Great Barrier Reef

Photos from our trip to Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef here.

Happy to say the Great Barrier Reef lived up to its standing as one of the natural wonders of the world.  We spent 6 days/5 nights in Port Douglas with Kristin’s family visiting from Michigan (Carol, Parker and Olivia).  Port Douglas is the easy-going resort town north of Cairns (major hub where we flew in) that serves as a launching point for many reef cruises.  The trip was great for two main reasons: 1) Snorkeling on the reef was outstanding and 2) the trip as a whole was relaxing, warm, tropical and felt like a true vacation.

First #2.  We scored a fantastic self-contained apartment right on the beach.  The 3 BR house, part of a balinese-themed compound of 8 other units, featured a fully stocked kitchen and a beautiful outdoor veranda with a BBQ so we could relax and cook all our own meals.  We also got lucky and arrived the same weekend that a monthly fishing boat shows up to unload fresh prawns, bugs (kind of like lobster) and scallops by the kilo.  We stocked up on enough for the whole week and BBQ’d to our hearts content every night.  Yum.  The house was right on the aptly named Four Mile Beach (facing east), and all the adults made it a point to watch the sunrise every morning (and I was happy to get a soft surface to run on every day).

At 18 degrees latitude, the climate in winter was ideal (sunny and mid-high 70’s) and made for a very relaxing tropical vacation.  We ate fresh coconuts that fell from the trees lining the beach.  Yes, tropical indeed.

On to the reef.  Several companies run daily boat trips out to the Reef – about 70 kms (1.5 hours) off the coast to get to the outer reef.  We chose a company that had a newer boat (faster and more stable) and made stops at three different reefs for snorkeling and diving.  At each of the three stops everyone puts on their gear, jumps into the warm water, and gets treated to a fantastic display of marine life.  Carol had a go at diving while the rest of us enjoyed the theatrics from the surface with our snorkels.  It was truly amazing.  We saw electric-blue starfish the size of a frisbee, giant clams the size of a large stuitcase, and honestly too many colorful fish to keep track of.  It was brilliant to see hundreds of fish swimming together in schools and changing directions simultaneously as if it was choreographed. But a favorite of everyone was the probably the reef shark, with it’s unmistakable profile that grabs your attention no matter how safe anyone tells you it is.  We all loved the experience so much we signed up to go back for the same trip 2 days later.

No pictures to tell the underwater story, unfortunately, but google great barrier reef snorkeling and you’re sure to come up with some good ones.