Watery Wednesday - The Great Barrier Reef

In May 2009 I had the opportunity to go back to Australia on a second home exchange.  This time I took the 7hour drive to the north to see the Great Barrier Reef.

Yes I did do some snorkling, even though the water was way too cold for my liking.  But you can't go all the way to the Great Barrier Reef and not snorkle.....right?

You can read about my trip to Australia by clicking here.

Don't forget to click here for more Watery Wednesday photos! 

Our Last Day in Oz

After Sharon and I returned from our day on the Great Barrier Reef, we enjoyed a nice peaceful dinner and a glass of wine at the restaurant "The Deck". This was perfect as it is located right here at Captain Cook Cabins.

We get an early start this morning (May 14) for our drive back to Surfer's Paradise. We decide to just grab something for breakfast on the road. Hmmm, Kangaroo sounds pretty interesting for breakfast doesn't it?

Lucky us! We were able to get back to Surfer's Paradise in time to enjoy a few hours on the beach and get some last minute shopping done before catching our flights in the morning.

As we were heading back to our car after some souvenir shopping, Sharon decided to join in on a backgammon game with a gentleman sitting on the terrace in front of Del Greco.

This was a Greek Mediterranean restaurant and it seemed like such a fun place. So we decided to have dinner here before heading back to the house to get our packing done.

Well this is the part I hate the most. When another great home exchange comes to an end and I have to go home.

This has been an amazing 3 weeks in Oz! It's been great to share such an awesome experience with my good friend Sharon. We've met so many wonderful people, but none as wonderful as Helen! And this is one of the great things about home exchanging. You meet the people who "Live" where you are visiting. And there is no travel book or Internet site that is going to have better information than the tips the locals will give you about the best places to go and sites to see.....and especially where to eat!

I miss you Helen!

I wonder where in the World my next home exchange will take me?

Great Barrier Reef - Part 3

Rise and Shine again!

Yea! The skies are blue and the waters are calm enough to set sail today. Sharon and I pick our spots on the "Spirit of 1770" and settle in for the 1.5 hour cruise to Lady Musgrave Island in the Great Barrier Reef.

Lady Musgrave Island is only 32 nautical miles from the Town of 1770 and is the second most southern Island on the Great Barrier Reef. So the fish and coral we will see are going to be amazing! We've been told that this is some of the best snorkeling in Queensland.

So off we go with Captain John at the wheel.

Let me give you a little tip here if I may; please make sure that you take some sort of pill BEFORE taking this boat ride! I can usually keep from sharing my breakfast with complete strangers on a boat as long as I'm on the top deck...outside. So I didn't feel the need to take something to prevent me from embarrassing myself in front of everyone today. Trust me, this is not an easy cruise. So if you tend to get the itziest bit qweesie on a boat.....take a pill!!! Enough said.

We arrive at a pontoon only 300 meters from the Island. We are then divided into three groups, A, B and C. This is for the purpose of taking the launch to Lady Musgrave Island and the glass bottom boat ride. So as group A heads on out to the island and group B boards the glass bottom boat ride, group C can't wait to get in that water!

The water is just to darn cold for me, and I am still recovering from the ride here. So I decide to just enjoy the views for now.

Sharon however could care less how cold that water is and gets a wet suit on and wastes no time snorkeling.

It's now our turn to take a tour of Lady Musgrave Island and Lagoon. This Island is unique to the Great Barrier Reef. It is formed by a huge 8 nautical mile circle of coral wall which protects the 1000 acre inner lagoon. Lady Musgrave Island is commonly known as the "Jewel in the Crown of the Great Barrier Reef". And as we set foot on the coral beach it doesn't take long to see why.

As we walk along the coral beach, our guide is very informative about the many species of birds that live on this island. One we were able to see was the White-capped noddies (black noddie). This is where they nest in large numbers from October through March.

We weren't as fortunate to see the Burrowing Shearwaters (mutton birds) even though we are here at the end of their nesting season which is October through May. Seems they feed at sea during the day, returning at dusk. As we walked along the path, we were able to see their burrows.

There are several fascinating things about this Island, but for me the most fascinating was the Pisonia Grandis. Now there are several types of foliage here such as casuarinas, pandanus, argusia and scaevola. But it was interesting to learn that the Pisonia Grandis has the ability to regenerate itself from fallen trunks and limbs.

Well it's time to get off of this Island and get back to the pontoon so I can do some snorkeling! For those of you who know me, you know that I am not crazy about getting into the water, ever! Plus, the water is still just too darn cold for me. But this is the Great Barrier Reef! So after Captain John hands me a wet suit and insists that I need to get in that water, I take the plunge.

Okay, I'm going in!

Okay, I'm in! Hello fishy.

There I did it. Are you happy now?

After enjoying lunch, which is provided as part of this tour, we take a ride on the glass bottom boat. It was amazing to see all the different types of coral along with the many types of brilliantly colored fish. We also saw a sting ray, a small shark and we were lucky enough to see a sea turtle.

It's time to head back to the Town of 1770. As the sun sets Sharon and I are in agreement that this trip was well worth the drive and the wait!

There are plenty more pictures of our day on the Great Barrier Reef. Go to "Where's Debbie" and click on the album "Great Barrier Reef Part 3"

The Great Barrier Reef - Part 2

Rise and Shine!

It's time to head on down to "Lady Musgrave Cruises" for a day at the "Great Barrier Reef"!

However, even though I called in advance regarding weather conditions and the certainty of being able to cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef today, and confirming the same yesterday.....there will be no cruise to the Reef today. Due to weather conditions. Rats! They have however guaranteed that we will sail tomorrow. Hmmmm, we are leaving tomorrow. Now this is where flexibility in plans plays a big factor in your travels. See, today is now Tuesday May 12, and Sharon and I had planned to leave 1770 on Wednesday so that we would have all day Thursday to prepare for our flights on Friday.

But we have to see the Great Barrier Reef! We didn't come all this way not to snorkel in those beautiful blue waters and see the coral and marine life that lies beneath, now did we?

So it is agreed that we stay one more night. We also decided that we did not want to stay at the Sandcastle 1770 for the next two nights. We wanted a little more adventure in our accommodations than just your average hotel room on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the pool with views of cockatoo's flying from tree to tree.

Yes, we want more!

So we cancelled our reservation for tonight and drove down the road and booked a little cabin in a woodland setting for the next two nights at a place called "Captain Cook Holiday Village" .

How cool is this! After we settled in it's decided to take the little walk from our cabin right down to the beach and try to enjoy what little sun there was today.

After a few hours of having the beach completely to ourselves we decide to head on back to the cabin and get ready for dinner. Where shall we dine tonight? Well since we had so much fun last night at the Saltwater Cafe, we head on over there to see what tonight's menu will be for dinner.

Seems it is Curry Night!

After ordering our meal and enjoying another great bottle of Australian wine we take a look through Sharon's book "1,000 places to visit before you die" and know that we have made the right decision to stay one more night and make sure we see the "Great Barrier Reef"!

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just click here "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "Great Barrier Reef Part 2"

The Great Barrier Reef - Part 1

Sharon and I had such a great time Saturday (May 9) with Helen exploring Byron Bay and being able to see so many beautiful sights. The Cape Byron Lighthouse, the Coastal Rain forest, the most Easterly Point of the Australian Mainland are certainly sites we will never forget.

But today (May 11) we are headed to a place that most people dream about seeing. One of the world's seven natural wonders, and we are going to drive there! The Great Barrier Reef!

We start our 7 hour drive to the north at 7 am in the morning, but not without first stopping at Australia's version of Starbuck's, Zarraffe's Coffee. I have become a big fan of their White Chocolate Mocha over the last two weeks and there is no way I was starting this long drive without one!

Our first stop is 3 hours later in a little town called "Gympie". We found a great little cafe where I had a latte along with an apple strudel and Sharon had an English fruit cake with a cappuccino.

As we continued to drive north we came across a little place selling opal's. So how excited are we to be able to shop for some genuine Australian opal's. Seri of Wind Song Opals in Gunalda QLD was an absolute sweetheart, helping us to decide on just the right stone. I ended up with 2 rough cut opals and a beautiful sodalite bracelet and matching earrings.

I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the Australian road signs that we saw along the way. You know these warning signs had us keeping an eye out for a Kangaroo that might just jump out in front of us or see a Koala munching on some eucalyptus!

We finally make it to our destination, the Town of 1770.

1770 is a small (very small) seaside village which was the second landing of Lt. James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour in May 1770! This is where we will be staying before heading to Lady Musgrave Island to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef!

After we check into our hotel, "Sandcastles 1770" (which is really in Agnes Waters) we decide to check out where we will be boarding our boat to head out to the Great Barrier Reef in the morning. We stopped in at "Lady Musgrave Cruises" and found out that we need to be here bright and early in the morning because the boat will leave at 7:30am!

Well it's time for some dinner. Now of course Helen had recommended this great spot with outdoor dining overlooking Bustard Bay, so guess where we had dinner? That's right, "Saltwater Cafe & Pizzaria". This was the perfect place on the waterfront with an open air bar and dim lighting.

It's been a long day and I need some wine! So Sharon headed up to the counter to order us a glass of wine while I was taking some pictures. She was informed that she had to go to the counter to the left and order it there. By now I've joined her and no one is here. But there is this sign that reads "Ring the Bell". Sharon did just that and who shows up but Anna, the girl from the counter to the right who told her to go to the counter to the left!

But we can't order a glass of wine. What!! Good news.....we can only order a bottle of wine. I love this place! It seems that they only have a license to sell the wine, not serve it. We decide on a $19.95 AUD bottle of Crouchen Riesling, an Australian wine (of course) from Brown Bros. Winery in Milawa.

We then claim our spot at one of the candle lit tables and settle in with our wine and then it dawns on us that this place does not have any menus. How do we know what we want? Well it seems that the menu is posted every night on a chalk board. Tonight is "Pizza" night.

So pizza and wine it is! Since we couldn't make up our minds, we ordered a pizza that was half Banks and half Endeavour.

A toast to good friends, pizza, a bottle of wine, and the adventure we are about to experience tomorrow....The Great Barrier Reef!
If you would like to see more pictures of our journey today just click here "Where's Debbie" and then see the album "Great Barrier Reef - Part 1"