On the day of my departure to Sydney, I went for my last round of school drop-offs with Louise & the kids. I was an absolute mess saying goodbye to Andrew, as he was my eldest & has such a curious & kind heart. Next was Annabel at preschool, which was equally hard as we exchanged heartfelt goodbyes, & finally it was just me, Emily, & Louise on our way to the bus station. Saying goodbye to Emily was definitely the hardest part, as I have always spent so much time with her during the days & shared so many sweet moments & memories from when I first began (& she was still attached to the last au pair) to the present, when we shared such a special bond & so many laughs. I took Emily out of her car seat for a last hug & upon seeing my luggage on the ground, I think she knew something wasn't right. She began to bawl & clutch at my shoulders, & Louise & I had to tear her away & force her back into her carseat as she struggled. It was absolutely painful, & my heart felt like it was breaking in two.
On the way to Sydney, I felt strange & unsettled. I had left my "home" & would not have another "home" for the next month & a half. It is something I have never experienced before, & I was equally sad to leave my Canberran family & nervously excited for the next adventures. In my time in-between, I was fortunate that Al, Georgette, & Shara once again opened their Sydney home to me & my suitcases while I transitioned. My first day back in Sydney, Shara & I went to a craft beer & cider festival, so I could meet some other au pairs who live near my next home in northern Sydney. It was such good fun!
I left Sydney for Cairns on 22 March & took a shuttle from the airport to my accommodation at Cairns YHA. As soon as I was settled, I walked several blocks down to Pro Dive Cairns - the company with which I would spend my three-day dive trip - to get fitted for my stinger suit & select my rented dive gear. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that my official PADI certification card had not come in the mail so I had no proof of my certification when I arrived & had to frantically call the dive shop the following morning to get approved to dive on the trip.
On Monday, 23 March, I met the others who would join me on a 3-day/2-night live-aboard dive trip on the outer Great Barrier Reef. We were shuttled from the Pro Dive shop to the dive boat then given briefings on what would occur during our trip. The boat itself was absolutely amazing. It had a lower outside deck fitted with all of our scuba kits & an upper outside deck for site briefings/tanning/sunset-viewing/etc. The inside of the boat had three levels of accommodation as well as a kitchen & dining area with two giant tables that fit all 32 divers at meal times. Our rooms each had 1 bunk & space for bags on the floor. I roomed with an English girl, Hannah, who was also my dive buddy for the trip!
After several hours of travel from the harbour, we arrived at Milln Reef, the site of our first four dives. I was newly certified & felt confident with my skills but Hannah had not dived for some time so we opted to follow a dive master for the first dive. What seemed like a good idea actually turned into a lot of confusion, as we ended up with a large group & it was hard to communicate as buddies. Our second dive together was a huge improvement, as we navigated alone & had a smooth & fun dive with lots of beautiful coral.
Because I haven't experienced a live-aboard dive trip before, I found the dive briefings before each dive to be really helpful & interesting. Before descending for each dive, we would meet on the top deck of the boat, where our leading instructor would draw a picture of the dive site & give us detailed directions for navigating with our compasses & where to look for landmarks & exciting sea life.
Dive #3 was similar to the first two but dive #4 was my first night dive. We split into small groups, each with an instructor for our first night dive (although the second was unguided), & each group had a different-colored glowstick attached to our first stage. We could only see the things directly in the light of our torches which gave an eerie mystery to the normally happy & vibrant reef. On the first night dive, we saw a guitar shark & giant sleeping sea turtle, & the whole experience was incredible.
On our second day, we moved to Flynn Reef & completed four dives over the course of the day. This reef was my favorite, as the coral & fish life were so beautiful. Also, on our first dive of the day, Hannah & I saw a sea turtle feeding, two reef sharks, & I even saw a small black octopus; however, he slithered backwards into a hole in the coral before I could get Hannah's attention to point him out.
For the second dive of the day, we saw two moray eels just under the boat & before our safety stop, & on our third dive we swam over several giant clams, got incredibly close to a reef shark, & saw beautiful "fields" of finger coral.
The second night dive was one of my favorites as well, if only because I felt so accomplished to have spent 30 minutes navigating without a guide on the dark reef. Because Hannah had opted out of the first night dive, she went with a guide on the second, so I buddied up with my Swedish friends, Tor & Andreas. We meandered about the reef & saw lots of parrotfish & a sleepy sea turtle. When we made our safety stop under the boat, we could see a reef shark circling us, although pictures were hard to capture.
On the last day of the trip, we completed an early dive still at Flynn Reef then moved to Thetford Reef for the second & third dive of the day. The early dive included another sea turtle sighting as well as a giant school of Maori wrasse (aka humpback wrasse). The two final dives at Thetford Reef definitely had the most beautiful coral although visibility was a little lower than at Flynn Reef. We returned to Cairns in the late afternoon & had a short break before meeting the group for dinner at the local Irish pub. Originally, I planned to go out with the group but after three days & 11 dives, I (along with Alex, Tor, & Andreas, who were staying at the YHA) decided to get a good night's rest.
My last day in Cairns, I spent poolside with Tor & Andreas, having a rest & trying to dry my towel & swimsuit. The trip was absolutely amazing, & I could not have booked a better trip to truly experience the reef in the way that I wanted to. I hope to gain so much more experience as a diver, & I am so passionate about it already. I returned to Sydney with a full heart & 9 days to spare before the next adventure in New Zealand!
Until next time,
Alli
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