Men’s Adventure Tour – Day 3

There’s nothing like saving up the adrenaline smashing activities until the last day is there! We’ve had a couple of days of really interesting things to do but nothing that really raises the heartbeat by more than about 20%.

Today however would be different. No more messing about, this is the stuff that sorts out the men from the boys – I mean it is supposed to be an adventure tour isn’t it!

First stop Skydiving. Skydive Cairns are to be our hosts for the stomach-churning adventure and we rock up to their office in the centre of Cairns for the pre-jump brief and to find out who we’ll be paired up with as our Jump Master.

My man of the morning is Max, a parachutist of 15 years who has made well over 15,000 jumps and obviously has an exemplary safety record (we just don’t talk about the five close shaves he’s also experienced!). He runs me through the procedures involved; how I should tuck my head back and my legs away when it’s our turn to sit in the door, when to spread-eagle in the air on the way down…and when it’s almost over – how to land.

I feel in a pretty privileged position really, having jumped a month ago with Skydive Airlie, but there’s a couple of pretty apprehensive faces wandering around the office!

We all get into our harnesses, sign our lives away and then make our way to the minibus waiting outside the office…sitting there like the vehicle which will take you to meet your maker!

As we pull onto the airfield our awaiting plane is already fired up and ready to go, there’s no going back now. I mean there’s pride at stake here. Forming an orderly, if bouncy-adrenaline-filled queue we await our fate…

One by one our Jump Masters load us into the plane, there are seven of us jumping so that’s 14 people in total. We clamber inside the plane and take our places between, the person in who our future now lies, thighs. This is all very cosy!

As we taxi down the runway some of the Korean media are talking to each other in Korean. I find out later that the editor of AB-ROAD magazine turned and told his cameraman “I love you!” Classic.

The scenery below is stunning as we make our way south-east, away from the city and out over the rainforest once more. We spot our some of our locations from the day before, landslides on the hills and churning waterfalls off in the distance. It’s a very different view to that of the Whitsundays, but equally as beautiful.

14,000 feet above the ground doesn’t take that long to get to and before we know it the roller door has been opened, the rush of the cold air fills the cabin and the first victim, sorry jumper, has their feet out of the door. Then before you can blink – GONE!

It’s surprisingly quick with these guys you know. No time to say you’re pulling out which is probably a damn good thing. I’m fourth up and before I can look down we’re falling down at terminal velocity towards the ground.

220 km/h of face distorting wind is rushing against my face and body and the only thing I can do is laugh and love it. The feeling never ever changes no matter how many times you do this – adrenaline is coursing through my veins and the natural high it causes is totally addictive.

This time there’s around a minute of freefall but it passes by oh so quickly when you’re tumbling at that speed. In fact it really does feel as though it’s over in a matter of seconds before that crutch-jerking tug on the harness and the entire freefall is over.

Once I’m hanging under canopy floating gently to the ground, Max offers me the controls of the parachute and I get a chance to steer this baby. Scary thought I know but it’s so cool being able to fly yourself down to the ground and towards the landing zone.

We pull full circles at speed and eventually come close to our landing site before Max takes over, gives the last instruction to lift my feet and with a fast approach we make it down onto terra firma once more.

Incredible – absolutely amazing – “can I go again please!”

Seeing the other guys come down to earth is wicked too, I can hear Juweon before I see his face – he’s had a great time too and shouts and screams as he approaches the ground.

The most incredible transformation has take place with another of the group too – Choong Keol Lee, the editor of GQ Korea, was a pretty quiet guy before this jump. This has brought him out of his shell totally. From total fear to total enjoyment and a huge number of very funny jokes too. I like this guy a lot.

Remember this is supposed to be an Adventure Tour so there’s no time for sitting about. No sooner are we through with our jump then it’s back to the office to collect our bags and onto the next activity…

Well strictly speaking we did have lunch first and it was back to one of my favourite haunts in the city, Café China and its ever-welcoming host Harry. Treated to his very special function room we all tucked in a spread worthy of the finest Chinese Emperor, finished off with a very different but tasty mango jelly. You have to try it!

With our final mouthful just about down the itinerary kicked in once more – we were off to the final installment. White-water Rafting.

Now I know it’s not the most impressive of all the rafting waters in Queensland, but with the rain the surrounding hills have had over the last few weeks, the Barron River is still putting down some serious white water. Enough to challenge those first time rafters amongst the group…and there are a few!

Raging Thunder are again our hosts for this our last adrenaline-filled activity and we jump in their minibus, complete with trailer and rafts, which takes us on the hour long drive up the valley.

The Korean media group all head off to one raft with their translator – there are certain things that you have to understand when rafting! I join up with another group of English speaking tourists led by Ash the guide. Once we’ve kitted ourselves out with lifejacket, helmet and slap on the sunscreen it’s down to the water’s edge to prove we can swim, float or at least not drown. The large yellow raft is big enough to fit eight paddlers and a guide in, there’s holes all over the bottom of it but fear not. They are there to let water out…not in.

The paddling drill is then given to us with a number of different instructions necessary to take on the rapids of varying intensity. They range from “paddle” to “PADDLE!!”, there’s “get down” and finally “GET DOWN, PADDLES UP”.

These are all in order of desperation as Ash our guide decides how we should be approaching, or attacking, the next rapid.

We do pretty well to start off with, riding the first and second of the falls with relative ease and then one of the big ones approaches – The Rooster Tail. So called when the water is flowing like it is, as the spouting water looks just like a chicken’s tail.

On approach it all looks pretty good, it’s only when we drop onto the beast that the raft is flung up in the air, all of us grab onto the centre ropes and get as low as possible. As we smash into the water below the raft almost flips but we just manage to hold on and save a wet ending happening.

Further downstream we’re not so lucky and get sucked back into one of the falls we’ve just dropped down. This is known as surfing! The raft is pulled right under the cascading water and immediately fills right up but these things are designed to do just that and instead of sinking, just sits there and with me being right at the front, I bear the brunt of the torrent!

We struggle to get free and in the end Ash has to jump out with a rope attached to him to act as a human-anchor, thereby giving enough resistance to pull the raft free from its temporary parking spot. No such luck.

So now it’s my turn to help out. In an effort to add more resistance Ash asks me to jump ship too, holding onto the line he’s clinging onto downstream. I take a leap of faith into the white water and join him gasping for breath 10 metres away on the end of the line. Eventually our efforts are rewarded as the raft breaks free from its watery pit-stop and we clamber back onboard.

Another fifteen minutes later and it’s all drawing to an end. The river levels out, the rapids disappear and we take the opportunity to bath in the waters, relaxing the tired muscles we’ve used all afternoon.

What a cracking way to finish the tour! It really was the activity I enjoyed the most and would love to do it all over again – but with some bigger rapids maybe!

The night was taken up with devouring one of the best steaks I’ve had in a long time courtesy of the Salt House Restaurant. Yum yum.

Let’s go sailing…

I must firstly offer my apologies for the fact that this blog has taken so long to get out. We took part in this fantastic day trip around the Whitsundays back in November but I’ve been waiting for some of the footage I have used in the blog to be released!

The Whitsundays – picture perfect location and a sailor’s dream for the weather. Add to the mix one of the most famous yachts in Australian maritime history and you’ve got the perfect ingredients for a superb day on the water.

It’s been a busy week, so far we’ve hosted media from three different countries and today is another one, not so bad when you think we’ll be out enjoying their company from the deck of an old time racing yacht.

We all make our way across the Whitsunday Passage onboard Fantasea’s fast boat. Arriving at Shute Harbour we disembark and make our way along the jetty to where Ragamuffin leaves from. As we arrive we spot her straight away, she’s an imposing figure in the marina and easily the largest of all the yachts moored here, measuring in at 24 metres long.

George the captain is equally as imposing – with a huge Merv Hughes-style moustache his tough exterior soon melts away as he welcomes us onboard. The rest of the crew run through the basics we all need to know, the shorelines are thrown off and we motor out into Shute Harbour ready for a day’s adventure.

With 25 other people on deck there’s load of room to enjoy the sunshine and the usual crew tasks are handed out to us. First thing and most important in order to propel us to our first destination of the day, is hauling up the sails and Cameron (the host of China’s Getaway holiday program) and I have been picked out as the likely candidates for bumping the sail.

On more modern racing yachts this operation is done using grinding winches to take up the slack of the sheets (ropes to the rest of us!) but here on Ragamuffin it’s those good old tools known as your own hands. We take it in turns to haul in as much as we can until the sail is right at the top of the mast and ready to fill with air. Now that’s one heck of a feeling – shoulders burning, heart racing and the satisfaction of providing the power for today’s sail. Well almost.

The sail across the Whitsunday Passage is awesome, the wind is right up, the sun is out and we are flying! Spray breaks over the bow of the boat and we’re heeling over dangling our feet over the side to provide ballast – just like every professional sailor does.

The wind is still pumping so we head to one of the more sheltered bays on the leeward side of Hook Island, the second largest of the Whitsundays, and drop anchor to check out the conditions. They’re virtually perfect.

Ragamuffin offers the chance to SCUBA dive, which is unique for a day trip sailing adventure out of the Whitsundays. We stop in Mackerel Bay and get dressed up ready to head overboard and down into the depths below. I’ve dived here before with Islandive and it’s a good introduction into what the fringing reef of these islands has on offer.

We spend 45 minutes filming for the Getaway program which is great, the idea of bringing the media out here is to showcase the spectacle that is the Whitsundays gaining publicity for the area and hopefully making people think about it a a holiday destination.

The afternoon draws to a close far too soon and before we know it the sail is flapping in the wind and our course has been set for home. The sound of the water lapping on the hull is one of those things that’s so perfect about sailing, a noisy diesel engine just doesn’t do the same for me!

Once we’re tied up at the marina we bid our farewells to the crew and thank the for a very memorable day out on the water. Time to head back to Hamilton Island.

Men’s Adventure Tour, Cairns – Day 1

The title says it all – this was something I’d really been looking forward to and to add to the excitement Juweon, one of the Best Job in the World finalists, was flying out from Korea to join me for the experience!

Taking a week long break from his usual morning radio show Juweon has travelled out with some important people from the Korean media including:

• Mr Choong Keol Lee – editor of GQ Men’s magazine, Korea
• Mr Myung Hyo Chung – editor of AB-Road, one of Korea’s top travel magazines, and
• Hyun Woo Sun – a ‘power’ blogger from Korea

The aim of the trip is to introduce the adrenaline-filled adventures which are possible in tropical North Queensland to their markets and over the course of the next few days we’ll be lucky enough to trial some of the more exciting adventures out.

First stop however was to let the local press know our intentions so we met journalists from ABC Radio, Channel 7 News and The Cairns Post to give them a heads up of how our trip would inform the market back in Korea of the experiences which can be found here.

It was great to see Juweon again, I recently took part in an interview for him on his radio show and after chatting on the phone it was great to see him again in person.

No rest for the wicked though, this is going to be a seriously busy few days and our first appointment is with Sunlover Cruises, one of the tour operators who leave Cairns on a daily basis and head to the Great Barrier Reef to give holiday makers and tourists the experience of a lifetime. It doesn’t matter how many times I go out to enjoy the reef, I still get little butterflies of excitement in my stomach as I prepare to head out there. Today was no different!

We make our way down to the dock and after a few press photos make it onboard the custom built catamaran, which whisks us out to Moore Reef in just over 90 minutes. Sunlover are hugely popular with tourists from Korea, China and Japan and the entire boat is virtually full as it’s almost the Chinese New Year celebrations and lots of people visit Cairns at this time of year.

On the way out all of the options for things to do during the day are offered, accommodating all levels of experience and confidence in the water; there’s snorkelling, glass-bottom boat trips, touch-pools, underwater viewing chambers, SCUBA diving and the excellent Seawalker experience. It’s been nearly two months since I had my last dive on the reef and I’ve been missing it hugely. I think it’s one of those things that once you’ve tried it you just can’t stop wanting to do it – have I really become addicted to diving? There could be worse things I suppose…

As we arrive at the pontoon that the catamaran ties up against, the staff onboard go about their business looking after the excited customers all wanting to get off and get involved in their chosen activity. Most of the media crew I’m travelling with have never had the chance to dive before, so after very little persuasion they all decide to give it a go – bar the one unfortunate chap who can’t as he’s taking medication for high blood pressure. It’s good to see that the dive-master stops him from going due to the safety implications, much to his despair and infuriated protesting!

We make our way down to the pontoon and into the dive area, kit up and prepare to enter that hugely exciting underwater world once more. As I am the only certified diver onboard out of 243 passengers I get Vance, the dive master, all to myself! We make our way down the steps and into the warm (30 degrees C!!) tropical water. Cyclone Olga, which recently hit the coastline, came through this area only five days ago but there are no ill-effects visible on the reef, maybe the water has slightly less visibility than usual as the bottom’s been churned up, but there’s no damage to the coral or delicate sponges which are abundant here. It’s totally wicked getting back under the water again and within a few seconds I feel at home again, hovering above fish, watching Cleaner Wrasse at work and staring at the Anemone Fish close-up as they protect their bizarre stinging home.

After an hour of swimming around with my excellent divemaster Vance, we return to our entry point and surface on the steps of the pontoon. As ever I gush my story of what I’d seen to the nearest person – that being him. It’s the only disappointing thing to me about diving you know, not being able to speak to the person you’re down there with!

Meantime the Korean crew have been having some fun of their own, they’ve tried out SCUBA diving for themselves and spout their own reports of just how good it was. That’s the plan you see – tempt them with the good stuff so they return home and tell everyone about it.

We’ve all built up a bit of an appetite being part of the watery world below and head for the buffet to fill up on some food. The spread on offer is just what’s needed – pasta salads, cold meats, prawns and fresh fruit.

By the time 16:00hrs arrives we’re all ready to head home, the announcement comes over the speakers that were off and we bid farewell to the Sunlover pontoon. There are no Reef Rats living out here unlike the Fantasea one so all the staff who’ve become friends over the course of the day head home with us. We grab our photos from them and find a seat to fall asleep in. It’s been a long day…

Once we’ve had the chance to shower and freshen up the unrepentant itinerary kicks in again – this time with dinner at the Blue Sky Brewery just down the road. A short walk away we arrive at one of Cairns’ hotspots it seems as there’s loads going on!

The brewery was opened by a local Cairns family around two years ago and is one of the most successful micro-breweries in the country having scooped a handful of awards at the Australian Beer Awards in 2009. The bar and restaurant are wide, open and as you approach the bar a daunting line-up of barrels takes centre stage to greet you!

We all sat down and enjoyed a social dinner together and it was good to chat to another blogger, Mr Hyun, about his work, websites and interaction with social networking. Something that has become a big part of my job.

If the remaining three days of this adventure tour are anything to go by then we’re going to have an incredible time together – I just hope some others within the group have enough adrenaline reserves to get through it!

Diving heaven on Lady Elliot island…

Facts about the Great Barrier Reef:

• It’s the largest World Heritage Area in the world at 348,000 kms2 in size. Over 99% of the World Heritage Area falls within the boundaries of it!
• It’s the largest coral reef system in the world and stretches 2300kms along Queensland’s coast. It has an average depth of 35 metres.
• It is home to around:
  • 1500 types of fish
  • 360 species of hard coral and one third of the world’s soft coral
  • 8000 types of molluscs
  • 500 species of algae
  • 600 species of echinoderm (star fish, sea urchins)
  • 17 types of sea snake
  • 22 species of seabird
  • 13,000 dugong (there are around 90,000 in Australia)
  • 6 species of turtle (all threatened) and
  • 30 species of whales and dolphins
• I LOVE IT

Location: Bundaberg, Queensland

Weather: Very light wind, clear blue skies and sunshine. 30ºc

Once the departure lounge had cleared of the Friday night commuters there was just Bre, the Beyond TV crew and I waiting along with a familiar face – that of Gemma Pitcher from Nine MSN, a travel journalist who puts together all of their online stories, someone I had met a few months previous when the Getaway crew were filming back on Hamilton Island.

We were all heading out to Lady Elliot Island from Bundaberg airport onboard Seair’s Cessna Caravan currently waiting our arrival on the tarmac outside. As we climbed aboard the plush fluffy seat covers greeted us, the likes of which I hadn’t seen since my grandpa’s old Austin Allegro.

We took our places and as we taxied down the runway I watched intently as the ground got further away and the blue waters of the coastline got closer until we were over the ocean once more heading due east towards our destination.

Lady Elliot island is a stunning coral cay whose reputation precedes it; many of the people I have spoken to on this adventure have asked me “have you been to Lady Elliot yet” or “you have to go to Lady Elliot” – by all accounts it’s very highly rated on lots of different levels. The island hit the national press recently as it’s a bit of a shining light amongst all of the islands of the Great Barrier Reef when it comes to its environmental policies and power generation. A subject that is interesting me more and more.

The diving on this, the southern most of all the Great Barrier Reefs islands, is rumoured to be some of the best along the coastline and had a lot to deliver to uphold this reputation. With a couple of dives planned during our stay it’d be an opportunity to see why it’s been given this prestigious honour.

The flight took around forty minutes and as we circled the island the distinct grassy landing strip could easily be seen down the centre of the island, perfectly bisecting the green landscape that had formed here hundreds of years ago. The resort was barely visible from the air and once we’d landed and walked towards it, it was easy to understand why.

The buildings are all low-impact cabins that blend into the background due to their colour matching that of the sand and coral around them. All power is generated on the island and 70% comes from a bank of solar panels that charge a bank of batteries, the remaining requirements, usually during the night time, come from a hybrid diesel generator which has recently been installed. It’s a very modern unit which has reduced the island’s fuel consumption from 750 litres per day to around 120 litres reducing not only the level of carbon dioxide levels and fuel used but also the number of times in a year that the barge needs to visit the island to resupply the fuel tanks.

Everything here is angled towards creating a better environment that means less impact on the planet and therefore more chance of the Great Barrier Reef surviving in the long term. The island is a example of the rest of the islands up and down the reef on exactly how low impact things do need to be; including recycling all waste, collection of all rainwater, use of energy-efficient light bulbs and it’s generation of power. There are plans to install a worm-wheel wind turbine in the near future that would even eliminate all diesel power production. Imagine that…

Over the last five months I have embraced diving and been lucky enough to visit some of the best dive sites right up and down the GBR, this is the furthest south of all the islands and according to the ‘Lonely Planet’s Guide to Diving and Snorkelling on the GBR’ this is the Best Blow Hole dive on the reef…let’s just see what happens hey!

Kym and Clinton welcome us to the comforts of the dive shop and explain to us what we’re likely to expect over the next couple of days as we head under the water to experience an island’s reef which sits around 150kms from the mainland and right out in the open ocean – there’s even surf here which shows quite how exposed and wild it can be.

The launch site for the boats is on the western edge of the island, there’s a small natural channel through the reef but unlike other similar locations dynamite hasn’t been used to blast an access route – this continues the eco-theme! We’re off…finally heading out to our first dive site.

Within five minutes we’re there already, that’s the beauty of this island. All of the dive sites are within a short boat ride of the launch ramp. We tied up alongside the buoy, get our kit on and look down into the crystal clear ocean – this is going to be special, the visibility looks amazing, there are silhouettes of turtles and mantas everywhere.

Bre and I descend down into the warm waters of the open ocean, normally we’ve been protected by the Great Barrier Reef but here with our proximity to the continental shelf…anything could happen.

So where do I start with this summary of what I consider was one of the best set of dives I’ve had so far?! The first ten minutes produced a green turtle, then a manta ray cruised right by us, there were loads of damsel fish just hanging out over the coral…and oh the coral, this is probably the best spot on the entire reef where I’d seen dark colours as they should be, its very good to see that bleaching just hasn’t happened here at all.

We dived two sites during the afternoon of the first day and had appearances from everything we’d hoped to see underwater. The video clip I’ve managed to put together below should hopefully summarise our first two underwater adventures, it may be a little long but I think that’s its well worth sitting through:

After an exhausting afternoon feeling like the luckiest divers alive we make our way back to the lighthouse beach and the comfortable surroundings of the resort. The excellent accommodation we’re in fits perfectly in the resort, the rooms are nothing-extraordinary just comfortable and beautifully positioned right on the beach.

We’re in the middle of the most incredible bird-nesting site too – the Noddy terns and Crested terns who were obviously the original residents of the island really don’t even give a hoot that humans have decided to take over their residence. It’s hatching season on Elliot and everywhere little fluff balls are pottering about closely followed by their cautious mothers – if you get too close their cackles and cries warn you away from the nest…and it’s the loosest term actually calling it a nest. A light smattering of leaves dropped onto the bow of a tree is luxury, more likely the top of a rock or even the middle of the path seems a totally sufficient way of bringing up your young if you’re a bird around here.

Dinner is served just as the sun disappears behind the coral beach, it’s awesome walking along the waters edge watching the reef flats slowly drain their water with little things happening everywhere; crabs racing to hide, turtles making their way up the beach to lay their eggs, birds swooping low over the surface of the water – it’s a totally fantastic eco-system.

I hit the bed after an exhausting day.

Sunrise breaks through the gap in the curtains and I’m up like a shot, there are two more dives this morning and I cannot wait. We head down to the restaurant and pack down the fuel for the day, a buffet breakfast that’s simple but effective. James, Jason and now Simon (the new producer for the Nat Geo series which is being filmed) are there waiting for us – seems they’re a little keen to get underwater again too.

Kym and Clinton ferry us out to the lighthouse landing beach and tell me exactly what I’ve been hoping to hear “Today we’re going to be diving at The Blow Hole”. It’s a dive site with a reputation for being excellent, a 12 metre diameter hole in the coral sea-floor which drops from 10 down to 25 metres and is an amazing location – should be pretty testing too as it’s rated as a pretty advanced dive.

Bre and I descend together and spot below us the entrance – WOW it’s awesome already with a huge black hole dropping away from us…we follow Kym in, our eyes focus and adjust to the bottom below and we descend the depths to the new ocean floor. Fish of all sizes appear and scatter, soft corals grow from the walls and we stop to see the famous Gnome-fish. Someone many years ago decided to leave a garden gnome here and over the years the marine life has taken it over – it’s tradition to kiss it, so we do.

As we exit the Blow Hole a huge Loggerhead Turtle swims directly towards me from a good distance away and almost knocks me out of the water, awesome footage though! In the distance another manta ray flies past checking us out to see what we’re up to – this place is unreal and make me realise why the Barrier Reef if called ‘Great’!

At the end of the second dive the outgoing tide is really starting to rip along and the last five minutes are a real struggle, my regulator is nearly ripped from my mouth as I hold tightly onto the mooring line at five metres down, I clamber aboard massively satisfied but with a serious overload of carbon dioxide to the brain – a headache that’s very worthwhile.

Lady Elliot has been a totally rewarding experience with diving and living conditions equal to those of the tropical north Queensland islands. It’s the furthest south and so much of the experience is unique – I love the eco-approach that’s being taken, I love the way the resort fits into the island, I love the diving, I love the helpfulness of the staff and I love the fact that I really didn’t want to get on that plane to leave. It speaks volumes about the place.

End of day location: Lady Elliot Island

Distance covered: 150kms by Seair over the ocean.

Busy times on Long Island…

Interesting Aussisms for the day:

• Woolloomooloo uppercut - A kick in the testicles!
• Esky – That essential of Australian accessories for food, bait or/and drink. Number One on the Australian male’s Christmas List. A portable cooler with insulated walls to keep things cold.
• Bundy - Bundaberg Rum. Bundaberg is the name of the brand and the Queensland city in which it is made. 95% of the rum is drunk in Australia…unsurprisingly!

Let’s also introduce you to some famous Australians:

• Rolf Harris – (entertainer) whose entertainment appeal has spanned a number of decades and whose art programs has been one of the most popular and influential art programs ever produced by the BBC. Responsible for classics such as ‘Jake the Peg‘ and ‘Tie me Kangaroo down sport‘. Rolf is an artistic genius – singer, songwriter, painter, animal saviour, inventor of instruments, tv presenter, comedian, is there no end to his talents! Legend
• Richie Benaud – (Cricketer/presenter) was a world class all-round cricketer during the late 1950’s and early 60’s. Sri Lankan cricket writer Harold de Andrado wrote: “Richie Benaud possibly next to Sir Don Bradman has been one of the greatest cricketing personalities as, player, researcher, writer, critic, author, organiser, adviser and student of the game.” He continues to commentate on the game today and I love his voice!
• Dame Edna Everage – (Comedian/Comedienne) Barry Humphries incredibly funny character dressed in drag. While Humphries freely states that Dame Edna is a character he plays, Dame Edna consistently denies being a fictional character or drag performer, and refers to Humphries as her “entrepreneur” or manager. Indeed, Dame Edna has frequently said that the thought of a man dressing up as a woman for entertainment purposes is repulsive.

Location: Hamilton Island

Weather: The rain appears to have disappeared and the good stuff is here to stay! Sunshine and no wind, 31ºc

Long Island is exactly that. At around 9kms in length it sits on the opposite side of the Whitsunday Passage to Hamilton Island lying from north to south looking rather like the Loch Ness monster as its height above the water rises and drops in a series of humps.

The islands of the Whitsundays bear an uncanny resemblance to the islands around Canada with dark green pine trees extending down to the crystal clear blue waters of the ocean – except everything here is probably about 30ºc warmer at this time of year!

I’ve had a few trips across to this island now previously staying at Peppers Palm Bay and Paradise Bay Eco-Resort and each of them have provided me with a new, different and fresh experience on what the Whitsundays offer.

‘The Best Value in the Whitsundays’ is what the slogan claims for the Long Island Resort; it’s a statement which filled me with a little bit of fear as it could be read as ‘A cheap holiday destination’ but from the moment Jon (my friend from the UK whose visiting for a few days) and I arrived at the jetty and made our way to the resort we knew it was going to be massively better than that!

The big map on the wall in the reception area proudly displays the islands of the Whitsundays with little pics of things to do including the Cruise Whitsundays tour out to the reef onboard Seaflight which we’ll be heading out on very soon.

Over the last day I’ve been shadowed by the film crew from Sanlih E-TV from Taiwan and together we’ve done loads of activities to give them exciting footage for their show which goes to air sometime in January – first stop a quick bushwalk around the island – the best way to explore any new location I get to.

Now I’m not in the best of condition to be heading out on a walk at the moment, with the Hamilton Island Triathlon in a few days time I should be feeling at the top of my game but a freak waterskiing accident which saw me doing the splits and as a result straining the hamstrings in my right leg has meant that preparation has been less than ideal. A walk through the bush was the first test I’d given it…

Climbing the circular track to the east of the resort took us into the humid canopy of the trees and once we’d sweated it out for half an hour arrived at one of the lookouts on the route giving us a clear view across the Whitsunday Passage to Pentecost Island in the distance. This was the only island in the Whitsunday group that Captain Cook named as he passed through here in 1770 as he’d arrived here during the religious festival so named.

How the cameraman and soundman managed to haul all of their kit around the track I have no idea but at various points on the walk they rushed past us to film the next scene for the program!

An hour later we’d completed the course and the views back across Happy Bay to the Long Island Resort were classic and spectacular. We’d had a great time plodding the tracks of the island – my leg felt slightly better and the film crew all got a good work out

The schedule for the afternoon is jam-packed and as soon as we’d got back to the resort it was straight off again for a quick blast around the Whitsundays with a scenic helicopter ride, Jon and I boarded and waved goodbye to the Taiwanese crew temporarily as we soared above the gorgeous blue water snapping away like new tourists to the area.

This has to be the best perspective of the area, seeing the islands far off in the distance makes you realise the sheer size of the Whitsundays…let alone the Great Barrier Reef…let alone the eastern seaboard of Australia!

All too quickly we were swopping back in for the final approach to the helipad but it did allow me to get a great photo of the resort from the air:

Next on the agenda – feeding some of the local wildlife. It’s maybe not the best thing to do morally, artificially providing food for creatures above and below the water but it drags in the tourists and provides an afternoon’s entertainment. We started off at the end of the jetty with the resident Bat fish who were more than happy to slurp away at the bread we’d brought down for them. Once the amusement here was over it was a quick dash back to the resort to collect some apple smoothie (the favourite of the next of our receipients) to feed to the Purple Crowned Lorikeets. These little things make more noise than any other bird on the island with a constant squarking.

As the afternoon drew on it was time to bid farewell to our friends from Taiwan and time for Jon and I to sample the delights of the buffet here, there’s a plethora of choice including meats, fish, pastas and vegetables – another delightful excuse to loosen my belt and squeeze in another huge meal.

Long Island Resort work hand in hand with other companies around the Whitsundays to provide good value, fun filled holidays for people who don’t want to or need to spend a fortune on having a good time. They’ve got a great relationship with other tourism service providers in the area including Cruise Whitsundays who operate a tour and ferry service around the islands. Jon and I headed out on one of their larger vessels, Seaflight, to visit the Great Barrier Reef.

An early race down the jetty in order to get to the waiting boat was the start of our day, we just about made the connecting boat which would take us across to Daydream Island where we’d catch our ride out to the reef. I’ve been on a very similar trip to this before with Fantasea, both companies offering an introductory day’s adventure out on the Great Barrier Reef for young and old alike.

The Seaflight came powering around the headland from Abel Point Marina and we jumped onboard the impressive looking catamaran along with several other excited travellers. The weather conditions were perfect with virtually no breeze, waves or swell – shame, Bre would have loved this trip with no chance of sea sickness here.

As we left the inshore waters of the Whitsundays the staff on board set about their work making the passengers feel at home and briefing us all on what exactly we’d expect to find a couple of hours later when we arrived at the Knuckle Reef Pontoon.

The vessel itself is fully catered specifically for this trip, it’s large and comfy, has staff which provide a constant supply of food and drink, and really moves. Our destination being Knuckle Reef which lies around 90kms from the mainland and slightly further north-east than both Bait and Black reef’s which we’d been diving on with Islandive the week before.

The massively exciting thing about visiting the reef is that every trip seems to throw up something new with different locations on every trip so far giving an ever changing experience and that’s before you take into account the different tides, currents, weather conditions which all effect what you get under the water.

In just over two hours we cover the distance to the reef and arrive at the pontoon where there’s a hive of activity already happening; a helicopter is just landing, the semi-submersible is moving around and the reef-rats (the name given to the people who stay onboard the pontoon once the customers have gone home) are milling about ready for the onslaught of nearly 200 people!

As we’re both certified divers who love the water having the chance to dive here is quickly snapped up. We’re to be in the first group of the day and as soon as the boat touches the pontoon are chomping at the bit to get our equipment ready.

We make our way to the kitting-up area, grab what we need and start putting everything on, there seems to be a sense of urgency here and we’re very quickly ushered down the steps to the platform where we’ll dive from  – there’s not even enough time for a buddy check and when I get down to the platform and as I prepare to check Jon’s equipment over one of the instructors tells me “there’s no need for you to do a buddy-check, we’ve already done that!” – I’m sorry but as someone who has lost a best friend to diving I’m not going to suddenly drop my safety procedures for anyone and find two things badly adjusted anyway; a strap not done up and my second regulator is caught up in my belly strap. It’s exactly the reason a buddy-check is needed!

With that little problem out of the way it’s back to the diving and with almost perfect conditions above the water I’m optimistic that it’ll be reflected below but with big tidal movements this week the bottom has been stirred up and the resulting visibility isn’t amazing…well it’s good, just not amazing!

Being in a group of four divers allows us all a chance to swim about and take everything in about this brilliant underwater world – the corals look really good here with lots of colour and variety but as with other pontoons in the area the sheer level of traffic passing through means that unfortunately slight damage has occurred to some of the hard corals and a few broken pieces litter the ocean floor.

Being a shallow water dive with very low stress levels and no camera for once means that I’m able to concentrate on having a good time and I love cruising about the bottom, hovering over fish and corals adjusting my buoyancy by inhaling and exhaling alone.

All too quickly our dive master is hurrying us along, it’s obviously taking too long this dive when there’s other people on the surface who are waiting for their chance to get underwater. It’s a shame as I really was enjoying myself and had 100bar of air in the tank. It just felt as though I was one of many in the production line that is diving at the pontoon and I just hope it’s not at the expense of safety. Sorry to have to say that!

Back on the dry land of the pontoon there’s loads to do. The end of term signals ‘Schoolie week’ meaning there’s 16 year old running about everywhere – snorkelling, swimming, diving and using the huge water slide into the ocean but it never feels crowded on the pontoon with plenty of space to relax and enjoy the day.

You’d think there’s a dedicated chef on board as lunch is superb and I cram down fresh prawns, home cooked ham and salads from the buffet out on the sun deck and then get the nod that I’ll be heading up in a helicopter for a flight over the reef in a few minutes – awesome x 10! It really give you a totally different perspective of the reef and the sheer size and vast array of blue colours only become apparent up there.

An entertaining afternoon draws to an end four hours after we arrived out here at the pontoon, the engines are fired up and the PA system announces that we’ll be off very soon. The families I’ve spoken to all seem to have had a great time as have the Schoolies who seem slightly sunburnt and tired but happy to have spent all day in and out of the water. One more photo is needed of course – the one with all the kids on board!

The trip back to the Whitsundays doesn’t seem to take nearly as long as the journey out probably as the staff are chatting to everyone about their day’s experiences and showing off the slide-show which has been shot throughout the day. It’s always the highlight seeing quite how stupid you look underwater!

The atmosphere back at the resort was building to say the least, more Schoolies have arrived and there’s beach volleyball, boules, and other games going on – the place is alive with people! Long Island resort has this sort of atmosphere the whole time though, people are here for exactly that – some fun and good times.

Happy hour seems to continually run throughout the afternoon from 2-3pm, 4.30-5.30pm and again from 7-8pm…that’s more than a happy hour isn’t it! To finish off our experience and night there the karaoke machine is rolled out but with my distinct lack of vocal ability it’s something I steer well clear off – there’s no point in insulting the locals is there.

Long Island has three places to stay, each offering a very different experience with the Long Island Resort catering for the holiday-maker looking for a great value means of enjoying activities in a sandy bay on a tropical island. The accommodation sits right on the beach, exactly where you want to be, the food is great and comes in a continual buffet-stream with only yourself to regulate it and the experience feels good.

End of day location: Long Island resort, Long Island

Distance covered: 20kms on Fantasea, 200kms on Cruise Whitsundays

Cruising south aboard the Coral Princess

Location: Dunk Island

Weather: Sunshine with scattered cloud…windy though and a rough ocean. 28c

I’ve flown places, I’ve driven places…I’ve even kayaked places but so far on this crazy Best Job adventure not been lucky enough to cruise anywhere and to be honest in the past I’d never really given it much thought.

As we flew in low over Dunk Island our vessel ‘Coral Princess’ was moored up in the bay overlooking the island. Bre and I were about to jump onboard a day into the three day cruise down the Queensland coast from Cairns to Townsville. Coral Princess Expedition Cruises offer a huge variety of different experiences around the coast of Australia, and far beyond on their fleet of luxury ships.

Dunk Island’s launch ferried us out to meet our floating palace and as we jumped onboard an air of excitement filled my body – this was going to be very different from the usual hotel room, much more like the view from my Land Rover’s tent last year with every day changing!

The friendly crew welcomed us aboard and a very familiar face popped up, Brittany who we’d met back in July in Palm Cove was now working here. Our room was a delightful little double cabin with perfect ocean views and even a little ensuite bathroom complete with shower – the lap of luxury again!

As our fellow passengers started to come back onboard from their afternoon exploring Dunk Island I sat down and chatted to a few of them. They were from all over the world and a wide range of ages and backgrounds too, with people from South Africa, Germany, USA and the UK enjoying the relaxing environment away from the hectic pace of life on the mainland.

As the sun descended into the ocean the engines were fired up and we started our cruise south heading out into less protected waters and the waves started to build, the number of people enjoying the social lounge decreased as the consequences of the swell started to take effect and seasickness took its toll!

We finally moored up alongside Pelorus Island and entered the sheltered waters of the bay just in time to witness a very colourful sunset – the passengers all gathered in the upper bar for the complimentary drinks and nibbles which was a great way to meet other people and to familiarise myself with the crew.

Josh, the cruise manager, was a particularly knowledgeable guy and told us all stories about the surrounding islands then ran through the itinerary for the evening and following day. Dinner was then announced and we all made our way downstairs to the dining hall.

Each couple on the cruise has a chance to dine with the Captain and tonight was to be our lucky night! The food was great, really well made and presented good old fashioned home-style cooking with vegetables – no over-the-top presentation here, just classic simple cooking. Full marks.

I had some catching up to do on the blog so made my excuses and headed back to the room to work away, the gentle rocking of the boat adding to my already tired head.

Sunrise is one of those great times of the day when colours just erupt like an artist’s palette, and being so close to Pelorus Island just amplified it even further. Once breakfast was out of the way I had a quick chat with Matt, the dive master, and discussed the plans for our dive later in the day. We’d head off the shore of the island to explore some of the coral and clams which line the rocky coast, excellent news another chance to get under the water to investigate. The tender was prepared and we all headed ashore for a day of relaxing and eating – more of it!

The gorgeous sandy beach on this side of the island acts as the hospitality area for the cruise guests and the staff from the boat were busy preparing our lunch by the time we’d returned from our guided walk around the island – Josh again imparting the guests with his knowledge in a very unique way.

After a 40 minute dive navigating our way along the coastline I broke the surface of the ocean to find Bre still there sunbathing away – this Canadian will never learn, her slightly pink skin testament to the strength of the lunchtime sun. Slip, slop, slap is definitely the order of the day here.

Back on board we all met up on deck for sundowners and as we socialised preparations were underway for our evening’s activity, the Coral Princess quiz – a test of our knowledge and fact recollection from all of the information Josh had fed us over the last 48hrs.

With dinner out of the way it was down to the hard work, ten quick fire questions followed by a drawing competition to try and portray our cruise assistant Brittany in the best light possible and once all of the marks had been given we found ourselves in a very respectable third place out of four!

After a long night at the computer I hit the pillow heavily and before I knew it the alarm was ringing again announcing the start of another day…our last onboard. We’d cruised down the Queensland coastline all the way to Townsville and as breakfast was dispatched the familiar sight of the foreshore came into view.

What a relaxing few days we’d had at sea, a thoroughly enjoyable time getting to know lots of different people and learning lots about the geography and coastline of the area. This experience would suit the ‘less-active’ traveller looking for a chance to travel at a more sedate pace whilst stopping off at a number of different remote locations along the way – the comfort and fine dining adding to the cruise-like encounter.

End of cruise location: Townsville, Queensland

Distance covered: 190kms onboard

Lady Musgrave Island

Location: 1770, Queensland
Weather: Light onshore breeze increasing to a blustery one with loads of sunshine! 27°c

Lady Musgrave Island, courtesy of Lady Musgrave Cruises - On a windy morning we left the pontoon at 1770 onboard the super sleek catamaran ‘Spirit of 1770′, wound our way down the waterway and out onto the open ocean with an immediate change in circumstances as white-caps and rolling swell became the order of the day. There were a fair few green faces around and every so often another passenger would run past me to the toilet! After an hour the distant sight of trees became visible on the horizon and Lady Musgrave came into view…

It’s a very different and beautiful location with a small sand-covered coral cay punctuated by pisonia and pandanas trees and surrounded by 2950 acres of fringing reef. The Lagoon which surrounds the island is a marine park in itself with an abundance of life underwater for the snorkellers and divers alike to explore. When I think of a tropical island paradise this is about as close as it gets – the colours of the water with the reef, sand and coral shining through appear as an artists palette as they flicker in the sunlight.

I’d heard some really good reports about the potential of seeing manta rays here and my mission for the trip is top spot one or two. I’ve dived a few different locations over the past few months and so far haven’t been lucky enough to spot one of these majestic flying spectacles!

Twenty minutes after we arrive Bre and I were kitted up and ready to get into the water, it’s our first dive together since back in August so a perfect chance to become our usual over-excited selves…we roll off into the calm, slightly-cooler-than-the-Whitsundays water.

Dropping to the bottom instantly throws up a new experience for Bre – a banded sea snake, success already! We keep the poisonous little creature at arms length as it winds its way amongst the coral searching out its next meal but it’s addictive watching it and I have to be pulled away to continue the dive.

We cruise the coral gardens feeling the effects of weightlessness as both of us seem to have now mastered our buoyancy control allowing us to skim the tops of the outcrops adjusting our depth with a simple inhale or exhale of breath. My fears and reservations about this exciting sport from a few months ago have gone….

Then all of a sudden there it is, just what I’ve come here to see…a Manta Ray slowly flapping past us around 20 metres away! This graceful, majestic flying fortresses of the deep must be around 4 metres across and comes equipped with its own wingmen; eight remoras slipstream the giant beast all waiting for the next tasty morsel to come their way, it looks like a well organised military fly-past as it disappears off into the distance fading away into the blue background.

I look across to Bre and we have a little hyper-active wiggle to each other powerless to express ourselves by speaking so instead adopting our usual “WOW did you see that!” pose.

As we climbed back onboard our dive boat it was another box ticked and an overwhelming success as far as spotting was concerned….this really only leaves dolphins, whales, dugongs, 15,000 odd nudibranch’s and a whole host of sharks to see over the next few months before I can say I’ve really tasted almost everything that the Great Barrier Reef has to offer! One step at a time Ben…

Once back at the pontoon there’s a whole array of food awaiting us and after nearly an hour under water it’s not a minute too soon…the slightly cooler waters of the reef down at this southerly point noticeable after being submersed for so long.

Lady Musgrave island is part of the Capricornia Cays National Park, as are Heron and Wilson islands which we stayed at a few months ago. It’s a coral cay which has been formed over thousands of years by the build up of sand and dead coral which eventually forms an island on which small trees and bushes establish.

We went ashore with one of the crew for a quick walkabout to see the huge number of Noddy terns and Shearwaters which call the island’s Pandanas and Pisonia trees home. It’s the run-up to nesting season and around 40,000 birds are arriving to make their very rickety nests in the trees ready to house their young at around the same time the baby turtles will be hatching on the beaches. During that time the island is closed to all campers and day-trippers to give the tiny little eco-system the best chance it has to produce lots of offspring.

With the wind picking we head back to the boat and after a quick cup of tea head back to mainland after another exciting, informative, educational day out on the reef!

End of day location: 1770, Queensland
Distance covered: 120kms over a very rough ocean

Diving to new depths….

Marine facts this time and hopefully you didn’t know them before today:

• Dolphins can hold their breath for 30 minutes, turtles hold their breath for 60 minutes or more, whales can to stay submerged for up to 2 hours..fish just breath the oxygen that is in the water.
• Humpback Whales can eat 6 tons of Krill a day . They live to around 60 years of age and grow to 45 tons. They can propel this full weight out of the water with just 2 flicks of the tail.
• Green Turtles are the biggest local turtle and can grow up to half a ton..and reach two metres long
• Coral trout start their lives as females and change sex to become males later in life.
• Cuttlefish is the most unusual, it has green blood, three hearts and can change color in an instant.

Location: Hamilton Island

Weather: Very, very strange one here….a dust storm has hit the Queensland coast for the first time in decades masking the skyline in a dull red/orange. Feels like the apocalypse is coming! 28°c

I spent last night battling away trying to get the final parts of my PADI Advanced Dive Course completed before departing to the mainland as today I was departing on Whitsundays Sailing Adventure’s newest dive boat – the very impressive Emperors Wings. Suffice to say I completed it and the theory part of the course is now complete! YAY!

I’m on the road and the water for the next ten days with a visit to the Great Barrier Reef onboard an Islandive vessel then a few days on Long Island at Peppers Palm Bay and wrap it all up with a back-to-basics visit to my neighboring rock, Whitsunday Island and a camping trip – this will be pretty special.

Being away for this long means one thing however…hauling around virtually everything I own in four bags…I’m turning into a high maintenance chick here!

We’re departing from Abel Point Marina and as I arrive there’s already a few of my fellow passengers waiting for the off so we make our way down the pontoon to Emperors Wings – a luxury, purpose built sailing boat with accommodation for 30 people and equipped with everything onboard for diving and snorkelling – this is the way to explore the reef.

I’d met a couple of the crew the week before when diving the S.S. Yongala so it was good to see some familiar faces and as the rest of the passengers arrived onboard Sammy showed me to my bunk which was a big, comfortable double bed – no hammocks or bunks here.

Wings 2 Layout

With five crew and 24 passengers on board there’s loads of space for everyone with a relaxing lounge area and huge flat screen tv used for viewing the daily slide show. Being a purpose-built boat there’s some excellent features like the heated spa on the main deck, hydraulic lifting platform for the rubber ducky and the most organised setup for the dive kit I’ve seen; everything’s built around giving the passengers a thoroughly comfortable, interactive and educational experience whilst out on the ocean.

Stu our skipper for the trip (another Pom addicted to working in the sunshine has been with the company for five years) steered us carefully out of the marina and into the Whitsunday Passage heading east towards Whitsunday Island, our destination for the night. The open deck arrangement of the boat means there’s loads of space to lay back and enjoy the ride and a perfectly good time to find out a little more about the other passengers and what their individual stories are.

My fellow travellers are from all over the world; amongst others there’s a couple from Canada (Bre will be happy!), a group of New Zealanders now living in Australia, three Brazilian girls and a few individuals all on their own little mission around the world. There’s no set demographic to this sort of trip it’s pretty much a open book but everyone’s got one thing on their mind – to have some fun, get some sailing in and to discover more about life on the Great Barrier Reef.

Our first destination for the adventure is along the coast of Whitsunday Island, taking in the dramatic scenery it has to offer with Hoop Pine trees and dense bush all the way down to the waterline broken up by granite boulders and tiny sandy bays. One of my Canadian friends comments on how alike the terrain looks to that of their own home in British Columbia and I totally agree. The hills of Whitsunday Craig and Peak teasing me to climb them and at some point I will!
With the south-easterly blowing at a fair pace we make for the sheltered waters of Tongue Bay just around the headland from the famous Whitehaven Beach and drop anchor for the evening. I moored up here during my sailing course and spent most of my time in the water swimming around the boat then…today was no different and I launched myself off the stern of the boat into the warm ocean.

The smell of good cooking wafted through the boat as Cari had fired up the barbeques on the stern, Sammy had been working furiously all afternoon preparing our dinner and finally our rumbling bellies would be satisfied. It’s surprising quite how hungry one gets lazing about in the sunshine, very important to fill up tonight though as there’s a big day ahead tomorrow with diving all day.

Once dinner is out of the way everyone beds down for an early night, with the exception of Stu and Johnny who gently glide the boat around the headland and to the south of Whitehaven Beach where we finally moor up for the night. I’m restless as ever and end up sitting on deck with one of the passengers, Julian from France, watching the moon on the ocean and watching for shooting stars. I don’t want to be anywhere else on the planet right now….just here with my thoughts.

I awake from my slumber, having finally made it to bed, and poke my head out of the port hatch as the sun is breaking the horizon to the east. There’s only one way to wake a sleepy head and that’s to jump straight in the ocean, the shock of cool water on my face enough to jerk my brain into life and after a good swim I feel ready to take on the day.

Whitehaven is one of those places that just has to be visited if you’re in the Whitsundays, it’s an iconic symbol of what ‘perfect’ beaches are all about; crystal clear water, blue skies, lush green trees and of course the contrasting fine white silica sand. I’ve been a few times now to this gem of a location but can never tire of its majesty and happily visit once more as the rest of the boat disembarks for their first experience. I swim to the shore as part of my continued training for the Whitehaven Beach 2km Swim in November!

Turtles seem to be the order of the day as we spotted a few on our trip around the island last night so in the spirit of the trip I try and make one out of sand….what do you think?

I’ve come on this trip to progress my diving to another level and hope to leave with my Advanced certification which will allow me to explore yet more amazing places under the water and to do this I need to complete a number of tests on each dive with the first being navigation.

The beauty of a trip such as this one is there’s a chance for non-divers to try their hand at using a SCUBA setup. Certified divers only made 20% of the passengers…everyone else had the chance to try it out for the first time.

We made our way to the more sheltered waters of Hook Island and Mackerel Bay as it offered protection against the north-easterly wind which had swung around over night. At the stern of the boat lies the kitting-up area and here Steph, my wonderfully experienced Dive Master, was issuing our BCD’s, weights and my compass and dive computer, something I’d need for this part of the course.

After a quick tender ride I dropped into the ocean, descended to three metres and began to focus on what surrounded us….not a lot actually! The visibility was pretty poor at no more than five metres meaning spotting marine life wasn’t exactly easy…but I was here for another reason, my navigation test. The poor conditions actually made the test better for me as I had no idea where I was heading during the task which required me to swim 15 metres, turn through 90°, swim 15 more etc until I’d returned to my starting point having completed a full square.

I passed with flying colours! After a couple of easier reciprocal navigation tests we made our way back to the awaiting Emperors Wings, changed back into our dry kit and prepared for the next part…the night dive on the outer reef! Totally exciting and something I haven’t done for over a year. The nerves will be jangling for this I can tell you!

As we motored out to the reef the wind picked up giving a few of the passengers a pretty hard time with green faces above and below deck. The rolling of the ocean dropped off slightly as we came onto the mooring we’d spend the night on.

Then all of a sudden it was here – my chance to dive the Great Barrier Reef at night!

The blue underwater lights from the boat were already attracting Giant Trevally, bright silver flashes signalling their arrival as they twisted and turned attempting to catch the bait fish who’d become hypnotised in the iridescent glow. We were on…..

It’s a totally different experience to me, diving at night. Yes you still use the same equipment (plus a light and glow stick or two) and you still travel down to roughly the same depth but the feeling is somewhat different. Spatial awareness becomes more intense, the 3D effect of lights hovering around you seem almost otherworldly and with the restricted tunnel of light you look down it takes more concentration to realise where you’re placed in the water compared to your surroundings and other people.

We moored up along a row of famous coral bommies here on Bait Reef known as the Stepping Stones, they tower up from the ocean floor and are impressive during the day but at night they become almost cathedral-like. The first time I shone my torch all the way up the wall my regulator nearly dropped out of my mouth!

As with the majority of the world, at night the reef sleeps with the exception of some pretty hungry predators. The Giant Trevally swim all around me using my torch light to seek out unwary fish resting outside the protection of the coral beds, they’re like futuristic android ships patrolling swiftly and silently the depths of the ocean….and then there’s the sharks!

As I scan the horizon wide-spaced green eyes stare back at me slowly swimming along just far enough away to not appear a direct threat but close enough to remind me I’m now in their world. During the dive I spot around ten of them, White and Black Tip Reef Sharks all big enough to inflict a nasty bite should they feel that way, but thankfully they keep their distance. A Wobbegong sitting motionless on the rock is the closest I get to a shark.

It’s all over far too quickly, I check my depth and rise to the surface along with the other divers, eyes wide open racing with adrenaline from the experience. We board the boat and talk constantly about what we’d seen and the incredible underwater adventure we’d just had together. If you’re certified this is the way to do a night dive in perfectly clear water, surrounded by coral and predators onboard a fully catered catamaran. I struggle to get to sleep….
The next day dawns early for me as usual, I make my way to the foredeck and watch the sunrise out of the hazy, orange sky (it’s actually a dust storm which has engulfed the Queensland coast for the first time in decades, click here for more info and pics) an hour later Sammy announces that breakfast is ready and then we’re off again….three more dives today!

Once I’d got the practicals out of the way for my Advanced course the dives were probably some of the most relaxing and observational I’d ever had; schools of fish cruised off in the distance, anemone’s wobbled in the foreground and my favourite the cleaner wrasse worked furiously picking off any parasites from hospitable subjects at the cleaning stations. This is the reef working in perfect harmony and with the visibility back up to around 25 metres the big television show I’ve dropped into seems gigantic.

This type of trip encompasses so many different things you may be looking for as a traveller, backpacker or tourist – you’re being catered for on all levels and never feel hungry or left out, the snorkelling or diving are as much or as little as you desire and the experience of sailing hard across the wind hanging off the pulpit as the hull slices through the swell simply can’t be beaten.

By the end of an exhausting day I was three dives more experienced, had gained my next level of certification and was a very happy man…and that was before another cracking meal arrived on the table.

As we arrived back in the marina and prepared to leave it felt like the end of a true adventure. I’d made lots of friends, taken on some challenges, seen some unique sights and really felt a pang of sadness as I unloaded my kit back onto dry land. That’s one for the memory bank for sure.

End of trip location: Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach

Distance covered: 3 days at sea…something like 120kms

The S.S. Yongala – my best dive yet…probably!

Facts relating to scuba diving:

• SCUBA divers cannot pass gas at depths of 33 feet or below
• A dance class of 74 scuba divers created a world record on October 27, 2006 at Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney Australia by dancing simultaneously for ten minutes. No one is yet sure why.
• Australian divers Ron and Valerie Taylor love to swim with Great White sharks, and were the first people to swim with the sharks without a cage and not be eaten. (http://www.deepoceanexpeditions.com/about5_8.html)

Location: Townsville, Queensland

Weather: Cloudy skies, rain on the way down to Alva..then the sun came out! 28°c

This is the one I’d be waiting for…the chance to further my experience and training by diving on the very famous site known as the S.S. Yongala around 11 nautical miles off the coast of Australia. I was full of excitement and even some nerves as I climbed out of bed, packed my bags and jumped in the hire car ready for the drive south to Ayr and the office of Yongala Dive – the company who’d be getting me through stage one of my Advanced Diving course.

When I flick through the pages of the Lonely Planet’s Guide to Diving and Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef there’s a section which always catches my eye…The Best Dives. The Yongala is described as the ‘Best Wreck Dive’ (some even say in the world) – an oasis on the sandy desert sea floor with stunning marine life. As I’ve never dived one before it’s going to be a day of mind-blowing experiences!

S.S. Yongala in her heyday

The S.S. Yongala was a steel passenger ship built in 1903 and serviced the coastline of Australia. On the night of 23rd March 1911 she left Mackay on what would be her final voyage to Cairns. Onboard were 122 people, a prize racehorse and a red Lincoln Bull all under the experienced hand of Captain William Knight; a very capable sailor with 14 years of service to the Adelaide Steamship Company.

The wireless radio for the Yongala was sitting in Cairns awaiting fitting once she arrived, meaning the ship only had lights to communicate with the mainland and with a cyclone fast approaching this was in no way ideal! The message never got to the ship and sometime around 23rd March she was hit broadside by the full force of the storm condemning her to a watery grave where she remained undiscovered for nearly 50 years.

Some interesting facts about some of the passengers on that fateful night:

• David Coyne of Mackay was trying to find a taxi to take his family’s luggage to the port. However, the taxi driver was an old friend and by the time they left the pub and arrived at the wharf, Yongala had already sailed.
• Miss Annie Darling Murray had booked and cancelled at the last minute, deciding to stay longer in Brisbane with her family.
• Mr J Campbell, the owner of a newly acquired racehorse called Moonshine arrived very late at the wharf and was advised to travel on the Cooma, departing Brisbane later in the afternoon. However, he insisted on travelling on Yongala having heard it was more luxurious. Special arrangements were made, and Moonshine was loaded, with Campbell boarding just prior to departure.
• Clifford O’Brien joined at Mackay. He had taken out a 300 pounds insurance policy while at Bundaberg, on his way north.

In 1958 two divers took a particular interest in the strange lump they’d been looking at on naval charts and decided to investigate further. Exploratory dives showed the wreck of the S.S. Yongala listing to starboard but surprisingly intact and as evidence of their discovery recovered the ship’s Chubb safe from the hull later tracing it to purser’s cabin onboard the doomed vessel.

S.S. Yongala

I arrived at Yongala Dive amidst a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Steve my dive master for the day talked me through my kit, the dive site and the difference I’d experience dropping down to nearly 30 metres below the surface rather than my normal 18 which I’m allowed as an Open Water diver. It’s pretty damn reassuring when someone with so much knowledge takes you through the basics…all of a sudden it didn’t appear quite as daunting.

Once we’d checked our equipment, loaded it on the RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) and signed our lives away it was into the Land Cruiser and down the beach to the launch site. The wind had been up over the last few days at around 20 knots meaning a rough 30 minute ride out to the dive site and a rolling, swirling mooring to tie up to once we got there.

I’m so glad I don’t suffer from seasickness – there were a few green looking people by the time we donned our BCD’s (Buoyancy Control Device)!

…and then all of a sudden it was here, the moment I’d been waiting for – my first official deep water dive! A quick check of my kit, air and procedures, a simple roll-over entry and I was floating in the ocean holding the mooring line. Steve signalled to me all was ok, the last of the air escaped from my BCD and I started the descent towards the Yongala…

It took a while for my eyes to focus on the blue environment I’d just dropped into, the visibility here is less than most sites on the Great Barrier Reef as the wreck’s located around 12 nautical miles offshore surrounded by a totally sandy bottom. Equalising all of the way we dropped to the ocean floor passing schools of Giant Trevally and Mackerel as we descended coming to rest at the bow of the Yongala now 28 metres below the surface.

As I looked around the sheer size of the wreck came into play, the boat is over 100 metres long and towers above the seabed and the marine life around it is utterly immense. The deck is covered in coral and thousands of oysters, around swim so many small fish that it’s almost as though a smokey cloud covers the hull, parting occasionally as they get spooked by my bubbles.

The layout of the Yongala

Groups of giant trevally hover motionless above the wreck facing the current, turtles pick at the sponges littering the deck, sea snakes twist effortlessly through openings in the hull and my jaw drops (as far as it can with a regulator stuck in it anyway!) with the reality of what I’m seeing and the sheer number of species all living together on a single dive site.

The wreck itself almost becomes irrelevant as I fail to focus on the near 100 year old burial site, my attention constantly being dragged away by yet another ‘first’ as my eyes scan the life massing around me…the final ten minutes giving me a finale of note:

• Two Marble Rays come into view, passing a few metres below me…
• as they turn away, five Reef Shark’s twist and turn in their wake, and I look down…
• As a Hawksbill Turtle swims underneath me

The perfect ending to a superb dive which definitely takes the prize of Best Wreck dive ever…and I know it’s only my first but come on is it really likely to be beaten?

Ascending back to the surface after our essential safety stops at both 10 and 5 metres I break the water and turn to the boat…a huge beaming smile evident across my smug face. Not only had completed my first deep dive and passed the section, been face-to-face with some of the most incredible marine life yet but also ticked another ‘must do’ off the Top Ten Dive Sites on the Great Barrier Reef!

Back on the surface and the swell is still large enough to keep at least one casualty face down on the cushions. Brian fires up the engines and we’re off heading back to the mainland and our launch beach which we reach half an hour later. There’s one more treat to go though….a fat barbeque to fill my rumbling stomach after the day’s exertion.

Yongala Dive have a few movies too of the Yongala which you can access by clicking on the thumbnails below:

Tonight I have the pleasure of sleeping at the Yongala Dive HQ and Bee checks me into the super comfy double room at the top of the stairs where I lay for a while taking it all in…oh I hope the photos do it at least some justice.

End of day location: Alva, Queensland
Distance covered: 25 miles over rough, rolling ocean

Sleeping under the stars….

Aussisms today (apologies if any actual Australian’s haven’t heard any of them!):

• Cackleberry – an egg
• Pozzie/possie – ‘ position; find yourself in a comfortable pozzie’
• Spitting chips – Very angry

Location: Hamilton Island, Queensland
Weather: Totally clear blue skies, no clouds and no wind. Winter rocks! Perfect for Reefworld. 25°c

The last time I went to Fantasea Reefworld it was back in May on the first day of the final for Best Job in the World, and that experience really didn’t fill me with a huge desire to go back for more. Let me explain….

The weather was pretty atrocious; the wind was thumping i.e. 25 knots, the sky was as grey as a retirees comb-over and the ocean was rough and full of white caps. If that wasn’t enough when it got to actually going in the water for our ‘snorkel test’ (the first of the interview examinations) what greeted me was a pretty bland, cloudy underwater environment.

Hardy Reef had some work to do in order to get my vote again…..

Of all the interviews I’ve had to do the one from today (and yesterday and the day before) were the most inconvenient. Villa Vanthilt is a late night program broadcast in Belgium and they asked me to appear on the show through a live Skype webcam connection…..at 5.30am! Not a problem as I normally get up early but when they ask for a practice the day before and I get the day wrong I end up doing three very early rises in a row, and I end up feeling shattered before the day has even started!

Had a couple of old friends join me today for the trip out to Reefworld. Tim and Mark from RTL in Holland are reporting on the Best Job and joined me at 8.30am on the marina ready to jump on the boat to Hardy Reef for a taxing day of helping the tourists, snorkelling and then staying the night aboard the Fantasea pontoon to enjoy the Reefsleep experience…something Bre and I had been looking forward to for ages – and she’s away on the Gold Coast, darn it.

A perfect crossing too with no wind, flat calm and even a good few whale sightings just off the bow which the captain slowed down for allowing us the time to take a few snaps of the breaching and pectoral-slapping pair loving their morning in the sunshine. This day could be the perfect way to forget about last time’s experience.

Now for the sake of television some things have to be rigged to make a good story, and today was no different! RTL are trying to film me doing my normal work which of course includes handing out snorkels, fins and mouthpieces to all of the customers – so I learnt how to size people’s feet without asking them today…a very useful skill should I find myself suddenly working in a shoe shop over the next few weeks!

The boat was pretty full on the way over with around 180 people arriving, many of them experiencing their first day out on the Great Barrier Reef all in search of their own little Nemo. Once we’d arrived at Reefworld and grabbed a mask, snorkel and fins it was out onto the reef to see exactly what was there ….can you imagine anything more awe-inspiring for a little kid than swimming above an aqua playground with all the marine life just below the surface within touching distance?

The fish here are pretty used to human interaction and come right up to your face and camera lens, the fish being particularly interested in my underwater camera so hopefully I’ve got some good footage!

As with most outdoor activities the weather is everything and we’d chosen the perfect day to come out with bright sunshine and hardly any wind.

There’s loads of options here for all ages and abilities; if you love being right under the water you can scuba dive, you can float on the surface and snorkel or if you don’t even want to get that wet there’s always the semi-submersible where you can sit and watch the marine environment through its glass windows as it slowly passes over the reef wall.

I met Nessy, the dive instructor, back at the final in May and every time I’d seen her on Hamilton she’d ask “When are you coming diving Ben?” – now was the time! We assembled our gear, did the safety checks and grabbed a ride 200 metres down the reef to our drop off point, the outgoing tide giving us perfect conditions for a drift dive right back to Reefworld.

The reef wall drops down to around 30 metres and as the current helped us along we spotted loads of different things; Clownfish in the anemones, Sweetlip hiding under ledges, a Wobbegong shark chilling out in a sandy spot and masses of plate, staghorn and brain coral giving the wall a garden-like appearance with something happening everywhere when you looked closely. I stopped myself once to rest up and watch a parrotfish crunching its way through some of the coral, I love how you can hear it as the water conducts sound so well!

I hadn’t expected the best dive having been treated over the last few weeks to some of the finest sites on the Great Barrier Reef but Hardy Reef definitely came up with the goods. For a location that’s only a day trip away from the mainland it’s well worth coming out so when some of my friends and family arrive in a few weeks time I’ll be bringing them back out here – that’s my snorkelling Mum and Dad and my experienced dive buddy Jon who’ll love it.

As we neared our ascent point we moved towards the anchor blocks for the pontoon and floated up towards the huge Grouper which hangs around Reefworld all day, there’s three of them with the biggest called George weighing in at over 200kgs! These are the daddies of the reef but I do wonder how on earth they get to such a size when all they do it just sit there and hardly move all day…I’m told that the size and speed their mouths move at is the secret.

With the day visitors gone for the day, the solitude of Reefsleep could start, just me the RTL crew and Jamie our chef for the night. My kingsize room opens straight out the reef and the sun deck above becomes a perfect star viewing platform once sunset has gone, leaving a glistening night sky. I did try taking some night shots of the stars with a long exposure but even with no wind the pontoon still moves very slightly and they came out a little blurry. Will try back on the balcony at home one night….

After dinner we lay silently on the sun loungers staring at the night sky watching and shouting out as soon as we spotted a shooting star. It’s only when I do this can I start to appreciate quite how massive the intergalactic world that we’re part of is…mind bending stuff!

If you really want to get away from it all on a simple day transfer from the mainland then come and do this. The utter peace and quiet of night out on the reef can’t be matched and then’s there the viewing chamber, we sat and had dessert lying on our fronts staring through the windows at the food cycle happening right before our eyes….microscopic fish being eaten by bait fish then being eaten themselves by fast moving Trevally. George wasn’t ever far away….

My expectations have been shattered and rightly so, Reefworld offers a truly interactive experience (and I know it sounds cheesy!) for all ages…but my sister’s family of three children would love it, if your kids have seen ‘Finding Nemo’ then you have to take them!

End of day location: Reefworld, Hardy Reef off the Whitsundays

Distance travelled: 50kms