Today we had some great coffees from Far Horizons and enjoyed a little walk on the beach before we caught an early shuttle to Cairns in order to make our Ocean Spirit catamaran out to Michaelmas Cay in the Great Barrier Reef. The boat was massive and features a crew to guest ration of 9:1, so we were well looked after.
It took almost 2 hours to get out to the cay (a cay is an island without trees) and I did have a little bout of sea sickness. Yuck. Once out at the cay the crew had to resort to plan B as the boats usual moorings were unavailable since the island had changed quite a bit due to all of the recent nearby cyclones. And due to the relatively high winds and choppy water, we weren’t able to go ashore.
Mommy and Daddy each donned stinger suits and had a nice go at some snorkeling around the reef. They saw coral, giant clams, lotsa fish and some sea cucumbers. Awesome.
Even more awesome is that the Ocean Spirit keeps a semi-submersible glass-bottomed boat anchored on the far side if the island. We took the 1:30 PM trip around the reef and were floored by all the amazing creatures and pretty colors. Since I wasn’t able to get out and snorkel, the glass-bottomed boat turned out to be just the ticket for this little girl.
The ride back went a lot smoother for me as I felt great and helped the crew organize all of the stinger suits and scuba gear. And once again I became the subject of adulation and photographs for bands of excited Japanese girls.
One of the crew members channeled his inner Jimmy Buffet and was the entertainment in the saloon for the ride back while Mommy and Daddy sipped the complimentary sparkling wine from New Zealand.
Once back in Palm Cove we hit the pool, sourced some takeaway pizza and watch Stuart Little in our suite. A relaxing end to a busy day in Tropical North Queensland.
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