Blue rhapsody
Bidisha Bagchi went scuba-diving off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and was fascinated by the wealth of marine life down under, especially the multi-hued coral and fish.
Experiencing the dramatic beauty of the Great Barrier Reef was unforgettable for all of us. We spent an entire day amid the wonder world of the planet’s largest living entity, appreciated its majestic display of colours, and felt nature its most pristine state.
Our journey was as important as our destination for we boarded the most modern high-speed catamaran to glide across the inky blue sea to the breathtaking beauty of the Norman Reef in the outer barrier reef. The sea changed colour quite a few times: as far as the eye could see, there was a clear demarcation where the blue water ended and green water began.
The green water indicated the shallow part of the sea where coral usually thrived. Fringed along the north-east coast of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef contains the world's largest collection of coral reefs with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusk.
Two hours from Cairns we reached the Norman Reef Pontoon, a spacious, multilevel reef activity platform, floating at the reef’s edge. It featured undercover arrangements for buffet lunch, sundeck, and change rooms with fresh-water showers and scuba-diving facilities with a semi submerged platform.
Apart from the usual snorkelling, the other reef activities included a guided scuba diving tour which is ideal for diving and coral watching. Enthusiasts are taken down from the end of the pontoon where the inhabitants of the sea are the more deadly ones, like stingrays. Stinger suits were therefore available on the deck for those who wanted to avoid accidents. And at the end of the tour, diving certificates were given out too!
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Scuba Doo, the other adventure on the pontoon, was where one could cruise the reef on one’s own underwater scooter! No experience was necessary and even non-swimmers were welcome. It was great fun as a professional guide took us on an underwater journey. From the pontoon deck, all I could see was a big balloon floating on the water. Underneath was the scooter rider, and we had a great time. A visit to the underwater observatory and riding the semi submersible was also on the agenda.
After a visit to the underwater observatory that had details about the teeming marine life and the pontoon, we got ready for snorkelling and went downstairs towards the sea. Initially the water felt like ice cold, but we adjusted quickly to the pleasant warmth. I shall never forget that shade of blue and the depth...
My first encounter was with a school of red bass fish. They looked white to me because the rays of sunshine that pierced the blue water altered the red tinge. As I admired the garden down below, ‘abloom’ with spaghetti coral and anemone swinging to and fro, I tried to ‘Find Nemo’ but no luck. He was too tiny, I was told, 7 cm or so!
But I did get to see a fish with an enormous mouth and a weird face that only a mother would love. A little shocked at the sudden face to face with this fish, I moved away swiftly. Later I was told it was a Maori wrasse, a common dweller in the Norman Reef.
As I moved on a long way, the sea bed suddenly seemed to have descended down deep slope like a valley and far below the coral looked beautiful. On a turn there I came face to face with some angelic rainbow fish and I exclaimed “Wow!”
That was a big mistake because the snorkeling tube promptly fell out of my mouth and I began to gulp super-salty seawater. Not surprisingly, I felt like throwing up and hastily swam back to the pontoon to calm down!
Later I went for a comfortable swim in the sapphire blue abyss, this time without any scubagear. I lost count of time and it was the whistle of the life guard that reminded me that we would be late for lunch.
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In Cairns, shops rent out under-water digital cameras and we very wisely had taken one, not sure whether it would actually work or not. But it did. If we had taken any of the guided tours, a under water cameraman would have been present to capture our activities too.
The last to-do of the day was a trip in the semi-sub. It floated right above the coral and was basically meant for people who preferred to remain dry and warm. The vessel went around the entire stretch of the reef and the staff pointed out the names of each and every coral or fish that we saw there or had already seen underwater.
We saw a fantastic collection of ‘brain coral’, both hard and soft and we saw coral with long tentacles that swayed to and fro; the fine hairy growth on each of the tentacles was clearly visible. At one place a royal blue star fish rested on a huge white boulder, a brain coral and as we watched eagerly, it suddenly wriggled and moved eliciting applause inside the semi-sub.
The vessel basically hovered around the area which was not open for snorklers. It was so heavenly that we scarcely wanted to budge from there, but we had to return.... We realised with amazement that the entire day had gone by, without us even realizing how time had flown.
On board our catamaran, it seemed as if we and the never ending blue sea were in a place where time stood still. Indeed, the vistas of this endless aquascape at the Earth’s edge were unforgettable.
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