Day 242 Sun 12/09/2012
Yongala Dive
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Yongala Dive
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The reason I chose to be left in Ayr at a dive center hostel combo is simple. This is one of two towns that offer a boat ride out to one of the top shipwreck dives in the world, the SS Yongala. This passenger vessel sank in 1911 off the east coast of Australia carrying 122 passengers from Melbourne to Cairns. Everyone on board perished in what is considered one of the most tragic maritime events in Australian history. It is believed the Yongala struck reef causing her to sink with all passengers on board.
The wreck was no discovered until after World War II. In 1943, a minesweeper detected an object resembling a 300 foot ship on the ocean floor in almost 100 feet of water. However, the captain only marked the location on the charts and moved on. In 1958, two Aussie skindivers from Townsville located the wreck 11 miles east of Cape Bowling Green, and they were able to recover a steel safe from the ship. After calling the safe manufacturer back in London the serial number came back linking the safe to the Yongala. Today the dive site is known as one of the biggest intact shipwrecks, measuring over 300 feet in length.
My journal reads:
“Two hours of sleep for the largest shipwreck dive in Australia. I run downstairs & realize I am OK on time. No one else has their own gear, so I grab a tank & get setup in one minute. I don’t recognize anyone. The dive briefing is about to be held around the corner. I make my way over. One of the Danish girls is there. Her two friends aren’t divers, so they are going to miss out.
Where is Mark? Where’s Olli? The owner comes out & says, “Sorry folks. We’re a little behind because our skipper is too hungover for the trip so we are calling the other skipper now. Our dive instructor is still drunk. He has hit his head & needs stitches.” Well I knew Olli had already gone for stitches last night, but no one knows I was with them both last night drinking & fighting, so let’s keep it that way.”
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| Yongala Dive Center / Hostel |
Talk about feeling alone. These two turds invite me out with them and bail today. I feel like I am going to barf. What an idiot I am. Wait, I’d been living on the Rum Runner for how many months? I got this! There are about a dozen divers. We load all the gear into a trailer and climb one by one up into the back of a six by six military personnel carrier. This dive center, Yongala Dive, is located a few blocks from the sea, and the speed boat is waiting for us there.
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It was a rough ride out ont he boat, & this guy's face shows it.
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With a short trip over the dunes the boat is in sight. We walk our gear out into the water while fighting the breaking waves to board. This was pretty sketchy. The water was too shallow for the boat to get close, so we had to wade out to the boat. This was a very shallow area with a sand bar 200 feet offshore you could walk on. What a pain in the ass this is. The benefit of coming here for this dive site instead of going to Townsville is the actual travel time in the water. We should be moored up to the wreck in about 45 minutes. From Townsville it takes at least double that. I heard two hours, and they cancel that trip often due to the long ride in rough seas. I am just glad we are on for today. I actually thought if they cancel this trip then I can stay here tonight and be in much better shape for the dive in the morning.
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Me above the Yongala Shipwreck of 1911
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“I got paired up with the only other diver there that was without a dive buddy, the Danish chick name Astrid. She was a good buddy, & super cute. The other instructor & dive master were not near as funny as Olli, so I entertained as the boat raced out to the dive site. We turned around TWICE with engine trouble. I would have bet $100 the trip was off, but they fixed the motor (low oil), & we finally made it to the wreck site. Did I mention the other instructor got sea “sick multiple times?”
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Astrid & I in the back of the military transport on the
way to board the boat before our dive. |
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| Me on the surface |
It took forever to get out there. We would get 5 miles off shore and turn around. The sea was not calm either. It was choppy, and the instructor was barfing every other word during the safety briefing. He would go throw up, and I would run interference to try and keep the divers relaxed and not thinking about the guy leading the dive puking his guts out. I told a few really bad jokes. No one laughed at all! However, I felt like people were glad there was someone else on the boat not worried about how rough the ocean was. You have to be an advanced open water diver to come on this trip, but a fresh advanced open water diver might only have 20 dives total. I can imagine this being very scary for your 21st dive. Even me telling bad jokes relaxed the divers. Astrid laughed at some of the stories I told the boat, but I am pretty sure she was just laughing at me in general. Her English is pretty good, but with the noise of the wind, boat, and ocean she had to have a hard time keeping up with me.
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| Astrid really needed to clear her mask. It was a little foggy. |
“Astrid & I were in the 2nd group going into the water. As we jumped in & began our descent down the guide rope tied to the Yongala at the bottom we saw a school of 100 plus barracuda. I had seen schools of barracuda before, but only 10 to 20. This was a sea of them. It was a beautiful sight.
The visibility was good, but due to the depth of the shipwreck you aren’t able to see the Yongala until about 15 meters of depth (almost 50 feet). As the ship majestically appeared right before our eyes the history of the wreck came to mind. The vessel sank in 1911 with all hands on deck taken down with her. There were no survivors. This wreck is a massive gravesite, and no one is allowed inside the ship. The boat was carrying 122 crew & passengers as it pushed through a cyclone before hitting rock (or reef) tearing the hull open. This is still considered to be one of the most tragic incidents in Australian maritime history.
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| Me along side the SS Yongala |
The ship actually lies on the ocean floor hull down. The deck is not parallel to the ocean floor. The ship has rolled over onto the starboard side of the hull. As we fell onto the 107 meter (350 foot) sunken vessel I realized how massive the wreck was. This must be the biggest shipwreck I have ever seen.
Between the 2 dives Astrid & I saw many sea snakes (very poisonous, but they have no way to bite people), eels, cod, anemone clown fish, giant trevally, barracuda, 100’s of smaller fish, & who knows what I am forgetting. I would love to do the dives again because I have heard people say the possibilities are endless here. Manta rays, tiger shark, whales… and more!”
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| Here I am hovering above the SS Yongala |
Astrid & I were able to split from the group for some of our last dive. The current was not too extreme, but I can see how this site could quickly become dangerous. This wreck is in the Great Barrier Reef Park, but there is no reef in this particular area. Marine life is drawn to the ship for protection from these currents.
Random fact: This is also the dive site where the two newlywed Americans, from Alabama, came for a dive and the husband turned the air off on his wife and left her to die. He was serving time in Australia. He was sent back to Alabama where the case was thrown out of court. The story is super sketchy, he made a bunch of money off of her death, sold her business, and the guy looks like a total dipshit.
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| The 3 Danish Girl's Toyota Camper... STYLIN' |
So back at the hostel we clean our gear. I take extra care cleaning my stuff since I have no idea when I will have a chance to do so. I have just begun to think “I have no mode of transport at the moment.” I didn’t really make any friends on the dive except Astrid. She asked me my future plans for Australia, and I told her I was headed south looking for work on dive boats, maybe in Arlie Beach. She told me her two friends, Cecilie & Mie, were also planning on going to Airlie Beach and sailing the Whitsunday Islands. They were travelling in a Toyota box style camper. It was huge. She went and talked to the girls, who are not just her travelling mates but her friends back in Denmark, about me hitching a ride with them to Airlie Beach. They seemed delighted. No WAY! My life is so grand! Three attractive Danish girls want to invite the American along for the ride.
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| My new travel mates! |
I got my bags loaded up and made sure the wet SCUBA gear was not on anyone’s bed. South we go. Honestly if it weren’t for this ride from the girls I would have had to buy a bus pass back in Ayr, hitch a ride in the next few days, or be stuck here at the dive center. Thank you so much all of you for letting me crash the all girls party.
“We drove through a town called Bowen, & I thought of Tom (my buddy back home I worked with at the WWTA). He is done with the WWTA also. Good times!
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| Anders at dinner in the IGA parking lot |
(In Airlie Beach) We couldn’t find anywhere to camp. The girls ran into a German guy, Andreas, they had given a lift from Cairns to Gordonvale. He showed us a good back road where he was sleeping in the back of his car. We ate dinner together in the IGA parking lot until the cops ran us off. I got to sleep on the floor of the camper. This was a tight fit, but there were no complaints from me.”
Day 243 Mon 12/10/2012
Airlie Beach
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| Ceci getting prepped to sing us a song |
“We have booked here at Magnum’s Backpackers for 2 free nights included with our booking of the Anaconda III sail/dive boat. Today we hung out by the lagoon all day & tonight we will set up my tent in the RV & camping area so the girls will have some more room & privacy in their camper. We sat around the picnic table with a few Swedish guys & our new German friend, Anders.
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| Astrid enjoyed Ceci's song as well |
Cecilie blew my mind tonight with her singing & guitar playing. She’s a very funny & super nice gal. One song she played & sang us was about a Moroccan guy she had fallen in love with at some point during her travels here in Australia. It was very emotional. “EXCACTLY!!!” – Ceci.
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| Malin, Astrid & Mie at Phoenix |
Anders pulled out a small bottle of TNT made in China (I think). It was NOT good. It will light you up! We all took a sip of it though. We eventually went to this bar called Phoenix. I think we stayed there 15-20 minutes before I was done yelling to communicate & not being able to hear myself think over the loud music. This was not my kind of place. I ended up talking music with a guy wearing an Alice in Chains shirt after the girls were chased off by 2 complete bogan Aussie turds.”
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| Anders & Astrid at Club Phoenix |
I have since converted the video of Ceci singing her song into a sound clip. It is so funny! She has a great voice. After we left the loud Phoenix bar we found ourselves at a place on the corner with a small stage. I am almost sure it was some Irish bar. We had two very rude guys literally chase the girls off. I was in no mood for trouble after my last close call with bar fights, and the girls were ready to go anyways. We left with no more dramas.
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| The Three "Free" Danish Ladies from left Mie, Astrid & Ceci |
The lagoon here at Airlie is pretty nice. It is one huge salt water swimming pool. Everyone just goes out here and sits all day. This is the launch point for boats heading to the Whitsunday Islands. Unless you are going out on a boat trip there is not much else going on here. We have decided to sail Tuesday on a 4 day 3 night trip to the Whitsunday Islands on the Anaconda III (A3). We will use our two free hostel nights when we return. I hope to get along with the crew on this boat and just go right back to work taking people diving.
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| Julia was in Airlie Beach today as well. We were able to see her off as she got onto her bus headed south to see Frazier Island. She flies out of Australia in a few weeks. Her bus was late, so we kept her company until it arrived. Goodbye for now Julz. Much love & safe travels! |
Day 244 Tue 12/11/2012
Anaconda III
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| Onboard the Anaconda III. FANCY, EH?! |
“Tonight we are all 4 boarding the A3 for a 4day-3 night trip out to the Whitsunday Islands. Everyone has been talking this trip up, so it’s time for us to be the judge. I was disappointed early when all 3 of the girls were forced into renting stinger suits. I just lied & told them I had one.
The boat was beautiful. It was huge compared to the Rum Runner. We boarded at 7PM, so not much happened the first night. I think I slept on the deck to give the girls some more girl time. I really felt like I might be crimping their girl trip. We spent the night in Hook’s Passage.”
I assume we spent most of the day resting and swimming at the lagoon. Before we were allowed to board the boat everyone had to rent stinger suits. This is basically a super thin full wetsuit that will keep a swimmer or diver from getting stung by a jellyfish. They acted like if you didn’t wear one of these you would die from a box jelly or Irukandji sting. I was so pissed the girls had to fork out more money for these shitty “stinger suits”. I think 3 people EVER have died from box jelly stings. Irukandji are more deadly, but I am pretty sure you have a better chance of getting taken by a shark or getting a Steve Irwin style dead blow from a stingray. Then again I am kind of an ass when it comes to over thinking and making something TOO safe. It’s the ocean, so can people not swim at their own risk? I thought Australia was where you could wrestle crocs and punch sharks in the face, not be told you cannot swim without a full wetsuit in the tropics.
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| Astrid at the lagoon by the sea |
On a brighter note, the boat was enormous. This sailing yacht almost doubles the size of the Rummy at 101 feet long. We were shown to our rooms as the sun was setting. I was in a 4 stay room with the three girls, and I got a very ill vibe from them on this. They did not want some dude staying with them. I spent no time in the room. I didn’t blame them. It’s not like I needed to shower if we were swimming in the ocean, so what did I really need with a room anyways?
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| The Anaconda III Layout |
The deckhands gave a short boat safety briefing as we all held up our champagne glasses to toast to a safe and exciting trip to the islands. I remember thinking how the crew went straight to work to get the boat sailing out of the harbor. The dive staff was made up of a Kiwi/English guy, James, and a Canadian dude, Scott. They took all the divers below to fill out dive info and verify certifications.
I slept on the deck tonight. I snagged the back pad from the tank bench area and made a homeless person style bed. It worked great. It was too hot below deck for me anyways. I owed the girls as much privacy and space as they wanted. I was just glad they had brought me along.
Next Time: A new boat, new people, new dive sites, and learning how a new town works. Airlie Beach is a rollercoaster ride the entire time. Christmas & New Year's is spent here, and it rains ALOT!
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