Day four: solo QLD adventure – Great Barrier Reef of Ragrets

Regrets, I’ve had a few, dear readers. However I’m going to try and see the positive flip side to these regrets. Ragrets, if you will. NO RAGRETS.

I did not bring a GoPro 

I had a couple of offers, people saying I could borrow their GoPros but I felt uncomfortable borrowing an expensive piece of equipment. Fool! I went with Poseidon Outer Reef Cruises who took us out to three dive sites on the Agincourt Reef. Name of the first site escapes me, then there’s Just Magic and The Chapel. At the first site, I thought a massive Parrotfish was charging straight at me. At Just Magic, a reef shark swam beneath me. And at The Chapel, we were greeted by The Priest (a 2m long reef shark) and an awesome “Bommie” which is a submerged coral shelf (I guess? I hope I got that right). So many fishes, so many Dorys! Aaaaand none of it captured to show you guys. Made me realise I have a gap in my life…

Positive flip side: next “treat yo self” purchase will be a GoPro. Yay!

   Best I could do…

I did not buy the souvenir photos (because I slept on the way back)

Normally I avoid buying them because I’d rather spend my money on food (of course). I had every intention of reviewing the photos at the very least especially because of the whole GoPro situation. Instead I napped. Ah, the calming motion of the ocean.  But I thought to myself, I was there. Photo or no photo, I still experienced one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, the largest living thing on Earth – I was in it! And as much as I’d love to parade a photo of me underwater in my sexy snorkelling gear (not sexy at all), the best photo is the memory I have in my head movies (sorry, Tropic Thunder was on the other night. Simple Jack hahaha).

Positive flip side: Documenting your life through photos (and then eventually through Instagram) is super fun but even if you can’t, you’ll always have that incredible experience, and that shouldn’t and doesn’t require validation. Something to take into 2017.

[insert a flattering snorkel gear selfie here. Unlike the one I put on Snapchat 😅]

I did not do introduction to diving

I thought about it but opted for snorkelling instead. But the diving group, obviously, get to go deeper off the edge of the coral reef (think it’s about 30 metres to the sea bed) so I’m guessing they saw more than we did like sharks and sea turtles. Don’t know if you’ve picked up on my constant feeling of impending doom (coincidentally, that is the name of the sensation you’ll feel if stung by a variant of the box jellyfish) when it comes to these water actitivities. Once they assured us there aren’t any great white sharks where we were because there are no seals to feed on, I felt more at ease. So when they were talking about how these outer reefs weren’t too far away from the edge of the continental shelf where the sea goes from about 30m deep to 200m, I thought about how amazing it would be to scuba dive. Terrifying but amazing.

I’m still glad I went snorkelling. I learnt so much about the reef and its inhabitants. I now understand why and how coral bleaching events occur, I learnt fun fish facts (Nemo’s dad? Would not be “dad” anymore after the mum was eaten. Two weeks after the dominant female anemone fish dies, the submissive male turns into a female. Fuck yeah, females! And see me later about coral reproductive processes. Damn.) and I got to take it easy with a pool noodle. I’m a strong-ish swimmer but for an hour without a break? Pass.

Positive flip side: lazy me got to float around following the fishies and when you’re 27 and healthy,  bucket lists don’t need to be rushed. I will get my scuba experience.

  Lesson time!

Bonus food tip: Poseidon provide breakfast and lunch which was great. Love provided meals. Poseidon, overall, were fantastic. Super friendly staff, marine biologists, photographer on board, both snorkelling and scuba plus less people so you won’t be crowded while in the water. Helps that they specialise in going to the outer reefs where there seems to be less tourists, at least where we were. The marine biologist explained that to see the vibrant, fluorescent coral, you need to be in shallower water which explains why most tourists opt for the closer and shallower reefs. Vibrant coral also suggests that maybe they’re about to bleach, so there’s that.

So for dinner I told myself, do NOT spend $30+ on food today. I found a place called Lanternfish Fish and Chips. I opted for a Ceviche Tostada which was delicious but probably not enough for dinner… So I ended up at Coles and bought snacks, thereby spending $30 anyway. Ha!

Final ragret: pretty sure I’m sunburnt. That’s right. I am sunburnt. There is no positive to this. I’m different colours all over, I’m constantly moisturising, sleeping was uncomfortable. Being Sun Smart is no joke, kids.

So many adventures to be had!

I did say that this wouldn’t be a blog solely dedicated to my new flat (I’ve decided to call it a flat.  Apartment doesn’t sound right).  The great love of my life (one of anyway) is travelling.  So I thought we’d take it back a bit, chill out and talk about THAILAND.

As mentioned in a previous post, on the 21st of July, I’ll finally be on a plane to Thailand for a very much needed holiday away from the dreary -Melbourne weather and all those little pain-in-the-ass trials that this lovely thing called “life” likes to throw our way.  I’ve been to Thailand a few times in the past and have always enjoyed it.  Along with Malaysia, I rate it very highly on my “places to go in Asia” list.  It’s no-fuss, fun and affordable.

My travel companions have never been to Thailand before, let alone Phuket, so I took it upon myself to suggest some activities we should do in amongst all the relaxing and cocktailing and general merrymaking we’ll be doing.  Some of these things I have done, but most of them will be a new experience for me too which I’m really excited about.  So here goes – our finalised itinerary for Phuket, Thailand.

White Water Rafting and Elephant Trekking in Phang Nga
Not only do we get to ride elephants, which I have always loved, and go on an awesome water adventure, we get some time to visit a waterfall where we can swim around for a bit.  At least, from the description, that’s what it sounds like!  I love a bit of adrenaline and outdoors-ey fun so I can’t wait for this one.  At 3000 baht per person (around $100AUD), with snacks, drinks and return trips to our hotel (which is hard to come by because we’re about 40 minutes from Patong beach.  Most tours charge extra for that.), it’s a pretty decent price.

   

http://www.phuket-travel.com./water_ac/index-rafting.htm

Splash Jungle Water Park
A water theme park!  WATER THEME PARK.  My favourite kind of theme parks are the water variety so as soon as one my travel companions found this one, it was an immediate yes from me! There’s one particular ride that caught my eye called the Boomerango (how fitting that an Aussie wants to go on a ride called the Boomerango).  The website says: one of Splash Jungle’s star attraction offering a combination of thrilling sensations. Rider in an inner-tube start with a step drop down then are propelled high up a vertical wall. Then a reversed free fall a accelerates riders over a 15 metre high transition bump and into a splashdown pool.

Vertical.  Wall.  Can’t wait!  Entrance is 1295 baht (less than $45AUD) and there’s a bus that can pick us up from our beach and drop us off.  It’s not too far from Nai Yang so that’ll be a good day – super fun but not too intense.

http://www.splashjunglewaterpark.com/feature.html

Hong Kayaking by Starlight
Exploring caves on a kayak during lunch and at night.  It sounded amazing so I was quick to suggest it.  I’m not entirely sure what “Hong” is and Google has been about as helpful as a monkey with a trombone.  If someone would like to let me know, that would be awesome.  We also get a seafood dinner once we’ve finished exploring and, again, free return trip to our hotel.  I expect this to be an amazing and beautiful experience with nature – something I think is important to do even just a little bit when in a different country.  Heck, even in your own country!

   

This was the most expensive tour but at 3950 baht (less than $135AUD), it’s still not too bad.  We get dinner and transportation, plus a great story to tell people back home.

Koh Phi Phi Island Express Cruiser
Now I’ve done this Phi Phi Island tour before except I did the speedboat one.  Anyone who has been on speedboat out in ocean waters will know it is a crazy ride.  Like, fly out of seat-constant bumping crazy ride.  The last time I went on it, one of my friends had to take a different boat home because she was so violently ill.  Even I, with a stomach of steel, felt a teensy weensy bit unsettled on this ride.  So with that in mind, and knowing how well my friends deal with boats (one friend anyway), I had to track down a Phi Phi Island tour that involved NO SPEEDBOATS.  And after much searching and many transportation surcharge fees, I managed to find one that not only went to all the places that we need to go, but charged only 200 baht extra for transportation.  That’s still cheaper than the other options out there!

I hope we get to stay at Maya Bay for a little bit to enjoy the beach there but I have a feeling we’ll only get to have a look.  We get to swim and snorkel at Coral Bay though so that will be great for everyone.  Maya Bay is just so iconically “Thailand”, I just wanted my friends and I to take that cliched Maya Bay photo all us tourists take.

      

1200 baht ($40AUD including transportation from our hotel) and lunch.  I love food.  I especially love Thai food.  So any included meals is a super big A+ for me.

http://www.phuket-trips.com/phi-phi-cruiser.htm

Rollerball
I’ve always seen this “Zorb” thing in New Zealand and have always wanted to try it.  Considering the only time I’ve been to New Zealand has been with my parents, safe to say we did not engage in any “zorbing”.  But now I can.  A couple of minutes from Patong, we decided to use this as an excuse to go to Patong, do the Rollerball, see Simon’s Cabaret (next dot point) and then hit the nightlife scene.  I know it’s hideously touristy and disgustingly trashy but this is their first time in Phuket – they have to experience the glory AND the gory!  It’ll set us back 950 baht (less than $35AUD) and up to four people per ball but I think we’ll just split into two.  HOWEVER, we were very adamant on getting into filming things so maybe having all of us in one ball will make for greater footage for our final “Phuket trip” video.  I’ll be sure to post it for all of y’all.

Just out of curiosity, why would you need a life jacket in there?!  The water looks like it’s about 10cm deep?!  Anyway, if you can, YouTube “zorbing”.  Apart from looking like you’re being birthed, it looks like epic fun.  Why WOULDN’T you want to try it?!

Simon’s Cabaret
And finally, Simon’s Cabaret.  A Phuket institution celebrating what we all know and joke about when we hear the word “Thailand” – lady boys.  You can’t go to Phuket and not see Simon’s Cabaret especially if you’re not game for a Ping Pong show (which I still haven’t done… yet have done Simon’s Cabaret a few times).  It’s pretty much just lip-syncing lady boys but man, they are convincing!  Not only in the lip syncing but as women!  You wouldn’t believe some were men previously.  But most of them have “man” qualities.  It’s amusing and entertaining – for me anyway.  Plus, these tickets came free when we booked one of our tours so really, no excuses!  It’s fair enough some people wouldn’t want to pay to see something like this (my aunt didn’t overly enjoy it – maybe she was expecting something more wild?) but I think it’s cute and did I mention it was free??

   

It’s a little depressing that these former-men have better female bodies than I do as a born-female.

http://www.phuket-simoncabaret.com

And there we have it.  An eventful but what I’m hoping will be a relaxing trip away.  Time to unwind.   Time to laugh and smile; and live fully and fearlessly with some of the most important people in my life.  To reunite with a sorely missed and dear friend.  To remind myself that this is all worth it somehow.  That it’s not all dreary, grey Melbourne winters.  That eventually, there’s a sunny, warm Phuket beach waiting for me at the end.  And after working hard, crying hard and falling hard, that’s definitely something to look forward to.