Day 29 recap (Wed Mar 9)

[Stef] Today was a good morning, and it felt good to sleep in until 8AM. Scott woke up a little earlier and walked the coast around the entire island – which only takes about 30 minutes! We went to eat and after breaky (as the Australians call it), Scott took a little nap and I relaxed on the balcony. At 11AM, Scott and I went over to the Marine Center to hear a speaker talk about the turtles on the island, and it was really interesting. The Marine Biologist talked about the breeding, nesting, predators, and endangered list of turtles in Australia and specifically to this island. It was about 90 minutes long. We also got some good tips for turtle watching on the beach in the evenings. One thing we have discovered here is that all the workers here have a great sense of humor and heaps of personality. That makes every event more exciting. The interesting thing is that the Marine Biologists have many jokes about “science stuff”. It really cracks me up. Our Turtle lady started her presentation by cracking jokes against birds. Since birds evolved from reptiles, when she sees birds she thinks – “perfectly good waste of a reptile.” She used it a few times, actually. Luckily the subject matter was more interesting than that.

After the turtle talk, Scott and I hit up the lunch buffet. It was, as always, tasty. After lunch, we got ready for the 3PM snorkel boat. This snorkel trip was even better than the preceding trip. We went to a place named “Blue Pools”. It was a really amazing snorkel trip because this part of the reef had two areas next to each other where the reef had been naturally cut out and pools had formed on the top of the reef. We were able to swim over the reef’s edge into pools and see all that the underwater world had to offer. We were able to see so many beautiful corals and varieties of fish. The tide was going out so it was pulling the sand and debris off the reef, but that did not effect the ability to soak in the brilliance of the pools and the reef’s perimeter. We did find out later it made our pictures cloudy. The pictures may not be the best, but our memories will never fade. At one point, a school of squid came upon us, circled and swam off. There were also tons of electric blue fish swimming together. It was surreal. We would reach out, hoping to touch them, as if they were fake exhibits in a museum. Of course, they scattered, but they were so blue and mirage-like against the orange, yellow and tans on the reef walls it constantly astounded us.

We got back to the island and we showered and got ready for a walk on the beach. Although we still have a few more days here, we want to use every minute to our advantage. Who knows if we will ever get back! We signed up for the late dinnertime so we could see all that there is to see in daylight. Scott and I walked out to the beach behind our room. There were several people out enjoying the setting sun and hoping for the chance to see some baby turtles hatching. We came upon a group of students who were working at the research station on the other side of the island. They had found a baby turtle’s head poking out from the sand and they sat around it, waiting for the clutch to come out. We waited with them, and not long after we got our camera lens focused on the little heads, the clutch exploded from the sand. There must have been a 100 of these little turtles, and in minutes they were at the waters’ edge hoping to get a chance at life. Many people walked along side of the turtles to shoo away the seagulls. The help is always nice for the little sea biscuits, but unfortunately, there were countless manta rays and reef sharks waiting for a snack. It was an incredible, spiritual experience to see Mother Nature at work.

After the hatching was mostly over, we walked down the beach and caught a few shots of the sun set reflecting in the sky. We were at the opposite end of the island where the sun rises, but the colors were so radiant and picturesque. It was like being on the set of a movie. Once it was dark, we walked back to dress for dinner.

Dinner was another new experience. I ordered a delicious duck salad for my appetizer and coral trout for my main dish. Scott ordered an eggplant salad for an appetizer and for his main dish – KANGAROO!! The server explained to us that it had a “gamish” taste. It definitely did have a different taste to it. Overall, it was pretty good, but the problem was, a few days before this meal, we played with the kangaroos and fed them. However, as unintelligent as they are, they are adorable, and so it was hard to swallow! We both enjoyed a mango mousse for dessert though! We enjoyed relaxing and sipping our drinks with the warm ocean air blowing through.

We decided to go back and see if we could see any mother turtles laying their eggs on the beach. Scott bought a small infrared flashlight from the marine biologist station so we could see our path but not disturb the turtles. It really wasn’t much help on the path and we stumbled our way to the beach. About 15 feet from our room, when we stopped tripping on everything, we could hear the sound of sand being thrown methodically. Quickly, we realized it wasn’t either of us throwing at each other – it had to be a turtle! So, we started looking and sure enough, in the brush, we found a mid-sized mother digging her whole. It was even more amazing than the video footage we saw earlier in the day at the “Turtle Talk”. Scott and I found a nice log to sit on and watch. It must have taken her 2 hours to dig and then lay, but we saw it almost all of it! After she was done, she began pulling dirt back onto the nest in order to cover her clutch. We were getting tired and thought maybe she would want some privacy, so we left. I cannot wait to check it out in the morning! What an experience!!!