One Day

Day 52

"Now... bring me that horizon." - Jack Sparrow

I can only assume most people who live in northern hemisphere have one common dream...to one day dive at the Great Barrier Reef. I can happily say now that I can write that off my list. In my very initial travel plan I did not plan to go to Reef, but I figured that since I am so close to it now and I don't know if I'll ever again have the chance, then I might as well do it.

So I booked the trip from Port Douglas on ship called Poseidon. Originally I wanted to go with Wavelength since one woman in Cooktown recommended it to me, but it turns out someone else has been recommending it as well...they were totally booked out till September 1st! Well, I wasnt going to sit on my ass here for 2 weeks waiting for open slot so I called other companies and from what I heard, Poseidon was suppose to be pretty good as well.

To be perfectly honest, my expectations weren't high for this trip...and maybe because of that, I wasn't so disappointed. Yes, reef looked great. Yes, there was tons of different fish. Yes, colors were almost as spectacular underwater as they seem to be in millions of pictures. But...for some reason it just wasn't anything unusual after seeing Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia year ago. In my opinion, Ningaloo Reef was better, it offered more and in smaller area. Great Barrier Reef didn't offer anything spectacular for mundane eye. I guess if you are marine biologist, there might be more than meets the eye. But for casual observer I give hint: go to Western Australia and see Ningaloo Reef instead. Fewer tourists, fewer boats and much better preserved corals.

Here are some pics boat photographer took of me in water.





What else? Oh yea, did I mention I dont really like east coast? After over week here I can say that east coast has absolutely nothing to do with real Australia I fell in love with. The Real Australia was in Western Australia and for most part, in Northern Territory as well. This is a themepark for tourists. Granted, beaches and scenery are stunning here, better than anywhere else, but every place lacks soul, spirit and characteristics. Everything is built on tourism, not for every day life.

But all in all, there are still several "must-do" things in east coast(Whitsundays, Fraser Island) and I don't really have to spend that long here. Little less than 2 months and I am on my way to Tonga!