My day out on Poseidon
Our day started at 6.50 am as we were picked up by the very friendly bus driver whom also provided excellent commentary on the local area. The road up to Port Douglas is one of the most famous drives for its beautiful scenery in Australia.
When we arrived at Port Douglas we were dropped off at the Marina Mirage. The friendly Poseidon crew greeted us and took us down to the boat. Time to take off those shoes as Poseidon is a shoe free boat. On boarding the professional photographer snaps a shot of you which you can then purchase later on.
The crew made us feel really welcome and we were offered a muffin, tea, coffee they even had hot chocolate! It was now time to be introduced to the crew, find out the itinerary and rules for the day. It takes about 90 minutes to get out the Outer Barrier Reef. On the trip out we were split in to three groups, snorkelling, certified diving and introductory diving. Once we were in our groups one of the crew gave us the rundown on all the information that we needed to know and by this we had arrived at our first stop!
Glen and I did the introductory dive. I was a little nervous as I had never dived before and was unsure if I would freak out or not be able to equalize. On speaking to the dive instructor she made me feel a bit better. I got to go first which was a good thing as by the time the rest of my group where in the water I had the hang of it all and was nice and relaxed!
Once you are in the water it’s amazing the marine life is so beautiful and it’s like you have entered another world. The professional photographer is there to take that once in a life time photo so you’ll never for get your dive experience out on the Outer Barrier Reef. The intro dive took around half an hour and then it was time to move on to the next site. Once we got back on the boat is was time for morning tea which was some yummy cakes and fruit platter.
In no time at all we were at our next reef site and time to get back in the water, and yes we both went back in for a another go of Introductory diving! The second dive was so much better because you have some idea on what to do and you are more relaxed. At this reef it was so much different to the first reef lots more fish and I got to see NEMO! Yes that’s right NEMO!
Well its now time for lunch which whilst we had been diving our helpful and friendly crew had been preparing for us. I really enjoyed my lunch it was a cold delicious tropical buffet lunch with prawns, cold meat & a selection of different salads. I was so happy that it was a nice cold lunch as this is just what I felt like after all that swimming around.
After lunch we went for a little bit of a snorkel before we went diving. At the last stop the reef was the best we had seen so far it was one big coral bommie. It was fantastic I loved it so much and there was so much to see. The professional photographer also took some excellent photos of us at this site.
Then it was back on the boat and time to head for home, with afternoon tea and a lot of time to have a look or buy the photos that were taken throughout the day. Once we have arrived back time to collect your shoes and head back to your transfer bus to take you home.
This was one of the BEST DAYS of our life.Thank you Poseidon
By Whitney Hillen and Glen King
27/01/2008