Cairns and Port Douglas, Australia (April 2018)

Cairns is the gateway to Great Barrier Coral Reef in Australia. So we flew from Sydney to Cairns. From there, we traveled to Port Douglas for about an hour, which is the port practically for embarking on the tour to the Great Barrier Reef. On the way, the shuttle bust stopped over at various other towns and villages. In reality, Great Barrier Reef is the largest living thing in the world, consisting of 2,900 reefs and stretches over 2,300 km on the northeastern part of Australia. So it would be absurd and ridiculous to say that you have seen the Great Barrier Reef after visiting one spot of the humongous ecosystem. We stayed at QT Resort for three nights. It was like timeshare condominium in the U.S. with a kitchen facility.

The following day was the big day. we were picked up at 9:20am to arrive at the port for departure to the Great Barrier Reef at 10:00am.  On a speed boat that was running at 55 km/hour, we traveled for 90 minutes. This boat was in fact a motored catamaran. It looked really sleek and fast.

After the speedy trip, we arrived at Quicksilver Pontoon, an artificial floating island. From there people do snorkeling or scuba diving. Also, you can take a submersible boat trip to see the coral reefs or take a helicopter ride to see the Great Barrier Reef from above.  This pontoon was located at Agincourt Ribbon Reef that runs in parallel to the Continental Shelf. It is known to be the most outer barrier reef of the Great Barrier Coral Reef Ecosystem.

We had buffet lunch on the catamaran and the foods were delicious.

Coral is an animal that has a mouth and stomach. But, it grows. Coral requires warm water at 21-27 degree celsius and sunlight. For the sunlight to reach the corals, the water has to be clean and clear. It grows a few centimeters a year. Recently, almost half of the Great Barrier Reef has been damaged or killed due to rising water temperatures that people believe are related to the climate change. The rising temperatures cause algaes on corals to leave, thus exposing the coral to look white and die. Australia has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help restore the ecosystem. In a submersible boat, we saw Brain Coral, Boulder Coral, Cauliflower Coral and several others.

In a distance, I was able to see an ocean that is colored blue, deep water, green, shallow water, brown where corals cluster, harmonized with white that portrayed the crushing water at the outer barrier reef in a distant location.

We visited Wild Life Habitat where people coexist with animals and birds. We had a close encounter with Swamp Wallabies and a lot of birds, including pelicans and storks. Wallabies are small version of kangaroos and they were really friendly to people. We watched the feeding of freshwater crocodiles. We saw a tree kangaroo that was jumping around like kangaroos but also climb the tree with wide feet and hands.

I learned that I could have bought the feeds for the wallabies, but it was a bit too late. I saw boomerangs that are native to Australia.

 I took a photo holding a sleepy Koala. People say Koala Bear, but it is not a bear at all. Also, we saw a Koala in motion. Since Koalas sleep 19-20 hours a day, it is rare to see them in motion.

We stopped over at the Four Mile Beach and walked a bit.

We walked around the marina and had dinner before we returned to QT Resort to be ready for departure the following day. We spotted St. Mary's Church near the port. It was tiny and cute.

It was a wonderful experience to go out to the outer coral reef system and saw the coral reefs with the bare eyes. I pray that the ecosystem will be restored and preserved from any human damage. - Jeffrey