havecarryonwilltravel

Thursday we wake up at Lizard Island. It is change over day. The 3 day guests depart and the 4 day guests embark. We 7 day divers just continue on. To fill the time while the crew cleans the Spirit of Freedom, we go for a walk on the island. A stroll, really, through mangroves, up a small hill for a wide angle view and then down to the Marlin Bar at the 5 star Lizard Island Resort, where it is said that a room costs $1,100 per night per person and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt spent their honeymoon.

After the new guests board and do all the preliminaries, we motor back to Lighthouse Bommie to see the Minke whales again and for the new arrivals to do their checkout dives. We are in luck this time and see a couple of Minkes close up. On the second dive, we hang out on the mooring line for about 30 minutes with our dive gear on, and the Minkes glide by numerous times, a couple of them quite close. Effortless swimmers and so big. We are in heaven!

Wake up on Friday at the Osprey Reef. Have motored all night for the 120, or so, mile crossing of open water. It is rough at times and sleep felt interrupted by the motion of the boat.

Four dives today, the most spectacular being a shark feeding dive. I never thought I would do one of these, but I find myself sitting on the wall of a coral amphitheatre watching the frenzy. There are about 20 to 25 reef sharks, two large cod fish and numerous small fish fighting for a couple of cod heads. I was actually quite calm as a shark swam right at me and over my head after the frenzy had died down.

On the other dives today Murray and I find numerous nudibranchs and flat worms which we love to discover. They are so colourful and when they do swim they are so graceful.

Saturday, we wake up on Osprey Reef again for another four dives. We float in the void above a thousand foot drop off. Looking down into the depths, it is just black. Looking up to the sky is all blue water and brilliant. There is something about scuba diving that is peaceful. I could lay in the water and watch the fish for hours if I could.

Saturday night we cross open water again back to the shelter of the Great Barrier Reef. After about 10 minutes, we realize this crossing is not going to be easy and we pop some sea sickness pills. Our bed is laid out so we sleep perpendicular to the length of the boat. Not the best direction to lay when the conditions are rough. A person’s head and feet rock up and down when the boat rocks side to side. Laying parallel is better as the rocking motion is only from the right side to the left side of your body. I insist on sleeping parallel so I tuck myself down at the bottom of the bed and Murray lays down at an angle. The pills take effect and we are asleep way before we usually are. The pills are a success and when we wake up we are in calmer waters.

Our last four dives are wonderful, calm, relaxing and a great way to end our dive trip. We discover many creatures we haven’t seen yet, from nudibranchs to cuttlefish to leafy scorpions to gobies. We are sad it is over, but happy we have seen so much incredible wildlife.

Cuttlefish

Today our first two dives are at Lighthouse Bommie on Ribbon Reef #10. It is a known Minke whale stopping point, so there is some anticipation. During the first dive, the whale spotter does spot three Minke whales. By the time Murray and I surface, most of the other divers are snorkelling, all in a row on a line.

Minke whales are shallow swimmers. They do not dive really deep like other whales. They are also very social, and like to investigate snorkelers. They eat krill. Researchers are still trying to understand what brings them to the Great Barrier Reef every year. Perhaps mating, but no conclusive evidence has been found.

Murray and I quickly shed our BCDs, grab snorkels and slide into the water and take our place along the line. Two Minkes glide by followed by a lone one. They are smallish and very sleek. We wait and wait for them to come by again, and nothing happens. By this time I am getting too cold to stay in the water. We reluctantly get out.

Some time later, after we are both warm again, we realize that the boat is staying moored for an extra period of time, so we quickly suit up and slide into the water. No too many folks left in the water now, so the line is quite empty. We do not have to wait too long before a Minke whale swims by. Closer this time than the last ones that we saw. We are happy we got in the water again.

It is a great Minke Whale day.

6.30 wake up. We’re up anyway but there is a knock on the door. Quick breakfast. Cereal. Wet suits are still wet and there is no warm weather to warm them. Cold and slimmy. Geesh what a way to wake up. Giant stride off the back of the boat, let the diving begin.

The water is warmer than the air. At least it feels that way. Todays first two dive are on a pinnicle. A coral spire about 80 ft tall. We start at 65 ish ft and spiral up and around in a clockwise direction, making 3 or 4 loops until we are at 20 ft hang out until our air is low and we head up to do our safty stop. There are dive masters leading those who wish to follow but they think Debbie and I are experienced enough we can go on our own. There are a few others in the same position. This dive is straight forward and we think we can handle it so off we go. The second dive is on the same sight. We dive our own profile each time and are back on the boat in one piece with more experience behind us.

Steve’s Bommie the morning dive site is teaming with wild life and every inch of the pinnicle is covered with coral or sponge or something of interest. Two great dives and it is time for lunch.

I don’t know why but dive boats serve a lot of fish. Jump in the water, decend to 60 ft and view you dinner. Somehow this just doesn’t seem right but we get sushi for lunch anyway.

Dive 3 is also self guided. The Tower of Doom. Not so much a spire this time but more of a coral mesa. We head off counter clockwise this time to throw some variety into the day. The Crown of Thorns starfish has desimated this coral head so the diving is somewhat austere. We’ve dove sites like this before, lots of rock with a bit of coral here and there and a few fish. But there are a few sights of interest. Again we arrive on the boat after executing our dive plan.

Dive 4 is Gardiner’s Corner. This dive is planned much the same as the Temple of Doom.  The dive briefing indicated the last corner can be confusing so I check with the dive master and find out exactly what to expect. The first part of the dive is pretty much normal. Then it gets a little dicey. We are not sure of the place to turn but I trusted our instructions and we ended up back at the mooring line again. The urgency produced by not knowing for sure if we chose the right route back meant we swam quite quickly and if there was anything to see we went by too quickly. Once we reached the mooring line we spent some time and found a few things at about 20 ft.

There is a 5th dive but Debbie and I decide to skip it, download photos, fill out the dive log and and write the blog. Dinner is late and I don’t think we will make it much beyond that, the wake up bell is the same time tomorrow.

We board the Spirit of Freedom today with 24 other divers. This is the first time on a dive boat with more than 16 divers. First impressions-it is crowded, too crowded. More later.

There is a lot of talk when first on a dive boat. There is a boat briefing, a safety briefing, introductions, dive paperwork to fill out, dive gear to set up, lunch, and then two dives, both with briefings. Lots of talk. It is now 6:30 pm and we have just showered and dressed after the second dive. Supper soon.

Like I said, the boat is crowded. The dive deck is very congested. Six divers per side all trying to gear up at the same time. Not much elbow room. Once in the water, the ocean feels crowded. There are only three dive masters/instructors for the 26 people, so if we want to follow one, we are following 4 or 5 divers, which we did as we need to get our bearings. We are used to diving with very few folks so this is quite a change for us.

Okay, now the bright side…..FISH!!!

In the two dives we have seen fish we have never seen before! I do not take my camera down today so I can concentrate on diving, so no photos. Tomorrow, I shoot. We see a HUGE balloon fish, small ray, a couple of turtles, all sorts of unfamiliar coloured fish, both small and large.

Tomorrow we go to where the Minke Whales happen by. Fingers crossed.