Ouch! Something stung me!

Julian Rocks Marine Park
Byron Bay, NSW Australia
Feb 22 2010

I woke up this morning with the idea that Ben and I would go for a quick snorkel trip out to the marine park located just off the coast of Byron Bay. I'd never heard of the place, but the local dive shop's ad claimed that it was among the top ten dive/snorkel locations in OZ. With that kind of claim it was sure to be good. I gave them a call and found that we could go later today or join one of two trips tomorrow. My kind of options! I told them we'd decide later and give them a call. In true Aussie fashion the guys at the dive shop responded with the ol' "No Worries".

Last time Ben and I had gone snorkeling was this past spring along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The water was murky, Ben was freaked and I was acting like this would be his only chance to experience snorkeling. Needless to say that didn't go too well. Anyway, it may have made an impression because Ben was not his normal "all in" self when I suggested we go snorkeling around some rock outcrops out in the Coral Sea. When I told him we could decide later I could see the visions of Costa Rica fade a little and he gave his customary thumbs up as we finished breakfast.

A little later when the girls woke up we let them know we'd made a call to the local dive shop. Jackie was way into the idea and got us all mustered in record time for our day trip to Byron Bay. On our way into town we "happened" to pass by the dive shop. So I said we've got to stop in to say "g'day".

In we went and before I knew it Jackie had the whole family signed up for the 12:30 trip! No sense putting off 'til tomorrow that what you can do today! After a quick bite and some bathing suit shopping we joined a crew of like minded ocean lovers on a rigid inflatable for a trip out through the surf to an island just off the coast.

The plan was to tie off on one of the fixed moorings and swim towards the rocks. The skipper had warned us of "some current" but had indicated that conditions were perfect. Sure enough the water was 26 degrees centigrade and the visibility was 40ft easy. We geared up and dropped off the side. The grab of the current was instantaneous and as Ben and I surfaced I could tell we'd have to work to get back to the boat to say nothing of heading to our desired snorkeling location. By the time we surfaced from the initial splash off the side we'd traveled 20 feet or so down current. By the time we hooked up with Jackie who had splashed off the other side, we'd all traveled 50 or sixty feet in the wrong direction. We joined up and began to work our way back to the boat. Just then Ben gave out a shout that he'd been stung by something, sure enough he had a Blue Bottle tentacle wrapped around his little hand and was none too happy about it! I peeled off the tentacle and we put our flippers in overdrive to reach the boat.

Ben wisely joined his sister on board the dive boat and watched his parents snorkel around a wild and wonderful patch of ocean. There were turtles and fish everywhere. We even got to see several Leopard sharks, wrasse, parrot fish, puffers and thousands of smaller fishes all working the reef for food or shelter. As Jackie and I swam around in the beautiful ocean, the kids would point out larger fishes and turtles they could clearly see from the boat.

After some ice and a few hours playing in the waves at Byron Bay's main beach, the pain of the jelly fish sting wore off and Ben had yet another adventure story to tell. Though it wasn't what any of us had expected we'd certainly had an action packed day on the road. Its a testament to Ben's interest in the ocean that he's ready to go again. Next time we'll all be right behind him!

Paul