Cairns-Day Two

Great Barrier Reef Experience!!

We walked to the Marina at 7 am and boarded the Reef Experience boat by 8:00. 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day from early on, around 30 degrees (86 F). After boarding, we walked right up to the sun deck on the upper level and large cushions outlined the perimeter of the deck. As we laid comfortably in the morning sunlight, I had a moment to reflect on how incredible it feels to again, make your dreams come true. It was the Sydney Harbour Bridge feeling when I got to the summit. This time, it was that I could go back and conquer my uncertainties of snorkeling on the Reef. (When I was here the first time, I wasn’t the calmest child, and got easily flustered. My snorkeling mask fell off and I couldn’t swim while putting it back on, which meant I couldn’t see what below me. All I saw was the coral’s shadows and it all looked much taller from above water, because I couldn’t see the correct depth perception. I also wasn’t the best at paying attention to directions and rules, so I couldn’t remember if the coral stung you or killed you or if it was harmless. Frightened, I swam as horizontally as possible back to shore and was pretty anxious about going back in.) I didn’t want that to be my

 impression of one of the natural wonders of the world, so I always wanted to do it over again, the right way. Ten years later, there I was.

One of my favorite parts of the boat was the crew on it! They were so enthusiastic, very friendly and fun. We had a delicious egg and ham roll for breakfast with fresh fruit while we listened to the debriefing of boat safety. They had a ten-minute course in what-if the boat crashes, by an iceberg or Jaws chomping on the side of it. They made it sound actually fun, out on our rescue boats, in the middle of the ocean, taking silly pictures. (As great as that sounds, we all preferred the plan to stay ON board).  It was a two-hour boat ride to the Outer Reef, specifically to Hastings Reef for the first

location. We had a chance to sign up for an introductory scuba dive and my initial reaction was absolutely not. This was because Lindsey is taking the official scuba dive course in Byron Bay and comes back and tells us all the complex things about diving and all the horrid things that can go wrong if you don’t do exactly what you have to.  I’m usually not one to say no to adventure, but I just wasn’t in the mood to ruin my Cairns trip due to a ruptured lung, bends, or decompression sickness where they have to rush you to a hospital to go in a decompression machine. I’m also not usually a worrier, or one who thinks of the negative consequences outweighing the fun, but for some reason the whole diving under water thing freaked me out. I also had no idea how frightened I was of the idea, which took me by surprise. I never thought I’d have the opportunity to face this newfound fear. In fact, I didn’t think I was afraid of anything, except for being in the dark alone. That’s about it.  Anyways, I wasn’t diving so none of my anxiety mattered. After the information session and breakfast we got our wetsuits and snorkeling gear because we were getting close to the sight! It was so beautiful. All you could see was the perfect cerulean and turquoise blue water meet at the horizon and the patches of coral making an exquisite pattern in the water. It wasn’t a windy day, so the water was pretty calm for being in the middle of the ocean. We got our gear on, after a few minutes of struggling with the already soaking wet

 clingy material and a rocking boat. Thank goodness I’m not prone to motion/sea sickness. When the boat stopped, we were all so ready to get in the water and start exploring! First though, we had to go over the final rules about where we could snorkel out to, how far (90 meters out) and within a 45-degree angle of each side of the boat. That way, if some one starts drowning, the people on board can signal for it. All the signals we learned (I’m okay, help, having fun, time to come back, swim closer to the boat, man-eating shark around-just kidding) reminded me of spotting when water-skiing.

 Speaking of sharks, they were son the top of people’s list of fears for the day. Why, I don’t know. Sharks are harmless if you’re smart about them, and I’ve realized how we are so programmed to think of shark equally danger.  It’s because we see TV shows of the world’s scariest creature or most dangerous animals, and sharks always seem to make the cover. What about the tiny teeny box jellyfish? They are the deadliest animal in the ocean and kill more than saltwater crocodiles, snakes and sharks combined. But everyone fears the Great White…who doesn’t actually hunt for humans because of the shark’s slow digestion in comparison to the human’s muscle to fat ratio. They ARE among the most dangerous animals because of their extreme power, but that doesn’t mean they are going to use that power. People get mixed up with most dangerous and most likely to attack and kill you. Very different. Alright, I’m done (for now) advocating for sharks.

Some of the crew members came up to explain how the scuba diving rounds will work, and how four people go at a time. They called off people for groups, and got to group six, when my name was called. Wait, my name? Looks like some of the jokester crew members decided my fate for me. Heather, Justin and Tyler also signed up and were in group seven. I decided to get over my very newly discovered fear of diving, and just do it. They would call for group seven after about an hour of snorkeling. I got my bright green flippers on and put my mask on, then slide off the boat into the warm ocean water. I swam away from the boat and looked down through my mask to see the incredible sight of the Reef. The coral was brightly colored and full of tiny fish swimming back and forth against the current. Only a few meters from the boat, there was a giant drop off (yes, just like in Finding Nemo) and the ocean floor fell down barely out of sight. It was the strangest sight that made you realize you really were in the middle of the ocean. I desperately wanted to see sea life that would linger out in those deep waters, but no such luck. I turned around and swam around mesmerized by the entirely different world under the ocean’s surface.  

After a while, it truly feels like you are a part of the unique ocean world, and forget about the fact that there is 

anything else besides what you’re swimming with. Huge fish, bigger than my torso swam right up to my side and dove down as if they were playing tag. THIS is the real, completely harmless and wonderful experience of snorkeling I was looking for. They mentioned to not touch the coral because some will sting you, but mostly because the animal takes years to grow and we don’t want to destroy it with our touch. Parrot fish were everywhere, and their rainbow colored bodies looked like  beautiful abstract paintings swimming around. The most beautiful fish to me were the small electric blue fish that swam in small schools. They reminded me of my favorite wild flower, forget-me-nots. Simple but stunning. 

Rabbitfish <3 

My favorite fish we learned about from the marine biologist on board were the clown rabbitfish. They are smaller yellow fish with white and black stripes on their faces and they have the most endearing lifestyle. Once they find a mate, they stay with the other for life and are always within a meter distance from the other. They move as if they are one and take care of the laid eggs on shifts. If something happens to one of them and it dies, the other will die within a few days…as the marine biologist said, of a broken heart. 

Sure enough, when I saw one, the other wasn’t more than a fins reach away. 

After about an hour of adventuring around the amazing site, I heard a whistle with a shout for group seven. My group swam back to the boat and went to where our dive guide, Benny, was waiting for us. He gave me a ‘hang lose’ sign with his thumbs and pinky finger, all proud that I decided to come along. (We didn’t use thumbs up because that meant ‘I need to go up to the surface now!’) We had a brief information session on all the gear and what to push and what to definitely NOT press. Of course, there was a big red button on the vest that

 we couldn’t touch. Lindsey was in the group before us and she looked very confused as to how we would move if we didn’t use that button because it was how you positioned your depth in the water. That didn’t make me feel much better because she didn’t know how we would regulate our buoyancy which is the most important part of diving (besides the whole breathing thing). Apparently, that’s the main issue people have…breathing. I thought that’d be the easiest part, aside from being under water for 30 minutes and never going up for air. We were shown how to use the regulator (the mouth piece attached to the oxygen tank) and what to do if water gets in it or if it falls off. You have to blow hard in almost a spitting motion to get the water out under water. That part freaked me out because it was hard to trust that the water would be out before you breathed in again. If you breathe in with water in the regulator, you’ll choke and get water in your lungs and can’t swim to the surface fast to get air because you have to slowly move upwards. My anxiety became more real as I felt the comfort of being on land in the open air dissipating. As we walked to the edge of the 

boat, we were told to sit with our feet dangling off the edge in the water. Benny came down with each of our vests and tanks and placed them around us. It was SO heavy!! I know I’m no weakling, but I sure felt like it at that moment. If it wasn’t heavy enough on my back, he added 12 pounds of weights to the waist belt to help sink when we get in the water. At this point, I’m just praying the funny guy, Benny knows what he’s doing. I felt like we shouldn’t be scuba diving after a 20 minute lesson on what the gear was. Now he’s putting MORE weight on my person and I didn’t understand how I wouldn’t just sink to the bottom of the ocean. Maybe if I had any background knowledge of diving at all, I would’ve felt more confident about it. Vest, tank and weights on, with my breathing regulator in hand, we were told to scoot off the landing into the water. I could barely move with all the added weight but I think my adrenaline helped me out. In the water, the tank felt much lighter and I was able to focus on what Benny was saying-which was essential for surviving. He told us to try breathing under water so we lowered ourselves using the rope under the boat and breathed in for my first time completely under water. It felt bizarre. 

There is Nemo!! He's small but he's there

The air in the oxygen tank is the same as the outside air without humidity, so it is compressed and cold. You could feel the difference and I don’t think my lungs liked it at first. It actually started hurting a lot which made me think I was doing something wrong, but he said that’s normal. Another thing to remember was to breathe normally, as in the same counts in as out, and never hold your breath or your lungs could collapse. Well, I made it that far so I wasn’t about to get scared away by any mention of rupturing or body parts collapsing. Another important component to remember was to make sure to pop your ears as you went down every half meter or so. If you don’t they would be very painful and easily could rupture as well. At this point I’m thinking that ‘rupture diving’ would be a more appropriate name. We also learned how to clear our mask if and when it floods after we smile or move our face at all. Since you can’t just take it off like you can with snorkeling, you have to look up, hold the top of the mask on your forehead, and quickly breathe out through your nose. After practicing all of our what-ifs, and getting a very quick okay sign from Benny, he jumped in and down he went. I guess it was time, ready or not! 

The four of us went under water and through our cleared mask saw Benny below our feet. He was signaling to let go of the rope and come down, while popping our ears. Easy enough right? You’d think so, but for some reason I wouldn’t go down. I just physically wouldn’t move so Benny had to pull my arm and guide me downwards. I didn’t have time to react and I could feel my ears hurting. They wouldn’t pop. Oh great. I remembered what he said, to swim up a bit and let the change of pressure pop them for you, and that worked for one ear. Then I remembered how he said it’s dangerous if one ear is equalized and the other isn’t. He kept signaling to follow him but struggle fest (me) was having a rough time. My lungs hurt more than before and that freaked me out because they’ve never felt like that before, but I had to maintain a steady breath. So far, I didn’t see how scuba diving was peaceful and relaxing. I’ve never felt so panicky and the guide didn’t seem to notice or care. It’s that moment when you realize in order to be okay, you have to just fend for yourself. So I focused on breathing, moved my jaws and head around, and finally got my ears to pop and my lungs to adjust. I decided I had to teach myself to swim downwards and as awkward as it felt, I accomplished that downwards motion. I caught up to the group who were also struggling in their own ways but seemed for the most part okay. We all gave Benny the okay sign and kept swimming. After I collected myself, I was able to realize where I was…diving in the Great Barrier Reef amongst friends. I started enjoying myself as Benny showed us his favorite spots of the Reef and we swam about 9 meters down (30 feet) down to the floor. He reached out for my hand and guided it to a giant clam, about a meter long and wide and I got to touch it. It reacted to my hand and closed which I should’ve expected but it took me by surprise. 

Giant clam!

It was incredible down there. THIS was a whole new world, getting inches away from the coral we were looking down at before, and swimming amongst the colorful fish instead of above them. Schools of fish swished by us and blinded our vision for a few seconds. It was hard to remember any of the diving rules down there, because my mind was taken to a new level of stimulation. Every nerve in my body was thrilled with the sights and feeling of the whirling life before us. Whenever I would swim further down, my oxygen tank hit the back of my head or would fall off to the side of my body. I thought that was normal so I just kept going. Breathing under water for a half hour became more natural, although transforming into Dark Vader was a new experience for me. The sound of the constant in and out breathing was so loud but became less distracting as time passed. For a few moments, I was only focused on what was around me. I got to feel what living in the moment truly feels like. When nothing in your past or future exists and it’s only the heightened sense of the present. It was literally breath taking, as at times I had to force myself to remember to breathe. 

When the time was up, we swam back to the boat and slowly swam upwards while paying attention to our ears and breathing. We did it!!!! I’m so glad I was able to realize I had a handicap and then had the opportunity to rid myself of it. I felt humbled by the vastness and immense power of the ocean. Its good to feel out of your element and have to find your own strength, whether its mental or physical. What a better place to do so then in my favorite place in the world.

Scuba diving= accomplishment

When we got out of the water, the heaviness of the tank became a reality again and Benny looked at me in slight shock. He hadn’t tightened the tank all the way and was in amazement that I was able to swim steady with in flopping around and hitting my head. We just laughed and how I thought that was normal and he apologized for not paying closer attention. We boarded the boat along with everyone in the water snorkeling and went about twenty minutes further our second location, called Breaking Patches. Here, we snorkeled for hours and saw less colorful coral, and a larger variety of sea life. I didn’t think that was possible, but it was! 

We swam for a while and Heather and I came across a large sea turtle that was by itself about to come up for air. It popped its head out of the water and dove back down to the coral. The marine biologist was giving a snorkeling tour and she saw the turtle as well and led us feed it with the plants from the ocean floor. We didn’t touch it because the sunscreen that was on our hands is highly toxic to the turtle’s shell. It swam right over us and it was one of the most magnificent creatures I’ve seen that close. After snorkeling the rest of the time, discovering and recognizing the Reef’s diversity, I felt so complete and satisfied with my experience. The only thing I didn’t see unfortunately was a shark. Just a reef shark or nurse shark would’ve made me happy, but they were out farther and a few people saw them towards the end. Next time, maybe. Next time :)

We had a beautiful, tropical lunch on the way back to the mainland, chatting about our amazing day and sharing stories and photos. It was an absolutely magnificent day.