Gold Coast Tour Day 3

Today we head off for Bundaberg's part of the Great Barrier Reef. A little bit excited, a little bit worried because we didn't get to buy any motion sickness pills. All the pharmacy shops we visited yesterday were still closed for the holidays. I skipped breakfast as a precaution, thinking if I have nothing in the stomach, then maybe I won't be tempted to vomit. Could be a good idea, could be a bad one. It's 4 hours of boat ride from the Bundaberg port to Lady Musgrave Island. I'm beginning to get a bit worried because the longest boat ride I have taken was from Circular Quay to Paramatta, which is only about one hour's worth. Then again, the only times I've puked was over-exercising at the gym, and overdrinking (2 bottles of beer). LYW doesn't have such a problem because she goes wakeboarding on weekends. The 4-hour ride started quite smoothly. The sun was out, but there's clouds here and there. There's a sea breeze blowing, and as long as I keep on talking, I might block out the fact that the clouds are getting less and less, and the waves getting choppier. At one point, I decided to check out the lower deck, and maybe use the washroom. Big mistake. Unknown to me, my body's feeling very dizzy now, and it hit me when I got to the washroom. Let me spare you the gory details, but let me tell you that it's always better to vomit with a full stomach. Puking with an empty stomach is like trying to breathe underwater. Not a nice experience. Worse, by the time I managed to limp back to the upper deck, somebody has taken over my seat. Feeling the effects of the waves again, I plopped down on the nearest empty seat I can find. Apologies to the original occupant, but this is an emergency.

By 11:30am, we reached our intended pontoon. After a short break, we rode a glass-bottom boat to reach Lady Musgrave Island. The water's so clear that you can see the corals, fish and turtles passing by. The 14-hectare Lady Musgrave Island is actually just the tip of the iceberg. The "iceberg" being a 1192-hectare Great Barrier Reef coral reef, and about 1/3 of the reef area is a lagoon - over 8kms in circumference. Our tour of Lady Musgrave Island is pretty short - just a short walk to see the naughty terns resting on the trees, and their nests underground. A park volunteer showed us the spot where turtles usually come in to nest and hatch their eggs. After that overview, we took a ride on the semi-submersible. This time, we got an even better view of the fish and the corals. Our guide explained that the corals are not as colorful as the ones on the postcards because the sunlight dulls their colors a bit. The photographers usually take the pictures at night when the corals are most "active", and they use special lens filters. Then, it's back to the pontoon for lunch. Spooked by the morning's incident, I didn't dare eat too much anymore.

Is it healthy to go for swimming immediately after lunch? Everybody seems to think so because that's what we did. I'm not an expert in swimming, but armed with a swimming vest and flippers and the optional snorkeling set, you can pretty much do anything in the water (except dive). The underwater view is just spectacular. The fish look like the real thing, and the corals are so close. The fish seem to be accustomed to the tourists already. One even bit my finger while I was pointing at it. (Yeah, I know, it's rude to point, so I deserve it.)

After almost two hours of snorkeling around, and hopefully burning off most of our lunch, it's time to go back to port. This time we got smart - we got front row seats in the shaded section of the upper deck. A good conversation is a nice way to combat seasickness, but nothing beats the tried-and-tested catnap. This time, we made the 4-hour trip back to shore without any incident.