My Spring Break

 

Spring Break. Facebook statuses slowly start to change from being about tests, classes, etc to about hitting the beach, roadtrips, a week of relaxation. This slow transition occurred at just the perfect moment. I got to read posts about people being in Panama City, Miami, hiking, etc while I packed for a week on the Great Barrier Reef, my own little spring break. Yes we still had classes. Yes we still had assignments. However, it was my break. It was my chance to rejuvenate, sit on a beach, snorkel, and relax. So I am sorry but no one could top my spring break.

Heron Island is a small coral reef island 70km off the northeastern coast of Australia. It is located on the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. It is half five star resort and half University of Queensland's research station. It was 100% spectacular. White sands, clear blue water, shipwrecks, and a ton of research projects going on at once. It is my paradise. We spent a week on the island, with an intense biology focus. We has guest speakers, we took reef walks, we snorkeled for class. It was amazing (sorry Allie, please give me another word to abuse). This was my spring break but I still got course credit.

We traveled from Brisbane to Gladstone, an eight hour bus ride, hopped on a ferry and set sail. After two hours, the ferry approached this deserted island. It seemed untouched minus the shipwreck to the right, and the dock straight ahead. Welcome to Paradise. Welcome to my own LOST. With sun shining and the warm breeze, we were welcomed. We then toured the research station, got our snorkel gear, ate an amazing lunch, and headed straight for the beach. There was no wasting time. The beach immediately reminded me of Maho Bay in St. John's. I was immediately transported to family vacations of reading on the beach, mom and dad dragging us into the water, kayaking. It felt comforting. Susan and I then walked from one side of the island to the otherside preparing to snorkel.

This is when the epicness of this trip sunk in. This first snorkel tops almost any snorkel I have ever done. We were first greated by baby turtles swimming into the beach. They had just hatched and were crawling along the shore to the water. A few of them made it. A few were eaten by seagulls. However, that remained our introduction into the island. In all my years of visiting my grandparents on the beach in Florida, I have never once seen a sea turtle. Now, I get to see babies make it into the ocean. Good way to start a snorkel. The rest of the snorkel was just as perfect as the start. We went around the shipwreck. Saw sharks, rays, giant giraff spotted fish, lion fish galore. The coral is breathtaking when it isn't bleached out. The wreck itself is pretty  specatacular. Nothing like the ones underwater. But you can get up close and personal. I wish I would have had an underwater camera.

Dinner. Then out to the beach to star gaze. You can see everything. The southern cross, the milky way, every constalation imaginable. I went in with the notion that I would be able to find the big dipper, and just about every constellation I can see at home. I then realized I am down under, aka southern hemisphere. No north star. No big dipper. That is when it really hit me I was down under. I know understand how big that is. Even the entire sky is different. It was a duh-huh moment. We waited for the moon to rise. The stars went away. Then we went to bed thouroughly exhausted.

The next morning we woke, headed straight for the beach, and went for a snorkel. In just forty minutes, we saw every major type of coral, more sharks, giant brightly colored clams, rays, and tons of fish. This was all 20meters off the beach. I am pretty lucky. Back to the beach for a nap. Lunch. Then more beach. On the way heading back for dinner, we ran across a baby turtle on the path. The researchers instructed us we could only touch them if they were too far from the beach. So we took this opportunity to save little Sally and help her get to the water. These baby turtles can melt any ones heart. Sally made it. Lets just pray she got passed all the sharks. After dinner, we got a chance to walk along to  beach again. This time I talked to one of TA's on this trip. The two TAs are a married couple both phd candidates for some type of marine ecology. They are the couple that every one wishes they could be. They are spectacular people, a better couple. I got to talk to Doug a lot about after college, graduate school, professors, research. He made me think about a lot of possibilities. This is what this trip boils down to. Possibilities. Each talk, each experience opens up new possibility.

The next day was more of the same. Went to a few classes. By classes I mean, we walked along the reef and got things explained to us as we went. That was class. I am extremely lucky. Add an intense game of movie charades and that is a spectacular day.

The next day, for once I didn't go the beach. It rains even in paradise. Instead, we went snrokeling off a boat. I got to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. That has not sunk in yet. Even writing this it doesn't seem real. It is the Great Barrier Reef. I got to go with a group of sevenish students, our TA's, and our professor. This doesn't happen in real life. Before I go into how amazing it was, let me first relay one of the biggest disappointments of my trip. When I wrote about limits, I talked about physical limits keeping you down. Well one of my biggest limits is a problem that I haven't thought twice about in a long time. When I was little, I ruptured my ear drum. No hearing loss, so not a big deal. Well that injury has meant I cannot sky dive and now I cannot SCUBA. It is just something that I won't be able to do because I cannot equalize my ears in one atmosphere, let alone more. So I wanted to scuba more than anything, but I cannot. It is disappointing, but this snorkel trip made it ok.

We snorkeling right where the coral reef dips off into the deep dark ocean. We got to see three giant momma turtles swimming around. 5 rays in a perfect 2-3 formation swiftly swimming. Three huge sharks. This are big sharks. Every time one popped up I would start singing Jaws. The people near me didn't appreciate that. I am not sure why. We saw plenty of Dory's, a few Nemos, lots of their friends. Brain corals. Branched coral. The visibility was a bit low due to the rain, but that didn't stop the group from exploring everything. We all exited the water shivering with cold, but it was well worth it. Well well worth it..

The rest of the day was filled with lecturers from scientists working at the research station. These people are incredible. We had scientists range from graduate students, to post-docs, to a woman who was featured on shark week. Shark Week! This woman is legit. I am  not that into marine eology but these talks are from the experts in the field. It is nice to hear the cream of the crop talk to you about something they love. It is refreshing to hear people excited about their work, to hear they love it. I want to be that passionate about what I do. I want to be that dedicated. I learned a lot about sharks, coral, shovel nose rays from the talks, but more importantly I got to learn more about science, more about passion, more about drive. They were incredible talks.


Saturday was still raining. However, we got to collect data on the coral reef. Again for class. I really could get use to this whole class on the beach thing. More class. Then for lectures we got to hear Doug and the most spectacular lady ever. First i felt like a proud parent when Doug went to talk. We have gotten to know both of them so well, I was proud and happy to let them show off. Doug and Rachel both love what they do, it is good to see that and ask them questions about their work. They both shone when they talked. Their demeanor got happier, they talked faster, they seemed confident. I want to get that point in something in my life. They next woman (I will apologize now for the extreme nerdyness that is about to erupt) works with coral virus and diseases. If I was smart enough to come in as bio, I would change from pre-med and go work for her. I want to snorkel all day collected samples, then do awesome chemistry, extract viruses and figure things out. How freakin awesome would that be? It is coral viruses. She gets to find out what they are, what diseases they cause, where they came from. I want to do that. She is the only one in her field. The only one, which isn't that surprising. She works out of Hawii, travels to other reefs around the world. She has the perfect job. I want to go intern in her lab. I would give anything to do that. Nerdiness over.

Sunday. Our last full day. We got to see a turtle hatching. We got to see them all crawl out of the nest and pour over the beach. It was a spectacular event. So many turtles. Hundreds they completely covered the beach. More class, then more talks, then group pictures, and just hanging out. Enjoying out last day in paradise. The next day we packed up, and head back to Brisbane.

This detailed account doesn't come close to the experience I just went through. It was a vacation, a learning experience, lots of people time, lots of amazing food, even more incredible sites. I learned a whole lot. Got a lot of me time. Read multiple books. Had lots of heart of hearts. Saw some of the most beautiful skies, turtle hatchings, ocean views. It was exactly how I needed this trip to end. This was the last horrah. It was a perfect one too.

So when people asked me what I did on my spring break, I can answer I went to Heron Island. I saw more, learned more, did more, and experienced more than I ever thought imaginable. What did you do?