23 Jan 2025
Good morning from Cairns! I slept HARD last night- I don’t think I even rolled over once! I won’t be meeting my boat til 11am but I had a hunch the sunrise over those mountains would be impressive so I set an alarm and was not disappointed!
It’s actually quite pleasant out at 6am, so I went for a walk and came back with breakfast:
Once I was fueled up, I went back out in search of some landscape pictures I wanted before too many other people were up and in the way:
There were several of these outdoor barbecue stations along the beach:
This path runs along the shoreline for a solid 2.5km (~1.5 miles):
so I spent most of my morning wandering along it.
Outdoor workout area:
Magpie?
Myrna:
Finally got a frontal shot of this Masked lapwing with his flappy yellow face-bits:
Bush stone-curlew:
Nesting pigeon:
These guys have a really deep coo:
Pelicans!
There were several of these lorikeets up in the trees, but most of them wouldn’t stay still long enough for a picture:
Curlew:
Pinchy friend!
The temperature was pleasant when I started my walk, but by 9am, it was already getting toasty, so I headed back to my room for a quick shower and packed up to wait for my shuttle, which was scheduled to pick me up at 1045.
Farewell for now, Cairns!
I was down in the lobby by 1030 to wait for my ride, but my pick-up time came and went, and I started getting antsy. When no-one showed by 11, my hotel called the dive shop to check in. They said they were running a bit late, but should be there soon. So, just like yesterday at the airport, I waited.
And waited.
And waited some more until a little after 1130. My boat is supposed to leave at noon; I won’t have it leaving without me when I’m so close! I have an Australian SIM that is working just fine for data, but I couldn’t get voice to work, so I messaged the dive shop and to my surprise, got a response right away. They checked in with the shuttle and my stop was next. It was still another 10 minutes or so, but eventually the bus did arrive.
Ugh.
This is my boat, the Spirit of Freedom:
Not a great shot- she’s a lot bigger than this picture would suggest, but the tide is low and I didn’t have a great angle. I’ll work on getting a better shot later.
My boat runs this route as a 3-, 4- or 7-day adventure. I booked the 7-day trip, but partway through we’ll be making a stop and Lizard Island where some of the divers will be getting off and we’ll be picking up some new guests.
But for now, we are only 10!
We boarded onto the sundeck:
which was a great place to watch the sunset, or dry gear. But the sun is pretty intense here near the equator, so didn’t spend much time up here.
Behind where I took that shot leads to a couple upper-level cabins and the captain’s wheelhouse. I didn’t take pictures inside there, but here’s the layout:
Courtesy of Spirit of Freedom
Moving down the staircase takes you to the dive deck:
My station is that last one on the left:
Like my boat in Belize, this vessel also has a staircase in the back that we’ll be diving off of:
Not my favorite set up (those stairs are steep!), but, like Belize, they make it work.
Back on the other side of the dive deck is the camera table:
Strangely, there is no charging here. All batteries must be charged inside, in the back saloon where they can keep an eye on them:
I’m really glad I brought my own powerstrip! I also brought my camera inside every night (not much of a lip on that camera table) and charged my lights from the comfort of my cabin. Maybe not officially approved, but I figured if I was in there with them while they were plugged in that it was probably ok.
Behind where I was standing on the dive deck is the door that leads to interior of the main deck:
Courtesy of Spirit of Freedom
Kitchen on the right, staircase hatch on the left:
I should have zoomed out a bit, but those metal bars on the left protect the hatch that leads to one set of below-deck rooms, another set of stairs is located behind that wall on the left (along with a set of public heads, which was super-convenient! so nice not having to climb the stairs down to my room every time I had to use the bathroom). There’s also a set of stairs straight through the dining room:
as well as a spiral staircase that leads back up to the wheelhouse.
Back lounge (the charging table is back here next to the computer):
Moving back through the dining room is the hatch that leads down to my room:
My room is that first one on the left:
Most of the regular rooms have bunks, but this one was bunkless and I paid a solo surcharge to guarantee there wouldn’t be a bed above me (I learned on my Belize boat that I’m too restless of a sleeper to have a platform above me- I whacked the upper bed so many times rolling over!). This room has a bit of a cut out for the staircase, but as long as noise from people going up and down the staircase doesn’t carry, I don’t mind.
It also has an attached bathroom and, apparently, each shower has its own heater, so there should be plenty of hot water!
The lower level rooms are broken up into 3 compartments (hence the 3 different staircases:
Courtesy of Spirit of Freedom
When I booked my trip, the room closest to the stern was also open, but it’s also closest to the engine and I worried the noise would keep me up. We’ll see if I chose wisely…
Back on the main deck, posted on the wall across from the kitchen, is the schedule for each day and today includes two dives!
Diving here is set up similar to Belize, where as long as you’re with a buddy, you can do pretty much whatever you want. And like last time, I was paired up with another solo diver, Ryan, mostly because we both had cameras and were the most experienced on the boat (that’s a first for me!).
This first dive will be a short check out dive, where we actually have to demonstrate that we know how to manually inflate our BCDs, use our safety sausages and locate the Lifeline GPS units they gave us to use.
Definitely a first for a liveaboard, though based on the inexperience of a good chunk of the divers in this group (and the fact that they let us just go off and do our own thing), I can see why they’d want to evaluate our skills.
Dive #1 – Caves (Norman Reef)
We’ll be doing 2 dives here, so, depending on the current, the plan is to check out one side on this first dive and hit the other side on the second dive.
Sneaky scorpionfish:
Dwarf hawkfish:
I love the little spikes on his dorsal fin!
I think this is a really small Pseudoceros liparus:
A new-to-me flatworm, Thysanozoon nigropapillosum:
This pretty Pseudobiceros fulgor was curled around what I think is a chunk of algae, swaying back and forth in the current:
Blackspotted puffer:
Mariaglaja inornata head shield slug:
Dive #2 – Caves (Norman Reef)
Same site, slightly longer dive. Clams were pretty common here:
A lot of times, they’ll snap shut before you can get a good look at them, but this one stayed open long enough to see a creepy “mouth”:
Orange-lined triggerfish:
and another!
I assumed this was an adult spotted drum, but he’s actually a sub-adult black and white snapper:
He’ll loose his distinctive spots/stripes as he ages and become more of a mottled gray.
Decorated rabbitfish:
Sailfish tang:
Virgate rabbitfish:
Titan triggerfish:
Spadefish:
Pacific double-saddle butterflyfish:
Such a long name for such a little fish!
Turtle:
Spotband butterflyfish:
One incredibly derpy Barred thicklip:
*cheese!*
Not a bad first day of diving, though I think we have differing definitions of what “good vis” is (the guides thought it was good, I thought it was just mediocre), but the water is decently warm (84°F / 29°C) and my wetsuit is broken in enough that I was able to drop the last of my lead!
And, for the first time in forever, my lighting settings were pretty much spot-on! Go me!
After dinner, we lifted anchor and started motoring north, toward Ribbon Reef #9/10, where we’ll be diving tomorrow:
Hopefully the transit isn’t too rocky and I’m able to get some decent sleep- fingers crossed!