Great Barrier Blog

Wouldn’t it be idyllic to describe how we then hopped straight into the big old blue, and snorkeled happily for the next four hours? But no. There was the first hour of trying to fit the kids out with lifejackets, masks that didn’t leak, flippers that fit, etc, etc etc. Joe and I then hastily grabbed anything left and finally we got in. Though the reef offers some protection from the waves beyond, it was distinctly choppy, and you couldn’t see from the surface anything at all of the reef below. Mark, aforementioned guide, took us as a family out on a guide snorkel, with us three girls clinging on to a floating ring. But I lasted less than 5 minutes. In our haste to grab any kit after spending so much frustrating time rigging the kids up “my mask doesn’t fit!” “this flipper is too loose!”, we hadn’t had time to check any of ours. My mask immediately started to drip water right into my nose, and the waves conspired to fill my snorkel airway. Having survived the motion of the ocean from the boat, this was just too much. I excused myself and headed straight back to the pontoon, seeing a grand total of about 5 fish. No sooner was I out of the kit that Jenna appeared at my side, having been dragged in by Joe. She too had received the waves in her mouth and nose, and was having no more of it. We tried not to feel too disappointed, and instead lounged on the deck and then headed for lunch. The older kids appeared ½ hour later, brimming over with tales of giant clams, sea slugs and wicked fish, so I was really pleased they’d got a lot out of it. Joe stayed out for a more daring advanced tour, going beyond the roped off areas to the edge of the reef, and loved it. Once again the time flew. The kids had a great time in the roped off kids pool, where the crew brought fish by the shoal load in with the offer of fish food, so they shrieked and splashed while the rainbow fish swam all around them. We then took the semi sub to see the outer reef, and were rewarded when Joe cried out “turtle turtle turtle!”, proving he can be just as excited and loud as the kids on occasion! We all agreed that its the reef itself that is simply out of this world. Even I, after another couple of abortive tries at snorkeling, got to see all the colours and types of coral forming cliffs as the reef drops away, populated by the most gorgeous assortment of fish. It is a most amazing environment, unlike any we had ever seen, but boy does it take a lot to get to it!
While in Galapagos, one of our Frigates had said that if we could, we really should fly over the reef to get the full effect. So, just five minutes later we had the distinct pleasure of one of the crew rushing up to us with the immortal filmstar line: “Mr and Mrs Pritchard, your helicopter is waiting for you!”
Yup, we’d decided when we booked the trip some days before that a helicopter ride home was the only way to go. And having endured the trip out by boat, we were incredibly smug to fly over the waves on the way back to Cairns in some style. Indeed, many of the other passengers were begging for seats, and we were magnanimous enough to allow one very nice Japanese lady in with us. We loved the whole thing, from our favourite crewman saying “and a helicopter ride home? Awesome guys” to the sprint to the little boat to the journey to the helipad, our safety briefing and the final sprint aboard, with the incredible noise of the rotors above us. Jenna got to don her favourite ‘mum’s bosoms’ type of headphones again, and a second later we were in the air, and swooping over the reef. It was, as the guy said, awesome. Unbelievable. Finally you could really appreciate the sheer size of the Great Barrier Reef, from 500 foot up, and the colours of the sea … you could see the enormity of the Pacific waves beyond, you could smile smugly down at the boat as it prepared to rock and roll its way back to Cairns for an hour and a half. We on the other hand spent most of our twenty five minutes back just playing about, circling cays and flying over more distant reefs, then heading slowly towards and along the rainforested coast. I solemnly swear that despite the wind, there were only two bumps in the whole ride, and those were nothing compared to aircraft turbulence. It was smooth, fast and beautiful. So guess what happened? Yup – the kids all fell asleep again! What IS it with them and motion? Joe and I could simply sit back and enjoy, and as we touched down on a preposterously small pad on the edge of the harbour, Joe and I had those unremovable grins, and I for one was whooping. Rowan, naturally, has decided she wants a helicopter. Me too, kid. I totally get why the rich and the famous take them to places. And then we did the trademark descent and sprint to our waiting car (OK, it wasn’t a limo) for our ride back to the hotel. Still grinning, and deciding that the very best part of the day was that helicopter ride back, and we would have paid all the money in the world for it.