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.

H doing his thing

He had the moves and the style!

Back on the tender to go back to pontoon

Hmmmmm.....grey.  He was GREY. 

It was a big day for a 3yo.  

Cruising home

Tom and I

Tom had such a great day and was so competent and confident.  He did me proud. 

The little mermaid herself

Biddy

We're here Cairns!

After Townsville, it was a straight run through to Cairns.  We arrived in not the most hospitable weather - a tad damp - but it was still warm enough.

Distance travelled: 361kms (3254kms total)

Our campsite seemed to be smack bang in the middle of a family or friends Easter gathering (turns out it was a whole stack of army peeps from Townsville up here for Easter).  But that was good.  There were plenty of kids and whilst the army lot mostly kept to themselves, they were friendly enough.

This is the first camp ground I have been to that gives you a tour of the grounds before you set up.  The caravan park is set on 28ha so there is quite a bit to get around.  Typical...we couldn't be further from the pools and waterparks!  That's what you get when you book an ensuite site!!

Our site

At the waterpark

small slides

the girls 

a dirty big bucket that fills continuously and then tips out over all these screaming kids.

H found his feet in the waterpark and was off! 

The bigger slide

The Sun Lagoon pool.  One of 3 pools in the caravan park 

Us in the spa - excuse the blurry pic.  A selfie whilst being bubbled about!

We set up camp, took the kids to the pool and settled in.  The following day was Good Friday and seeing as nothing was opened, we just lazed around the pool all day.  Brilliant.  The weather was now sunny, hot and bloody humid.  But the pools are fantastic and the waterpark here is great, so who cares about the heat and humidity?

Easter Saturday we also didn't do much - this idling around is great!  Could really get used to it.  By this time, I had to do a spot of washing and despite the heat, the clothes don't dry all that fast because the humidity is so high.  So we've had a fair rotation on the clothes line.  The a/c in the van has also been getting a pretty good flogging workout while we've been here too.  We sent the kids to one of the park pools this morning to have a lesson on snorkelling in preparation for going out to the reef.  Tom and Biddy found it easy, and Bella did a great job too.  All three of them got it first go.  But Henry......he is a budding aqua star.  Three days ago, he wouldn't put on goggles.  Today, he donned a snorkel mask and breathing tube and fins.  AND he did it perfectly.  He was the last one to hand in his stuff and ended up snorkelling for over an hour.  He also did a pretty good show of it during the races as well.

the kids all listening to the instructions

3 days ago, H wouldn't put on a pair of goggles.  Now he is not only wearing goggles, but a snorkel and fins too!!

Right at home

All of 'em

Biddy and Bella snorkelling

Biddy and Bella

The instructor with H 

And then back to the waterpark

Bella

Tom

Each night throughout the school holidays, there is a movie show for the kids.  This is sort of like a drive-in but without the cars.  A huge screen on a grassed area to watch.

The Easter Bunny had his work cut out for him this year in delivering chocolate eggs.  The heat and the humidity caused a few of the bigger eggs to be delivered slightly melted and dinted.  But the kids didn't seem to mind.  There was a bit of a reduction on the egg deliveries this year, so we haven't had to fill up the fridge with chocolate and displace more important stuff like beer and wine.

Easter Bunny visits

H's first EVER Easter Egg

Easter Sunday was also spent lazing around the pools.  Now it is becoming my new norm!

The kids were DYING to hire one of the assortment of bikes, and we chose this one.  Let me tell you, it is no picnic for the adults that had to pedal.  Mark and I took it in turns, but even so, the heat and humidity got to us and we packed it in with 15 mins still left to go.  Straight to the pool.

All this swimming equals some very tired kids though!

Easter Monday we thought that perhaps we venture outside the caravan park and take a look at some touristy stuff.  We made up a bit of an itinerary which promptly got chucked out the window after our first stop.  Coffee World and Chocolate World.

Coffee grinders (the box types).  We have one of these at home!

Various coffee percolators from around the globe and through the years

This is a museum of all things coffee and tea from around the globe.  I had no idea that there was so much stuff dedicated to coffee and tera drinking.  I could have spent hours there looking at all the stuff - and I'm not all that interested in the history of coffee!

Of course, Mark was mesmerised by it all, especially all the coffee beans.  And then when you added chocolate to the mix (ginger chocolate at that), he nearly passed out!

Our next tourist stop that day was the Crystal Caves out in the Atherton Tablelands.  Now this was really interesting.  It was created by a bloke named Rene Boissevain and he had a passion for gems, crystallised minerals, fossils and rocks.  He has searched the world for them and has parted out much money to create a fake - but very convincing - mine INSIDE A SHOP!  There are more gems and minerals here than I have ever seen and the best bit about it, is that you are allowed to touch the vast majority of them.  Rene not only wanted to bring these beauties to the public to see, but he wanted to experience them just as they might if they mined them themselves.

Tom - who is a bit of an amateur rock collector, thought that this place was particularly great.  Out of his own money he bought a couple of crystal rocks (one was amethyst, the other I am trying to remember what it was).  We also cut a deal between us, and he got a geode which he cracked himself in the shop.  The first one was a bit of a dud, so he got to have another go with another geode.  He was hoping for smoky quartz, but the tinny little bugger got an amethyst one!!!  Apparently they are quite rare to get.  it doesn't surprise me that he got this.

Tom cracking his geode

Tinny bugger.  Actually cracked one with amethyst in it.  They are hard to get we are told.

Undoubtably the crown jewel of the place is the Empress of Uruguay.  This is an ENORMOUS amethyst geode.  Rene didn't mine this one himself, but a mate of his did.  He paid $US 120,000 in the 80's for it and recently, one of the staff told us that he had been offered $6 million and knocked it back.  It is truly stunning and beautiful.

This geode is the Empress of Uruguay.  Absolutely beautiful.

Distance travelled: (will get back and update)