Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 27.

Preparing for the sailing to Port Douglas and the Low Isles Snorkelling Trip.

As I sauntered along the streets of Cairns and looked out across the mudflat out to the ocean, I was barely able to take in where I was. Wow! This is Australia! How was it possible to travel so far from the UK? Indeed, I have already tasted the delights of first-hand experience of the Great Barrier Reef, and I was hungry for more. Yet, I also thought about home. My parents were in favour of my enjoyment of long-haul travel. But there was also someone else showing interest in me, yet I was totally unaware. A pretty teenager with a tomboy temperament already had her eyes on me. How could I be aware that in less than three years, I would marry her? 

But, in the meantime, as I gazed out into the Pacific Ocean from the esplanade, any ideas of marriage were as far away as I was from my hometown apartment. The recent catamaran trip to Green Island was more than an eye-opener. My new awareness of the marine life making up the Great Barrier Reef has converted me from a mere curiosity to an enthusiast. And I wanted to see more.

Stock photo of Low Isle coral cay.

During the 5-day stay in Cairns, I took three trips. The first was to Green Island. The second was a Quicksilver catamaran sailing to Port Douglas. This trip was just to check out this small resort, around 41 miles or 66 km northwest of Cairns. There were two routes to Port Douglas, the road route by bus, and by sea on the catamaran. This vessel was larger than the Big Cat and provided access to the Low Isles, another coral cay on the inner Great Barrier Reef. This time, there was no pre-snorkel talk.

On the way out of Cairns, the catamaran stopped at a pier, the Palm Cove Jetty, leading to a small village of the same name north of Clifton Beach, looking more like a deserted spot backed by a forested mountain. This was because the village itself was hidden from the view of the catamaran by a copse of trees, giving an impression of being in the middle of nowhere, the jetty serving an isolated beach.

Out at sea, we passed the twin hills of Double Island, also covered in forest, which were all that remained of the sunken continental shelf, which was once above sea level before the thawing of the Ice Age. The whole of the Reef flourished on this sunken shelf, all 1,400 miles (2,300 km) of it. Thus, such an island is known as a Continental Island, and many are part of the Reef complex. These islands include the Whitsunday Islands off Arlie Beach, some of which have Fringe Reefs.

The harbour of Port Douglas was smaller than the Cairns' version, but catamarans sailed out of Port Douglas, and one Quicksilver boat was ready to leave for the Low Isles and to the Outer Reef, the latter was better for scuba divers. However, I wasn't prepared to board just like that. Therefore, with some regret at not being properly prepared, I remained on shore as the catamaran pulled out to sea. But I was determined to be on board at my next visit. Instead, I spent that day first by swimming in the sea, then watching a live band perform across a field, then I had a walk around town and its indoor shopping mall.

The return sailing on the Quicksilver catamaran was non-stop as the boat shot past Palm Cove Jetty as it headed south before docking in Cairns Harbour.

Either the next day or two days later, I made my way from the hostel to the Pier Mall and the harbour. There was a Quicksilver catamaran waiting to depart, and I boarded it and asked whether I could buy a return ticket to Low Isles. The lady complied and sold me the ticket. Like in the Big Cat, refreshments such as coffee and biscuits were free with the ticket.

The catamaran remained moored until it filled up with other passengers. Eventually, it pulled out as it began to head for Port Douglas. Here, I would change boats for the one to the Low Isles. During this journey, my top was a black vest or tank top. But after arriving at Low Isles, I would change into a button-up shirt. This prevented getting sunburnt on my back while I was snorkelling.

The proper name of my destination is Low Isles Reef, but there are two islands, one considerably larger than the other, giving the whole complex a heart-shaped outline when seen from the air. The larger island is covered by a mangrove forest, and the sandbank is submerged during high tide, with the tops of the trees remaining above water. This is Woody Island, and it's inaccessible to the public due to its cyclic submergence. The smaller island is Low Isle, a proper coral cay, smaller than Green Island, but also surrounded by a beach consisting of coarse sand and broken seashells. It's not the beach for building sandcastles!

There was no resort, no swimming pool or hotel on Low Isle, as there were on Green Island, and no public path or trail. In 1997, there was only one edifice, a lighthouse, although a weather station might have existed back then as it does at present. The beach slopes away more deeply into the sea than at Green Island; hence, the coral surrounding the island was richer and grew taller and more compact. However, I also saw that the reef was wanting of free-swimming fish, perhaps a turtle as well. Like at Green Island, the water surrounding the island was murky, but I managed to collect an album of underwater photos of the corals, using a single-use underwater camera I bought on the catamaran.

Click here for the link to the Index, where you have access to the main Biography, Weeks 78-81.

Photos of Port Douglas and Low Isles.

About to leave Cairns for Port Douglas.

The cat sails out to sea before turning northwest.

Offshore islands like this one dot the coastline.

The cat paused here at Palm Cove, at Clifton Beach.

The catamaran speeds up past Double Islands.

We arrive a Port Douglas Harbour.

This Quicksilver cat brought me to Port Douglas.

I swim in the sea at the Four-Mile Beach.

Port Douglas esplanade as seen from the beach.

After the swim, I watch a live band play.

The esplanade is in full swing.

A tropical seaside resort. I love it!

I walk into town.

Port Douglas shopping mall, interior.

The next day, we arrive at Low Isle, a coral cay.

Looking at Woody Island from the boat. Low tide.

Tropical cay vegetation.

I swapped the tank top for a shirt before wading in.

During the lunch break, I had a wander around.

I posed with our boat behind me.

Underwater Photos of the Low Isles Corals.

Like at Green Island, the water here was murky.

However, since the water was deeper here...

The corals were thicker and more luxuriant.

However, swings and roundabouts...

The fish population was healthier at Green Island.

Soft coral mingled with hard coral.

Although a few of us were snorkelling, I was mainly alone.

Like at Green Island, sometimes the water clears.

Different species of soft and hard corals.

I still long to see some fish. Where are they?

Yet, the sheer beauty of tropical marine life...

...had a powerful impact on the rest of my life.

Learn about the GBR is more than a school experience.

A Cauliflower Coral? Perhaps not.

The tranquil felt in this environment was breathtaking.

I'm aware that these pics aren't as pro as desired...

...but with a $10 cardboard camera, these are good.

And their height was impressive.

A staff member sang to his guitar as we sailed home.

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Next Week, I leave Cairns for Townsville.

Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 26.

Arrival at Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.

Indeed, I felt sad to leave Singapore, having discovered that it offered visitors more than I had anticipated. Yet, as I sat in the departure lounge at Changi Airport, it wasn't for the flight back to London. Rather, it was one for the opposite direction, to Cairns in the Australian State of Queensland. It was an overnighter, as all the Round-the-World flights were.

Therefore, after daybreak the next morning, I looked out of the plane's port side window at the ocean below. Soon, the western coastline of land appeared, and I immediately identified the ocean as the Gulf of Carpenteria. The land now beneath me was Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost stretch of Queensland. As I looked from the window of the Boeing 747, I was astonished as well as excited by what I was seeing. The whole of the peninsula was covered with thick rainforest.

This contradicts the schoolbook image of Australia as a dry, sparsely forested semi-desert outback, the kind of landscape I was expecting to see. Instead, I was looking at the Great Divide. This mountainous eastern coastal strip of the continent was covered with rainforest. It's on the East Indo-Pacific Coast where most of the human population resides, with several main cities, Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, and Sydney, all of which I have stayed in. West of the Great Divide, the forest peters out, and much of the land is a hot and dry semi-desert of schoolbook imagery.

After the plane landed at Cairns Airport, I was interrogated at Passport Control, where I had to empty my rucksack. When a Bible fell out onto the table with all my other belongings, the inspector became more contrite and apologised. But I reassured him that if the government paid me to do the job, I would have acted in the same way. I was learning from this kind of experience that a man with long hair entering the country raised suspicions. Fortunately, unlike Singapore of old, there was no barber shop in the arrivals lounge!

After exchanging a U.S. Traveller's Cheque in the airport lounge for a wad of Australian currency, I stepped outside to wait for a passing taxi to the town centre. I boarded one along with another backpacker, who moaned at the severity of Passport Control (he also had long hair). After covering a certain distance, the taxi stopped, and the driver asked me to alight, taking my luggage with me.

"Do you see that building right over there?" He asked with a local drawl.

"Yes", I replied.

"That's your hostel."

He climbed back into his car with the other backpacker still in it and turned off the road we were on and disappeared. I was left alone to walk the 200 metres of the coastal road into town.

I arrived at the hostel and asked the receptionist if there was a bed available for up to five days. I was offered one in the main dormitory. This was the advantage of arriving at my destination during the morning. Like in Singapore, this was the time of day some of the backpackers checked out of the hostel to move on. After settling in, I found a suitable store to buy groceries to stock up one of the food pigeonholes located in the upstairs member's kitchen and dining room.

One of the first natural features I saw from the moment I alighted from the taxi was a group of forested hills on the other side of town. This is the Trinity Forest Reservation, but for the potential hiker, a river separates those hills from the town, the Chinaman Creek. Without a bridge to cross the river, the Trinity Forest remains inaccessible.

However, I quickly learned that Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and the streets were lined with shops and businesses selling diving equipment and diving courses of the PADI range of certificates, from beginner to instructor. Snorkelling was also offered.

Upon enquiry, the hostel receptionist suggested visiting Green Island, a coral cay on the Great Barrier Reef. She then sold me the appropriate catamaran tickets for a day cruise to the cay, where I had an opportunity to snorkel and see the Great Barrier Reef firsthand.

Stock photo of an aerial view of Green Island.

The yellow Big Cat ferried us to the island. During the journey, I attended a talk delivered to first-time snorkellers. The cay itself was very different from the so-called "desert island", with a single palm tree stuck in the middle as depicted in cartoons. Rather, a proper coral cay is covered all over with tropical forest vegetation. It's this rainforest that holds the sandbank island together, enabling it to survive storms.

This album shows Green Island Coral Cay as it was in 1997. According to the latest videos of the site, there has been some development, including a hotel for guests. In 1997, Green Island boasted just a restaurant and a swimming pool. By 2025, according to the Internet, its facilities will have expanded to a full-blown resort. In my day, a boardwalk cuts through the rainforest, and I managed to complete the walk without hardly any human development to be seen.

Also, according to what I have watched on YouTube videos, various areas of coral around the island look to be decimated, leaving a bare, boulder-laden seafloor. One YouTube world traveller, Gabriel Morris, refused to publish his underwater video of the seafloor around Green Island. Instead, he shows a video of corals taken at a different location.

Click here for the Index to find the link to the main Biography covering the Cairns experience, which is Weeks 78-81.

Photos of Cairns and Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef.

A main Square, Cairns.

The Pier Shopping Mall, Cairns.

The Pier, interior.

Another view of the Pier interior.

Mudflat as it was in 1997. It's different now.

View of Trinity Forest Reserve from near the Hostel.

Cairns Marina.

A Chinese junk is moored at the Marina.

Palm fronds, tropical beauty

Tranquil during high tide, covering the mudflats.

Threatening clouds resting on high ground.

Cairns Marina and Harbour.

They know how to disguise their car park with greenery.

I board the Big Cat catamaran for Green Island.

The boat pulls out of Cairns.

The mountainous coast of Australia.

The catamaran reaches top speed.

After the talk, the catamaran slows down...

As the Island appears on the horizon.

Approaching Green Island.

View of Green Island beach from the pier.

Part of the beach is concreted over to help stabilise the cay.

The beach is made up of coarse sand and broken seashells.

Beach view of the mainland.

Fitzroy Island is to the left.

A short hike across the cay's rainforest.

I took the short hike after the snorkelling to dry out. 

Underwater shots of the Corals.

I wore a button-up shirt in the water...

I was advised to wear a shirt to avoid sunburn.

Unfortunately, the water was murky.

But this didn't detract from underwater photography.

I was surprised by a lack of free-swimming fish.

Yet, to swim among the corals was a privilege!

The reef was healthier in 1997 than at present (2025).

Spot the fish.

A Sergeant Fish.

Coral comes with a great variety.

Sadly, there are already signs of reef decimation.

I just caught this Sergeant Fish on camera.

 Corals are colourful by day, but they're more so at night.

A beautiful underwater garden.

Sometimes, the water is less murky.

I literally hover over the seabed, a snorkel in my mouth.

Some fish swim by.

Fully dried out, I board the boat for home.

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Next Week, the stay in Cairns continues with a trip to Port Douglas.