Well it was a beautiful thing ….. to go to Green Island, named not for its greenness but after a scientist on one of the first ships that came to this area (it is green with rainforest anyway). We caught a very large catamaran boat (along with what felt like fifty thousand foreign tourists) out to this little place ….. it is a small little sand cay (island) located about fifteen kilometres off the coast as part of the Great Barrier Reef. Of course the island has been turned into a major tourist spot, complete with snorkelling, scuba diving, glass bottomed boats, a museum, an area that houses ‘the largest crocodile held in captivity in Australia, (whatever!) some eating places, a few shops and a small hotel. Despite the commercialism, it was still very pleasant to walk around the whole island (in about 45 minutes) that is covered in rain forest, except for the sandy beaches that edge it.
We did an initial snorkel in the recommended spot, but of course this is where the fifty thousand other tourists and millions of others before them have all swum – so there wasn’t an awful lot to see and we were starting to wonder if our money (exorbitant price to get there) was going to be worth it. So (true to Richard style) we went to a little beach on the other side of the island that was a bit ‘less popular’ and lo and behold, the most gorgeous array of fish, coral, sea life and even a turtle was sighted by the Eckard clan! It was paradise – two things that stand out ….. the turtle (which I spotted!!) and which Rich gave a scratch on the shell, and it kept coming back for more! It was so cute – it would turn until he was scratching in the right spot, and if the current pulled him away, he would do a quick U turn to come back for more! Rather lovely really! He was about half a meter across, so Cass and I were a little wary – I had pictures of a headline – Two female tourists savaged by turtle desperate for attention – but all he really wanted was a scratch. Then there was a brilliant blue (and I mean electric blue) star fish – wow – it was startling! Of course all the fish were beautiful too – too many to count, all different sizes and so many varieties with bright colours, from electric blue, to zebra, lemon yellow, pastels through to leopard skin camouflage.
We had lunch on the beach and that was a laugh a minute – it is fascinating to watch the different cultures in action – we saw a petite little Asian lady in a floaty dress, parasol and six inch heels mincing down the beach. Another eastern lady was fully clothed and then had a life jacket, flippers and snorkel on walking down the path to the beach – none of which she used as she only went waist deep in the water. Then Cass witnessed a Sikh who lost his turban in the water and the lifesaver had to rescue it while the gentleman gathered together his rather long wispy hair! There was another gentleman from a European country who had forgotten his bathers and so just swam in his jocks – which made life rather interesting when they were wet because they were white – not that he seemed to notice. Then there were the three tiny and ancient Asian sisters, bent over with age and arthritis, but game as anything and at one stage we came across them, one sister prone on a bench, with another astride her, giving her some kind of chiropractic treatment whilst the third sister cheered them on.
The other hilarious thing of the day were the little buff-banded rails – colourful water birds (birds - for those ornithologically challenged), with sharp little beaks and eyes and the typical lily-trotter feet, who populate the eating areas on the island. They were fairly aggressive with each other and very cheeky when it came to humans. Cass nearly self destructed in surprise and shock when one hopped onto her leg and helped itself to cheese from her sandwich at lunch time! Cheeky thing!
We forget to take towels (had to buy one – we now have a reluctant souvenir from Green Island), and the water was fairly cold, as was the weather, so recovering after each snorkel was a bit of a struggle – However, hot chocolate helped a bit`, but all in all – a truly wonderful day!
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