We board one of the smaller catamarans and are soon heading out into the Coral Sea at a nice clip of about 20 knots. The last time I did this trip I spent the whole time in the head (toilet) throwing up. It was an old tub of a boat which rocked and rolled on the 2 hour trip.
This trip would take only 45 minutes and there was so much to see, with other cats heading out, the US Navy in town and even seaplanes taking off from the bay. The girls and Nick head for the foredeck and spend the trip getting thouroughly blown about and covered in sea spray. I take some footage with the video and before long the island comes into view on the horizon.
The underwater viewing thingy (what the hell do you call it!) is still there after 42 years but as we walk along the jetty it is apparent that a lot has changed since we were here as kids. Instead of soft white sand under the canopy of trees it is a sea of wooden paths and where there used to be one or two wooden buildings of the old resort there is a chain of souvenier shops and the entrance to a slick resort with signs advising day-trippers to stay out. We are not impressed but Nick heads off for a swim and Wendy, Liz and I go for a ride in the glass-bottom boat.
If you want to see brightly coloured coral then you'll be disappointed. When we were kids we used to swim out from the beach and you could see coloured coral everywhere. These days it is all a dirty green colour and it's very sad to see the reef has degenerated to this. We do see lots of fish though which is a highlight of the trip to the island. Otherwise, lots of tourists, lots of souvenier shops and not much else.
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