Healing, awe-inspiring and totally unforgettable, snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef is unlike any other experience, writes Varsha Anjali.
I was born in the water. It was my destiny to die in the water.
That’s what someone told me when I was small. The words mocked my bones in my years of girlhood, and still in womanhood, reminding me I shouldn’t get too close to the deep blue.
I’ve been in the sea in a wetsuit without a lifejacket and without panic. I’ve been in the sea floating on my back, froglegging and doggypaddling. I’ve been in the sea and I’ve been okay.
But there’s always something parasitic leaching on the backside of my thoughts. On paper, it seems safe, but what if the paper is a lie and the destiny is true?
The colour of fear is the same as the colour of the unknown. When the sea has this colour, I blame sharks, krakens, monsters. But I only see them in my dreams.
I’ve only met the Great Barrier Reef one time. The first thing I noticed when we met was that it was the same colour as where I was born in Fiji. The second thing I noticed was that it is bigger than where I live now in Aotearoa. It’s the largest living being on Earth.
They say the Great Barrier Reef is a teacher, a healer, a creator. Like a mother, it nourishes and protects, sustaining the people for tens of thousands of years.
They say the Great Barrier Reef is a carbon sink. I looked at it from above in a helicopter,, imagining the rigid, curving lines of the coral reefs as pulmonary veins, sucking up carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen for the benefit of thousands of species - and me.
Georgia, an experienced diver and Queenslander, told me she would stay with me. I grabbed a floating noodle. The water was warm. I had my snorkelling gear. I knew I was safe.
Georgia told me to look down. I did and I screamed. I felt like I was both inside a movie and watching it.
I saw different kinds of coral, giant clams, my favourite fish from Finding Nemo, a seahorse, big, blue starfish and tons of swordfish. It was a busy underwater city - I learned that less movement from me was more.
This was also my first time snorkelling, which I can only describe as a kind of alien experience that makes you feel so entirely alive, so entirely human. And here I was, doing it inside the biggest water lungs on the planet.
I know it’s strange to say but I did feel a maternal love when I was there, floating, staring. For a moment, my ego washed away. For a moment, I could see.
It was stupidly healing.
Bekki Hull, a marine biologist and reef educational manager, called it “the beating heart of the ocean” in an interview for the Lifetime of Greatness Project, an initiative aiming to make the Great Barrier Reef the first non-human recipient of the United Nations’ lifetime achievement award.
Traditional Owners say that the reef goes back to the story of two brothers who disobeyed Bhiral the Creator and killed a fish they were not allowed to. In fury, Bhiral dropped rocks and lava from the sky, forming the Great Barrier Reef.
“These two brothers actually created the landscape and the sea, for us to acknowledge through our songline, storyline and dance line,” says Victor Bulmer of Mandingalbay Yidinji in a video for the project.
“These stories are not just about legends, they tell us our responsibility of looking after the place as well ... The Great Barrier Reef is so big, we all have a responsibility. That’s why we need to work together,” adds Yirrganydji man Gavin Singleton.
The person who told me my destiny when I was small doesn’t remember telling me it. They were raised by the sea. They know its power. Perhaps that’s why they taught me to fear it.
The colour of home is the same as the colour of love. When the Great Barrier Reef has this colour, it spits saltwater on the parasite feeding on my shadows. And I float.
GREAT BARRIER REEF, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Brisbane then onto Hamilton Island, via Qantas. From there, travellers can take a helicopter via Hamilton Island Air to get to the Heart Reef in the Great Barrier Reef.
DETAILS
queensland.com
The journalist was a guest of Tourism and Events Queensland.
Varsha Anjali is a journalist in the lifestyle team at the Herald. Based in Auckland, she covers travel, culture and more.