The two of us booked a trip to Cairns at short notice via the Internet and we set off, Ron via Singapore for a bit of work first, and Lucy from Hong Kong. We met up in Cairns on the Saturday. Ron had arrived first and made good use of his time gathering pamphlets on this and that. We booked ourselves onto a boat for Sunday, and a couple of other trips for the end of the week.
Sunday was our first introduction to The Great Barrier Reef (GBR). An early start for the day to be ready for our pick up, which arrived spot on time and took us to the Supercat. This is a large powerful catamaran that can take about 60 people to the outer reef in a short time. There were about six divers, a dozen or so try-divers and a couple of score snorkelers. The whole operation was very slick and well run. We had a couple of really pleasant dives. It did help that the weather was ideal. No one got left behind (!!) and a good time was had by all. We saw beautifully healthy reef, numerous fish, old friends and new, a turtle and lots more. It was a good introduction to the GBR.
Next morning we packed slightly damp dive gear for yet another early morning pick up. This time we joined up with our fellow travellers to fly to Lizard Island to meet our dive boat. This catamaran was bigger still. There was a full boat - 26 divers and numerous crew of about a dozen. Because of our late booking we got the last vacant berths. This turned out to be a small, ill-ventilated bunk bedded cabin below the water line. As minimal time was spent there it did not matter. Those cabins on the main deck were very nice whilst those on the upper deck were luxurious. The boat was 'Supersport', run by an organisation called Mike Ball. They have a fleet of four boats in Australia and PNG. It was a great few days. The service on the boat was first class, the organisation was first rate, and the diving some of the best we have ever had. Lucy was also able to take a photography course, which pleased both her and Ron, who no longer has to load new films for her. The boat sailed south over the next four days stopping for diving, diving and more diving along the way. It would be hard to say which site was best as they were all good. The reef seems to have recovered from the extensive bleaching and was healthy and full of life, big and small. If anyone is considering a trip to the GBR, we can strongly recommend the Mike Ball setup. Let us know if you are considering booking with them as we have some 5% reduction cards to give out.
Thursday morning saw us safely back at Cairns and reluctantly saying farewell to crew and fellow divers alike. It had to have been some of the very best diving we have ever had. Just to relax a bit the following day we went white water rafting on the Tulley River. I suspect we were wetter for longer that day than when we had been diving. We managed to spend most of the time in the raft but had our fair share of spills and thrills (and the bruises to prove it!).
Our final full day was a gentle train trip up the scenic Barron Gorge to Kurunda and the rain forest. We came back down via a cable-car over the rainforest canopy. All very pleasant. We did not even have a swim when we got back to the hotel. Our only truly water free day. At least it gave us an opportunity to dry everything properly before our reluctant return to Hong Kong.
Lucy Taylor