More Like the Whit-FUN-days! Part II

We boarded the boat at 11:30 AM and were fed immediately. Keep track of our feedings; it gets out of hand quickly. After some introductions we headed out to sea and our first destination: Blue Pearl Bay. It was finally time to put those scuba lessons to use for real. Natalie, Lane, myself and Team Spain were the only certified divers on board and so Angie gave us first crack at seeing the sights. Unfortunately, Lane was sick and could not dive, but the rest of us were able to go.

Blue Pearl Bay’s main attraction, aside from the coral of course, is a huge Napoleon wrasse named Elvis, who, after what must be thousands of tourist trips into his home, is essentially tame. He lets people pet him, and although we did not get close enough to him to do so, we did catch sight of him for a while. He’s big, probably the largest fish I’ve seen in the wild. We also saw a batfish, which is also fairly large and appears to be completely flat. I had to end my dive early, though, because I sucked down my air ten minutes faster than anyone else. I’ve been told I have large lungs, but I might also have been just too excited to actually be diving in the GREAT BARRIER REEF. This meant Natalie had to come up also, because scuba is based on the buddy system. Oops. Sorry for that. Luckily, I don’t think Angie or the Spaniards saw anything in that final ten minutes that we hadn’t already seen.

By the time we got back to the boat we were nearly frozen. It wasn’t that cold on its own, but after 35 minutes in the water everyone’s teeth were chattering. But tea and coffee and nachos were waiting (that’s feeding #2) on the boat, and somehow everyone’s body temperatures got back to normal. We ate again, dinner, two hours later, and then most everyone went to bed because we had to get up at 7 the next morning.

I guess this is as good a time as any to describe our living conditions for these few days. As you board the boat, there is a small patio-like area with a table and benches. It lies directly below the cockpit, so people used it despite the weather. This outdoor area led immediately into the main dining/living/sleeping area. Two tables dominated the room, which also housed the smallest galley/kitchen that I’ve ever seen, and also a computer and radio corner. Off to each side, down three stairs, were the sleeping compartments. Each side had a private double and a shared double, which slept two and four people, respectively. The shared double had only one entrance, so Natalie and I had to climb over Tim and Nicola’s bed every time we wanted to get into our bunk. The beds were separated by a curtain. It was awkward. Also, we were right below the hot tub (located on the bow). The first night was a little rocky, and the sloshing kept me up forever. The second night someone turned it on right as we were about to sleep and basically transformed our little bunk into the most uncomfortable place in the world: hot, humid, noisy. The bathrooms were also located down the steps, and were the size of airplane bathrooms. The sink faucet elongated to become a showerhead, which meant that not many people took showers, including me.

Friday we went to three places: Luncheon Bay, where we snorkeled while Angie took some people on introductory dives, Nara Inlet, where we took a short walk to a tiny cave with Aboriginal art, and Maureen’s Cove, where we went on our second and final dive. Maureen’s Cove was even more impressive than the previous dive: we swam between walls of coral, probably 10-12 meters high, of all different shapes and colors. There was a huge growth of plate coral that was several meters across. I hope the pictures to which I’ve linked accurately convey the full wonder of this place. Anyway, I was able to control my breathing and lasted much longer underwater this time. Then, when we were in the dinghy on the way back to the boat, Brad pointed out a yellowish shape underwater close by: a sea turtle. Natalie and Eugenia, who were in the dinghy at the time, pushed their masks over their eyes and dunked their heads; I was on the wrong side of the boat and couldn’t get my mask back on in time, so I missed it. Oh well. We’re sure to dive again.

We ate five times on Friday: breakfast, tea, lunch, afternoon post-dive snack, dinner. Oh, and we saw three whales in the morning. It was even sunny for a brief period in the morning, and so a few of us stood on the bow and rode the waves. Bad idea. We got absolutely drenched, and the only pair of shorts that I brought didn’t dry until after we got back to JCU, so I had to wear pajama pants for the rest of the trip. The weather was not especially conducive to drying clothes.

On Saturday morning we couldn’t even snorkel because we had to head straight back to Airlie Beach; the wind was too strong for us to make any stops. It was still a fantastic trip though: good diving, good people, good food (and lots lots lots of it). Bad weather, but, you know, everything can’t go right. I’d do it again in a heartbeat, especially if that heartbeat somehow gave me A$550 to burn.

Photos of the trip can be found HERE. Not all of them are mine; the crew had an underwater camera and took lots of pictures and movies and then put them on a DVD, which we purchased for A$25.