Australia Four - Great Barrier Reef

...with Ocean Freedom!

Another early start this morning- up at 6am again. Our booking included hotel pick-up which then dropped us at the Ferry Fleet Terminal in Cairns. We checked in for our reef cruise and boarded the Ocean Freedom catamaran. There were approximately 50 people on board so it wasn't too crowded.

The boat (from Ocean Freedom website)

We sat on the upper deck for the trip out to the reef, which was a little cloudy and bumpy to start with but the sun soon came out.

Our first stop was at an area of deeper reef called "Wonder Wall" on the outer edge of Upolu Reef. Rising 14m from the ocean floor, Wonder Wall plateaus just 0.5m under the surface, making it an ideal snorkel and dive site. Mark and I went snorkelling although initially getting into the water freaked me out a bit. It was a lot colder than I was expecting and the waves were quite choppy too! I was wearing a buoyancy snorkel vest but not a wetsuit at that point. After a few minutes though I got the hang of it and joined a guided snorkel tour by one of the crew who pointed out a few things- parrot fish, brain coral, starfish, giant clams...

Back on the catamaran we chilled in the sun for a while before joining a glass bottom boat tour to look down at the reef with dry feet!

Glass Bottom Boat (from Ocean Freedom website)

Then it was time for a buffet lunch- prawns, smoked salmon, salad, bread rolls amongst other things, all very tasty and enjoyed on the deck in the sunshine.

Lunch (from Ocean Freedom website)

In the afternoon we travelled to a second site only about 10 minutes away at Upolu Cay. These small sand islands (cays) move constantly and build up throughout the reef.

We went over to the cay and relaxed on the sand for a while- the water was very shallow and a lot warmer!

Upolu Cay (from Ocean Freedom website)

Then we snorkelled back to the boat through the surrounding reef, tagging along with a couple of guided snorkelling tours. I saw clownfish (Nemo!), angel fish and a tiny reef shark!

Nemo! (from Ocean Freedom website)

And then lots of larger wrasse and other fish nearer the boat- it was a much more enjoyable experience for me than the first site. I decided to just wear a wetsuit here which was better, but generally the location was much better for snorkelling. It seemed like Wonder Wall was more suited to divers, but I still had a great day on the reef.

After getting back to the boat it was time to head back to Cairns. We sat in the sunshine drying off and the crew brought around fruit, cheese, biscuits and cake so we were pretty stuffed by the time we arrived back!