CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

April 23, 2023 — The day started super early at 5:45am as we were doing a sunrise dive/snorkel. The water was decently calm and the boat wasn’t rocking much so I decided to head out for the snorkel. And I was seriously rewarded for it.

We were still anchored off Flynn Reef and remained there for the rest of the dives. I headed out between “the Gates” (two coral formations on either side of the anchor point), following the same route as I’d done yesterday, and I saw two turtles and a shark!!!! The shark just cruised on out from the bottom right of my vision to the top left and went on his merry way. It was quite a bit closer than the others I’d seen and not as deep. The first turtle I saw was eating the coral on one of the two bommies that make up the Gates. The second one I saw on my return and he was just cruising along. I followed him for a little while, though I was keeping a close eye on how far I was from the boat.

It was an awesome way to round off the trip. I skipped the second dive since the ocean was getting rough and then went out for the third dive, waves be damned, because I wanted to try and spot just one more turtle. I didn’t have any luck but I’m glad I tried.

While everyone else was on their second dive, I went belowdecks and packed up my things. The rest of the time we weren’t in the water or eating I spent either on the sun deck or the dive deck. It was raining intermittently so every now and then I’d get up, head down under cover, and wait for the rain to stop before heading back up.

We had breakfast between dives one and two and then lunch after the third dive before we got underway to head back to the mainland. I was really sad to leave, even if I was looking forward to having solid ground under my feet again. Somewhere between the first dive the previous morning and the end of the second day, the peace and the magic of the Great Barrier Reef had gotten under my skin and the time spent out there, with nothing but the horizon, had made it one of my favourite places in the world. I can’t recommend a trip out to the outer fringes of the reef enough. Being able to experience something so vast, so unique, is a gift.

It took us three hours to head back to Cairns in even rougher seas than we had going out. I ended up on the dive deck instead of the sun deck when the rain started and because the pitching and yawning of the upper deck had become a bit much. I was feeling fine on the upper deck, but I also didn’t want to tempt fate and the dive deck was a little less tipsy.

Apparently, I’m now able to sleep at the drop of a hat. Or it was just my late night and early mornings catching up with me. Whatever it was, I found myself curling up on one of the benches on the dive deck and dozing until the dive master came and woke me up so that we could get our stuff upstairs and onto the deck, then have one last briefing in the saloon. We were within view of the mainland at this point, so the boat had stopped pitching quite so violently, and the sun deck also wasn’t a hazard, so we went up for some group pictures. And we all watched as we pulled into the harbour.

We got off the boat and filed into separate vehicles to shuttle back to the dive store. We had one last check in and also paid for any drinks we’d had on the boat — one Sprite for me.

After that, I left the dive shop and headed over to Gilligan’s. Now, we’ll all remember how much of a hurry I left in and how there was no reception on the boat. Since the dates were mixed up, I was booked for the 21st at Gilligan’s but wasn’t there for it. I wasn’t booked for the 23rd and I was hoping and praying that I would be able to get a room there. It’s a big place, but it’s also very popular. Thankfully, I dealt with the nicest girl on reception and she was able to book me into a ten-bed dorm for the night, switching to my original booking for the 24th and 25th the next day. I paid for the room, gave them my room key back (since I’d had it with me the whole time), and they returned it to me again, coded for my new room, with the key deposit switched to the other booking.

It was a really weird sensation walking around on solid ground again. It seemed like the earth was moving around me constantly, the aftereffects of being on a boat without a break for three solid days. I figured fresh air was still a good idea and so I headed to Woolies for crackers, dip, popcorn, and I even found a souvenir koala keychain!

I headed back to the hostel, cracked open my crackers and dip, and alternated between reading and watching How I Met Your Mother.

When mom and dad woke up at home, I finally got to talk to them for the first time in three days and explained what had happened and told them all about the trip, which had ended up being just fantastic. I’m actually really glad the dates were mixed up because I’m pretty sure the weather was just going to be worse on the 24th. As it was, it rained all day in Cairns. I can’t imagine being on the water would be much better.

After chatting with mom and dad, I curled up in bed again for a little while longer and waited for my new roommates, who were in a circle on the floor having a good time before heading out for the night, to leave, then showered and changed and crawled into bed.

This dorm wasn’t in the best location for me since it was right above the nightclub and the music was loud, but I put my earplugs in and it brought the noise level down to a dull roar. I didn’t have any real issue sleeping, although that might have also been due to exhaustion.

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