The Udder Life: The Great Barrier Reef

Mark and I have been looking forward to this day. The last time we went out to the reef, it was about 15 years ago and we left from Dunk Island. The day was drizzly and the sea had a 1 - 1.5m swell. We were in a small boat with about 8 passengers and it was a dreadful trip. Everyone bar the captain, Mark and I was sea sick. One girl was still sick 2 days later!

All the colours we had been led to believe on the reef and the vast amount of fish.....we just didn't see them. It was dreary at best.

So we were hoping for a better outing this time.

Biddy and Bella on the ride out to the reef

The girls and I

We booked with the company that had given the kids a snorkel lesson a few days prior. It seemed fair. This company runs a much bigger show than the one we had been on previously. The boat that took us out was 3 decks and they took you to the outer reef where a permanent platform was set up. There was a dedicated snorkel area which I dubiously viewed due to the number of people on the boat (maybe 200 or more), but in fact it was pretty good. There was a resident "Wally" the Maori Wrasse (about 15 years old) and plenty of coral to look at, plus fish and the kids and Mark even saw a sea turtle! It was pretty good.

H getting suited up

Mark reckons he looks like a giant condom!

Me and the kids

Getting ready to set off

Mark and H

Tom spotted this turtle first! This is his pic with the underwater camera.

The trevalley (the larger fish) were really aggressive and whipped around when being fed.

time for a rest and some lunch

We booked to go out on a snorkel safari which took us out on a tender a little further out and a marine biologist talked us through various aspects of the reef and the aquatic life. Given that we were out in the middle of the ocean and dealing with waves and swell, the kids did FANTASTIC. H was a little upset at times because he got a few good gobfuls of salt water through his snorkel, and also there were places you could not see the bottom (or the reef) and it was f@#king deep!!! But all in all, he stuck out the hour and we all had a great time of it.

Except Mark.

setting off on the tender to the outer reef wall

I tried to get a pic to show the drop off from the reef to the sea floor. Pics don't show any depth of scale. Trust me...it was deep!

Coral

We have been snorkelling about 2 times prior. The first time, we were on our honeymoon in the Cook Islands and we pretty much just paddled around the inner reef area - which pretty much was just sand and sea cucumbers. No waves, no nothing.

The second time was the reef adventure from Dunk Island that I mentioned before. As I said, everyone on the boat was sea sick bar the captain, Mark and I. What I didn't follow up with was that when we got in the water, Mark got sea sick from the swell! He recovered ok once back on the boat (for a rest), but got sea sick again once back in the water. And then right again back on the boat. Weird right?

This time, proved to be no different. In the smaller shelter area off the pontoon, there was hardly any swell and Mark was fine. But once we went out on the safari, he was sick as a dog. Sicker in fact, than any time I have seen him (except a horrid bout of gastro about 2 years ago). I asked if he was ok, and he simply couldn't answer. The marine guy told him that mark was the second person ever he had seen that gets sick IN THE WATER! Didn't make Mark feel any better!!!

And then he spewed. Twice. Or maybe more, I dunno. I was snorkelling for both of us by this time. I left him to himself, because I had to keep an eye on 4 kids. But the three older ones were all happily snorkelling along, spotting sharks, jellyfish and what not. H was holding his own. We had a great time.

By the time we got back on the tender to go back to the pontoon and the big boat, Mark had had it. I was initially amused at his plight, but I took one look at him and he was GREY. Fairdinkum. He had absolutely no colour whatsoever in his face.

But the kids had a great time and I am very happy that we got them a lesson on using the face mask and snorkel, because they really just got in the water and took off.

I have to say that I was immensely proud of all of them, because each one of them - even the two little ones - jumped off the tender and into the water with their fins, snorkels, masks and safety vests on. Not one of them wimped out! And it was a bit of a jump too. (Heather Munro, can you believe that H put his vest on and made absolutely not a sound about it!! After all the screaming in swimming lessons!!)

H out on his own in the ocean

He did so well

This is Tom and Biddy and some other random!!

This is a shot of the group - my kids are in there somewhere...I dunno, I lost track of them - and it shows how far we were from the pontoon and the boat.