What Is on My Horizon?

May, 2019

The day of the Cairns reef trip started sunny with a fresh breeze. My cousin Sylvie dropped me off at the reef marina on her way to work. "Have fun and don't touch the crocodiles!" she shouted jokingly as she drove away. I hoped to see only turtles and colorful fish on this four hour tour but Sylvie had mentioned crocs and small sharks were in the water. She said sharks and jellyfish were the reasons why she walked on the local beaches but didn't swim.

Was I worried? Ha ha. Yes.

Once on board the boat, I relaxed and met a few other single women and some couples. I noticed a lack of single men. This trip must not be challenging enough for some men; perhaps they preferred scuba diving.

Our large group was shown how to use the snorkeling equipment, then we could get individual help if we wanted. The young leader announced that we would be stopping about thirty kilometers from shore and would likely see whales, dolphins, dugongs, marine turtles, jellyfish, sea snakes, sponges, and lots of colorful fish. "Beware of the poisonous snakes and jellyfish," he warned, "and keep your eyes on any sharks you encounter."

I got into a conversation with another Canadian, Melanie. I told her about my recent arrival to visit with my cousin Sylvie - we hadn't seen one another since childhood in Atlantic Canada. So far Sylvie had taken me to her local walking places to see unusual flowers and we played with her dog on the beach. When I had asked about the boats we could see on the horizon, she told me about the snorkeling reef tours. I just had to experience that! Melanie told me she was taking a year off to travel before settling down to work. She planned to travel through New Zealand as well as the coasts of Australia. She might even find work in Australia.

We chatted and looked out for dolphins. The boat motored east slowly so it wouldn't ram any turtle or other animals swimming inside the reefs. After a while, we spotted a group of dolphins. They swam closer to our boat and played around in its wake for a few minutes, delighting all of us.

Once the boat had reached its destination, we were ready to get wet and enjoy the underwater scenery. The water felt wonderful. I soon got used to the flippers and snorkel and enjoyed the view below me - fish and turtles above the coral. I wasn't much of a swimmer but I found moving was easy using this method. I hoped not to see many snakes. I loved watching the colorful fish dart about and admired the sharks from a distance but the turtles fascinated me.

I saw one that seemed to have a scar or more recent injury on its shell. I decided to follow it to see if it needed to be rescued, though I had no idea how I could go about helping it.

After a long swim following the turtle, I gave up when it started moving too fast for me to keep up. I realized the surface was getting choppy and looked around. Where was the boat? I couldn't see it. I turned slowly around in all directions - no boat in sight. Where had it gone? We'd been told that the horizon was about five kilometers away when standing. That must mean it was closer right at sea level. There was NO BOAT within that distance. The sun was high in the sky at noon, useless for telling direction but hot and making me thirsty. I was starting to panic. The choppiness of the water, the loss of direction, my lack of experience in swimming; everything was against me.

I told myself that panicking would just make things more dangerous. I had to "remain calm". That phrase reminded me of a humorous scene in my high school days when a fellow biology student who was giving a talk on sharks admonished us to "remain calm if attacked by a shark". I had laughed at his speech ("right, be calm while a bite is taken out of you") but I wasn't laughing now.

Breathe in . . . Hold . . . Breathe out . . . Again . . . Again . . . "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The quote was about WWII, wasn't it? Who said that - Churchill or Roosevelt? Something to Google when - or if - I ever landed. Oh yes, I was good at distracting myself under pressure temporarily but now the fear returned, despite that remembered quote. I floated as well as I could on the increasingly choppy sea, periodically looking in all directions for a boat.

Time passed and my thirst increased but finally I could see something on the horizon. Please be a boat and not just a whale! It became bigger and yes, it was a boat and it was heading toward me. Gradually, closer and closer. What? It was moving fast now and straight to my position. Closer . . . closer . . . Bigger and bigger. Could the crew see me? I was just a small item in a big ocean. My arms flailed. Was it going to run over me? But it didn't. It slowed and turned.

It was the boat I had taken this morning. After some mistaken identity and confusion, passengers and crew had finally been alerted that I was missing and returned to look for me. Thanks to my new friend Melanie, I had been missed. She explained that at first she thought she saw me aboard at the stern but that was someone with similar hair color and length. It was only later that she searched through the passengers and knew that I wasn't aboard.

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That was enough of swimming adventures to last me a long time. For the rest of my visit to Australia I would stick to land based attractions. On our beach walks the following days, Sylvie and I planned trips to the safe Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, Kuranda Koala Gardens, the Cairns Botanic Gardens. Although . . . the river croc tours are said to be fascinating.