On the Outer – err... Great Barrier Reef, that is

[JohnM]

After that excitement, it was time for lunch and then the final snorkel at Osprey Reef. The conditions were gradually moderating as the day went on.

At the end of the voyage we were provided with a link to photos taken by the crew. Given that I was bereft of my underwater camera, I’ll use some to illustrate what was seen.



And to finish the day at Osprey Reef, followed the next morning by finding a visitor that had crashed aboard overnight and come to grief. We had seen several flying fish skimming the water during our snorkelling excursions at Osprey Reef.

 

[JohnM]

After a calm night’s steaming, we returned to within the GBR, anchoring first at Ribbon Reef No. 10 for the morning’s snorkelling. Over lunch, we moved a short distance to anchor at Ribbon Reef No. 9 for the afternoon’s excursion.



This was the PERfect day. The wind had dropped to almost nothing and the sea was almost oily. A great way to finish and some excellent snorkelling. It was calm enough for the glass-bottom boat to be put in the water in the afternoon for those who wanted an easy and slightly different way to see the reef or who may have been flagging from all the in-water activity.

 

[JohnM]

During the voyage, we had not seen any coral spawning and our coral biologist reported that he had seen plenty of evidence that it had occurred. Then on the last day at the Ribbon Reef snorkelling, which was particularly good, some people did see spawning. I missed seeing it but some of the shared photos showed it.



A final sunset.

 

[JohnM]

Then it was about a 12-hour calm run overnight into Cairns to berth at 0730h for an 0800h disembarkation after a great trip. The gargantuan Carnival tub was still in port, but presumably it had also been elsewhere in the past week.



Then it was out to CNS for our flights CNS-xSYD-PER.

The usual New Normal abysmal J catering and a track that took us a little further S than usual on the SYD-PER sector as we chased the sun, only to slowly lose.



And, with that, the sun went down on an excellent trip.