Diving at the Great Barrier Reef

August 27th, 2002 at 12:00am

Wow. The time has really flown by over the past 3 weeks. Australia seems to suit me well. I am having a blast. There’s too much to tell to get all the details so I’ll just have to list some of the highlights:

1. Diving in Cairns with Tusa Dive – 2 excellent dives at Thetford Reef (the Horseshoe and Magic Garden). Saw one cuttlefish (cool!), a stingray, and a yellow boxfish just to name a few.

2. Hang gliding with Sanne off the coast north of Cairns. All went well for Sanne’s run, and mine lasted about 30 seconds until we lost the lift and crashed onto the beach. Still a great time!

3. Going to Reef teach, a 2-hour talk about the Great Barrier Reef, given by Paddy Colwell, a marine biologist who’s been working to protect the reef for 12 years. While at his talk I asked him about privately guided dives, and he agreed to take me out to the reef for a day of naturalist diving with him. It was like diving with a human encyclopedia – he knows so much about everything including hard and soft corals and all the fish. We went to Micamas Reef and just a few of the things that I saw included fish swimming upside down, fish changing color, coral changing coral, and much more.

4. Meeting up with my family in Cairns! Stayed at a swanky beach-front 3-bedroom condo with my mom, dad, sister Kristine, brother-in-law Jim, and nieces Morgan and Jessica.

5. Diving at the reef again off of one of the pontoons at Agincourt Reef. I had 2 great dives at the Nursery Bommie and Point sites and saw a carpet shark (wobbygong), unicornfish, several barracuda, and 2 lionfish. My parents went along as well and snorkled off the pontoon while I went diving.

I have to break this up into 2 entries so I can include more pictures. So the rest of what I’ve been up to will be included in the next journal entry…

The harbor in Cairns, Australia

Me and Paddy Cowell doing our naturalist dives

Thetford Reef, at the Great Barrier Reef

Entry Filed under: Australia,Cairns,Diving