What a day!!
We went to out to the Reef today on the SunSea Cruises Boat. The weather was absolutely fantastic and there was no wind at all, so the sea was dead flat calm (thank God).
We went to out to the Reef today on the SunSea Cruises Boat. The weather was absolutely fantastic and there was no wind at all, so the sea was dead flat calm (thank God).
We left Townsville at 8.30am (had to be at terminal at 7.45am) so it was an early morning. We stopped at Magnetic Island to pick up more passengers and then it was a two and a half our trip to Kelso Reef.
Passengers were able to enjoy free tea and coffe all the way and we were given biscuits and fresh fruit for morning tea on the way out. The Captain came down and gave a Marine talk (along with photos on TV screens) about the fish that we would see out on the reef today and also some safety tips - this was very interesting.
It was then time to move out to the back of the boat and choose our flippers, mask and snorkel and floatation devices. Usually there is pushing and shoving with things like this but not out there, everyone was very courteous and even helped each other choose their items.
We arrived at the reef at 11.00am and we were in the water by 11.30am - WOW !!!
The slide off the back of the boat and into all the fish and beautiful coral was SPECTACULAR!!! Chels was my buddy and she kept grabbing my arm and pointing to all the different coloured fish and saying "Oh My God Mum, this is the best thing!!"
A buffet lunch was served on the boat between 12.00pm - 1.15pm and all you had to do was make your way back on board grab a plate and load it up, then sit down and ENJOY!! They served us: pineapple slices, beetroot, potato salad, garden salad, pasta salad, along with chicken wings, roast beef and ham slices, huge pieces of chicken (drumsticks and breast pieces) and bread rolls and butter. --- YUM!!
Chels and I then boarded the glass bottom boat and cruised around the reef while being given a talk by "Paul" the driver (he's from Tassie- Dodges Ferry) about all the different types of coral we could see and also the different fish etc. We were lucky enough to see a fairly large turtle also - WOW !!
We left the reef at 2.30pm to head back to Townsville via Magnetic Island and we arrived at the ferry terminal at 5.00pm - We had enjoyed the most spectacular day the views of the fish and coral at the reef were beautiful - Not something we'll forget in a hurry.
We used Ian's underwater camera to take some photos under the water. I've included some of them on the blog page for you to see - Hope you like them.
Cheers
xx
