Team Taylor Tidings: Day 22

So, I got up around 6:30am, though I very much wanted to sleep in, and got ready as quickly as I could for our day out on the reef. I went to the front desk at 7am and asked about booking the tour and the guy told us that Green Island was not very good for snorkeling, especially in comparison to what we had seen on our previous tour on the outer reef. Well, I kind of already knew that, but I had also hoped to relax on the beach there which would make up for the so-so snorkeling. However, the weather was drizzly so I figured we might not really be able to enjoy the beach either!

We considered a very expensive rail trip through more falls (done plenty of waterfalls) and a very expensive rafting trip (fun but too much money), and also considered other reef trips that cost a bit more but went to better locations than Green Island. In the end, we stuck with the reef but spent a little more for better snorkeling.

We walked down to the docks, grabbing some McDonalds on the way, and boarded our boat, which was about 60% of the size of our other tour boat but seemed to be carrying just about as many people. It was pretty crowded!

Because we hadn’t had the best of luck with our seats on the previous tour, we were on the lookout for something a little better on this tour. We found ourselves a spot inside, on the bottom, near the windows, where we hoped we might not get too seasick. Based on the weather, we were concerned we would meet a bumpy ride, and we were sure to take those ginger pills in preparation.

Well, I was pretty tired from a night of blogging so I curled up and was actually able to sleep for about a half hour. I woke up, however, to find Nick sweating and looking uncomfortable. He said it was just hot but I looked around and saw no one else sweating in the cabin. I figured he was probably feeling sick and was sweating because of it but, for whatever reason, not saying anything to me.

I told him to go outside as the breeze would help him feel better, at least not sweat so bad if that’s all it really was. He said it was too crowded so I got up to check it out. Well, it was crowded, especially on top, and on bottom were a bunch of people with bags in their hands. It was very bumpy indeed. We were reeling from side to side. I went to the bathroom real quick and had quite a hard time getting in and out and seated on the toilet and all that. Sheesh, I wish I could have stayed asleep!

So I reported back to Nick and told him it’d still be better for him to find a spot outside than to stay inside and sweat but he still didn’t want to do it. We were right by the bar and they brought out this not-so-great smelling soup and Nick was turned off by the smell and headed outside, only to come right back in. He was acting pretty strange and I didn’t know what to do besides continue to urge him to go outside.

I had a pile of bags behind me and he asked me to grab him one. I did and when he took it, one of the workers told him that if he was feeling “funny,” inside the cabin was the worst place to be. So he went out with all the other sick people and I wondered whether I should go out there with him.

But I was starting to feel queasy myself! I was doing alright until I walked around to find out about seating availability for Nick. All the bumping around had gotten to me then and seeing all the people with bags didn’t help either. As I sat in the cabin by myself with the nasty soup, I was trying to be strong, especially since I knew there was only ten minutes left until we got there! But everywhere I looked, I felt sick, whether I looked to the back or the front or the side or closed my eyes! I made it another five minutes and then decided this was a bad plan. Even if I held it in, I would still feel sick when we got to the snorkel site and then I wouldn’t want to snorkel!

So, I grabbed a bag, headed out to the back and lost my McDonalds within a couple of seconds. Yuck!

Really, it wasn’t too bad. I wasn’t sick for too long and when you just decide to let it happen then it’s over quick and you feel better. So, I was glad I had made the decision I did (much less suffering than Nick went through trying to fight it for an hour). Nick reported to me that he had also thrown up, four times! Wow, we are so glad we paid for that awful barf-o-rama boat ride!

We plopped in the water pretty quickly, which was very warm. No wetsuits were provided this time and I was sure worried about that considering all the jellies I had seen last time. But there were no jellies, thankfully!

Now, these sites may have been nearly as good, if just a bit less, than our previous trip to the reef. But the weather being what it was, cloudy and windy, kicked up a lot of debris and we were looking into pretty murky water a lot of the time. Although my mask was not as uncomfortable as last time, my snorkel sucked! I was getting water in it nearly every breath I took, due to the choppy waves over my head, so breathing was laborious. And the current was strong too, so you had to really work your legs to get somewhere and if you were idle for a minute you ended up way back where you started! Oh, and my camera was fogging up again! Darn it all!

Okay, this is sounding like a completely lame trip! Well, all that stuff was indeed very annoying. But that’s not to say that I was not out making the most of my reef trip!

We did see some cool things. I saw a lot of clown fish and got some cool shots of them. We also saw this huge fish with huge teeth, yes, like human teeth, crunching on a coral, biting it to bits! He did not even care that I was up in his face taking pictures of him with my foggy camera, probably because he knows he could bite my finger with those massive teeth if he wanted! We saw a shark too, though I couldn’t get a good shot of him through my camera fog and the fog in the water, especially since I could never get too close to him.

What I actually enjoyed a lot was the depth. The sites on the other tour were all pretty shallow but this one had sections a little farther down. That allowed me to dive pretty deep to get pictures and I actually enjoyed going down so far, even if it irritated my ears sometimes. I don’t know, I think I was a fish or a mermaid in another life. I really like being under the water. Maybe it’s the weightlessness, the smooth feel of the water against my skin, and the ability to move quickly and gracefully with my fins. I really do love it. I was looking at the divers wishing I had that freedom to stay under for a long time. That’s how I feel about it, like being under water is being free.

I got so irritated with my camera, which I noticed has a little loose section in one corner, probably where the water is getting in. I actually stopped by the boat to try and repair it but they didn’t have the tools I needed. Nick kept it on the boat for a while – he was tired and hurting from the fins - to try and get rid of the fog, which he did eventually, and I swam as fast as my legs could go to try and get some clearer shots in the water. I am committed to my underwater photography!

While he was on the boat, Nick said he was keeping an eye on me. He went to look for me and said he saw a big group of people together in one area of the reef and there was Andrea out on the opposite side doing her own thing, haha. Yep, get me out of the crowd and out in the open where I don’t have to dodge fins! I was always the last one to the boat, as with our last tour.

We went to two different sites with a lunch in between. As I expected a bumpy ride back, my stomach told me not to be stupid and eat very much. I only had a few pieces of fruit and a roll, and even that I thought was risky.

When it came time to head back, we scrambled outside to try and get a spot in the breeze. I thought being outside had perhaps made us more sick on our last tour but now I had learned that outside was best! It was crowded but we found a place on the top and I settled in hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

Sure enough, the boat started rocking immediately. Not only that, but the waves were splashing up and getting us wet! A lot of people cleared out right away and I planned to as well. Nick got up and headed downstairs expecting me to follow but I was concerned about crossing the deck and making my way downstairs when the boat was rocking as much as it was. That was what got me sick in the morning was walking around when the boat was a-rocking! So, I decided I would play it safe and go with ocean splash instead of lunch splash.

Well, those first splashes were really the worst and things settled down – the splashes, not the rocking – after Nick went downstairs. It was chilly from the wind and a bit wet at times from the splash or the misty rain but I stayed put. I felt bad not following Nick but it wasn’t worth another hurl. So I spent about 80 minutes sitting there glad for the strong breeze and the chill to keep my body occupied on other things besides the rocking. I did not get sick and I am glad.

I came down to the partially-concealed lower level about ten minutes before docking, when things had died down, to find Nick a happy camper. He had gotten a little queasy but had done alright and actually enjoyed the ride and the slight breeze. I was actually a little jealous since he was a lot warmer than I was – I had goose bumps from my ride –and a lot dryer too but thinking I perhaps still made the right decision by exposing myself so fully to the wind.

We docked and walked along the line of tourist shops. I tell ya, that is the business I need to go into. I could stay in Honolulu and make and sell some sort of cool local art and sell it at ridiculous prices. We went into another Aboriginal art store and really liked some of the stuff they had. But am I going to buy a six inch pot for $110? No. But maybe I should get into this business.

We got some food at a grocery store and at it in our room. I warmed up with another lovely shower, and we are looking forward to a relaxed do-nothing day tomorrow.

Pictures:

Nemo!