand at the bottom of the sea. It was hard not to get distracted by the fishes swimming about but somehow we managed it and skills completed we swam around the reef for a while just cruising and taking it all in. Honestly, there are no words for how amazingly amazing this was. My friends had all been right and my worries were for nought, I was hooked. To top it all off once we were back on the boat and waiting for lunch, since our divers were shorter than the certified divers, we saw a sea turtle swimming near the boat popping up for air now and then. My first sea turtle!!! I couldn’t imagine the day getting any better.

Back on the boat and it was time for lunch. Now our class happened to have adopted a table as our own which was right bedside the lunch queue which meant we got served first and were able to claim seconds as well. Can you tell that there was more than one backpacker amongst us? I think the other guest soon figured that one out too. After lunch it was time for dive number two. After our last dive we had to disassemble all our gear so we headed out before the certified divers to re-assemble and get ready and perform our buddy checks. Having decided we were all assembled correctly and that everyone had their air on it was time to get back in the water. So the second time I was in the pool it was a lot less exciting, logic says that maybe the open water would be the same, nope. It was just as amazing. I was under water and I was breathing and swimming and I wanted to stay there forever. I want to live there. I was absolutely without a doubt born the wrong species.  There were more skills tests but less than the last time. Our instructor tried to do as many as possible the first time so that this time we got more cruising about time. Oh my God, it was stunning. I love diving. I was so excited I even loved filling out my log book, working out my residual nitrogen and noting my depths and dive times. Who would have thought I would love paperwork so much? Sadly that was us for our first days diving.

The certified divers had one more day dive left so we headed out to the water with our underwater cameras and snorkel gear. Now I know this is going to be difficult to believe but I got lost. Not from the boat, it was a bit too big to lose but from my class mates. I did find them and got a few photos but nothing too exciting since having taken the camera out to have a play I had managed to put it back on the wrong setting. Photo wise our first outing together wasn’t that successful but it was till fun. However I was tired and it wasn’t as good as diving so once I lost everyone again I headed back to the boat to see what I could see from there. Once on board and in dry clothes I headed to the sundeck to discover that I had missed seeing some sea turtles and even though I waited around for a while they declined to return.

Once everyone was on board it was time for dinner where our reputation for being first in the queue was further established before we settled down for a night of chatting and checking out each others photos, annoying everyone had better photos than me, stupid camera – of course it was the cameras fault I didn’t put it back on the right setting and not at all my own stupidity. The certified divers were heading out on a night dive which we took great interest in as we were to go out on one the next night. For now though we could only look on and listen in which was fairly entertaining since their safety talk was quite amusingly given. Of course one advantage of not diving meant that we were first (surprise surprise) to get the evening treat before it was time for an early night. I was going to resist, I brushed my teeth and everything but it was apple strudel. I love apple deserts it was too much for me and a completely unfair temptation. I could only hope all the swimming would be working off at least some of those calories.

The next morning we were glad of our early night as we were up with the sun. Now it is well established by my nearest and dearest that I am not a morning person. I made this quite clear and fortunately I was not alone. The assembly and buddy checks were done without much conversation and the previous days banter was definitely missing. Once we were in the water though the time of day was irrelevant. We had moved to a different site in the reef the previous day so this was our second dive site ever and it was awesome and yes, you guessed it, amazing. I am not exaggerating or kidding. I couldn’t help but smile even though it meant I kept making my mask leak. Every time I got in the water I never wanted to leave it. Even the realisation on my first dive that Josh would have loved it (he loved snorkelling and fish) didn’t dim my enthusiasm, if anything it made it more precious. I have no idea why neither of us never thought to try scuba before. It seems insane with our mutual love of water, new things and adventure it simply never occurred to us, anyway I digress. Where was I? Oh yes dive three, location two, stupid o’clock in the morning. So laughably our skills on this dive involved navigation, fortunately they gave us a compass so not even I was able to get lost either above or below the water. Skills tested it was off for a swim. Two major events on this dive were reaching 16.9m, the deepest I had ever been, and seeing a sea turtle having its breakfast. I floated in the water and did my best to animate jumping up and down with my hands in two fists making a jumping motion. I am sure I looked completely ridiculous but it was all just too much. This was as close to heaven as I was going to get whilst still breathing.

Post dive it was time for breakfast, of course we were first, why were you even wondering? Before it was time for the most important dive yet: our qualifying dive. During breakfast we moved to yet another part of the reef but it wasn’t long before it was time to assemble our gear for the last time on this trip and then complete our buddy checks before we could hit the water.  Our final test was to hit 15.2m but not go deeper. We were warned that there would be a reward for success and punishment for failure. Being me failure was not an option and boy was I glad that I succeeded. This was my fourth dive in less than twenty four hours but the joy didn’t wear off. Every dive was as astounding as the last and the reef was just stunning. This time though the euphoria was something else, once we were back on the surface we were all qualified open water divers!!! But before we were all signed off there was the small matter of the dive test. Thankfully I hit 15.2 then stayed well above because that meant I got chocolate whereas my unfortunate fellow divers who got a little carried away by the stunning scenery and drifted below got crackers with vegemite and mustard. Sometimes it really pays to be..... pedantic, shall we say? Anyway vegemite or chocolate we were all happy as because in case you didn’t get it already, we were all certified open water divers!!!! Hells yeah!! And my life has once again changed direction, for now when I think about where I go and what I want to do there will be one question I shall always ask: How accessible will the nearest dive sites be?