CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

April 16, 2023 — Today was a day that I’d been looking forward to for quite some time. After changing the date a couple of times due to scheduling issues, today was finally the day of my Great Barrier Reef flyover with GSL Cairns. I got picked up outside the hostel, shuttled to the airport, watched a safety video with the six other people who were also going on the plane that day, and then we walked out onto the tarmac and to get on the plane that we would be flying over the Great Barrier Reef in.

I got to do this as part of my booking with Happy Travels, which I’d done in Byron Bay and fixed in Brisbane when I found out that I couldn’t scuba dive. As part of a pretty sweet consolation prize, I got to do this flyover with GSL, meaning that I’lol get to see the Great Barrier Reef from above, on, and below by the time I’m finished in Cairns. Pretty sweet, right?

This flyover was easily one of my favourite experiences out of all the things I’ve done in Australia, from Melbourne to Tasmania and up the coast to Cairns.

We filed into a tiny plane — the tiniest I’ve ever been in in my entire life — which seated about eight people including the pilot. I was seated behind the front co-pilot or passenger seat and I had an amazing view of takeoff and landing. We also had headphones to help block out engine noise and so that we could hear our pilot because he would be offering commentary throughout the forty-minute flight. I was overjoyed to find that we also were able to hear all the communication with ground control and other planes on the same frequency. It was literally the coolest thing.

We taxied out to the runway and cleared for takeoff. When we got in the air, we flew out to Green Island first, flying at an elevation of about 1,000ft and at speeds of 200km/hour. We would reach Green Island in approximately four minutes.

From the air, the sea is impossibly blue. (Yes, I know I talk about it all the time, but seriously, it’s amazing. Go see it, you’ll understand.) Boats streak across the waves, heading for day trips or pleasure cruises to the reefs just off the shores of Cairns. Green Island is one of these. In the distance, we could also see Fitzroy Island, which is another popular destination for snorkelling and diving on a day trip from Cairns, but, if you want a little extra time there, you can also stay overnight at the resort.

The visibility from 1,000ft was incredible. It was a sunny, clear day, some of the best weather I’d seen on a tour since Fraser Island. The reefs speckle the water and sand highlights the coral formations, providing the breeding ground and basis for life in one of the most biodiverse, incredible areas in the world. The pictures below are of Green Island and the surrounding reef.

From Green Island, we headed over to Arlington Reef, one of the largest reefs off the coast of Cairns. After Arlington, we flew over Michaelmas Reef and Michaelmas Cay, a small sandbar that has formed in the middle of the reef. From the plane, you can sometimes see turtles swimming. Though we didn’t see any that day, I’m sure there were some down there. We circled back around and marvelled at the bobbies on the outskirts of many of the reefs. “Bobbies” refer to the little separate sections of reef which sometimes form a ways out from the main reef.

We flew over Hastings Reef next, then back over Michaelmas. Did you know that a section of the airspace above Michaelmas is a no fly zone due to the protected bird life sanctuary on Michaelmas Cay?

We flew over Vlasov Reef and Apollo Reef next. Aside from the colour of the water, I also can’t get over the clarity. In some spots, you’d barely know that there was water at all. It looks so peaceful from above, life just going along in the moment, all so fragile, yet strong and enduring. So vast, you can never really see the whole of it at one single time.

We turned around and headed back to Cairns after Apollo Reef and landed on the airstrip. Once again, I got to witness landing and it was awesome. What an magical experience to not only fly over one of the most amazing places on Earth, but to also witness a plane being flown up-close and personal. After we landed, we got pictures by the plane before being shuttled back to our pickup locations in Cairns.

I was buzzing off this trip and called home to gush all about it while searching for a breakfast place with a Sunday-brunch style to it. I didn’t really find anything so I headed back to the hostel to have some yogurt and granola and do some travel planning. I was happily interrupted by a text from one of my best friends telling me that she’d gotten a puppy (!!!) and I immediately called to hear the whole story and to see adorableness in action.

When we finally hung up, I did some blogging. Eventually, though, I got hungry and I also needed to do laundry. I got a load in and then went into my room for some relax time. When I switched my laundry to the dryer, I grabbed a snack. I’d planned on going out for dinner this evening but I was very comfy where I was and I’d gone a little overboard with snack time. The place I was planning on going to also closed at 7:30pm, which I didn’t realize until about quarter to seven! I decided that I’d just go tomorrow.

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