We had 250 km to drive that day. We were approaching to the climax of this trip - our sea adventure. We got up early to have breakfast in peace and jump in to the ocean before going. Happy, with towels on our shoulders we headed to the reception to ask where we can go to swim. The question caused consternation on the faces of the owner of the property and other guests.
Lady: - "Now you want to swim?"
Me: - "YYY, yeah, what's the problem ?!"
P: - "No, no worries😊there is no problem, but there is a low tide and if you actually walk 5 km on the bottom of the ocean and through the swamp that is there now maybe you could take a swim!"
J: - I don't believe it! So what time is the ocean here ?! "
P: - "At six a.m and six p.m ..."
☹ A shower had to be enough. But it was all right because we were able to set off earlier and thus be faster in final destination. As there was a lot of time to spare, we rode quietly admiring the hectares of fields where pineapples, bananas and grapes grew.
When we had feeling for stopping for a cup of coffee and something sweet, we did without hesitation. Or someone had a taste for coconut. You can see who was the most thirsty!
The trip was very pleasant, the weather was great. We traveled through the amazing green areas of the Queensland coast passing through increasingly colorful and touristic towns. We were approaching one of the most important places in this country. To the heart of the Great Barrier Reef.
Airlie Beach and the cruise by the Matador regatta boat, which I will write about in the next post, was recommended to me by a friend. She had been here a few months earlier. Thank you Great Poseidon that she has told me, becouse we could miss a wonderful adventure! Airlie Beach is a seaside town located on the Coral Sea, approximately 1000 km north of Brisbane. And its a perfect starting point for the Whitsunday Islands and Great Barrier Reef.
Great Barrier Reef - the undisputed miracle of nature. The largest reef in the world and the largest single structure on Earth, build with living organisms. Visible from space as a white streak against the blue ocean. It is over 2,300 km long and almost 350,000 km2 in area and has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1981.
Did you know that reefs cover about 0.1% of the seabed, but about 25% of all marine species depend to reef varying degrees. Following Wikipedia: the reef's waters are home to about 600 species of coral, 1,625 species of fish, 3,000 species of molluscs, 630 species of echinoderms, 6 species of sea turtles, 30 species of whales and dolphins, 133 species of sharks and manta rays, 14 species of sea snakes and one of the largest population of dugongs (which is the only surviving descendant of a sea cow which is - for some reason - also called a sea siren …. I always imagined a sea siren looks... well different).
But the reef is dying. The most important threats include global warming - causing coral bleaching, as well as overfishing, pollution and acidification of the oceans. Damage to the environment of coral reefs also causes other environmental changes and phenomena, such as hurricanes and a sharp increase in the population of starfish feeding on corals. Or lionfish. These fish are such an assholes!
There is an interesting story associated with this species of voracious destroyers. The original place of these fish is the Indo-Pacific region. And everything would be fine if they stayed there, because the cold waters around them and the limited amount of food regulated their populations. However, this species due to its unusual appearance are very often kept in aquariums. In different parts of the world. And when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992 a few creatures were released from private aquariums into the warm waters there. And since lionfish like warmth above 18°C they settled there a bit, breeding along the eastern coast until the next hurricanes and sea currents, especially the warm ones, allowed for the rapid expansion of this species. Why are they so dangerous and destructive?! Well, lionfish have an overwhelming appetite. They are voracious, nocturnal predators. Lionfish will eat almost any sea creature that can fit in its mouth, up to 2/3 of its body length. They will eat any fish, octopus, seahorses, lobsters, crabs, and shrimps. They will eat as much as they can physically digest and as often as possible. Their stomachs can enlarge up to 30 times their normal volume. A single lionfish can reduce sea creatures by 80-90% in its range in just 5 weeks! They eat at such a pace that some species cannot reproduce, while female lionfish lay up to 2 million eggs per year. And they don't have many natural enemies. Besides themselves (yes, they are cannibals), sometimes sharks, morays and eels will be tempted to do so. AND! And human. This is where I support human action. Divers who are passionate about coral reef conservation have started the lionfish control movement called: "Eat them to beat them"!
These creatures, although poisonous, are not deadly poisonous. After removing all seven 10cm of spines (the sting causes a painful swelling, but is not fatal) the lionfish can be fried in butter in a pan and they say it's delicious! I hope to try it someday!
Okay, okay, back to the topic. Where was I?! Ah yes, reef destruction.
This is made worse by the fact that the natural reef recovery is slow. Weakened and debilitated reefs reproduce sexually less frequently and less effectively, which hinders them genetic differentiation, which could potentially result in a better resistance of offspring to changing environmental conditions in the future.
Soil erosion on land and devastation of mangrove forests on the coast are causing increasing silting of coastal waters, followed by the death of polyps. Oil spills, water pollution with municipal and industrial sewage, sea bottom dredging are the most serious threats to coral reefs. One of the methods of catching fish is also disastrous: the so-called stunning, i.e. detonating explosives under water (shame on you Indonesia, shame).
All this means that 50% of the coral reefs in the world have already been irretrievably damaged. It is estimated that in 50 years there will be only 10% of them remaining unless extensive preventive action is taken. We choose to go to this area next to Mackay (see photo) to see one of the healthier parts of the reef. But that won't happen until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, we have already arrived to heavenly Airlie Beach! We headed straight to the marina to find out from where we will be leaving the next day. Unfortunately, our boat was not in the marina at the moment so we could not check what it looks like. But we were able to look at other miracles that stood there. This was no place for an onion like us. There were probably so expensive yachts that you felt sorry. One is that you are feel like pauper and two - for the price of such a yacht I could probably fill the budget hole for the next 5 years of my hometown (greetings to Łuków).
So we decided to console ourselves with some food, time for lunch was approaching. After a dozen or so minutes of hanging around the town we drove to a beautiful viewpoint with a grill and a shelter, where admiring the wonderful landscape, we ate delicious burgers, prepared by Marcin!
Then we went to check into the Nomads Airlie Beach Hostel. This is probably the partyiest hostel in town. A meeting place for backpakers, party people, globetrotters and passing tourists. The glory days of this facility are long over, but it is probably quite iconic. There are plenty of houses, campsites and places for campervans on a very large area. There is a kitchen, laundry rooms, shared bathrooms, a swimming pool and a bar, where as it turned out the parties last until dawn. We rented a 6-bed room in one of the buildings, where there were 8 rooms in total. Modest conditions, bunk beds and bathroom. We needed nothing more for that night. Although the lady at the reception said that we were not allowed to drink own alcohol on the premises (what kind of stupid idea was that?!) but we quickly found out that no one obeyed this prohibition. In room 66 there was already a tenant who had just got up (it was 17.00) when we got in to unpack ourself. On one of the beds, in a bed of linen and personal belongings there was a guy lying who must have had a hard night behind him. There was an empty vodka bottle beside the bed but at least there were two glass 😊. Poor guy, he looked terrible. It must have been a thick night. He just mumbled a greeting and apologized for the mess. And that's much we saw him. Oh, such hostel climat.
We quickly got ourself together and set off to explore this colorful town. It was dusk and the warm rain started to fall, which made the colorfully lit pubs and streets reflected fantastically on the wet asphalt. You know what, I'll say one thing. In such places you can see where taxes are going! Along the beach there is a promenade surrounded by rocking palm trees, separating strollers from the street where there are noisy restaurants with international cuisine.
Many pubs hosted live concerts and was relaxed atmosphere. People sang, danced and had fun. The trees were decorated with lamps which made everything seem romantic and a bit heavenly.
But when I saw a public, municipal lagoon-style swimming pool in the middle of the city my jaw just dropped to the ground. I understand that swimming pools are necessary here. During the season the surrounding bays are full of stinging jellyfish and swimming in the ocean can be very painful (adult men are said to cry like children when they get burned) but here they have exaggerated it. Well, see for yourself:
Nice place. I could live here.
After the walk, we went to the hostel for a beer and despite the great desire to dance until dawn we drank one and went to sleep to recharge our batteries for tomorrow's great sea adventure - a cruise to the heart of the Great Barrier Reef.
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