Farewell to the Pacific Ocean!

Traveling the Queensland coast and the inside of the Great Barrier Reef has just been plain awesome! Many beautiful reefs, islands, sandy cays, and capes to tuck in behind. Very windy this time of year, continuous 15-25 knot SE trade winds, but good weather. The winds are from a consistent direction so we could sleep at night. We had it all behind us traveling up the coast (wouldn't want to be going the other way or we'd be pounding into it). And finally reaching Cape York was a monumental event, where EQ has finally left the Pacific Ocean behind after 12 years of wandering about. It was also a bit sad to say goodbye as it feels so much like home. So I know we'll be back in a few years, the long way about. :) But we are also enjoying our adventure with so much to look forward to. Here's a little video to give you a taste of this beautiful area of Australia.

with Equanimity and Joy

The Wonderful Lizard of "Oz"!

A highlight destination on our travels along the Queensland coast was the visit to Lizard Island, named by Capt. Cook for the only land critters he spotted there. Capt. Cook visited the island and climbed up to the summit with its 360 degree views (about 1000 ft.) to try to assess the possible passage for Endeavour along the coast. He saw nothing but a maze of reefs for as far as the eye could see and decided to head out to sea instead. The photo shows the anchorage below. EQ is one of the little specs down there in the anchorage. The dark area close to shore in the middle is a reef we snorkelled in and around after hiking the island.



View from near the top of Lizard (Cook's Lookout)

with Equanimity and Joy


Cairns and Diving Courses




We weren't sure whether there was anything we really wanted to do in Cairns, but once we arrived we were full-on busy for the entire week we were there! We decided to take the dive course there because we wanted to do a 5-day program which included 3 days and 2 nights on a boat at the outer reefs with a very good dive company. The first two days were in the classroom and the pool. The trip and the training were both great but a LOT packed into a short period of time. Sher got her basic PADI Open Water certification and then continued on for the Adventure Diver's course which certifies her to dive up to 30 meters. Roger already had his basic training and so he did the Advanced PADI course. The reef was beautiful... turtles, reef sharks (not dangerous), a rainbow of colorful fishies and beautiful coral. We did a night dive (scary and awesome) and a deep dive to almost 30 meters.10 dives in the 3 days was a lot, especially climbing into and out of our wetsuits which was a total workout in and of itself! After it was all over we needed 2 days just to rest, whew!

We got a great little underwater video camera, a Go Pro, and Roger took some first shots during these dives. Here's his first attempt on video editing! Sher really wanted to see a turtle, so check this out. :)

with Equanimity and Joy