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| Today we took a tour with Ocean Free on a small sailboat out to Green
Island - about a 45 minute drive from Cairns. The crew was Rob
(captain), Davina (snorkelers and first time divers guide), and Hanna
(dive guide). With the exception of me getting sick on the way out
there (from being down in the cabin), the ride was nice. It was a
bit windy so they offered out wet suits for anyone who wanted to sit up
on the bow of the boat in the splashes.
We anchored just off of Green Island and got out for our first dive. It was just us and Hanna so we got a personal guide. The dive was great and we just followed the guide around. She touched a few giant clams to show us how they open and close - the inside of them are extremely colorful. And she also touched some clown fish which swam right around her fingers. |
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After the dive we all had a really nice buffet lunch and then Rob
pulled out some fish food and fed their pet Chinamenfish named
Oscar. He was about 4 feet long and they said that he has hung
out by their boat for 10 years now. He came right to the surface
and opened his mouth so Rob could throw the food in. A small reef
shark also came up briefly for some food.
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We were the only ones who went back to the boat so we decided to get one last snorkel in. Hanna called it "extreme snorkeling" since it was pretty choppy water and it was drizzling out. But we did find some fish on some shallow reefs and then saw all the big Chinamenfish right under the boat. We got out just in time because it started to down pour about 5 minutes after we got back on the boat. Rob was still bringing some more people back to the boat when it started raining so they all got drenched. They said the wind got up to 30 knots but it only lasted about 20 minutes and we were on our way back to Cairns. Some people put on wet suits and sat at the bow of the boat again in the waves and rain. Just as we pulled into the bay area where we had to slow down, the crew decided it was time for some sailing. It was still pretty windy so we didn't slow down that much - I think we went from 9 knots with the motor down to 7 knots without the motor. Then they pulled out 3 trays of cheese and crackers, fruit, and desserts and poured each of us a glass of wine. It was a great ending to a great day. This company was really great to spend the day with. |
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