Brisbane to Heron Island

The way to Heron Island is a well trodden path and there is always a great feeling of anticipation on the way there. Once you arrive in Brisbane you check in for the flight to Gladstone which has its own little sub terminal for planes with propellors which always seems like stepping back in time. The plane goes to Gladstone and then you are into the hotels radar and its all things 'Heron'. Gladstone is another town growing at an exponential rate due to it sitting on ludicrously large deposits of 'turkey wrap' or aluminium and coal. There is a huge port and a thousand ships waiting to get in a load Al or Fe into their bowels for dumping in China or Malaysia for 'their' building boom.
Heron Island is approached in one of two ways. By boat, a new 20 million super-cat or by helicopter. the helicopter is a great thrill and the pilot invariably dips down into the reefs that are all part of the same southern portion of the Great Barrier reef system. This is the southern most part of the 2000 km long reef and the largest living organism in the world..in our continual drive towards the biggest, the longest or the most enormous. It isn't of course one organism but it is a living continuous mass which does defy adjectives large enough to describe it! Anyway its awesome...
We take the boat and the trip takes two hours. The approach to the islands harbour is unmistakable. The plethora of blues, changing water depths, and the backdrop of yellow and green in an otherwise blue expanse is almost etherial. We are here..Heron Island and fve days of the best diving in the world, coupled with a tropical island of indescribable qualities...oh yes we like it!
Normally at christmas if you come there is a wildlife festival 24 hours a day. If the 'ruddy' noody turns aren't dive bombing you, the herons are causing havoc in the noddy's trees trying to steal their eggs and the 'mutton' birds caw like deserted babies all night in their nocturnal mating 'chat'. Meanwhile the turtles are coming onto the beach every night to lay their eggs which sometimes requires the use of the 'Turtle hotline' present in each of the rooms. If a turtle is in distress or is stuck in a tree root which often happens, one tap of the hotline and the 'turtle rescue team' are despatched to tackle any turtle tribulation!
There is also a research station run by the University of Brisbane which recently burnt down and is being rebuilt.
The diving lives up to expectations although the water temperature is lower than normal and the sun a little lower in the sky. Luckily Fo can snorkel at the same time as the divers are downunder...in fact in some cases the snorkellers see a lot more than the dive team...or so they say.
Brad is the buddy for the week. He is a farmer from north of Melbourne and has dived all over including a stint at the Coral Cay setup in the Phillipines. Only the second person i have met who has been on a Coral Cay expedition.
See www.coralcay.org
So in between diving, snorkelling, swimming with baby sharks in the evening and spending a bit of time with Brad, Sue and Will we just lay on the golden sands of the island and revelled in the solitude and silence. At night the stars reached right down to the horizon,they were as clear as i have seen and we were lucky enough to have a star expert on the island for a bit of education to boot.
Heron Island has to be top ten in the places you have to visit before you move to
Eastbourne.
Lets go to Brissie!!