Everything takes effort, my pen feels like it weighs 20 lbs as I struggle to write for the 3rd day straight. I have ridden this one until the wheels fell off, I have nothing left and now it's time to come back down from the mountain and rejoin the market place. But first, I'll need rest. I promise there will be at least one more post before I close out this blog, but I can't promise more after.
So when we left off I was heading off on my pilgrimage to Carins to visit my Mecca, the Great Barrier Reef. It's been months since I've kept a budget and I was sure I'd blown it out of the water. However, I made the decision that if I were to dive the GBR, I would do it right. So I whipped out the plastic and purchased back-to-back trips on live-aboard diving vessels for a total of 7 days.
I was going to live the reef, take all I could get and leave sick of it. Plus I thought,"Isn't this the reason we work? To earn money so we can do what makes us happy?" (I don't think I believed this when I left in June, but it has become a code I live by now). This has been a life goal of mine since I was 9 years old and between environmental factors degrading the GBR and not knowing if or when I'd ever get back to Australia, making this decision was simple.
I was to spend 2 days on the outer reef, then come back to Cairns, switch boats and go far out into the open ocean, to dive the Coral Sea and remote parts of the GBR for the following 5 days.
The next morning I boarded ReefQuest, a 70 foot catamaran and headed out for my first 7 dives on the outer GBR. The first thing I noticed was how packed the boat was, it looked like a refugee ship. I did some quick and dirty head math and realized that between the number of people on the boat, the number of trips they make per week and the number of tour operators in business there was a good chance that this reef would be in bad shape. Having the memories of diving Sipidan fresh in my mind (See Post: Borneo Land of Monkeys and Scuba Junkies) my standards were set to a point that would be almost impossible to meet.
So there I stood on the dive deck, looking at the numerous dive boats bobbing in the water and the rising columns of bubbles of countless divers who had already been down.
I crashed through the water and as the white foam subsided I looked down. I felt like I was 5 years old again and my Dad just told me that there was no Santa Claus (I know, you're thinking "I thought you were Jewish?" But that actually did happened, a good story for another time) Everything I had built up in my mind was just a fantasy, this section of the reef was in bad shape.
I floated over bleached out crumbling dead coral, bumping into oodles of clumsy divers. This was a place that the local dive shops took people to learn. Many were on their first dive, unable to control their bodies in their odd new environment and unaware of proper dive etiquette. Some seemed to be oblivious to their surroundings as they snapped pictures with their "Rad" new cameras. Hech-hem, Japanese tourists...I'm looking in your direction. I swear, some of these guys see their entire vacation through the 3 inch LCD monitor on the back of their camera. I laughed as I imagined these folks coming home and assembling a flip book of pictures to experience the vacation they just missed on their couch. Then a fin came sweeping down, kicking my mask off my face and my regulator out of my mouth. "Don't dive angry", I told myself as I gave my assailant the OK sign when he turned to apologize in awkward underwater sign language.
Later in the afternoon I was transferred to OceanQuest a bigger and much more luxurious catamaran, where I spent the night and finished out the remaining dives of the trip. While the dives did get progressively better. I was completely underwhelmed with the Great Barrier Reef.
We headed back to Carins and on the following morning I boarded the Taka, a 70 foot single-hull ship that was built specifically to take divers to the farthest reaches of the GBR and the Coral Sea. This ship was not as luxurious as OceanQuest; but the crew was amazing, there were fewer divers on board, all with loads of experience and all good company and there was a Nintendo Wii in the lounge.
We set out at 5:00 in the evening and sailed all night to the furthest reaches of the GBR. When I awoke, I stepped out onto the sun deck. I found myself as a tiny insignificant speck in the middle of a boundless turquoise sea, there was no land to serve as a point of reference. The water was flat like a sheet of glass, perfect conditions.
Looking down you could see 90 feet to the ocean floor; the reef and its residents on their daily routines, a turtle here some large pelagic fish over there. I had a good feeling, I couldn't wait to get in the water.
This time I submerged and as my eyes gained focus I almost spit my regulator out of my mouth. Like in Sipidan a few months ago, I was descending on a pure unspoiled vibrant coral city. I cruised effortlessly, flying through the coral maze, gliding through caves as my dive buddy, Kris and I pointed out sharks and Morey Eels and Clown fish (Nemo) to each other.
We got back on the boat and everyone was in a fever pitch, "Holy...Did you see?... I can't believe...Wow!" That evening the boat sailed on to the Coral Sea and as I lied in bed I thought, "4 more days of this, Woo-hoo!"
The next morning we sat in the lounge for a briefing on diving in the Coral Sea. We would be diving a site called Cod Hole where we would feed the large Potato Cod.
This is the last underwater footage I captured before the same"waterproof" Olympus camera that broke in Nepal broke again. Thanks again Olympus! Regardless, the experience was awesome.
We got back on board and sat down for lunch while we cruised to the next dive site. As we sat eating, one of the crew busted through the door yelling, "We've got Dolphins!" So we all sprang out of our chairs and headed to the bow of the boat to find a school of Dolphins playing in our bow wake, at the front of the boat.
That night I went to bed once more with an ear to ear grin on my face, for on the following day we would be feeding sharks...Awesome! Following another dive briefing we jumped into the water and assembled in a semi-circle where Trent, the trip coordinator was waiting with a garbage can. Inside was a bait line consisting of a chain with Tuna heads attached to it. When he opened the can, the float at the end of the chain headed for the surface carrying the Tuna heads up with it. The sharks, as well as other fish, started to swarm in the dozens.
Unlike my previous experience diving with Great Whites back in July, there was no cage this time to separate me from the sharks. It was amazing, For the next 20 minutes I felt like I was watching the Discovery Channel live. Sharks passed within inches of me.
We got back on the boat and headed up to the sun deck to assume our typical post dive lounging. "This is the life.", I thought, "I want to do this from now on."
"Hey Mike", I said to a new buddy of mine, "I think I know what I want to do when I am done traveling."
"What's that?", he replied.
"I wanna be a pirate."
"What?!?"
"Wanna join me? I figure we can sail around like this, of course it would be a pirate dive boat. We'd fly the Jolly Roger, drink rum and only raid cruise ships for chicks and booze. What do you think?"
"I think you've lost your mind Chris."
Everyone else joined in our discussion as we designed our new lives as pirates. The women wanted to add a provision that we raid cruise ships for hot guys too, I obliged them as we all yelled "AARRRGH!" at each other and traded crappy pirate jokes.
In the days that followed we continued to dive 4 times a day, including some amazing night dives and cave dives. On the last evening we headed on an overnight trip back to Carins. Now all was well for the past 5 days, but on this evening we hit "a little bit of weather". As the ship tossed violently, the pots and pans flew through galley crashing as they smashed together. We were getting thrown all over the place. And that's when I came up with a brilliant idea.
I turned to my new Dutch friend Sander and said,"Hey Colonel Sanders, wanna rematch on Nintendo Wii bowling?" I beat him the last time so he was out to avenge his loss. "You're on Chris, I'm taking you down this time."
"OK, but the rules are, you're not allowed to hold on to anything."
"Deal!"
Folks what followed may have been the funniest 10 minutes of my life. It reminded me of the scene in Jackass the movie when the crew put on roller skates and hopped in the back of a U-haul truck while their friend drove it around like a maniac.
We flew through the air landing on couches, the floor, our faces. Everyone joined in, we had a dance party, we jumped around, and we fell all over the place. It was a laugh riot. That was until the first person said,"Um, I'm tired, I think I'll go to bed now" which is tough guy/girl code for, "Oh my God! I'm going to puke! I've gotta get to a toilet" As the minutes past, more and more people "went to bed" leaving just a handful of us behind.
An hour later I felt fine, hell I never get seasick I'm hardcore.
Thirty minutes later as the boat continued to relentlessly pitch and yaw I felt... OK, not great but OK, I'm hardcore.
Thirty minutes later as the bow continued to rise up then slap the oncoming waves, I felt not so great, not terrible, I'm still hardcore, I mean I wouldn't eat a 5 course meal right now, but I'm definitely hardcore.
Thirty minutes later, it was just me and Mike sitting hunched over with our hands on our knees, not saying a word, just breathing. "Dude, I don't think I want to be a pirate anymore" I said breaking the silence. He laughed looking over at me as we silently acknowledged that we were sick and we weren't as hardcore as we thought we were. Meanwhile the boat's crew members carried along as if nothing were different. They sat next to us during cigarette breaks and I tried not to inhale the puke evoking, second-hand smoke. They were hardcore.
Hey at least I didn't throw up. But, for four days following the trip I've been falling over in the shower and stumbling down the street like a drunk 3 year old as I still feel like I am on the boat. The fact that I have been drunk as well probably doesn't help the matters.
After a week at sea and 21 dives my new boat friends and I headed back to Cairns for a good night out on the town. The following afternoon I flew to Sydney where I have been sitting unaffected in listless lethargy, forcing myself to see the sights and go to the beach (Opera House....ooooh..ahhhh, Harbor Bridge...whoopie doo!!)
Tomorrow night I'll be in New Jersey, it will be in the 20's (Sorry my non-American friends, I don't know what that is in Celsius. Google it) and there will be snow on the ground. But now, I'm heading back to the sidewalk table in front of Starbucks to read and enjoy the last hours of summer. Coming up next...re-entry.
