Day 7: Monday, February 11, 2002
Heron Island activities

Heron Island snorkel boats

We had signed up for both the morning (11am) and afternoon (3pm) snorkel boat, so today was going to be a day for lots of snorkeling. We slept a little later and had a leisurely breakfast, puttering about before getting ready for snorkeling. They had two snorkel boats this time, no dive boat. This time they took us to Dordognia Hole, and this one was a drift dive. You jump out of the boat in one spot and then let the current move you along and then they move the boat to pick you up further down. I liked this dive better than yesterday's. This time we were right over the coral instead of in a cove just on the rim, and the water must have been lower cuz we were right over it. Everything seemed much closer this time. And as we drifted, we kept seeing more and more kinds of fish, it was amazing how they never ran out of new kinds.

Walendo & Gordon snorkeling (dots in foreground)

With my wet suit I was much more comfortable, which was great. (I was still just a tad cold but it was easily bearable.) Snorkeling feels like watching an amazing show presented for your enjoyment. So many beautiful fish of so many shapes, colors, and sizes. Some of them were pretty big — maybe 50 pounds, others were tiny. After about 30 minutes or so, I started to feel a little bit queasy, which was a bummer cuz I was really enjoying the experience. I kept going for another 15 minutes or so, but eventually decided that it wasn't fun anymore, so I headed to the boat. I had taken the camera with me, so that gave me the chance to take some shots of Walendo and Gorden snorkeling (not that you can really see them that well).

Walendo & Gordon on the snorkel boat

Walendo and Gordon snorkeled to the very end, really enjoying it. When everyone was back in the boat, people compared notes on what they'd seen. Some people had seen turtles, and some had seen sharks. We hadn't seen either, oh well. I like how there's a nice sense of camaraderie among the people on the boat, and the crew seems to be rooting for you to see interesting stuff, so that's nice. Once I was on the boat, the nausea was gone but I still had a slightly off feeling in my head, so I thought maybe I wouldn't go again that afternoon. We'll see.

Salad spread

We took quick showers and then went to lunch. (Gosh, time for yet another meal!) No quiche this time, but lots of good salads, so I was happy. Walendo and Gordon often went for the hot meal, but I preferred the veggie stuff. After lunch it was time to get ready for the next snorkel trip, and at the last minute, I decided not to go with them and instead go on the reef walk. I figured once a day would be enough. So off they went, and I relaxed a bit before heading over for the reef walk.

About 25 people showed up, quite a large group. Everyone grabs a walking stick (for balance) and a reef viewing mechanism that looks like an elongated plastic megaphone and has a plastic disc at the end. The idea is to hold it just below the surface of the water and the ripples stop so you can see things more clearly. Justine was our guide and she was terrific. She gave us a little speil before we left, warning us not to touch certain poisonous creatures, and I thought this was not an issue — I didn't plan to touch anything. We wandered out, and she stopped frequently along the way to show us various creatures. Right away she stopped by one of the sea cucumbers we'd seen on our own walk.

Reef walk

She picked it right up, explained a bit about it, and then passed it around. Yikes! I decided to suck it up and touch it, since it looked more firm than slimy, but it turned out to be slimier than I'd expected. I quickly passed it on the next person. Apparently, these creatures are very good, though, because they suck up dirty sand, absorb the nutrients and excrete nice clean sand. They call them the vacuum cleaners of the sea. Next she picked up a different kind of sea cucumber, and that one was amazing. It was hard when she picked it up, but within 30 seconds the ends started to droop around her fingers, like it was melting. After a little while longer, she flipped it over and you could see her finger prints indented in it. She told us that these creatures could actually drip through your fingers, breaking up into multiple parts and then recombine again. She told us she hadn't really believed this, even though she'd read about it, but last week she picked one up and it got caught in something and it split in two. The end that was in the water was upside down, and when she placed the other piece back in the water, it walked right over to the other side, flipped over, and started to reattach itself. (They didn't see it reattach, apparently that takes some time.) That was amazing. Just like in Terminator2.

She showed us a few other kinds of sea cucumbers, some of them quite huge. After a while, I made sure I was out of the ring when they passed the creatures around. Too yucky. We saw a bunch of other stuff — sea stars (often called star fish, but they're not fish), those shiny tiger shells that they sell in souvenir shops, lots of big clams with colorful lips. She also pointed out that thing we'd seen on our own, which we'd called a lettuce snail. It's called a sea hare (I like our name better), and she showed us how it ejects a bright maroon ink when you disturb it. She held it and walked around the circle, pointing out the hard shell inside the flaps (that part that looks like lettuce). She told us a bunch of interesting facts about how each animal eats or reproduces or protects itself. Such an amazing variety. She made a point of explaining how different crabs forage for shells and they use them for homes until they outgrow them, and then they go find another bigger one. So when you collect shells, you're reducing the shelter for these animals. She was good about explaining why it matters when you mess with nature, instead of just lecturing with no explanation. For the most part, I was willing to buy her explanations.

She also explained that there are many types of coral and it's too hard to identify each kind, so they put them into three groups: branching coral, massive coral, and plate coral. Apparently, all the coral is competing with all the other coral for the sunlight, and they're all trying to kill off the other kinds. They all emit a type of poison that keeps the other coral from taking over their area. Branching coral grows quickly (up to 20cm per year), but it emits a much weaker poison. She showed us a big area of branching coral with a little blob of massive coral in the middle. There was a space around the blob before the branching coral begain again. Massive coral grows much more slowly, up to 2cm per year, but it emits a much stronger poison, so over the long haul, that little piece of massive coral will take over that whole area (where a while means 1,000 years or so). Branching coral also breaks off more easily, so it grows better where there's less wave action. She also explained why we'd seen only blue and purple coral when we'd been snorkeling, the rest mostly a gray or brown color. Water absorbs color rays, and the deeper you go, the longer the rays it absorbs. So red is the first to disappear and blue & purple can be seen further down. When they take photos of coral, they flash a light so they can pick up the color. She also showed us some bleached coral, which is dead. There's concern that a lot of the coral is going to die, mainly because the water temperature is rising because of global warming. The algea on the coral can't handle the higher temperature, so it leaves and the coral gets too much sun and dies. So it may be that all the coral will die, or it will move further south. They've seen some indication of new coral growing in cooler places where it didn't exist before.

Heron Island lounge

It was pretty hot and muggy, so after a while, I felt like I'd had my fill. Also, I was being very careful where I stepped so I wouldn't step on anything squishy. We walked all the way out to the edge of the reef to the rubble area (she called it), which was full of dead coral and the water was very shallow. She encouraged us to turn over the coral to see what was living underneath, but that was too much for me. She said we could head back at that point, so I did along with several others. It was quite worthwhile, but as much as I could take of yucky animals.

Walendo & Ellen walking on Heron Island beach

I came back to the room, took a shower and shortly after that Walendo showed up from his snorkel trip. Sounded like they'd really enjoyed their dive, which was great. We hung out at the lounge for a while and compared notes about our experiences, and I dispensed as much of the knowledge I'd acquired as I could remember. They were amazed about the Terminator sea cucumber that could reform itself and asked a bunch of questions I couldn't answer. At about 6:30 or so we headed out to the beach to see if we could find some turtles. (Walendo was a bit buzzed at this point after a couple of pints of beer.) After just a short ways, we saw some people crowded around this teeny tiny little turtle that was waddling its way down beach toward the ocean. It was adorable. The thing was maybe 2 inches long and all four legs were chugging away as it flopped along. It would fall into the footprints in the sand and then chug its way out in its determined march to the water. Then when it got to the water, it became much more graceful, paddling along for a few feet and then picking its head up. Gordon and I shot a bunch of pictures of it. We walked a little further and then saw another. They were easy to spot cuz lots of people would gather around. We saw a few more and then the show seemed to be over.

Turtle hatchling making its way down Heron Island beach

After a while, we started to walk back toward dinner and a woman pointed out a shark fin just a few yards from shore. It was moving back and forth, waiting for the hatchlings. Then the woman told us that we had been in front of them at the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb when we went to get our refunds after our climb was cancelled. Small world. We chatted with her for a while.

Turtle hatchling resting on its way to sea

She was from New York and she said she was "between jobs," which I guess is what Walendo and I are. We just don't know what the next job will be. After a friendly chat, we wandered back. They had dinner at the bar/pool area instead of the dining hall. As we were walking back, we though it would be nice if we ran into her again, especially for Gordon. We thought maybe we'd invite her to sit with us at dinner if we saw her.

The turtle hatchling boogie

Dinner was a Mediterranean buffet and yummy as usual. They served it around the lounge area rather than in the dining hall, which was a nice change. I love that they have enough different dishes that I can find a bunch that I like to eat even if I don't want the main dish. We didn't see the woman from the beach right away, but when Gordon got up for seconds he spotted her and she came to join us, which was nice. We ended up hanging out talking after the meal for a long time. It was quite pleasant sitting outside by the pool with the ocean all around. Her name is Adrianna, and she's a biz dev person who had just been laid off from her 5th startup.

Lounge area, where dinner was served

Now that's determination! When she realized she'd be leaving, she planned this trip in two weeks and off she went. She said none of her friends could take the time, so she went anyway — good for her. (Or, "good on you" as they say here.) She was a very cheerful woman who came across as very confident. It was nice to chat with her. We made a bunch of jokes about Gordon being the only one with a paycheck, but then again, the one who had to leave early to get back to work. (Tomorrow was his last day.) Finally around 11pm or so we wandered back to our rooms.

When we got back to the room, I realized I'd left my book in Gordon's room, and Walendo volunteered to go get it for me. What a guy. He got big points from me for that. We read a while and then dozed off.

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