Sugar Coated Rainbow Sprinkles: Cairns Day 2

Woke at 5+am for our Great Barrier Reef (GBR) trip (we had booked a cruise with Reef Magic Cruises from a friendly tour agency located along Abbott Street the day before for about AUD$240 per pax). Couldn't get used to waking up so early, didn't even have time to have breakfast (motels do not provide free breakfast). Drove to The Pier where all kinds of motor catamarans from various GBR tour companies, yachts and boats were moored at. Boarded our cruise catamaran at 8.30am, together with many other tall and large Caucasian (some from even as far as Ireland) tourists. The staff on board were warm and helpful in providing information about GBR to curious tourists.

At The Pier (which also houses many fine dining restaurants besides just booths for booking cruises)

Leaving The Pier

It was an approximate 1.5-hour journey to the GBR. They were taking us to their Marine World platform, located at a private outer reef of Moore Reef. Apparently, the GBR is divided into a few zones with different levels of restrictions towards human activities like fishing, tourism, aquaculture etc. Tourists are able to access the Green Zones (the GBR Marine National Park) and carry out activities like sailing and snorkelling, but Preservation Zones (Pink) and Scientific Research Zones (Orange) restrict human access, thereby conserving the coral reefs and minimizing damage to them. Methinks it is a great management strategy, but that would mean that we will be missing out on the full glory of the corals since what we would be visiting would probably be some tired-looking and tourist-harassed corals in the Green Zones.

On board, a famished Slug and I grabbed some of the cookies and coffee for breakfast, and listened as some of the crew members explained the programme for later, some rules on safety and environmental conservation, marine biology etc. We watched in amusement as some of the kids were given pictures of marine creatures and they got very busy colouring them away. A few other crew members went around encouraging the passengers to sign up for their optional tours (at an extra charge, of course) - helicopter flights above the scenic GBR, scuba diving (even for beginners), guided snorkel tours and helmet diving. Slug and I decided to take up this Adventure Snorkel Safari at AUD$45 each, which promised to take us further to a more spectacular reef wall on the other side away from their basic snorkelling ground.

The kids' artwork pasted at the drinks counter

The catamaran arrived at the floating platform ('Marine World') in the middle of the sea at about 10+am. At first we thought it would be just a normal boring platform for us to laze around, but we realized that there were other facilities and activities. For one, we went on their 30-minute Semi-Submersible Tour at 11am (there were other fixed timings too), which was like a near-surface submarine with large viewing windows taking us on a guided underwater tour of the reef. Slug and I learnt about coral reef shapes with the help of the audio commentary.

Little silvery fishes

Slug and I in the Semi-Submersible

Branching coral

Bushy coral

Table coral

Didn't expect the water to be that murky

Cute little purple fishes

The true colours of coral reefs are best seen when shone under white light (night diving)

A giant clam

Sea cucumbers with the dead coral

Oblique banded sweetlips

Sad to say, what we saw was unlike the bright and colourful coral reefs that we see in books and on TV. It is not that they do not have the colours, it is just that the spectrum of rainbow colours that makes up natural white light is filtered at different depths underwater. Red and yellow disappear first, that is why the reef mainly appears greenish-blue below. However, even sadder to say, there are glaring signs of global warming (and therefore causing coral bleaching) taking a toll on the coral reefs - we saw grounds littered messily with little pieces of chalk-white coral bits. To what extent can we preserve this natural beauty forever?

Lunch was at 12 noon, and it was a spread of egg mayo salads, fresh veggie salads, cold pasta salads, fresh fruits etc. Slug and I were dismayed - no pork, no fried food, no Coke. After lunch we roamed around on the platform - we went to the underwater observatory where we ogled at the fishes that swam around and the swimsuits of the unsuspecting snorkellers.

At the underwater observatory

Looking at the school of big-eye Trevally which came to feed

Me sitting at the edge of the deck for beginner snorkellers

Had wanted to go on the helicopter but had budget constraints

What a fine weather

One of the crew started the fish feeding session which drew many fishes to the platform, and while he explained to the onlookers more about the fish species and their feeding habits, the fishes swam about his legs and occasionally thrashed about to grab the food morsels thrown to them. Just then, Wally, the sociable resident Maori wrasse came by, delighting everyone who marvelled at its size and blue fleshy lips. He is actually so friendly that he allows snorkellers to go near enough to pet him.

Wally

A crew member feeding the fishes

Wally's blue face

Our Adventure Snorkel Safari tour started at about 1+pm. A small boat took us, together with 2 guides and about 6 other tourists, away from the platform and went to the opposite side of the reef before stopping. I started to panic - I did not think I was ready to snorkel (I can't even swim, for god's sake) in the rough waters alone and unaided. When I plunged into the water and realized I could hardly keep my head above water, I wanted to cut it short and quit. I waved to one guide on the boat to save me but the other guide in the water came over and told me to hang on onto his lifesaver. He did not give up on me! So there, all I needed to do was just hang on to the lifesaver and the guide just pulled me along. Ah, what effortless snorkelling.

I supposed stupid Slug was too lazy to swim and decided to come and hang on to the lifesaver occasionally. The guide led all of us along this vertical coral reef wall which was teeming with life - soft and swaying coral branches, vivid colours and all kinds of reef fishes - angelfishes, damsels, clownfishes, parrotfishes etc. He even grabbed some starfishes and sea cucumbers from the reef for us to feel, and disturbed a shark out of its hiding place just so that we could see. Unfortunately could not capture the marine beauty on camera, but it would be unforgettable for many years to come.

I felt sick and tired after drifting along with the waves for what seemed like hours. I was struggling with the goggles that fogged up too quickly and my coordination of breathing in through the mouth. It was a relief when the guide finally led us to swim back to the platform. Upon stepping on the deck, I dashed straight to the bin and out came my lunch (semi-digested egg mayo smells). Nevertheless, I was totally grateful to the guide who did not give me on up and leave me behind.

At about 4+pm, the catamaran left the platform and brought us back to The Pier. For the whole journey, I was slumped in my seat staring blankly ahead, nausea and exhaustion tumbling around in my stomach. As the crew bade farewell to every passenger that alighted, Slug and I left with that lingering feeling of warmness and appreciation for what the crew had done for us and what the GBR had to offer us. We picked up the car from the public carpark nearby and went back to the motel to have a hot bath.

At The Pier

Slug wanting to pet the fake croc

For dinner, we went to the Night Markets at Cairns Esplanade because it opened till late (at least later than the other shopping malls). We were delighted to come across the food court there which sold a wide variety of cuisines - Japanese, Korean, Turkish, BBQ ... ... and finally something that suited our palate - Chinese food! Apparently, the stalls selling Chinese cuisine adopt the eat-all-you-can buffet style. For the price that you pay, you pick whatever food you want and however much you want to eat provided it does not spill out of your plate. They have 4 plate sizes, with the smallest plate charging about AUD$7 and the largest plate AUD$12. Slug and I went for the AUD$9 plate and started to pile on the food - lemon chicken and sweet and sour pork!

Me outside Night Markets

We ate from this stall named Little Asian Delights

Buffet!

We love fried food

I guess we were too greedy, we could not finish everything (the fried food became quite sickening after a while) and were guilty of throwing such good food away. After dinner, we shopped around at the various stores selling honey, souvenirs, T-shirts, semi-precious stones, local delicacies, massages, tribal woodcraft, toys, manicure services etc.