Our visit to Heron Island, Australia

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Our visit to Heron Island, Australia

That being said, Michele has also snuck a few places in on my that she felt we needed to see despite not having any place to waterski.  One of these places happened to be Heron Island.  Heron Island sits about 2 hours by boat due west of Gladstone, Australia.  It's located right on Australia's Great Barrier Reef and is the island where the huge sea turtles come to lay their eggs.  If you watch the Explorer Channel or History Channel, I'm sure you've seen stories on the turtles and how they come ashore during the night to lay their eggs.  Turtles will travel thousands of miles to return to Heron Island to lay eggs.  There are several species of birds that also roost on Heron each year, then return to the see where they spend most of their lives.

Basically, Heron Island is very secluded and a nature lover and scuba diver's dream.  The island is only about 3-4 miles in circumference, and can be walked easily.  The reef extends out from the island about 2500 feet in all directions.  You can walk out on the reef at nearly any time of day.  After the 2500 feet, it drops off to anywhere form 25 to 100 feet.  The water is very clear and you can easily see thousands of fish swimming all around you.  Bigger fish include manta rays, sea turtles, and reef sharks (3-6 ft in length).  Whales also come to Heron to give birth to their calves.  It's like being in the middle of a huge aquarium.

The birds are everywhere, on the ground running around like chickens, flying, and in the trees sitting on their nests.  The female birds sit on the nests while the male birds fly out to sea to catch fish.  A lot of families bring their kids with them to Heron for the learning experience.

Me, being more of a bird hunter than bird watcher looked at the island more as a hunters dream than a bird watchers dream.  Put thousands of birds on a small island and what to ya get?  A lot of noise and a lot of bird poop.  The smell was quite strong.  The worst part for me was no air conditioning in the rooms and the humidity is near 100%.  There is no escaping the birds and the heat.  One type of bird that comes out at night squawks and sounds like a cat being strangled.  The rooms do come equipped with ear plugs to help muffle the sound.

The good characteristics of the resort include a very friendly and helpful staff, a very relaxing and laid back atmosphere, and all the food you can eat.  The hotel rate includes food, but your drinks are extra and are charged to your room.  Scuba dives and guided snorkel trips are added to your room.  The hotel also has a great spa on site.  A lot of newly weds come to the island on their honeymoons.

Michele and I walked the beach early one morning and got to see a few sea turtles burying their eggs and heading back to sea.  We weren't willing to wake up at 3am to catch a glimpse of the turtle hatchlings as they made their run for the ocean amongst a flurry of sea gulls trying to eat them.  We went on a snorkel trip the morning we were scheduled to leave.  Check-out time was 10am and our helicopter wasn't scheduled to pick us up until 4:00pm.  Helicopter you ask?

Yes, we were taking a helicopter back to the mainland because Michele got sea sick, along with half the rest of the guests, on the trip over to the island.  The barf bags were full on that trip.  I told Michele it was God's way of paying her back for not telling me about the island and no skiing.  My advice to anyone who visits Heron Island is buck up and pay the extra for the helicopter back and forth. If not, don't eat a big meal before getting on the catamaran.

Ultimately, is the trip to Heron worth it?  Yes, it's a place you should visit at least once in your life.  For me personally, once was enough, but I'm glad I did it.  If I were a scuba diver, I'd definitely make the trip.