Searching and Finding at the Great Barrier Reef

After an incredibly beautiful day together on the Whitsunday Islands, we leave Airlie Beach behind early on Saturday morning. To clarify the dimensions of our journey a bit: The night train from Noosa to Airlie Beach had taken us about 1000km, which is another 100km further than traveling from A to South in Germany. Our next destination, Cairns, is over 600km away from Airlie Beach, which is the distance from east to west at Germany's widest point. This means: It is a travel day. And not much else.

The following day is our last day together in the group, and we set off once more to board a ship. This time it's a larger one with some additional people on board, taking us far out into the open sea to the Great Barrier Reef - specifically to Hastings Reef. I distribute my travel tablets, which I haven't needed so far, listen to the crew's briefing, and doze a bit on the sun deck. We have about 1.5 hours of snorkeling time at two different locations - once in the morning and once in the afternoon after lunch. Diving is also optional, but we all refrain from it for financial or medical reasons, as most of us have a flight the next day.

In the first snorkeling round, we swim in a small group with a marine biologist away from the others, who has previously given us a brief overview of the various organisms in the reef. It's exciting but also exhausting; he talks a bit too much, especially when our heads are in the water. Nonetheless, I see and understand significantly more than I would have on my own, and that makes me happy. The reef here is even more colorful, diverse, and magical than the one near the Whitsunday Islands. There is so much to see and discover that I push every single nerve cell in my brain to its processing limit to absorb as much as possible.

Today is a day when I find so much, even though I'm not always actively searching. I find...

...the Blue Branching Coral, which is actually pink.

...that the Daintree Rainforest is not only the largest Australian rainforest but also the oldest rainforest.

...a pink clownfish.

...giant clams on the seabed, to which I dive down to test if they can perceive me with their photoreceptors (they can; they seem a bit startled judging by their twitching).

...blue, yellow, purple, pink, and orange corals that sway in the water as if stirred by a spring breeze.

...Nemo. The real Nemo, who is now grown up and lives with his wife and three children in a turquoise anemone.

...a lot of inner peace as I glide through the water with my head underwater and the snorkel above water, kicking steadily with my fins.

...that I am surprisingly unafraid when I realize that there is not a very big fish under me, but a shark.

I find that this day, during which I can later share the two dishes I'm torn between with Antonia and still stay for a last beer with Dominic and Elaine at the pub, was the perfect ending for a wonderful group time. And now I am also glad that a slightly quieter week at a fixed location awaits me. Maybe I will find some peace there, as I am currently seeking it intensely.

Those who seek will find, it is said. And yet, on this day, I found so much that I wasn't even looking for. When was the last time that happened to you?