Great Barrier Reef Encounter
Dominique Lovatt of the UK spent a day during August 2004 on the magnificent Great Barrier Reef. She reviewed her reef encounter through an e-mail interview with me...
I booked the trip as part of a package with Adventuretours. I am a travel agent and heard about it through my colleagues.
We travelled by minibus from Cairns to Cape Tribulation on the 'Go Troppo' Reef and Rainforest package where we stayed in a canvas cabin. We stayed in Cape Trib for two nights and spent a day at the Barrier Reef.
I bought the Lonely Planet Australia guide and found it invaluable from the suggestions of accommodation to the details of taxis and other transfers from airports to the information on events happening e.g., rodeo in Alice Springs and the Beer can regatta in Darwin.
We sailed on the Rum Runner. The boat was mid size and as it was off season was not full we had about 20 people on the boat.
It was sparklingly clean. Rum Runner was well equipped with all that we could need: masks, wet suits, floats for the less than confident swimmer like me.
The crew could not have been more helpful.
The meals on board of the boat were included - the food was fresh, tasty and plenty of it.
On land, I stayed in PK's Jungle village. We stayed in a canvas style cabin with lockable door and electric lighting, and the accommodation was basic but comfortable.
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My son who was 8 at the time and I went snorkelling.
The visibility was crystal clear and we saw lots of fish including Clown fish, Banana fish and sea cucumbers, one of which the diving instructor brought to the top for us to look at.
We had a clear, bright, calm day. Not too hot as it was August, but I still got a great tan.
I have never been able to put my face in the water so after ten minutes was about to give up and leave my son who I think has gills to swim with one of the diving instructors.
I was about to get out when the crew on the boat said to me you really can not come half way across the world and not look at the fish and reef. The crew all tried to get me to put my face in the water but every time I did I breathed in and the mask stuck to my nose so I came straight back up.
The only way I could do it was to hold my nose making swimming impossible. So the instructor got one of the life rings from the boat and got me to hold onto it. He then grabbed hold of the rope attached to it and pulled me around the reef.
The sights that I saw far out weighed any embarrassment I may have felt and those scenes will stay with me forever.
I would recommend going though an organised tour as the information given from the guides really brings everything to life and they can offer suggestions from a local standpoint.
Don't forget to pack bug spray and most importantly SUN CREAM.
Trip Rating:
10 out of 10. I loved the whole Great Barrier Reef encounter and hope to return in 2010.
Put this destination on your list of places to visit before you die.
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