18 JUNE 2022
I stirred. “Stop it, please!” I said in my dreams. It was 5.00a.m. Someone, who was not asleep, shook me and told me to wake up.
I opened my right eye reluctantly and looked as if I was winking. The person who woke me up from my dreams was…my father. I sat up straight and found that my mother’s bed was empty. It was dark outside. “Why? What was happening?” I stirred through my tired brain for an answer but not-a-thing could be found. “What day is it?” I asked myself. “That’s right!” I thought excitedly, “It is Saturday! Why? Then? Why so early? Oh right! We are going snorkeling today! I thought when my father said I needed to wake up ‘early’, he meant 7.00a.m. I did not know we will wake up this early!” I thought in a spilt second.
At that moment, my father said to me, “We are going to snorkel in the Outer Reef, remember? Sorry to wake you up but it is miles and miles away, so you need to wake up now. You can still sleep in the car.”
I yawned and got out of bed. I dressed with a sense of drowsiness…Thump! What was that? “Oh, never mind, it woke me up, somehow,” I thought as I scrambled into the car. “Wetsuit…check! Snorkel tube…check! Goggles…check! Flippers…check! Swimming…”
Vroom…The engine started up…well, it was not just the car but my body was pumped with energy too⚡. We went down the hill…and I sadly waved goodbye to everything…after each stay…including this one. “Bye!”
Sniff, sniff, I thought during the journey to the city. No breakfast. (Alright, there was breakfast for me but I refused to eat. 😀😊🙁)
I could not sleep in the car although I was tired, as it felt hard, squeezy and uncomfortable. At that time, I could only admire the view. I felt weird…strange… odd…funny… maybe not funny…all these things. That is why I did not want to have breakfast in the car, it was the worst ride ever. PS: I am usually energetic and hoppy. 🙁 I was about to vomit. I was about to faint…BUT, luckily the sun rose on time. The beautiful sunrise made me feel better immediately.
Soon, we reached our destination: the city (also known as Cairns). We parked at our next hotel, Shangri-La hotel, which was situated next to the Marina. After getting out of our car, we walked briskly towards the Marina to board our ferry. My father went to get tickets while my mother and I queued and waited patiently for our turn.
When we boarded, we sat at our designated seats with another group until the giant beauty started moving. I counted there were only five children on this trip. I guessed it was probably because it is dangerous to snorkel in the Outer Reefs. When the ship started moving, we went to the most extreme parts of the cruise, like the upper, secondary and the lower deck to enjoy the sea breeze😀 or so I thought. However, the “breeze” was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-l-y strong!
Before we arrived at Norman Reef, we changed into our diving suits as quickly as a cheetah. Since the waves were stronger this time because we were in the Outer Reef, I had to wear an extra layer of protection.
Soon, we were ready. We put on our snorkeling tubes, masks and other essential needs and went to the ‘launching pad’.
We started to ‘kick’ off the cruise one after another. My father went first, followed by me, then my mother. At first, I did not want to submerge my head underwater as the currents and waves were stronger than the inner reefs’. This was not guided too! I thought, “Would it be worse under the sea? Will I drown? Will water enter my snorkel tube and mask???!!!” I had these same thoughts like before during the trip to the inner reef. Still, positivity won! I thought again, “It will be fine… I have a lifejacket… Just hold on tight onto the float…but getting up would be another problem… Never mind.”
The water current was indeed very strong at Norman Reef as it was a very windy day. Fortunately, my dad pulled me along the entire time. Even then, we were swept back by the choppy waves and the strong current once we stopped kicking hard.
I still enjoyed snorkeling though. All of the corals were extremely beautiful. There were bright red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple corals, like a rainbow under the sea. That is not all, the corals sort of formed a story… I like making up my own stories and that moment was just the right time. They formed different shapes and patterns… I learnt that corals can be grouped into two groups: hard and soft. The soft corals are able to move slowly by extending their base. Clearing the way using their toxins, they leave a white path of destruction behind. Once a coral is in a safe and healthy environment, it might not move at all. The hard corals, on the other hand, do not move at all. The fishes hidden among the corals were much harder to spot than the ones ‘wandering’ about such as the parrot fish and the yellow tang fish. It was brilliant!
Soon, it was time to get back to the cruise to have my BUFFET BBQ lunch! There were pasta, salads and different kinds of BBQ meat like steak, fish, prawns etc. The food was delicious. 😀 The family that we were seated with told us that they saw three turtles! However, I saw none. 😔
After lunch, we got ready for our second destination. On the way, my father told me that this journey was rougher as we were going against the waves. He also pointed out the end of the WONDEROUS reef to me.
Just before arriving our second destination, North Hastings Reef, we changed into our diving suits as quickly as a cheetah.
A few minutes later, we were ready. Like before, we put on our snorkeling tubes, masks and other essential needs and went to the ‘launching pad’.
We started to ‘kick’ off the cruise one after another. I did not worry about anything then as I knew that everything was going to be fine.
I took a DEEP breath and lowered my head. The corals were all extremely beautiful…
The aqua blue water flowed and rushed past my body as I swam along. I felt as free as a soaring bird. I was in a fantasy world surrounded by miles and miles of rainbow corals, all of them bowing their heads to welcome my arrival…ahh… What a wonderful feeling it was. I remember there was a glow near the surface of the water… like the one you see in movies… but this…THIS was different. This was real, I could not believe it. Words are not enough to describe the feeling. I need some pictures or you will not understand. Here are some:
As if that was not good enough, the colorful parrot fishes along with many other variations of fishes swam joyfully in the wide sea, making colorful dots in the picture. It was brilliant!
The downer was… I was stung by a jellyfish…Fortunately, it was not poisonous, or I cannot tell you this!
When the cruise started moving again, we went straight to the upper deck to enjoy the sea breeze😀. The breeze was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-l-y strong, as I said before. It was fun on the upper deck…as…SPLASH! Water kept splashing onto the upper deck, covering the ceiling, floor and the seats with water droplets. It was almost impossible to stand up as the wind was so strong. Since we were high up, we could see very far. We saw other islands, buildings on the shore, other ferries etc. We would see very far past the horizon. I felt like a dolphin bobbing up and down when I looked around me.
Soon, we were back on land. Luckily for us, our hotel was just opposite the Marina so we did not have to walk far after the tiring journey.
What an exhausting but fun day!