After a two hour delay due to plane maintenance we were out of the outback and into Brisbane city. I was disappointed we got in to the city at night because it truly is a beautiful place filled with modern architecture and beautiful bridges (one of which was designed by the same person who did the harbor bridge in Sydney). We arrive at our hotel, exhausted after our full day of travel, around 10:30 pm. It was a beautiful hotel located just in sight of the city’s botanical gardens, which we could see in the morning were in full bloom. It was by far the nicest hotel we had stayed at along our journey. Unfortunately, we had a shuttle service picking us up at 6:30 am the next morning for our flight in to Gladstone so we didn’t get much time there.
We arrived into Gladstone, and let me tell you, there is not much to see there. It is a very industrial town full of mining locations and huge exporting ships on the harbor. We boarded the “Heron Islander” which is the catamaran that transports people to and from the island. From there it was about a 2 hour journey to Heron Island. We were all shocked at the islands beauty and crystal blue water as we pulled in to the wharf. Just by glancing down from the boat we could see the bight colored coral and fish that populated the famous Great Barrier Reef. Before exiting the boat we saw well over three reef sharks, huge sting rays, sea turtles and fish that made up every color of the rainbow.
Upon our arrival we were given complementary drinks and served an amazing buffet style lunch out by the pool. Mom and Doris enjoyed their first pavlova, which is a traditional Christmas time Australian desert. We made our way to our room to change in to our swimming gear and found our luggage had been hand delivered. The room was beautiful with a view to die for! It was only about a 10 meter walk to the start of the ocean. At low tide you could walk out for about a mile exploring the reef and marine life without the water rising much above your knees. Doris, Mom and I did just that for about an hour and couldn’t believe all the different types of fish, coral, and visibility of the water.
Soon after, we all decided to go for a snorkel in the harbor. It was so neat to be up close and personal with the different types of fish and to observe all the different corals and plants that make up their environment. Mom really enjoyed her first snorkel with the fishys. We took a quick shower and headed to dinner which was included at the resort. Every meal, may I add, was amazing. After a delicious dinner we headed to the helicopter pad located near the harbor to look at the stars. A guide pointed out the different constellations and planets that were visible. An interesting fact I learned was that the southern cross (a constellation which can only be seen in the southern hemisphere) is only visible during the winter and fall seasons because of the lighting and placement in the sky. I was disappointed that Doris and Mom weren’t able to see this (I have many times before) but the clarity of the sky and other stars out that night sure made up for it.
The next morning I got up early for a yummy breakfast and my scuba instruction session. The instructor briefed me on the equipment before heading to the pool for practice. My first breath under water was a bit shocking. It is not the same feeling you get when you take a normal breath on land but more constricted and short. After getting use to it I was able to relax and concentrate on other things like equalizing my ears as I increased depth and inflating and deflating my BCB (scuba vest) which controlled my buoyancy level. I was excited but very nervous to get leave the pool and put my practice to the test 15 meters below the surface on the Great Barrier Reef.
After an hour coffee break me and the rest of the intro scuba group (a French couple on their honeymoon) headed to the dive boat for departure to the outer reef. We geared up, check our air tank levels, and took a giant (I wish I could stay graceful) step into the ocean. We then followed the ropes down to the bottom of the reef. My ears didn’t exactly agree with the climb down to the bottom but we went gradually, equalized our ear and sinus pressure along the way. Once we were to the very bottom the instructor signaled for us to let go of the rope and let the current take us down the reef. Not long after that the other girl in my group started to panic because she didn’t like the feeling of restricted breathing and following the current. She spun around quickly (managing to hit me in the head with her steal air tank) and started to swim towards the surface. Our instructor motioned us to swim up as well to take care of the problem. Once we surfaced she decided diving wasn’t for her and chose to go back to the boat. So the instructor, the other guy and I re-submerged ourselves to the bottom to begin our adventure along the reef.
It was scary at first and difficult to get use to because the current was really strong. It was important to relax and let yourself go with it and not fight against it (dodging reefs and sharp coral was often an obstacle). Once I relaxed, I was able to see the natural beauty of this new underwater world I had never seen or experienced up close and personal. We saw so many different types of bright colored fish that lived in the coral and reefs like little neighborhoods or communities. We also got to see a sea turtle in the distance and came up to a large spotted grouper about a meter long! It was amazing and I instantly knew when I reached the surface that I was hooked. We returned to the island on the dive boat in time for lunch. I then spent the rest of the afternoon out by the pool enjoying the view and the amazing weather while Doris and Mom went out on the snorkel boat to begin their underwater adventure.
They enjoyed their experience just as much as I did. It was an ongoing competition throughout the weekend to claim to have spotted cooler things under the water then the other had seen. Mom and Doris claim to have seen “hundreds” of sea turtles, sharks and even a whale (I leave that up to you to decide if they were telling the truth). We all enjoyed a nice dinner talking about our new underwater experiences and how we were going to cram in another session before we left the next afternoon.
After dinner we walked along the beach to see if we could see any sea turtles laying eggs because there had been a lot of previous spottings. We heard something up near the top of the dune and realized it was a sea turtle digging a role to lay its eggs. We watched (as much as we could see with the moonlight) this amazing process with another family and their two children. We were not allowed to shine a light on the turtle until the digging process was over because it would distract the turtle. Once the turtle stopped we dimly shined our cell light over in the area of the noise and were shocked! The turtle was huge! About a meter long and wide (defiantly related to some kind of dinosaur).
The next morning we ate breakfast by the pool and met at the harbor for our second underwater experiences. My second dive was even more enjoyable then the first. I saw so much more than I did the first time because we were underwater for about 45 minutes instead of about 20 because of the girl’s panic attack during my first dive. This dive came within 2 feet of a giant sea turtle and about 2 meters away from a reef shark. It was absolutely breathtaking and had a smile on my face the entire time. I couldn’t have had a better experience and I am now really interested in getting my diving license.
After lunch we headed down to the harbor to catch the catamaran back to Gladstone. We took our final pictures and were jealous of the people filling our spots on the island. We had an amazing trip. It was by far one of my favorite and nicest places I have been to in Australia. I was very fortunate to get to share that experience with family who enjoyed it just as much as I did.
We are now back in Sydney and Mom and Doris have New Zealand to look forward to in the morning (Monday the 28th). They have a lot of fun stuff planned and I am excited that it is now their turn to experience the unique beauty New Zealand has to offer. As for me, I have plans to celebrate my 21st birthday in Sydney with a bunch of my friends from Wollongong. It will be good to see everyone again and spend some time with them before I have to head home. I then plan on doing a little road trip to some North beaches since I haven’t had much experience with the North coast yet. I might even head back to Wollongong to skydive for the day. My plans are pretty flexible until the 8th of December when I meet Mom and Doris in Melbourne for our three day trip there.
Keep Doris and mom in your prayers for a safe and enjoyable trip to New Zealand and I will be keeping everyone posted as best as I can.
I can’t believe I leave this amazing country in two weeks! Can’t help but to have bittersweet feelings about the situation. I'm sorry there are no pictures for this blog. Unfortunatly, I droped my camera in the water the first day on the island so mom has all the pictures on her camera. But be looking for them on facebook soon!
Love you guys very much!
xoxo
