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Sunrise, Palm Cove
Image © David Powell, 2007
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Day 8
Today was another big trip day. Arguably *the* big trip day - after
all, when you go to a tropical reef area you just have to go out to the
reef ... otherwise it'd be like, well, going to a grand final (or world
series or whatever) and spending the whole time at the kiosk and
ignoring the action. Well I can understand that, rating watching
football up with bamboo slivers under the fingernails and other such
delightful past-times. 'Nuff of that!
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Marlin Marina, Cairns
Image © David Powell, 2007
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An early start for the day.. the wake up call was at 5:45am. Ouch! A
quick look at Palm Cove beach and some sunrise beach photo's .. well
just after sunrise .. still, there was still some sunrise colour in the
sky. Then headed down to Cairns and the Reef Fleet Terminal (at the
Marlin Marina) where we (eventually) boarded the "Passions of
Paradise", which was the ship we'd picked for our reef cruise. One of
the smaller such ships. One thing all the locals agreed on was that you
get much better value with the smaller ships. Some of the cheap cruises
pack 'em in like sardines, but with the smaller cruises you get a much
more personal experience and the crew to passenger ratio is a lot
smaller. Then pick a cruise that goes to several destinations. Once
again, quite a few go to just the one spot and you spend the day there.
Other's go to several locations so you get a better variety of reef
scenery (every reef has a different ecology, different fish, different
corals). Then there're the extras .. picking a catamaran for a much
smoother (and quicker) ride, a glass-bottom boat for touring the reef
in dry comfort and with an expert guide (the guide we had was a marine
biologist) and prescription goggles - it's a bit hard to wear glasses
underwater and you can't wear contacts when diving (and only certain
types for 'mere' snorkeling). Some cruises even hire out underwater
digital cameras and have anti-seasickness pills on hand. As for which
cruise is best .. there probably isn't one, but some're better than
others - but do your own homework, especially since what's on offer can
change from season to season.
The ocean around Cairns was the same murky blue-green that we'd been
seeing all week, but fortunately as we headed out to the reef its
quality improved quite a bit. There was quite a lot of haze in the air
as well so the views of the coast were not as great as they could've
been. Still, to the north we could see as far as Cape Tribulation ..
barely (like looking thru' fog). Apart from that the weather was ideal
for 'reefing' - not too hot, only a little cloud and a wind of 10-15
knots. That meant the water was a bit choppy, but no-one got seasick.
In the distance we could see Green Island as we passed by, the
destination for most reef cruises.
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Leaving Cairns,
Passions of Paradise Reef Cruise
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Leaving Trinity Inlet,
Passions of Paradise Reef Cruise
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Michaelmas Cay, Passions Reef Cruise
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Cruise Ships, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007
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Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007
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The first stop was Michaelmas Cay, named after St Michael's day
(Michaelmas in latin), perhaps Captain Cook discovered the island on
that day? In the late 1800's sea cucumbers were harvested from around
the island and in the early 1900's guano was mined there. In 1937 it
was declared a state Wildlife Sanctuary because of the large number of
birds (hence the guano). In the 1940's the navy and airforce used the
island for target practice (pity about the poor birds). In 1975 when
the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was created, Michaelmas Cay was
included in the park. The island itself is just a sand cay ... a pile
of sand sitting on top of a coral reef .. continually changing its
shape at the whims of tide and weather. Even its position - in 1997 a
cyclone shifted the whole island 9 metres westwards. The island
(currently!) is 40km north-east of Cairns within the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park. The island has some low lying vegetation covering much of
it and is home to over 20,000 birds .. parts of the beach that're
fenced off from the tourists look black from a distance. It's one of
the most important seabird breeding sites within the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park.
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Reef (dark water) & Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Michaelmas Cay & mainland mountains
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Butterfly fish, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Scuba divers, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007
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Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007
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We were on the first glass-bottom boat cruise. Well perspex panels in
the middle of the bottom of the boat to be accurate .. where you don't
step. The water quality wasn't great (actually it was pretty lousy) ..
still, we got to see a variety of different coral species, fish, sea
squirts and sundry critters (no decent photo's, alas). The tour went for 1/2 hour, then it was
off to the beach for some snorkeling around the reef. Well that part of
the reef that the tourists were allowed access - I guess they sacrifice
a small part of the reef for use by the tourists and the inevitable
damage the coral would suffer (not to mention the psychological damage
the fish would suffer). Got plenty of great shots with the neat
underwater camera I'd bought just before the trip (it worked .. and
didn't leak!). Had 45mins of snorkeling around before we had to head
back to the ship for lunch. The smaller fish were for the most part
quite tame or at least used to human company. The larger fish were
rather shyer, darting away quickly before you could get within more
than a metre. I guess in the fish world they would look at humans and
see something really big, long and, well, chasing them ... which would
likely equate as "Shark!" .. something the bigger fish would have to
keep watch on, but not the little ones. Back on the ship, just before
lunch they had the "feeding of the fish" where they tossed some fish
food over the side. The ship was moored off the reef so the feeding
attracted the larger fish .. there was a reef shark and some butterfly
fish. Butterfly fish should not be mistaken for their namesakes ...
they're big suckers, at least as adults, and voracious carnivores. They
were at least as big as dinner plates. And bright yellow. You couldn't
miss 'em.
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Elephant ear coral, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Yellowtail fusilier, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Three-spot wrasse, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Coral, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Blue-green chromis, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Coral, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Teardrop butterfly fish, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Black-vent Damsel, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Tri-colour Parrotfish, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Giant clam, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Sea star, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Tri-colour Parrotfish, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Black-vent Damsel, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Staghorn Damsel & Butterfly fish
Image © David Powell, 2007 | School of blue damsels, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Juvenile Sharpnose Parrotfish
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
School of blue damsels, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Coral, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Birds, Michaelmas Cay
Image © David Powell, 2007
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Sea anemone, coral & Scissortail
Sergeant Damsel, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007
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After lunch it was a 30 minute or so sail further out to the next dive
destination. I use the word 'dive' figuratively since we were
snorkeling and not actually diving .. but at both sites those who
wanted to could scuba dive. The second reef was quite different from
the first in many ways. It was entirely below sea level and the coral
considerably further down than that just off Michaelmas Cay. The water
was a lot clearer too, so the view of the coral was just as good, if
not better. The range of coral types (and colours!) was also
considerably greater. And likewise the fish. Lots of schools. And the
colours ... blues, greens, purples, yellows, oranges (yes, I saw Nemo),
reds, greens .. basically every colour of the rainbow - tropical fish
are amongst the most colourful in the animal kingdom. The first dive
was in still and shallow water .. you had to swim in the channels and
watch where you were going else you could run into the coral. Err,
swim. Even at the shallowest point, the second reef was metres deep and
there was a current flowing past. You had to work at staying in the one
spot ... or just swim to the up-current side of the reef and let the
current take you to the other end. The second dive site was also a lot
more secluded ... it was just the one ship whilst at the first dive
spot there were around half a dozen cruise ships moored, along with
their load of tourists, all stirring up the water and silt (hence the
better water quality at the second site). Lots of wrasses and
parrotfish and their amazing colours, a trumpet fish or two, butterfly
fish aplenty, even a few unicorn fish and a rabbit fish. I didn't see
any lionfish, but I did see a couple batfish. Angelfish of course (no
devilfish, if there is such a thing). Clams, sea squirts, sea stars,
sea feathers and much, much more! The second dive went for an hour but
eventually it too had to come to an end and it was back onboard and the
trip back to shore.
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Table Coral, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Brain Coral, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Coloured Coral, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Feather Coral, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Barrier Reef Anemonefish & Nemo
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Striped Butterfly fish, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Scissortail Sergeant damsel, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Giant Table Coral, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Sling-jaw wrasse, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Table Coral, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Striped Parrotfish, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Fan & brain Coral, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Sea anemone, squirts & feather stars
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Sealfaced puffer fish, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Passions cruise ship, Paradise Reef
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
About 90 minutes out from the shore they turned the engines off and for
1/2 hour or so the ship sailed towards Cairns under just wind power...
the noise of the engine stilled .. just the rustle of the canvas (well
plasticised cloth or whatever they use these days) and the rush of the
water passing under the hulls. Sometimes the "Passions" sails all the
way back to port, but alas today the wind wasn't strong enuf so in the
last hour the engines came back on.
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Sunglare on the Coral Sea,
Passions Reef Cruise
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Passing Green Island,
Passions Reef Cruise
Image © David Powell, 2007 | View along side ship,
Passions Reef Cruise
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
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Approaching Cairns, Passions Cruise
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Marlin Marina & Cairns, Passions Cruise
Image © David Powell, 2007 | Boland's Centre, Cairns
Image © David Powell, 2007 |
Back in Cairns we wandered around some more. Some more photo's, some
more sightseeing. Walked along the Esplanade. A spot of shopping .. the
last day in Cairns after all, can't waste any of it. But finally it was
back to Palm Cove for dinner and then packing - the luggage was only
about half full when we came, but with all the stuff we'd bought
everything was packed to the gills and then some. Needed a bit of
creativity to get everything packed. One last note for the day .. on
the side street to Palm Cove from the highway we saw a couple of
kangaroo's hopping along the side of the road and one crossing not far
in front of the car.
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