Enjoying God's Goodness: The Great Barrier Reef

Today was the day for our adventure snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We paid extra to spend an hour with a marine biologist guiding us in the water to see the best of Reef. We were excited to finally by able to experience the wonders of this beautiful place.

We left the hotel in a coach with a driver from the Quicksilver Tour Company. Fort Douglas is about 50 minutes north of Cairns. You drive right along the coast. Very nice views.

BTW, did I report 2 million people come to this town of Cairns each year - mainly to snorkel or scuba dive in the Reef. It brings 2 billion A$ into the local economy!

I caught a couple of pictures along the way. We saw kangaroos sleeping under the trees in one area. Also saw The Mirage - the very first modern resort in Australia. The idea of a golf resort was new in the 1980s.

We arrived in Fort Douglas at about 9:30 and went right to the boat at the marina.

There were 2 identical catamarans side by side at the dock. Only one was going out today.

On board they had coffee and tea with crumpets - no I mean assorted store bought cookies for us. Wide screen TVs showed videos on how to snorkel and dive along with underwater scenes like we would experience.

This interesting looking houseboat was in the short channel to the Ocean.

This is the Marina entrance. You could walk outside along the docks or you could walk inside the buildings and shop. You had a choice in the morning...on the way out in the afternoon you were forced to walk through the buildings!

Not sure what this parade of boats was about....

We are out on open water now...

Pam and I sat outside at the front of the boat most of the way out. It was windy but warm and being out in the sun felt good. We weren't scared!! Just windblown.

At times the shore looked mysterious, almost mystical. They stretched out for miles.

The water was a beautiful aqua blue. As you looked out over the Reef, you could see shades of blue and green.

It took - 1 1/2 hours to get out to the Reef where Quicksilver has its own large permanent pontoon to tie up to and provide more space for the boatload of people - I'd say about 10,000, Barb! No, really about 150-175. The catamaran moved at about 30 knots. So how many miles is that??

They can easily serve lunch, get the gear sorted, or sit and relax on the pontoon . In addition to snorkeling and scuba diving, they have a glass bottom boat.

Here's the pontoon waiting for us...

Here we are 10 minutes later, pulling away and heading for Fort Douglas. They determined the water was too turbulent and dangerous - no snorkeling or diving today.

Goodbye dream of ever snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef...I have no words for the disappointment...

I spent about an hour by myself outside up on the front deck...

Wondering....

Noticing...

Enjoying...

They took us back to the dock a different way...closer to land.

At one point they announced that everyone on the boat could either reschedule their tour or get their money back. Lunch would be served on board when we got into the dock.

We had a safe ride back to Cairns. Dinner together with the tour group wasn't until 6:30, so we decided to take a dip in the pool before showering and getting ready. It's the first time we have taken advantage of the pool at a hotel on this trip.

Nice pool, warn water, pretty setting.

Brad had arranged a very nice dinner for us all at a restaurant called Bayleaf. The presentation was beautiful ....a tray full for four...Polynesian type foods, I believe.

Main course and dessert - it was all good!

Then a few of us went down to the Night Market along the water. We walked down and back on the boardwalk. The breeze off the ocean felt so good after the heat of the day.