On the Outer – err... Great Barrier Reef, that is

[JohnM]

Time to get air and sea-borne again.

Tomorrow it’s on the bird PER-SYD, to overnight there before SYD-CNS the next morning. Overnight in CNS before boarding the Coral Discoverer (Coral Discoverer) for a 7-night voyage to the outer Great Barrier Reef.



And a better perspective:



This voyage is expected to coincide with coral spawning.

Now, there’s nothing like a bit of mating to add some excitement while on a voyage… - and it should make for a varied biological mechanism complement to the utterly rampant turtle mating that we observed on our west coast voyage: Post#34: WAving - from a west coast voyage.

Coral spawning is an annual event, triggered by water temperature warming and follows a full moon (What is coral spawning?).

As usual, most of the TR will be done on return.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Ah i wondered where that boat had got to, we were quoting something on it but nothing has come up, at least i now know its still based in Cairns.

 

[craven morehead]

Couldn't stay away from FNQ hey

 

[JohnM]

Righto, back home after a great trip.

The PER-SYD ride was marred by an egregious incident where several whY pax, were immediately after seatbelt signs off served sparkling wine from J, both before, and to the exclusion of, J pax receiving a pre-lunch drink. Reported at the time here: Qantas Domestic & International Business Class meals/menus

FAs lying about ‘VIPs’ down the back, like a couple of 7 year-olds caught out at something naughty, was infuriating to experience.

The stay in SYD was briefer than originally planned. It was always intended to be one night – arriving in the evening and departing for CNS mid-afternoon the next day. But QF flight changes intervened and the revised SYD-CNS flight departed mid-morning.

I had booked the Marriott near Circular Quay with the intention of having a morning strolling around the sights there, but we didn’t get to have any real free time in the morning. Anyway, it was pleasant enough. It wasn’t as though we hadn’t been there before.

We strolled out for a light meal on a rather cold night.



View from a 16th floor Opera House View room at the Marriott.



On descent into CNS after another J flight with lamentable catering.



We stayed one night at The Pullman before the voyage began the following afternoon.



A fine example of a cannonball tree on the CNS foreshore.

 

[JohnM]

We had to do a self-administered RAT test and upload it within 24h of check in (which was at the Pullman), presumably so any positive pax would be told not to present for check in, and then another RAT at check in. All clear.

The ship takes about 70 pax; it turned out that we had about 60 on board. That was interesting, as I had booked almost a year ago but when my brother went to book a few months later, he was no. 6 on the waitlist, but eventually was offered a place a couple of months ago. A couple on board informed me that they had secured a place on a whim only a week or so before departure. Obviously a dynamic situation.

We boarded at 1600h for a 1700h cast-off.



I didn’t take any other food photos, but this was the first night’s dinner menu and entrée. The meals were excellent, generally not overdone for size and very well presented.

 

[JohnM]

Back to the ship and moving on to Sudbury Reef, anchoring off Sudbury Cay and going ashore for some snorkelling off the sand. My underwater camera is dinky and a couple of days into the trip it leaked and is no more. A bummer because the water was clearer and the coral and sea life became more and more spectacular as the voyage progressed. I’ve put in a few pics from about three locations before my camera died.

 

[JohnM]

 

[JohnM]

Back on board. The ship has an open bridge policy (except during operations). And the Captain’s welcome sundowner.



Night transit to Escape Reef. Obviously not in a straight line. Then into the water from the Xplorer for snorkelling in the morning.

 

[JohnM]

Back to the ship for lunch and moving slightly back to Mackay Reef for afternoon snorkelling off Mackay Cay. All within view of Cape Tribulation. We then returned to the ship to freshen up before going over to Mackay Cay for the sundowner.



A spiny conch. When left undisturbed upside-down, after a few minutes the gastropod inside poked part of its body out and sharply flicked itself over.

 

[Daver6]

You really should provide feedback to QF about the VIP whY pax issue. What a joke

I realise you're the wrong person to ask (since sleeping in a swag is consider luxury to you), but what were your thoughts about the Pullman in CNS?

 

[Pushka]

This looks fabulous and great weather too.

 

[JohnM]

You really should provide feedback to QF about the VIP whY pax issue. What a joke

I realise you're the wrong person to ask (since sleeping in a swag is consider luxury to you), but what were your thoughts about the Pullman in CNS?

I had a brief look on the QF website with the intention of feedback but could not easily find somewhere to do so.

The Pullman was good. It is conveniently located and the room was large, light and airy, as was the lobby/bar area. We didn't eat or drink there, so can't comment on that aspect.

 

[JohnM]

This looks fabulous and great weather too.

It was a great trip that we would highly recommend. It was initially a bit windy (fresh SE Trade Winds) but the wind moderated and the last day was described by the crew as stunningly PERfect.

The crew did say that the previous two trips were too windy to snorkel at Osprey Reef, which is on a sea-mount in open ocean. It's an iconic destination, especially for scuba divers, and I gather they go out there even if they think conditions will be poor otherwise people will complain. Possibly only divers get to go into the water if the surface conditions are poor.

This trip we felt complemented our voyage from Broome to Fremantle last year (WAving - from a west coast voyage). That voyage had some long stretches of steaming both night and day, with quite a few landings and some snorkelling, while the GBR voyage was primarily about being at snorkelling/diving destinations twice per day and steaming much shorter distances, although the last run in from Ribbon Reefs 9 & 10 was about 12h overnight.

Both had a guest lecturers. In the case of the GBR it was an authority on coral who was retired from AIMS at Townsville.

 

[Daver6]

I had a brief look on the QF website with the intention of feedback but could not easily find somewhere to do so.

Let Me Google That

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/support/contact-us/customer-care-feedback-form.html#

 

[JohnM]

This looks fabulous and great weather too.

BTW, Coral Expeditions offers 10% discount on any new voyage booked within 14 days of voyage completion (ours ended last Wednesday).

It can be passed on to friends, if anyone is interested.

 

[JohnM]

Another night transit to be anchored off Cooktown the next morning. We went ashore for the morning, the landing jetty being where Cook beached HMB Endeavour to effect repairs over about 1.5 months after crashing into the reef. We bussed up to Grassy Hill Lookout, then the Botanic Garden and the James Cook Museum, which houses one of the Endeavour’s anchors that was cast overboard, along with cannons, to lighten the load for re-floating the vessel in 1770. It was recovered in 1969.

 

[JohnM]

Back aboard and moving on to Lizard Island, steaming all afternoon during which time two presentations were given.

 

[JohnM]

Next morning, Lizard Island. We spent the day there, making morning and afternoon shore excursions for snorkelling off the beach or taking a choice of two walks. We stuck with snorkelling.

First at one end of the beach noted for its clam ‘garden’ and then at the other end of the beach noted for very benign turtles feeding on the seagrass. It was here that my underwater camera failed. Needless to say, of course, that the clam gardens were spectacular and I cosied up to a gentle turtle…



That night, we stayed moored in the bay at Lizard island in the lee of the SE wind for pre-dinner drinks and the briefing for the next day, and a great BBQ dinner on the sundeck.



The vessel upped anchor at about midnight and set out for Osprey Reef, following Cook’s course through the reef into open ocean. The swell picked up and I think some people were feeling queasy. But it was very mild sea in my experience and I don’t get seasick or take any prophylaxis.

Osprey Reef is about 200km offshore.

 

[JohnM]

We had three snorkelling forays during our day at Osprey Reef. The ship remained anchored at the same point all day and all excursions were off the Xplorer which moved out to fixed mooring points off the edge of the reef.

All excursions offered spectacular viewing of coral and sea-life. Of course, the scuba divers were in Nirvana. There are no exposed areas of reef or sand cays at Osprey Reef.

The water was quite choppy and had a fairly strong current for the first snorkel and it proved quite exhausting. A few people bailed out fairly soon after entering the water and some had to be assisted back to the Xplorer by the rescue Zodiac, but there were no major incidents.

The water at all snorkelling sites throughout the voyage was not cold and wet suits were not generally required for cold protection. However, both PJM and I had taken lightweight wetsuit torso vests that were particularly good for extra buoyancy, and which helped stave off any exhaustion. PJM also appreciated the protection form getting cold more than me. Highly recommended for anyone considering the voyage.

PJM also used a noodle for extra buoyancy. They are also useful for seeing snorkellers, especially in choppy seas.

Also anchored at Osprey Reef was another vessel, the 24-pax Spirit of Freedom which specialises in scuba dive tours.

After the first excursion, we returned to the ship for a morning tea break, before heading out again for the second snorkel. Lunch was scheduled for later than usual, so as to break the day into three excursions.

The first excursion:



And PJM’s off into the chop. Trying to stay buddied-up proved difficult.



I ended up coming back just before PJM, because I thought she had already got out. But no, and out she came shortly after, still smiling after staunchly battling the elements.



Everyone must sign out and in.



The second excursion was much like the first. Still choppy but the drift was less, so it was easier to stay over the reef. The edge rapidly plummets to great depths. Great for the scuba divers working the wall, but snorkellers need to stay over the reef and along the edge for best viewing.

 

[JohnM]

I was one of the first 2-3 people into the water, but no sooner had I got in when the shouted order came to get out. Yikes! Is there a shark was the immediate thought?!

It turned out that the Sprit of Freedom had advised a medical emergency and they were prepping for a medevac and it was thought they may need to come to our mooring. However, that was quickly resolved as not being the case. I had no sooner swum from the water entry point on the bow of the Xplorer to the exit point at the stern when we were told to carry on.

After an uneventful snorkel, upon return to the Xplorer and waiting for others to come out of the water, the emergency helo showed up. It circled the other ship and began its steady approach manouvre to drop a person.

It then backed away and began circling the area, around our ship and over us in the Xplorer as we finished our snorkelling and headed back to the ship for lunch. After several orbits, it returned to the other ship for the pickup, which occurred in two operations.



We were told that an 11-year old child had lost their regulator while underwater. The immediate thought of many was that seemed very young to be scuba diving. It’s worth noting that travel insurance that included medevac was mandatory for our voyage.