November 25 – 28 The Northern Loop of the trip on the Coral Princess II.

We traveled during the night and tied up at the dock in Cooktown, Australia, a sleepy little village named for Captain James Cook who stranded his ship on a coral reef just off the coast of the town.  Stepping on to the shores of this town was like stepping back in time. We spent the morning in this pretty town which proudly displays its history with Captain Cook on plaques along a quaint little park that runs along the edge of the harbor and throughout the town.

After strolling through the park, John (one of our new found friends), Tom and I headed to Cook’s Lookout. It was a good walk up a pretty steep hill which, with the great meals on board the boat, we needed. Along the way we enjoyed the flora, fauna, and the plaques describing Cook’s time in the area. I mentioned fauna right? Well, I was taking a picture of the red flowered tree

and I heard a rustling in the bushes. I looked just in time to see a kangaroo tail disappear into the bushes – my first kangaroo!!! John caught a glimpse too and we were very excited. At the look-out we took pictures of the kangaroo statue and the quiet and lovely scenery before heading back.

As we walked, we heard another thrashing in the brush and out hopped a small kangaroo right in front of us! John was fast enough to get a couple of pictures – very, very cool!

Back at the boat we headed for our next snorkel stop off Lizard Island where we snorkeled from the beach. We dubbed the area “Clam Bay” because it was riddled with giant clams many of which were a meter or more wide.They were fascinating and beautiful.

We later learned that the color of the much of the coral as well as the edges of the clams comes from an organism called zooanthellae which, to quote Jacob, moves into the edges of clams and coral. It creates a symbiotic relationship – it gets a place to live and it produces food for its host – nature is so complex and so amazing.

Later that day we went on an excursion to the Lizard Island Marine Research Center. That was also very interesting.  Lyle, the director, took us on a brief tour and talked to us about the research that goes on at the center. People come from all over the world to conduct studies of the coral reefs, fish populations and the other profuse sea life on and around the reefs.

He also talked about the Crown of Thorns sea star – very pretty, but devastating to coral reefs. They literally suck the life out of the coral and an infestation of them can destroyed 30% to 40% of an entire reef.

Our next stop was Ribbon Reef #9 – isn’t there a song about that? Anyway, we finally got some sunshine and the views were breathtaking! This was by far the best snorkeling yet and we spent hours paddling back and forth trying to see everything – huge varieties of coral, copious numbers of fish and other sea creatures. It was wonderful!!!!! We went to bed very tired but happy.

The next day we arrived very early at RIBBON REEF #3 – the one we had been told was the best and it surpassed its reputation!

 Tom and I started the morning with a dive – yep we went on a real scuba dive!!! And it was spectacular!!!!!!

We both did really well and it was an incredible experience! We swam through schools of blue-green damsel fish and saw a little puffer fish feeding along the coral wall. The sea life was prolific and magnificent.

After the dive, I spent another hour+ perusing the top of the reef where several of us followed a medium sized black-tipped shark for a bit – awesome!

Then it was on to Escape Reef – the last snorkeling spot of our trip…heavy sigh. It too was spectacular and a great end to this part of our adventure – experiencing the Great Barrier Reef – check!