We checked into the Cairns office the afternoon of Nov. 8 and the boat traveled north overnight inside the Great Barrier Reef to Cod Hole. Cod Hole is famous for the potato cod that let divers get very close. One of the divers Anton got this shot of Liz with one of them.
Our next dive was at snake pit, which has an abundance of sea snakes. This is not my pic but I was approached this close by one of them late in the dive.
There were only 2 dives on Nov. 9 because one of the passengers developed a skin rash that may have been dive-related so the boat detoured to Cooktown to drop her off for medical observation.
So we were back on the main part of the Great Barrier Reef on Nov. 10 not too far from our first day. Liz decided to rent a camera and try some scuba photography. I've seen the elaborate setups costing thousands of $, but camera technology has been improving so she wanted to give it a try. Here are a few of her pics.
I'm holding a sea cucumber
Mixed schools of five-line and big-eyed snapper
Green turtle
Nudibranch
Spot unicornfish
Cowfish
Cuttlefish
Green moray
Lionfish
Overnight the boat moved out to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea. The overnight ride in the open sea can be rough as Liz recalled from her first trip to Australia in 2000, but not too bad this time. A couple more of Liz' pics.
Parrotfish with divers
Here I am with a potato cod
The highlight was the shark feed. The divemaster brings down a trash can full of tuna heads, secures it to a rock with a chain, then flips the lid open with a spear for a feeding frenzy.
John from LA took the pics above. Liz was trying out the video for the shark feed.
Liz sat out a couple of dives so I tried my hand with the camera.
Coral growth on clam
Getting close enough to moving fish is more challenging.
Shark resting on the sand
The Spoilsport leaves Osprey Reef overnight and we disembark the morning of Nov. 12.
We are on Lizard Island for about an hour waiting for the plane.
The flight is low altitude over the Great Barrier Reef back to Cairns.
