Barrier Reef in Worldrover

THE BARRIER REEF

If you need just one reason to visit Australia.
The swim of a lifetime on The Barrier Reef could be it.

The reef is s a massive living organism and its surrounded by beautiful fish.

Cairns in Australia’s Far North Queensland is one of the most popular tourist destination of the South Pacific. It makes a good base to explore the attractions of North Queensland.

As we drove along the coastal highway back to Cairns I gazed longingly at the golden beaches, most were deserted but occasionally you saw people swimming in shore-side enclosures.

When I was there it was summertime, (back home it was cold icy winter,) but we could not swim off the beaches, not unless we used enclosures called ‘stinger nets’ - The reason, box jellyfish.

The rain forest runs up along the coast up to Cooktown close and the nearby beaches are backed by palm trees and fringed with coral reefs.

It looks like a little paradise, but it was from from Cairns that I set out for a wonderful swim amid the fish that live around the coral at Michealmas Quay.

To get out to the Barrier Reef I sailed from Cairns onboard the Ocean Spirit. She’s the world’s largest sailing catamaran and it was a powerful experience.

Once at the Cay you can take guided snorkel tours, with a marine biologist out to the fringing edge of the reef.

Finning your way around you met some really exotic looking creatures.

There are well over 1500 different species of fish and I was befriended by a little blue and red striped one who kept swimming round me.

The water is always warm and never varies more than 4 º and I was reluctant to leave it. When I did come ashore it was to a small island where many of the 40,000 resident birds stood obediently in a great mass, on one side of a rope

On the other, beneath a scattering of beach brollies the visitors sipped cooling drinks as they sheltered from the strong mid-day sun.

Michaelmas Cay is a small vegetated coral cay (1.5 ha in area and 3.5 m high) lying 43 km north-east of Cairns. The cay sits on the western tip of Michaelmas Reef.

Michaelmas Cay is a major seabird nesting island The main breeding species are sooty terns, crested terns, common noddies and lesser crested terns. Others include black-naped terns, silver gulls, bridled terns, black noddies, roseate terns and ruddy turnstones.

Michaelmas Cay is monitored by the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage who work along with the staff of tourist operations that visit the cay to educate visitors not to disturb the natural history of the area.

A visit can be a wonderful experience.

FACT FILE

Excursions from Cairns http://www.cairnsvisitorcentre.com/index.htm

Kurunda http://www.kuranda.org

Queensland Tourism: - http://www.destinationqueensland.com/tq.cfm

Ocean Spirit Cruise to Barrier Reef http://www.oceanspirit.com.au/cairns2/Reef_Cruises_Cairns_Michaelmas.htm

Cape Tribulation, 4 Wheel Drive day trip from £80

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	PACIFIC & ASIAN February - March 2004 Volume 4 Edition 1