Port Douglas Monday 6th March

On our second day we sailed through the Whitsunday Passage, a narrow passage between the Reef islands and the coast which was discovered, charted and named by Captain Cook in 1770.  We had a Reef Pilot on board for two days to assist with the navigation and probably to make sure we didn’t go too fast as this is all the protected area- UNESCO World Heritage Site  of the Great Barrier Reef.  It was lovely to sit on deck and watch all the little islands going by – most of them are uninhabited.

Whitsunday Passage from the back deck

The Pilot must have trusted the Captain to be on his own for a bit because he gave us a lecture on Captain Bligh (he keeps popping up!)  Apparently he commanded one of the ships in one of  Cook’s  voyages to Australia and because of this he remembered the way through the reef when he was cast adrift in the small ship after the mutiny.  He does seem to be generally admired by the sailors for his amazing navigational skills, but the pilot did admit that he was renowned for having a foul temper.

Port Douglas Harbour

Port Douglas, near the top of the eastern coast, was developed in 1877 to ship out gold from the Hodgkinson River – it also served tin and copper mines.  It is not too far north of Cairns which got the railway terminus and grew much larger.  It has revived as a tourist town for visits to the Reef and surrounding islands. 

Pontoon - waves breaking on the Reef

We arrived  early in the day, but unfortunately didn’t see more of it than the harbour as we had booked to go out on a catamaran to the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.  This was a 25 mile journey out into the ocean to a pontoon anchored at the edge of the reef – the pontoon is  about the same length as the catamaran but can accommodate about 300 people (so long as they don’t all want to go into the water at the same time).  We had the opportunity of taking a helicopter ride, going in a semi-submersible boat, learning scuba diving or going snorkelling.  We chose the snorkelling – we were equipped with snorkelling gear and lycra suits to keep the sun off and also protect against jellyfish stings (some people declined them and did get stung!).  We started off with a 40 minute guided tour by one of the young marine biologists – this gave an idea of the layout of the reef in the surrounding area – then we spent the rest of the time on our own in the water , with just a brief stop for lunch.  We have snorkelled in other places, but this was really amazing – all sizes shapes and colours of coral and fish plus some giant clams with lots of luminous green ‘eyes’ around edge.  Our biologist disproved the myth perpetrated by films that these clams can close and hold you tight as she put her hand in – it did close and as she was about 10 foot underwater I was quite alarmed, but she pulled her hand out easily!  I also liked the little fish who ‘farm’ algae growths on the sea bottom – if something (e.g. a broken piece of coral)  falls (or is dropped) onto their patch they will pick it up and move it out of the way.  It’s a shame we don’t have any underwater photos, but it really did look just like all those pictures you see of colourful coral reefs.  The good news is that the preservation campaign appears to be working – at least on the outer part of the reef, closer to the shore there is pollution damage.

Next stop is Kota Kinabalu in Borneo following five days at sea.