Pirates of the Barrier Reef staring Rosey

  Cairns, Australia
Wednesday, November 15, 2006

To day has been the most beautiful day out at sea!!!!!!!!!!!



Today John & Iris (owners of our house and boat people) are playing Captains of a black Pirate ship named Falla as the usual captain has gone to Brisbane to see U2. Anyway they saw an article in the paper last week about how the ladies in 1902 used to cover up in swim suits during the stinger season which has just about arrived here in Cairns. Women had to cover up in those days anyway and oh how times have changed so we decided to recreate the photo taken in 1902 today with wet suits, fins and colourful hats n stuff.

I got to go along as they don't have a camera and I do to take the pics. Ben is working and is gutted that he can't come too.

So we leave the house at 7.30am and head to the docks where we get the boat ready for the 18 passengers that will board at 8 o'clock. I help make tea & coffee greeting everyone as they board and at 8.30am when we are supposed to leave we are still 2 passengers short so we have to wait a little while for them to arrive then we set sail on this magnificent boat.

Most if not all the boats that leave the harbor for the reef are white and made of fiber glass and metal; the Falla is a huge black wooden boat which really stands out from the rest especially when the sails are up. The water is perfectly calm and a soft gentle breeze surrounds us as we sail once again to another part of the Great Barrier Reef; Upola Cay (I think that's how it is spelt) and I have to say it is stunning with a tiny little island just sitting there miles from anywhere!! John has some shades with polar lenses in them and it is amazing how crystal clear the water is so I messed about with his glasses putting the lens over the camera to take some pics and I have to say there are some stunning pics in this collection so make sure you have time to have a look. I couldn't decide which ones to put on so I picked pretty much all of them!!!!


Of course I also took the under water camera as I went for a little dive once again just tagging along behind the DSD's trying to get pics (this time I remembered the magic crystals) and I think I got some pretty decent shots well a few at least. Some were taken while snorkeling so they are a bit clearer and some where taken by Iris - I can't take credit for them but I can take credit for the star fish one with the fish swimming over it - it looks cool with and with out colour put back in - check it out!!!

We finally made it to the island and recreated the picture; we had such a laugh and everyone was wondering what an earth we were doing they must have thought we were mental.


On the way home the ship came to a stop as John told us the story of how the ship once sank 3 years ago in about the same place as we stopped! They rebuilt it and it looks as magnificent as the day it was built. And I got to see yet another fantastic sun set.



Back home Ben came home after a hard days grafting in this heat - it is getting seriously hot now!!!!!!!!!!!

To be continued. . . . .