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A world of wonders on Heron Island
Paradise ... white sand beaches rim Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef.
Stunning ... Heron Island, on the Great Barrier Reef, is actually a coral cay.
Diving with turtles ... one of the few islands accessible to tourists on the Barrier Reef, Heron Island offers excellent diving in the pristine waters
Jetison your cares ... you can arrive at Heron Island via boat. The crossing takes the two-and-a-half-hours from Gladstone.
No day trippers ... one accomodation option is the Heron Island Resort.
IT was a chilly 13 degrees the afternoon we arrived at Gladstone airport en route to Heron Island. This was not the start I had anticipated to our island vacation, but then the reality of travel is often different from what we anticipate.
In part, I blame the glossy travel brochures where even images of Antarctica, never mind Great Barrier Reef islands, seem to be drenched in sunlight with a bright blue sky.
This four-night Heron Island escape, however, starts without much sun. We have chosen to travel in late June on an internet package offering a special rate.
Enlarge Travelling around Queensland?
Next day, on the two-and-a-half-hour sea crossing from Gladstone to Heron Island, I am not sure if it is the swell or the rush of seasick stories my travel companion has stored like souvenirs from his worldly adventures that causes me to leave the outside deck and assume the prone position across a few seats. I am not alone.
Heron Island is a coral cay, one of the few islands accessible to tourists that is actually on the Great Barrier Reef. You can walk around it in less than an hour.
Like most tourists, we stay at the Heron Island Resort. No day-trippers allowed here! The Heron Island Research Station is nearby but it accommodates only a very limited number of student groups and researchers.
Our roomy Reef Suite has a queen-size and a single bed, lounge chairs, a bar fridge and a balcony with an ocean view.
There is a range of accommodation – many rooms suitable for families – and the Turtle rooms, the most economical, are comfortable, although a little smaller than the Reef Suites and set back from the beach.
In the afternoon we hire our snorkeling equipment at the resort's Marine Centre. We are told a shortie – a wetsuit with short legs and short sleeves – will be fine in spite of the brisk weather. But when we snorkel in the lagoon near the resort my travel companion can't stop shivering. He needs a full-length wetsuit.
We are then informed that such equipment is only hired out to divers, not snorkelers. An additional jacket will have to suffice. Had we known, we would have brought a full-length wetsuit from the mainland.
Next day, we get on a boat that takes out snorkelers and divers to sites around the reef where the underwater views are extraordinary. Both are briefed about safety and staying with your buddy.
The water activities are well organised and well run by the Marine Centre. But to ensure your place on snorkel and dive boats, book early.
Each day we do a drift snorkel. A group of snorkelers, a mixture of adults and children, are dropped at one buoy, then given an hour to drift with the current down along the reef to another buoy where the vessel will collect them. One of the crew keeps an eye on snorkelers the whole time.
The views underwater are spectacular. There's an array of coral in so many shapes, colours and contortions that it's hard to take it all in. And the fish are amazing. Sleek trumpet fish, spotted groupers, bright parrot fish, schools of little blue fish that swim around us and turn green in the sunlight, tiny fish that make their home among strands of coral. There are fish with daubs, flecks and stripes of brilliant colour. Others shimmer. Fish and snorkelers drift together in the current over a lush carpet of coral. It seems magical.
Even the reef shark I spot does not induce fear. It is not the size and grace of the massive manta ray, but its closeness to us that surprises. And the turtles, like the migrating humpback whales we watch from the jetty, are a delight to see.
The reef around Heron Island is so spectacular I wonder why more Australians have not visited the island.
However, to make the most of your stay, travel in a warmer month and check the internet for off-season specials. Some packages include meals (there's only one restaurant at the resort) or diving costs. And if you like good wine without a notably high price tag, |
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