October 2021
When we had first pulled into Cairns we had originally thought we had two days of rest and boat cleaning ahead of us before Hugo’s family arrived from Adelaide. However due to a change in flight plans his family wasn’t due to arrive for an extra couple of days. This left us in a bit of a fluster as we had absolutely amazing weather and no desire to spend it cooped up in the heat of Carins. So with the change of plans we decided to make our own arrangements to head out to the reef and by luck Hugo’s sister, Holly, was up from Townsville. So with a few days extra up our sleeves and extraordinary weather we invited Holly and a friend on board and made miles to Michaelmas Reef 22nm off Cairns. Since the trip was quite last minute we spent most of the morning running around like headless chooks buying a few extra supplies, pressing up the water tanks and collecting our guests from the shore so it wasn’t until midday that we weighed anchor and left. When we had woken that morning it had been to a blue sky and a glassy river however by the time we had left some cloud cover had rolled in and brought with it a 10-15kt breeze straight from the reef, which led to a very frustrating motor out of the channel.
That day it felt like we were beating our heads against a wall as we made 2 knots against wind and tide. It took us two agonising hours to leave the channel but once clear of it we were able to set some sail and make up for lost time. With an appropriate wind direction and a little sail we went from doing barely 2kts to 5kts and had a lovely afternoon motor sail to the reef. That evening we decided to stop short of Micaelmas Reef and instead picked up a mooring on Upolu Reef. Arriving at the reef all on board were blown away by the clarity. We were motoring over reef 15m below the surface and could clearly see it from the deck of Allagai. This meant that when we picked up the mooring that evening none of us could resist a sunset snorkel.
With little light left and as soon as Allagai was settled on her mooring snokelling gear was donned and the inflatable dingy blown up before we all dove into the water. The mooring on Upolu reef was on a sand flat and in the fading light we decided to no stray far from Allagai however we weren’t disappointed. It felt like we were in a giant swimming pool with visibility of 10-15m and crystal blue water over a white sandy bottom with the occasional reef. That evening we spent just under an hour in the water only dragging ourselves out because the sun was getting dangerously close to the horizon.
The following day the alarm was set to 6am but for Hugo and I it didn’t really matter as we had been up most of the night anyway. All night the mooring buoy had banged on the hull causing Hugo to get up every half hour or so to try and rearrange it to no avail. However that didn’t stop us from enjoying the rest of the day on the reef. As soon as breakfast was finished we had a quick morning snorkel on Upolu Reef before heading over to Michaelmas Reef which was only 5nm away and boasted a sand cay and bird rookery.
When we arrived we picked up another mooring and wasted no time in once more getting in the water. The mooring we had picked up was right in the middle of the reef so to start with we decided to just swim off of Allagai. The visibility that morning was even more incredible then the evening before, as we swam off Bommies and could clearly see Allagai’s hull at 30m away and the large batfish swimming beneath it. The reef here was extraordinary and the fish life in abundance however eventually our grumbling stomachs drove us out of the water in search of a morning tea. Following this though we decided to take the dingy into the reef close to the beach. This reef was substantially shallower but no less abundant. It was while snorkelling here that we came across our first reef shark which swam passed us without a care and off into the distance. Once again we spent about an hour in the water this time driven out by the strong current which was ripping through the shallows and even with fins was difficult to swim against.
Back on Allagai we decided to spent the afternoon resting as we had already clocked up three swims that day and with our sleepless night were all feeling a bit tired. However by late afternoon everyone was ready for one last swim of the day and were keen to check out the sand cay and bird rookery. All day the sand cay had been busy and thriving with activity as sea birds of all shapes and sizes circled the little island with non-stop squawking and carrying on for no apparent reason. When we arrived at the island we quickly realised why, it was breeding season. There were many birds already sitting on nests, some still building nests and others fighting over the remaining real estate or each other. It was utter chaos and as such we probably spent about half an hour mesmerised by the action staying in the safe area designated by Parks and Wildlife so as to not scare the birds.
By this point the sun was starting to set so we quickly headed to the dingy to squeeze in a sunset snorkel at yet another new location. At this new spot we were greeted with a multitude of giant clams, a huge range of coral and we even found one of the famous clown fish protecting its sea anemone. So far this was my favourite spot to snorkel due to the huge range of life. Although it seemed all too soon that the sun was setting and the visibility dropping causing us to retreat to Allagai. This was set to be our last night out as our guests had to return home the following day.
That night Hugo decided to shine a torch over the edge to see what may be attracted to the light. This proved to be a great idea as we ended up attracting a huge GT (Giant Trevally) which we spent the evening watching as he gracefully circled the edge of the light occasionally snacking on some other unfortunate little fishes. The following morning we were once more up early as we had a big day ahead of us in getting the girls back to Cairns. However before leaving none of us could resist one last swim on the beautiful Michaelmas Reef.
This time we took the dingy upwind of Allagai to a large bommie we could see. This ended up being the perfect way to end the trip. This bommie had an abundance of life and offered amazing snorkelling at depths of 5-10m as multiple turtles circled in the distance and so many colourful fish swam around the coral. However towards the end I went flying out of the water when out of the depths and swimming directly at me appeared two or three huge GT’s herding an entire school of fish. The GT’s were clearly on the hunt and I had no desire to be in the middle of their breakfast so I swam with speed (practically walked on water actually) and got into the dingy and waited for the others to finish their swim. Apparently my fast exit had turned the GT’s off their breakfast so the others got to enjoy a bommie filled by the new school of fish with the three GT’s circling in the murky water just out of sight.
However it wasn’t long before the others joined me to head back to Allagai so we could start our sail to Cairns. On arriving to Allagai though we were greeted with four large batfish and by this point I had discovered that this gentle species of fish was my favourite fish. Since I didn’t know when I’d get another chance I was unable to resist jumping in for one last swim with the batfish. This turned into the highlight of the entire trip for me as the four batfish swam circles around me and the boat, while a school of some other large fish ate the growth off the bottom of Allagai’s hull. The others seeing the fun I was having soon dove back in and it seemed with all the commotion we managed to attract the GT from the previous night as he resumed his circles around the stern of the boat. The GT was huge but with no interest in us as food he just swam gentle circles around us as we all watched in awe. However eventually we had to drag ourselves from the water and get moving as our guests had a long way to go to return home to Townsville by that night. Once again we motored more then we would have like with barely a breath of wind on the water and arrived back in Carin’s a couple of hours after lunch. That afternoon we anchored back in the river and after dropping the girls ashore were ready for a few days of rest before doing it all again with the rest of Hugo’s family as we hoped to also take them out to the reef for their visit.
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