Donald Sutherland Moment: “Keep an eye peeled for the salt water crocodile; they go out to the reef to mate and then they lie on the beaches on shore and pretend they’re a log until you sit on one and they eat you….”

Destination: Great Barrier Reef

Inspiration: Donald Sutherland.  Need I say more?

Donald Sutherland “the Great Barrier Reef? If that’s where you’ll be go out in the water on a boat to the ‘Potato Hole’. Just from the boat, without even going in, you can see more fish than you can imagine. But swim. Dive. Even the sharks out there are pretty tame. If you’re a good diver you can go down the cliff on the sea side of the reef. That apparently is fantastic. I’m too old to dive. Fifty’s the safe age limit. Beware of the predators that are all over the place. The Box Jellies and the Irukandji. They’re very poisonous jelly fish, and they’re all over the waters up north now that our man produced CO2 is lowering the Ph of the oceans and the invertebrates are taking over. Keep an eye peeled for the salt water crocodile; they go out to the reef to mate and then they lie on the beaches on shore and pretend they’re a log until you sit on one and they eat you….”

Actualization: Donald sent me to dive and I dove…as a snorkeler.  It was worth being a snorkeler that day for the following 4:

1- Risk decompression sickness if you fly within 24 hours of diving.  I was originally scheduled to fly out the next day….so snorkel was safe and just as fun!

2- Less money to snorkel and as my trip was coming to an end, I was happy to cut where I could.

3- More sea creatures – in my snorkeling crew. Pretty sure I saw more than the divers AND got to talk while I was exploring;)  I swam with a sea turtle. I was close enough to touch a meat-eating shark – the white tippery.  Our cute snorkel instructor would bring different sea creatures up to the water’s surface and tell us about them.  He’d answered all my silly questions like, “what were those fish doing when they jabbed their mouths at one another fast?” Cute British accent, “Haha. Doll. Those were parrot fish- fornicating.”

4- Cute young instructor was my fav part of the reef.  As I’ve frequently mentioned, the people make the moments for me.  In this case, it was the people and the organisms.  Donald being the inspiration. Sean being my cute guide who introduced me to all the beautiful creatures of the sea. The next day, despite the fact that I discovered he was the ripe young age of 19, I still wasn’t able to control the kissing bandit.

The Great Barrier Reef is home to over 1500 species of fish.

What else did we find at the reef? Donald, no crocs or web spiders, however I did see…

Coral – in every color from blue to pink to cabbage patch-like lettuce.  Examining the coral with the rays of sunlight shining through the blue water was magical.
Maori Wrasse- I got to pet this slimy blue one.  Maori can change from female to male halfway through life.

Sea cucumber- we saw and touched 3 of 18 different kinds
Zeitan- Spunky fish with a hole
School of yellowtail, Parrot fish, zebra fish, and starfish

Realization: I forgot how much I love the water.  Something about the water just makes me happy and makes the kissing bandit happy too.  Thanks Donald.

Your Moment:

Donald Sutherland’s entire email:

Where are you going? The north east coast? Port Douglas? Surfer’s Paradise? The Great Barrier Reef? If that’s where you’ll be go out in the water on a boat to the ‘Potato Hole’. Just from the boat, without even going in, you can see more fish than you can imagine. But swim. Dive. Even the sharks out there are pretty tame. If you’re a good diver you can go down the cliff on the sea side of the reef. That apparently is fantastic. I’m too old to dive. Fifty’s the safe age limit. Beware of the predators that are all over the place. The Box Jellies and the Irukandji. They’re very poisonous jelly fish, and they’re all over the waters up north now that our man produced CO2 is lowering the Ph of the oceans and the invertebrates are taking over. Keep an eye peeled for the salt water crocodile; they go out to the reef to mate and then they lie on the beaches on shore and pretend they’re a log until you sit on one and they eat you. The Funnel Web Spider is fatal. Jumps up in your face. Nocturnal. Falls into your pool sometimes when it’s foraging and as soon as it hits the water shoots out a diaphanous bubble that immediately encloses it and gives it enough air to breathe while it lies in fear and trembling at the bottom of the pool. Hard to see. Don’t step on it. You die. Mostly kills little kids. And the snakes, the Death Adder, the Tiger Snake, the Brown Snake, killers all. They’re in the garden between where you live and the beach so keep an eye out when you walk through. Go to Fraser Island. All sand. They issue you with a Sutherland Tourniquet there because they’ve got a lot of snakes and the venom goes up your epidermis, not intravenously, and that tourniquet with the cute name will stop it from getting up to your heart and brain. High boots are useful too. The Australians, once drunk, are probably the most ruthlessly predatory of all the creatures. New Zealand is exactly the opposite. Sydney’s beautiful, Melbourne, Ayres Rock is out there. Look at the Aboriginal Art. Beautiful. Foster’s Lager. Penfold’s Wine costs a fortune. The white chardonnay from New Zealand, Oyster Bay, is pretty reliable. Barbecues. There are fish stores that you can walk in, select your fish, hand it over and they’ll put it on the ‘Barbie’ and you eat it outside. Won’t let dogs into the country. When Noel Coward went there the very strict customs and immigration asked him if he had a criminal record and he replied, “Oh, I didn’t know you still needed one to come here.” Have a wonderful time. Make out a will before you go. Lots of love, Donald

Fool’s Gold
Donald Sutherland
Whitsunday Islands