The GREAT Great Barrier Reef

The next morning, I stuffed my daypack full of suntan lotion, thongs (as in sandals, not as in bathing suits), and a towel and headed out to the Great Barrier Reef, something I'd been looking forward to doing since I arrived in Australia six weeks earlier. The Great Barrier Reef, which is actually a patchwork of several hundred small reefs, lies about 50 miles offshore so you have to take a boat out to see it.

There are about a gazillion boat companies in Port Douglas that offer reef trips every day and I picked the biggest boat, called the QuickSilver. That was a mistake because, as I discovered, the larger the boat, the older and more sedentary the clientele. As I realized after I paid for my ticket and hopped on board, this was definitely a Lawrence Welk boat. Not that I dislike Lawrence Welk – I just don't want to go swimming with him. Especially since he's been dead for six years.

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful morning and I perched myself on the top deck as the QuickSilver cruised through the Pacific at 25 knots. After a couple hours, we reached Agincourt Reef where we tied up to an offshore "pontoon" (i.e., floating platform). I immediately dove in the water and stayed there for the most of the next three hours. As ridiculous as it sounds, I was one of the few people in our 300-person group who actually went into the water (what a strange concept). In fact, I swam so far from the QuickSilver that one of the lifeguards had to hop in a Zodiac and round me up (oops!), giving me a friendly lecture about not swimming alone in box jellyfish territory. The other folks on the Quicksilver mostly ate lunch, walked through the underwater viewing platform, took a trip on a glass-bottomed boat, and listened to Lawrence Welk.

As for the reef: it's absolutely incredible. I saw coral of all colors, shapes, and sizes and countless varieties of fish. Sorry, but I didn't have an underwater camera with me, so I can't post any cool photos of the reef, so you'll just have to imagine it. My only regret about the reef trip was going on the overstuffed QuickSilver, so here's another tip for those who want to swim in the reef:

Del's Reef Tip #2

If you want to stay dry and eat barbeque chicken, go on a big boat like the QuickSilver. If you want to actually swim or dive (gee, what a concept), go on a smaller boat.

As I've mentioned in previous updates, there are lots of hazards in Australia that keep you on your toes here, such as mooching kangaroos. Quite seriously though, one of the hazards of going on a reef trip is being left behind after the boat leaves at the end of the day. That's not a big problem if there's a pontoon nearby and if a boat comes out every day, like at Agincourt Reef. But a lot of smaller boats don't come out every day and don't anchor anywhere near a pontoon. Since the reefs are about 50 miles offshore, this could be, well, a problem, as you might imagine.

A few years ago,

in fact, a young American couple took a dive boat out from Port Douglas to this very same Agincourt Reef – though miles from the pontoon – and were inadvertently left behind. They swam alone in the middle of this shark-infested ocean until they finally succumbed. Bummer.

To ensure that passengers aren't left behind at the reefs, boat crews typically do "head counts" on board before they depart in the morning and then again just before they leave the reef. Sure enough, we sat in the sun for five minutes while (or "whilst" as they say here in Australia) the crew scrambled around, counting heads. Unfortunately, the count didn't match the initial count, so we sat there for another five minutes while the crew did another count. This time, the numbers matched up, so we left Agincourt Reef. As we said goodbye to the reef, I humorously (or "humourously," as they say here in Australia) kept thinking, "What if their FIRST count was correct?" Hmmm....

Above left: The next morning, it was onto the Quicksilver for a dash out to the Great Barrier Reef.

Above center: Settling in for our trip out to the reef. The outer reef is about 50 miles offshore and takes a couple of hours to get there.

Above left: Feeding the masses on the pontoon. I skipped lunch so I could have more time swimming in the reef. Heck, you can eat barbeque chicken anytime, but how often can you swim on the Great Barrier Reef?

Above right: We left the pontoon after a few hours and headed back to Port Douglas. That watercraft in the foreground, tied up to the pontoon, is a semi-submerged viewing platform, kind of like the submarine at Disneyland.

Above right: Arriving back in Port Douglas that afternoon, salty, sunburned and smiling. The Great Barrier Reef was amazing.