Tuesday 22nd July Exciting and Enchanting Experiences

Over night our ship had moved to an area in Doubtful Bay, near Raft Point. Following breakfast, we departed in the Explorer boats to view this stunning area. Once again, we were blessed with perfect weather and after a very peaceful and tranquil cruise through a mangrove area, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring the rugged beauty of Steep Island as a contrast. We then proceeded on to Bird Rock, where we circumnavigated this island twice to view the wildlife….birds mainly. We returned to the ship and relaxed for awhile and after lunch went to an excellent and informative talk about Humpback whales, presented by one of the expedition team, Sandra, a marine biologist. Whilst we were enjoying lunch and the lecture, our ship moved to an area near, Mongomery Reef. Apparently, David Attenborough has said that this area should be known as the 8^th wonder of the world. We boarded the Explorer boats and set of for the reef, a huge sandstone (not coral) structure that appears to rise out of the water as the tide recedes. The area is over 400 sq. km. It is quite the spectacle with cascades flowing from the edges. Sealife and birdlife are everywhere, trying to feed on anything trapped by the receding water.  We saw many, many huge green sea turtles, some sharks, sea snakes, rays etc. in the water. Some sea-creatures also become trapped on the emerging reef and are quickly eaten by birds or bigger creatures. Our guide reported that about two weeks ago a small Humpback whale was trapped on the top of the reef as the tide dropped. He said the whale eventually died before the incoming tide could save it and it became food for other sea creatures, particularly sharks. We were able to transfer from the larger Explorer boat to the smaller zodiacs to give us a closer more intimate experience. This was the first time on the trip where we met boats and zodiacs from other cruise ships. Our ship was the first to arrive in the area but soon after two more ships arrived. One was the True North and the other was a larger Heritage Adventure ship. There were numerous zodiacs and small boats from the larger ships cruising up and down in an area that would have once been a valley between two sandstone beds. It was busy! Overhead there was a chopper from the True North. Our guide said that environmentally, there will need to be some controls introduced in the near future to control the tourism and ensure the environment is protected. After a wonderful afternoon we finished with an alfresco BBQ dinner outside on the Vista deck on level 7. We shared our table with a lovely couple from Tasmania and another couple (who both happen to be retired teachers) from Perth. With the sun setting over a sea of glass, it was a perfect finish to a brilliant day.