We took the cheapest flight out of Bali to get to Australia. That mean of course that we flew at a terrible time, but it saved $250USD plus per person. We had quite a lot of time in the airport since the flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1am. We’re still unsure why this particular item would be for sale in the Bali airport, but Keali sure had fun playing with it.
Ski masks in Bali?
We arrived Cairns early in the morning, took a nap, and then restocked our supplies with all the westernized goodies.
The next morning, we were picked up by the Cairns Dive Center and proceeded to the marina.
We hopped on a boat called the Sunkist and took off. The two hour boat ride roughened up quite a bit in the second half. A substantial number of people experienced sea sickness. We were fortunate to have our entire family remain happy and “unsick”. Thank goodness for Zofran for the littles. Science for the win.
Our home for the next four days
Once we arrived the Kangaroo Explorer, we settled into our rooms that we would call home for the next four days.
Leaving the commuter boat to board the Kangaroo Explorer.
Day one we completed two dives. The water was considerably colder (22 degrees Celsius) compared to the water we were used to in Indonesia (30 degrees Celsius). It didn’t stop Scott and I from fully enjoying the dives, but the kids, even doubled up in wetsuits, just didn’t have the body fat and temperature regulation to enjoy it too much.
The fam at the 5 meter safety stop.
For the most part, they ended up doing a dive or two per day, but then they spent the rest of the day trying to warm back up.
Day two and three, Scott and I completed four dives each. It was especially exciting since one of the dive instructors on the boat befriended us and ended up diving most days with us.
Briefing before dive. Note Caden with raised hand.
He took us on some amazing swim throughs and tunnels. At first, I was a nervous wreck about going through the tunnels, but by the end of the four days, we were going through some that were barely large enough to go through without removing our scuba gear. Truly a highlight of the reef diving.
Scott in one of the larger tunnels. By the end, they were too small to turn around to take photos.
The Kangaroo Explorer took us to three different reefs on the outer edge of the GBR, and then several different dive sites on each of the reefs. Some of the highlights were loads of Christmas Tree Worms, Barramundi fish, Chinese footballers, white tipped sharks (night dive), and even upside down jellyfish. (Videos of the wildly swimming jellyfish will be in the video below.) One of my favorite things was watching the giant red bass hunting in our torch lights at night. Sadly I was unable to photograph it.
Blue and white Christmas tree worms on hard coral
Of course the part we were dreading was seeing the reef as it is dying. Too much of it was bleached which indicates the first stages of dying. The marine life, while plentiful, was considerably less than what we saw in Indonesia.
We had a phenomenal trip out. I was surprised to see the reef two hours from shore actually was at sea level (during low tide). Whoever named it “The Great Barrier” reef knew what they were talking about.
One small part of the Great Barrier Reef
It took a day or two before the ground stopped rocking once we were back on shore. We did manage to get a quick view of some flying foxes resting while in Cairns. The name is a bit of a misnomer. They are absolutely giant.
Flying fox up in the tree (hanging upside down)
We left Cairns for a quick flight to Brisbane.
Video highlights: