Prepared for extreme motion sickness I ate a light breakfast and took TravelCalm before I left. Then I headed out for the 15 minute walk to the marina. I found the boat with the camera with no problem. The guys on the boat were super nice and quite funny. Liam (on Poseidon) and I chatted a bit while he prepared the camera and I paid. Then I went back to the office of Wavelength (the company I was snorkeling with) to wait for the others and walk down to the boat. I spent most of that time trying not to freak out about what I was about to do and trying not think about the motion sickness.
On our way down to the boat I talked with the skipper (Peter) about my history of motion sickness, specifically on boats, and he assured me I would be well taken care of. We went down to the boat and it was way smaller than I was expecting, which wasn't good for my motion sickness. I climbed aboard, we took off our shoes and put them in buckets, and put our bags and things in cubbies towards the front of the boat. There was some yummy breakfast out, but I didn't eat any because I wanted to keep the motion sickness down, so I just took my seat - somewhere where I would have a good view of the horizon. Peter warned us that the water would be pretty rough out, but not so rough that it would keep us from experiencing The Reef. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I was determined to make the best out of it... even if that meant throwing up for the whole hour and a half ride out to The Reef.
I spent the majority of the ride out with my neck craned to the side looking at the horizon. The problem? Motion also has a tendency of making me really tired, so I had a hard time keeping my eyes open, but I needed them open to look at the horizon and keep from getting motion sick. The crew, however, took this as me feeling sick so they kindly brought me a cool towel and some ice to chew on. A while later I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I walked (more like stumbled terribly due to the waves) to the front of the boat to get my towel. I then ungracefully stumbled back to my seat, wrapped up in my towel (I was freezing from the wind with the speed of the boat and the cold ocean spray), turned sideways in my seat, rested my head and body against the seat, closed my eyes, and passed out for the rest of the journey.
I woke up to a slowing of the motor and the other crew member (Tim) talking about wet suits and fins and masks. We were nearing our first site on the reef and the energy of everyone on board immediately picked up. We all got geared up - fins, wetsuit, mask, and snorkel - listened to a quick safety lesson from Tim, and a quick informative piece from the marine biologist (Emma), and were released into the water. Before I get to this whole water part... Can I just say how absolutely uncomfortable wetsuits are?! They are suffocatingly tight, super thick, and you can't walk or sit properly in them. However, I was grateful for the warmth and buoyancy they provided.
1st Site:
I was all geared up and super uncomfortable with my feet dangling in the freezing, beyond blue, water. I hopped in and swam out in the direction of the coral, where everyone else was... I got about 75 feet (total estimation) away from the boat and panicked - fast irregular breathing, couldn't think or focus, everything kind of tilting/spinning. Legit panic attack right there in the middle of the ocean over the Great Barrier Reef. Just like last time in Hawaii when this happened (we were snorkeling off a beach, not a boat), I took off swimming as fast as I possibly could back to the boat. The crew mates all asked if I was okay and this and that (they are so caring and super sweet). I told them I was fine, I just panicked, and that this happened last time, but I'd get it figured out. I took off all my gear and walked around the boat for a few minutes to get my breath back to normal. I then politely told myself that this is possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity and I did not spend all this money and come all this way (without getting motion sick might I add) to sit on the boat!! Then I told myself the plan and followed through with it.
Step 1: Sit on the edge of the boat, just toes in the water, for a minute or so - keep breathing regular
Step 2: Put fins on, sit for a minute or so - keep breathing regular
Step 3: Put mask on, sit for a minute or so - keep breathing regular
Step 4: Put snorkel in, sit for a minute or so - keep breathing regular
Step 5: Move down to bottom platform of boat, feet and legs in water, sit for a minute or so - keep breathing regular
Step 6: Grab noodle (didn't do this the first time, turns out it is a serious peace of mind keeper item, kind of like a snorkeling security blanket) - keep breathing regular
Step 7: While maintaining natural breathing, hop back in the water and take it nice and slow
During all this the crew was amazingly nice. They talked with me a bit to refocus my mind, reassured me, etc. Reasons why I panicked: 1) The flippers were extremely unnatural - I felt like my feet were bound and couldn't move. 2) I was in the middle of the freaking ocean. 3) I was no longer in my element - I was in the fish, sharks, turtles, eels, etc's element. 4) The waves were quite brutal, knocking you around a bit, putting water in my snorkel, etc. 5) I was completely reliant on myself for total buoyancy. 6) I couldn't upright myself (I later figured out how) or stand up.
Anyways... After all this, I was finally able to snorkel at the first site. I mostly stayed around the edge of the coral over the sand (even though the sand was way way way down there at least I could see exactly what was below me) but I still got to see a sea cucumber and some very pretty coral. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot... I SAW A TURTLE!!! Legit turtle just swimming along on his own and we followed him for quite a bit. It was like God's little reward to me for working up the courage to get back in the water. The turtle was a good size and was so graceful, just gliding along. Apparently others saw a huge blue starfish, a sting ray, and a reef shark, but they were way out there and there was just no way I was going to make it out there without freaking out. Guess that just means I'll have to go back one day. ;)
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When the horn blew we got back on the boat for morning tea and headed to our next site, only about 5 minutes away. They said to leave your wetsuits on if you could, but I just couldn't. It was so very extremely uncomfortable. The other piece of gear that was starting to become uncomfortable - the snorkel. To hold it in properly you have to hold your mouth in a very unnatural, open position which leaves your jaw aching and your lips super dry and salty. At the second site we had the option of doing a long tour - about an hour with the Emma, a short tour - about 20 minutes with Tim, or just doing our own thing. I decided on the long tour with Emma. I knew if I was left to do my own thing I wouldn't do anything because I'd be too busy trying not to freak out, plus the tours would allow us to see and touch things we wouldn't be able to on our own.
Site 2:
I got geared up and hopped in the water with way less anxiety than last time. There were about 10 of us or so with Emma on the long tour. She brought us up a few things - a sea cucumber, a mushroom anemone, a starfish - all of which we got to touch. She also dove down and showed us how a giant glam works and pointed out some other creature life on the coral. She took us in and around the coral where she knew some cool fish were hanging out so we saw that as well. The horn blew and it was time to go back to the boat for lunch, which was super yum - rolls, chicken and other meats, fresh veggies, and fruit. During lunch Emma gave us a little presentation and talked with us about The Reef - what we've seen, what we might see, how people and animals are damaging The Reef, etc. Afterwards it was on to our next and last site.
Because the next site was only about 15 minutes away and I figured I wasn't going to get motion sick I went up to the top of the boat for the ride to the third site. Up there I met 2 girls - 9 and 11 - from New Zealand. They were very sociable and well spoken for their age and were very interested in where I was from and my digital underwater camera. They were also curious and concerned about whether or not I felt seasick on the way out. We sat together for the ride there and had a great chat. They were rather sweet girls.
Site 3:
At this site everyone was just doing their own thing again. As I was sitting on the edge of the boat getting my gear on, Emma asked if I was going in (because apparently how long it was taking me was as noticeable to other people as it was to me). I told her that I was, I was just trying to talk myself out of freaking out (my breathing was a tad irregular and I could sense that I was on the edge of freaking out). She told me that whenever I was ready to jump in to come and find her out there. She jumped in and swam off and I finished gearing up. I then looked for her (easy to spot with her bright yellow float thing as a safety measure for us snorkelers) and told myself to just swim as fast as I could straight towards that yellow thing without taking note of what was around or under me, just swim. Why did I have to swim as fast as I could? Where she was was on the other side of the coral... I would have to swim directly over quite a bit of coral to get to her, so I did. Straight line, no looking around, just swimming really fast. Strangely enough, as soon as I made it to where she was... I was completely comfortable with being over the coral, looking around, etc. I followed her for the remaining time at the site, but she didn't mind. Throughout our time at The Reef, several people would come over to her every now and then just to talk, ask questions, see what she was seeing, etc. Tim and Emma actually told us at the start that they rather enjoy our company when out snorkeling The Reef.
Following Emma proved to be a brilliant idea - she knew where all the good stuff was. I saw Nemo/Clownfish (2 of them actually) as well as a couple giant clams, some bright blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, etc coral, a large black and white striped fish with yellow accents, and much more. She also knew where she was going, how far she was from the boat, etc at all times so I could just focus on experiencing The Reef instead of all that other stuff. It was also beneficial because she could take pictures of me with my camera.
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The horn blew and it meant it was time to board the boat and head back to the marina. =[ The Skipper turned those frowns upside down by letting us jump off the top of the boat into the water!!! It felt so liberating to just let go of everything and jump into the blue blue water of The Great Barrier Reef in Australia!! And we didn't have to wear our gear which was even more freeing!!
On the way back I sat up top with Peter and chatted with the two young girls from before and an older couple. The sun was out, the ride was much smoother than our ride in, and the conversation was lovely. At some point I went below to chat with Emma and we too had a lovely conversation. We arrived at the marina and all said our goodbyes, and hopped off the boat. I returned my camera to the company, got the memory card, and walked back to Wavelength's office. Turns out, due to returning my camera, I just missed the shuttle to get a ride back to our apartments - good thing I walked the route earlier that morning and knew where to go. And just like that... my day at the Reef was over... =[ For the next couple of hours whenever I walked my legs felt like they were still on the boat, definitely a weird feeling. I would seriously go back tomorrow if I could. It's just a whole other, unexpected, colorful world below the ocean's surface. There is so much going on below that slick, blue surface - hundreds of species of fish and coral. God could have just left our oceans to be these huge expanses of boring water and sand, but no! Simply for our pleasure he created a whole different, beautiful, intriguing world for us to explore and take care of. Certainly too much to see all in one day. Guess that just means I'll have to come back. ;)
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