In which we visit Endeavour Reef

Endeavour Reef - Cape Tribulation to the south west.

After picking up "The Rock" in Cooktown, a week of calm weather was predicted - a perfect opportunity to visit the reefs, of which there are no shortage between Cooktown and Cairns. We headed out to Cairns Reef via Osterland Reef to anchor overnight. This was a very comfortable anchorage in the 15-20 knot southeasterly, a natural harbour protected on 3 sides by reef. With the wind still up though, the visibility wasn't great for snorkelling. A really big dolphin came and swam upside down in our bow wave for about 500m. He had a few chunks out of his dorsal fin, possibly from close encounters with boats, but didn't seem at all deterred.

After Cairns Reef, it was merely a short hop to return to East Hope Island, where we were able to view the spectacular blood red supermoon and lunar eclipse on October 8th - our second lunar eclipse this journey. Endeavour Reef lies a short distance to the south east. Captain Cook fever had gripped us all in Cooktown, so next morning we headed over to Endeavour Reef to take a look. When H.M.B. Endeavour hit the reef, everything that could be thrown overboard was jettisoned in an attempt to refloat the boat, including cannons and an anchor which had to be cut loose. These were recovered in the 1970s after many expressed doubts about whether Cook might have made a mistake about which reef he had run into. Of course he hadn't. The man was one of history's greatest navigators. They are now on display in the excellent Cooktown museum.

The water was clear and warm. We could see our own anchor clearly some 8 metres below us. A pod of dolphins frolicked in the distance. We all jumped off the boat for a swim in the middle of the ocean and whipped up some popcorn for morning tea. On a sunny, still October morning it was a far cry from the trials that the crew of Endeavour had faced. The Rock, after 3 days on the boat, was already deep into a copy of Cook's Journals. Fired up with Cook fever she might have possibly become the first person ever to join the Hakluyt Society (www.hakluyt.com) from Endeavour Reef, if only there had been slightly better Telstra coverage out there.

Another tough Thursday morning at school for the crew of Arjuna at Endeavour Reef

History and P.E. lessons over for the day, the crew moved on to spelling as we headed further off shore to Escape Reef, one of the outer reefs. Who would have guessed that among The Rock's many talents she is secretly a gun hangman player? 

Navigating in to Escape Reef was a little tricky, particularly finding a shallow enough spot to drop our anchor. Fortunately we had timed our arrival at low tide with the sun high in the sky so we could spot the bommies. The water clarity and range of coral colours at Escape Reef took things to a whole new level and were easily the best that we had seen on the entire trip. It seems that the further out you go on the Great Barrier Reef, the better the water visibility and coral diversity, although the right combination of weather conditions probably helped.

Escape Reef - on the surface

Escape Reef - what lies beneath.