On arriving in cairns I was told in no un-certain terms not to swim in the bay due to salt water crocs, sharks and stingers (a deadly jellyfish). This is obviously advice that one does not ignore, especially poignant as the local news is currently focused on a young local killed by a bull shark a few days ago. Coincidently the husband of an employee at my guesthouse. So when I saw the sign for a days snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef I couldn’t wait to get in the water. Sort of.

More through my own ignorance than lack of interest I always believed the reef to be very close to shore. It is in fact (in Cairns at least) some 2 hours on a speedy catamaran from the mainland to the outer reef.

And so we arrived. A short introductory talk roughly consisting of don’t worry, don’t drown and don’t touch anything gave us our licence to enter the water and start exploring. The first location was as I expected lots of coral and lots of fish, very similar to that of Ko Tao in south Thailand only on a grander scale and with bigger fish.

Slightly disappointed I had lunch and we set out to the second location.

When you snorkel, or SCUBA for that matter, in open water you always have what is known as a ‘buddy’. The idea being should you run into difficulty they can wave your dismembered limb in the air as a sign of distress. I teamed up with a German guy, deliberately selecting someone that looked meatier than I, and we set off on the 100m swim from the boat to the reef.

After a short explore we decided to head to the back of the reef, and it was here that we saw our first shark, about 2m long. The particular species comman to this reef is the ‘White tipped reef shark’, completely harmless but still pretty vicious looking.

Despite knowing these facts, when you are 200m from the boat, totally exposed and there is a shark in front of you several things happen instinctively. Your breathing rate increases, your body fills with adrenaline and you look for the exit, which of course does not exist. I believe the collective term for these responses is known as “Shitting It”. After the shock wears off and reason sets in you begin to appreciate the beauty and majesty of the thing. However, that was not to be the highlight.

Minutes later a turtle swam directly between us and surfaced for air. We were able to follow it at very close proximity for some 15mins as it slowly and gracefully swam around the reef.

Im currently looking into the best way to get down to Sydney. Its over three thousand kilometres and buses are looking like the best option, although I don’t think I’ll make it in time for Christmas, or new year for that matter.