No amount of research could have prepared us for the pleasure, excitement and adventure we found on this lovely sand speck in the Pacific Ocean. Located fifty miles off the east coast of Australia, straddling the Tropic of Capricorn, the island sits on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. A true coral cay, it was formed by thousands of years of coral break down and depositing by ocean currents. Once above sea level, birds came and left behind the seeds of life. A quiet boat ride on October 28th took us to Heron Island's reef waters, an Impressionist painting in innumerable shades of blue and green. The island is about one mile in diameter and houses a resort and the Queensland University research center. Superb facilities, gourmet meals, lovely weather and numerous activities, including world class diving, provided eight perfect days. Heron Island's forests are inhabited by seabirds like the notty turns and the mutton birds. Approx. 60,000 birds visit the island during mating season. During our stay, the trees seemed burdened by the notty turns' leaf nests. The larger mutton birds dig holes in the ground. These birds bothered island guests with their incessant howling and groaning that lasted most of the night, requiring ear plugs for good sleep.
Notty Turns nesting outside our window
The opportunity to witness the sea turtle spring mating season was a pleasant surprise. Every six years the large green and loggerhead turtles visit Heron Island to lay their eggs into the sand above the beach, as they have for thousands of years. During darkness and high tide, the females drag themselves across the sand six times within one month to lay 100 to 120 eggs each time. They spend about one to two hours to dig a large body hole and an even deeper egg chamber. While laying, the turtle enters a state of trance during which it is safe to approach her and even shine a light. She then spends another hour to cover the eggs with sand. We were practically in tears when a research biologist removed a freshly laid egg and dropped it into our hands. We had started watching this turtle around midnight. She began laying about 90 minutes later. We felt very privileged to watch this miracle and hold new life in our hands. Each day, the tide times changed by about one hour. As the week went on, high tide moved toward the morning hours. By Tuesday of the following week, high tide was at 5:00 am, and the turtles weren't finishing their business until well after sunrise. For two days we had great opportunities to watch and photograph (top picture) these beautiful animals in their natural environment.
The resort pool View of our balcony and suite
Combine these views with a divine cocktail!
We decided not to dive on our first full day on the island, opting to snorkel instead. Snorkeling from the beach in the morning, we saw turtles, a white tipped reef shark, a pack of fifteen to twenty sting rays laying in the sand as well as many colorful fish. In the afternoon we went with a boat excursion to a location called "coral grotto" on the edge of the reef. The endless stretches of coral took our breath away. We were swimming above a rainbow of colorful hard coral and fish of all types. A huge manta ray glided through the waters right below us, causing a few screams of excitement.
We started diving the next day and would log twelve dives during our stay, including one night dive. It is simply impossible to describe the underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef and its variety of coral and fish. Plate coral grows to the size of a car; awesome swim throughs teem with schools of small fish; sharks, groupers, cods and rays enjoy the feast, moray eels emerge from their holes, green and loggerhead turtles glide through the water, an octopus changes colors in front of our eyes. The diving team on the island made us feel very safe, their tales about diving around the world provided awesome entertainment. All dive sites were no more then a fifteen minute easy boat ride away. We haven't done much diving, but Heron Island has certainly spoiled us right from the start. We would love to return some day!