It was my childhood dream to visit the living wonder on earth and was fulfilled when our son had planned our weeklong trip to the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns, Australia when I visited him with my husband in May 2015.
During this adventure, we went through different weather conditions and different terrains and vegetations and also on different modes of transportation to enjoy nature's gift.
Our trip started with a three-hour flight from Sydney to Cairns and upon exiting the plane in Cairns, we realised the contrast in weather between Cairns and Sydney.
Sydney was in its wintertime whereas, in Cairns, we experienced a very warm weather. Cairns.
is a city in the Cairns Region of Queensland and is on the east coast of Far North Queensland.
We chose two iconic world heritage areas as our tour package (dual package)---the majestic Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and the ancient rainforest Daintree. They both exist side by side forming one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth.
Both GBR and the Daintree Rainforest exist side by side forming one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth.
We took a flight to Cairns on May 7 as Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as well as the Daintree rainforest.
Skipping the Cairns city, from the airport we went straight to Port Douglas and reached our guest house in the afternoon. It was very warm and humid. After resting for sometime, we explored the place for some eateries and also bought hats and other required items for the trip.
Next day on May 8, we began our journey in the Pacific Ocean from Port Douglas to Agincourt Reef which is at the very outer edge of the GBR. At this place, we saw a special reef known as 'Ribbons' and they were parallel to the continental shelf.
Entering the GBR was an extraordinary experience. It was a thrilling moment of sharing the wonder of the world's largest living entity, realising its breathtaking colour and majesty. Seeing nature closely at its most perfect is an awakening and lifetime memory.
One can see swaying reefs with colourful fishes, big and small dancing away in and around them. Sea Anemone, starfishes are other attractions of the reef beside varieties of multi-coloured corals.
This is the place where there is a man-made permanent station, Quick Silver', with all facilities like modern and spacious activity platform---largest on the GBR. Our ferry reached and docked alongside this permanent station and we were shifted to the activity platform.
From this platform, we experienced the most pristine ecosystem at the well known Agincourt Ribbon Reefs. The activities of the day on the platform included Reef presentation by marine biologists, observation of corals and fishes with snorkelling, semi-submersible vessels and an aerial view of the reef from a helicopter.
My son chose to snorkel to observe the corals and the pristine marine ecosystem, while I chose an aerial view of one of the great wonders of the world and took a helicopter. Later my son and husband joined me and boarded a semi-submersible vessel to observe the corals in close quarters through the glass window.
Clean water provided the best possible underwater visibility. It also encourages rich coral growth and supports spectacular marine life.
A ten-minute helicopter ride above the GBR was a lifetime experience and was spectacular and cannot be described in words. the view from the helicopter included the pictures showing the vast coral formation, marine life, opal blue reef lagoons and the kaleidoscope of patterns at the reef's outer edge.
The close-up view of the corals of the GBR from the semi-submersible was stunning and we three enjoyed it thoroughly. The semi-Submersible was like a mini-submarine and there were seats close to each other and had to get in and get out one by one. Below are some of the pictures we took of the corals and sponges from the semi-submersible from different locations.
The dual package we opted in this trip made us realise how the world's oldest tropical forest providing rich nutrients to the GBR carried through the Daintree River, Thus we witnessed a sustained ecosystem in the Pacific Ocean.
After the underwater experience, we visited the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas. It is a care centre and serves the community to provide assistance to sick and orphaned and injured wild animals. The Centre takes care of wide range of species of Port Douglas including crocodiles, platypus and plethora of bird species.
Next day, May 9, we prepared ourselves to enjoy another world heritage----the spectacular wet tropics Queensland. From Port Douglas, we travelled around 46 km and came to the Daintree Rainforests.
The Rainforests of Daintree and Cape Tribulation are in the wet tropics of the Southern Hemisphere region and among the most important on earth, having survived over 150 million years of climate change, according to biologists here. One of the largest rainforest wilderness in Australia centres on the Daintree River valley.
A Daintree cruise or 'CrocodileExpress' took us through the Daintree River. The 140 km long river has 50 per cent salinity, according to local experts. We had the opportunity to have both Upper and Lower Daintree cruise trips.
Our trip on Crocodile Express departed near Daintree ferry crossing and went through the saltwater section of the river (tidal zone), saltwater crocodile habitat and magnificent mangrove forest housing a number of birds, butterflies and other creatures. We also could view Thornton Peak.
We sat back in the cruise and enjoyed the tranquillity of nature around us. We witnessed the most beautiful mangroves, varieties of birds and butterflies.
The pictures below will take you along the Daintree River with thick rainforests on both the sides and rich mangrove vegetation.
Beautiful Mangrove vegetation along the banks of the Daintree River
Other types of vegetation of the rainforest
We were also lucky to spot a large crocodile resting on the river bank, camouflaged with the background. Biologists here said that there were more than 80 very large crocodiles in the river.
Later we went to Cape Tribulation, which was further north of Daintree rainforest. We crossed the Daintree River on one of the last remaining cable car ferries in Australia. It could accommodate up to four cars.
Next day on May 10, we went to Daintree Discovery Centre which provided us with an excellent
introduction to this ancient pocket of rainforest. We could be in the midst of the rainforest----an apt ecotourism.
With an 'Advanced EcoTourism' accreditation, the centre seemed to be widely recognised as a leader with its state of the art audio guides, allowed its visitors of all ages an easy access to this unique wilderness.
The aerial walkway is spectacular and is wheelchair friendly. It allowed safe and easy access to the mid-level rainforest. It connected the reception desk of the centre and coffee shops with Canopy Tower, the cassowary Circuit, Bush Tucker Trail and interpretive Display Centre.
Canopy Tower provided an amazing insight into the surrounding rainforest----from the forest floor to the canopy.
Interpretive display centre had an interactive technology on a range of topics including Evolution, fungi and other flora and fauna.
There was a reptile display both featuring with local pythons and water dragons. We also went through elevated boardwalk.
Audio guides were interesting features of this trip. They were like having an individual personal tour guide and were available in eight languages in 2015.
Following is the schematic diagram of the Centre as provided by the officials for the tourists.
Coming back to the facts on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), it is a breathtaking spread of intense colours covering an area of 348,700 sq km is actually not one reef but a collection of numerous coral reefs and islands. It is the largest such system in the world, biologists said.
The GBR dates back to the last Ice Age when the current Continental Shelf was exposed. When the sea level rose, barrier islands, dunes and all other beaches were submerged, thus created a perfect platform for the reef colonies---the tiny organisms that build coral.
According to scientists, when the sea level fell, exposed coral broke off and this reef debris raised the level of the shelf floor in the reef zone, enabling more reefs to be built.
Currently, the GBR extends to a total distance of about 1250 nautical miles from near the mouth of the Fly River in Papua Guinea, down the Queensland coast to Lady Elliot Island off the coast of Bundaberg. The GBR is the only living thing that can be seen from the moon, some scientists claimed.
At present, the GBR houses about 350 species of coral, around 10,000 species of sponges, more than 4000 species of molluscs, 150 species of echinoderms and more than 1500 species of fishes, according to marine biologists.
The Cairns Region of the GBR is widely regarded as providing the best opportunities for reef viewing. this is because, in the Cairns region, the outer reef is much closer to the coast and the water depth is much less. The credit for preserving this nature's wonders fully goes to the Australian government.
According to our tour guide, diving and GBR go hand in hand. Even those who have done diving before, enrol themselves in a diving course as soon as they arrive in Cairns.
The GBR has some of the most colourful and diverse tropical reefs of the world. The water here is warm and relatively safe. Although people who come for a few hours prefer snorkelling to observe
corals, diving (scuba) gives the advantage of being able to live in and be a part of the (albeit briefly)
this amazing underwater world, the excited tour guides told us.
On some more facts about Daintree ---it is one of the few places in the world where the rainforest meets the reef, thus providing nutrients to the reef. Daintree Rainforest is a living museum of flora and fauna and in its antiquity, it is the oldest intact low land tropical forest in the world----around 110 to 220 million years old, tens of millions of years older to the Amazon rainforest of South America, experts in the field said.
Then we spent two days at Cairns city before leaving for Sydney where my son used to live.
In conclusion, I would like to say that in this ecotourism, the discipline observed in GBR
as well as in Daintree rainforest has to be appreciated as the authorities there not only help protect nature's balance but teach us how to live in harmony with nature practically.
By
Lalitha Vaidyanathan,
Mumbai, India
