en route to Cairns
So it was a bit of a funny story getting up to Cairns. I initially was going to hitchhike but, decided against it since I would be alone. So, I decided to look in to flights, which were quite expensive; then, I checked out the Greyhound schedule and found a bus but, I also posted an ad wanting a ride on a local rideshare site. The day before heading out I received an email from Igor, a 21 year old German on a working holiday visa, offering a ride and we coordinated to meet in Townsville (a ferry ride away from me, and an eight hour stop in his drive). He was driving from Mt. Isa (inland) and it took him longer than expected, which was fine because I walked around, used up some flextime on my phone, and meandered to McDonalds to use wi-fi and be in an easy and conspicuous spot. However, right when Igor arrived, he locked his keys in the car. Apparently this is the third time it has happened in the two months since he has been in Australia, although before, he was fortunate enough to have a window partially down. The shops in the shopping center were about to close but we went into the NewAgency to ask for local numbers (i.e. police, locksmith, RACQ – a AAA equivalent). The worker also gave us a piece of packing strip, and later a wire coat hanger so we could try to break in. It was rather unsuccessful. After an hour and a half or so, the locksmith arrived and we were ready to go. I drove the first half (just under two hours) to give him a break, and then we made it into Cairns just after midnight. I already arranged a hostel for the night, and ended up having to call the afterhours manager to get in. Igor and I parted ways, I think he slept in his car… The next morning I was picked up at 6:15am by ProDive for my live aboard diving trip!
Great Barrier Reef Live Aboard Scuba Trip!
This is one of the coolest experiences I have had! I am so happy I was certified and have been able to do as much diving, especially in the places (i.e. Fiji, Great Barrier Reef) as I have in the past month (I’ve logged 15 hours underwater!). Anyway, a quick summary of the experience: I lived on a boat for three days in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef with loads of people stoked on diving. Our meals, snacks, and tea were prepared for us and we had 11 dives (two of which were at night) exploring two reefs, but five different dive locations. I never had to worry about air usage (yay for efficient underwater breathing despite a smaller tank!) only depth. Protected by a stingersuit and equipped with the proper gear, I swam through coral caverns, saw sharks, sea turtles, sting rays, barracudas, napoleons, parrotfish, cleanerfish, clownfish, damsels, angelfish, butterflyfish, unicornfish, boxfish, surgeonfish, lobsters, crabs, shrimps, red bass, pufferfish, lionfish, eels, massive clams, potato cod, among heaps of coral varieties. In short, it was amazing.
A bit more detailed… As I mentioned I was picked up early and then was taken to the dive shop to sort out gear. Three vans took the 30 people, some of which were completing their certifications, some of which were certified, and one who was just staying out for one night, to the marina where we boarded our home for the next few days. We had breakfast, were assigned rooms, had a safety orientation, and then “enjoyed” a bumpy three hour trip out to our first dive location on the reef (I only saw one person “spew”). My roommate was Asia, a girl my age from the Netherlands, who immediately asked to be dive buddies. I agreed, even before I knew that she had been smart and rented an underwater camera for the trip! When we arrived at Milln Reef, we set up our gear and took our first dive in the Petaj area. Before each dive we were given a dive briefing with depth and directions and things to look out for. Gail, the “token Aussie” who was staying for just one night, asked to dive with us as well, and Erik, a French instructor, joined our group as well. It was superb having Erik because he had a really good eye, was great at underwater navigation, and often took us a bit different route than suggested so we wouldn’t be following a heard of divers. We stayed dive buddies for the duration of the trip and were usually fortunate to have the longest dives of our boat. When we did our night dives, we put glowsticks on our air tanks and had flashlights. One of my favorite things to see was sea turtle, especially as they were swimming to the surface! Also, with so many dives, it was great practice on working with the PADI dive table. A day consisted heaps of food, loads of water time, previewed by dive briefings: we did a dive before breakfast, ate, had a bit of downtime to consume morning tea and a snack, dove, ate lunch, dove, had afternoon tea and a snack, a bit more downtime, had dinner, another briefing, and a night dive. It was spectacular. In addition to some sun time, I also managed to finish a book that I was able to exchange once I was back in Cairns.
For those interested, see below for a summary of dive information.
Day 1:
Dive 1: Milln Reef – Petaj; 18m, 49minutes
Dive 2: Milln Reef – Petaj; 12m, 62minutes
Dive 3: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 10m, 55minutes
Dive 4: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 12m, 35minutes *night dive*
Day 2:
Dive 5: Milln Reef – Swimming Pools; 15m, 45minutes
Dive 6: Flynn Reef – Tennis Courts; 18m, 51minutes
Dive 7: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 14m, 60minutes
Dive 8: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 16m, 38minutes *night dive*
Day 3
Dive 9: Flynn Reef – Gordon’s Mooring; 16m, 47minutes
Dive 10: Flynn Reef – Tracie’s Bommie; 14m, 53minutes
Dive 11: Flynn Reef – Tracie’s Bommie; 15m, 45minutes
Cairns
Upon finishing the live-aboard, I was dropped off at Chris and Daniel’s house (although they go by Blakey and Plugger), which we arranged through couchsurfing (an online community of likeminded people who offer places to stay for travelers). There place was great (I had my own room since the new roomie was moving in the day I was leaving) and close to the center of the city! It was Sunday night, and since Monday was a holiday in QLD, we went out for a beer at the Pier, saw a few Aussie basketball players, and went to the casino... The guys wanted to go to the casino to “either make or break the night,” so they put $40 on red, the first go at the roulette wheel (as decided before we left the Pier). It didn’t work out in our favor. Apparently, “black always brings you back.” Then we had a go on the “chocolate wheel,” where we won $60, which really just put us even, but we put it in a group beer fund for the evening (which, in Aus, did not last long). We grabbed dinner and then went to meet up with my live aboard group, who arranged to meet up at a particular bar in town. It was a late night, but a really great introduction to Cairns nightlife! The following day was pretty low key (I failed to book a Daintree tour); we went to a look-out above town, visited a few of their friends (one of which, Crackers… everyone has nicknames! I was dubbed “Jackers”), stopped by a rope swing on a local river, walked along the promenade, and watched movies at their place. The following day they had work, and I needed to get out and explore the city. I walked along the waterfront, read by the lagoon, meandered around the marina, went to Cairns Central (a mall) for a few souvenirs (ran into Torrey who arrived the day prior), exchanged books for new ones at a hostel, then explored the botanical and heritage gardens and Mt. Whitfield conservation park. When I made it back, Plugger made dinner as we watched the news and saw updates on the death and repercussions and implications of Osama Bin Laden’s death. The new roomie got in that evening and we hanged out the following morning before she was kind enough to drop me at the airport!
Coming Home
I clearly was excited to be coming home, but it snuck up on me so quickly (particularly after WWOOFing)! That being said, I was still ecstatic that I had a ticket home. I mean, Cinco de Mayo, Opening Day, and Mother’s Day, all nearly right after one another, talk about wonderful! I had left a few bags of mine in Sydney in Dave’s garage, as I intended to come back to Sydney earlier to climb. However, that clearly didn’t work out (since the tickets were exceptionally expensive any day prior to my departure date from the country). While in Cairns, after my live aboard, I got a hold of him and found out that he arranged with a shuttle company to drop my bags once I arrived in Sydney at the airport during my five hour layover before leaving for the States since he was in Byron. So that was a relief! My delayed flight out of Cairns became the trend for my upcoming flights. Thank you books, pictures, music and updating this blog as a means of occupying my time! Once I arrived in Sydney, I took the train to the International Terminal where I found Chris, the shuttle driver, and, importantly, my belongings. I took up a few seats near the door and repacked in an area without much foot traffic. I did get a few funny looks, especially as I was drinking wine during this endeavor (it was either consume or toss!). Speaking of travel , it is SO much nicer heading east that west.
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