On The Love Boat

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday November 26, 2005

Daniel Lewis

Captain Cook had some problems, but for Daniel Lewis and his family a reef cruise is all fun and games.

In 1770, the then Lieutenant James Cook did not have much fun exploring the Great Barrier Reef in the Endeavour. He holed his little bark on a chunk of coral and had to beach it for repairs on the bank of what is now the Endeavour River at Cooktown in far north Queensland.

After climbing to the top of a nearby hill to survey the maze of reefs, he wrote in his journal of the "Meloncholy prospect of the difficultys we were [to] incounter, for in what ever direction we turn'd our eys Shoals inum[erable] were to be seen".

In stark contrast, those shoals now draw tourists to the world's greatest reef and Chris Bass, captain of Captain Cook Cruises' Reef Endeavour, seems to have nothing but fun on his nautical adventures out of Cairns.

The pint-sized old sea dog, with a faded anchor tattooed on his arm, performs with his electric guitar, does a stand-up comedy routine, wines and dines with his passengers, gets passionately twirled across the ship's dance floor, dresses in a fetching sarong for the island theme party and recites sea poetry.

And I think we might have had as much fun as he did.

The Reef Endeavour is not grand by modern cruising standards but it inspires a joie de vivre as intoxicating as one of the pineapple daiquiris from the bar and is as endearing as the riff of xylophone notes that precede each meal announcement - just like on Hi De Hi, the British television comedy that sent up Butlins resorts.

From Cairns each week the ship does a four-night northbound cruise (which we took) and a three-night southbound cruise that takes in Fitzroy Island, Dunk Island and the Hinchinbrook Channel.

The Reef Endeavour has 75 air-conditioned staterooms and cabins - all with sea views and private ensuite - as well as a swimming pool, two spas, a gymnasium and a sauna. It can carry a maximum of 168 passengers and up to 40 crew. The cabins, which have two double bunks, are extremely cosy for a family of four, but there is no need to do anything in them but shower and sleep.

The only extra cost you incur on board is for your drinks. A VB was $4.80 and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot $206.50.

For my family, it was the Love Boat. My wife loved it, my son loved it, my daughter loved it and I loved it.

I had been a bit nervous about going on a cruise ship with two small children, aged three and six, and a wife who can get seasick just sitting in the bath. But the entire five days were nothing but a hoot.

My wife was enchanted the minute she walked up the gangplank and heard Rhett, the onboard entertainer, tinkling the ivories of the baby grand piano that sits in the Lizard Lounge.

She loved how easy it was to make friends with the people of many nationalities on board, the old-world charm of the board games and afternoon cocktails with canapes, the tasty and hearty meals served with a smile three times a day.

As the ship steamed out of Cairns harbour on the way to its first stop, Fitzroy Island, the cruise director, Chris, gave a safety and orientation briefing that included the first of many challenges: a bottle of wine to the passenger who could come up with the best limerick containing the words clean, green and towel. The old-fashioned fun and games had begun.

Fitzroy Island (named by Cook) is 29 kilometres east of Cairns and has a colourful history. The Gungandji tribe called it Gabar and at times it has been an Aboriginal mission, quarantine station for Chinese coolies going to the Palmer River goldfields, a World War II radar and artillery base and home to a beche-de-mer (a type of sea cucumber) industry.

These days it is a national park that also boasts a small backpacker resort where you can use the pool and bar. Welcome Bay and Nudey Beach are great for snorkelling, although there can be stingers in the water from October to May. There are also many walks through the island's rainforest. The Reef Endeavour has a naturalist on board who will take you on a guided walk, pointing out the magic of pandanus, orchids and figs.

As the Reef Endeavour pulled away from Fitzroy Island, I sat in the warm deck-top spa with my son, Sammy, and watched the sun set behind the coastal mountains. The low-lying clouds shrouding their summits looked like golden halos.

"Son," I said, "it doesn't get much better than this." "Yeah, you're right, Dad," came the reply. "It's pretty cool."

Fitzroy Island is usually the first stop on a figure-of-eight journey that goes to historic Cooktown, Two Isles (an uninhabited coral cay great for snorkelling, bird spotting and walking), Lizard Island, Ribbon Reef No. 5 and back to Cairns. But at dinner that night the captain warned "she's going to blow" and so opted to do the trip in reverse because Ribbon Reef is the most exposed part of the journey and he wanted to get it in while the weather held. Although we missed out on Two Isles, the decision was inspired.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to a perfect morning in paradise," was the apt call to Tuesday morning breakfast.

Ribbon Reef is the outer edge of the reef and a long way from land. Not far from the ship, waves crashed over the coral and on the other side the ocean plunged more than a kilometre. Inside the reef the water was clear, calm, warm and irresistibly welcoming.

What followed was a sublime day of snorkelling, glass-bottom boat tours, wining and dining (lunch was a sumptuous seafood buffet) and just lounging around. Those with their dive certificates went out with the dive master.

There was staghorn coral, brain coral, dish coral, sea slugs, parrot fish, butterfly fish and even a whitetip reef shark that made my shark-mad son's year. I think he was wearing his favourite "Born to Bite" T-shirt at the time.

Andrew, the little mate he had made from Palo Alto, California, declared it all "a hundred times better than Hawaii".

(Andrew's sister, Grace, also became big mates with my daughter, Molly, and the legacy of that five-day cultural exchange was a three-year-old who spoke with an American accent for weeks later.)

Sammy had never been snorkelling before, but plunged over the side, swallowing a lot of water and loving every minute of his real-life Finding Nemo adventure. And just like little Nemo in the movie, the first thing he wanted to do was go to "the drop-off" where the coral disappears into the depths.

As one of the crew assured my worried wife: "The kids are naturals, it's the adults you have got to worry about."

Back at the bar that evening there was a bit of boat bingo, a nautical quiz during dinner (Who qualifies for a 19-gun salute? How long is a fathom?) and karaoke afterwards. I was having so much fun that for the first time in my life I cheerily got up with a few other blokes to belt out an awful version of Yesterday.

It was raining when we awoke at anchor in Lizard Island's Watsons Bay, which meant no rugged dawn hike up Cooks Look. Cook became so stuck in the maze of reefs north of Cooktown that he had to climb the summit of Lizard Island to peer out - "with a mixture of hope and fear" - to find a passage.

But by mid-morning this most northerly island of the Barrier Reef was bathed in sunshine as we snorkelled from the beach. The reef here is studded with giant clams up to two metres long and their plump, neon-spotted velvet lips of purple or green or blue look like the cover of a Rolling Stones album.

Just back from the beach is the ruin of Watsons Cottage. In 1879, a beche-de-mer fisherman, Robert Watson, started operating from the island, which was sacred territory for the Dingaal Aboriginal people who lived mostly on the mainland. In 1881, while Watson was away collecting beche-de-mer, Aborigines attacked, killing a

Chinese servant.

Watson's wife, Mary, their child and another Chinese servant fled in an iron tank used for boiling the sea slugs and died of thirst nine days later after being washed ashore at another island. The retribution rained down on the Dingaal was brutal.

In the afternoon a group of us walked across the island to beautiful Blue Lagoon on the southern side for a swim, passing through a swamp of mangroves, paperbarks and pandanus.

That night out came the sarongs for the island theme party that ended with limbo, hula hoops, the macarena, YMCA, Nutbush City Limits and that great get-to-know-you game, pass the orange (without using your hands). A powerful light shone into the water of Watsons Bay inevitably attracted a groper - so big it could be mistaken for a small whale - to the side of the boat.

On Thursday morning we awoke to the awe-inspiring sight of rainforest-cloaked Cape Flattery and Cape Bedford as we steamed south towards Cooktown.

In the 1870s and 1880s the Palmer River goldrush made Cooktown a busier port than Brisbane, but the gold ran out and Cooktown went into a tropical torpor that it is only now waking up from thanks to sea-changers and tourists. It was only in 1937 that a road was built to link Cooktown with the outside world. The legacy of this isolation is some fine old pubs and architecture.

It still feels very much like a huntin', shootin', fishin' and drinkin' frontier settlement. The warm air is ripe with the smell of frangipani, mudflats, XXXX and fermenting mangoes. In November the juicy fruit falls from the trees and you can pick up a feed in the park beside the river, where signs warn you not to clean your fish because of the crocodile risk.

Nearby you can stand at the very spot where Cook drove the bow of his embattled Endeavour into the bank. It was while camped at Cooktown that Cook and his crew first recorded the kangaroo, dingo, possum and crocodile.

In town is the excellent James Cook Museum, which helps you understand the magnitude of Cook's achievements. As the naturalist Charles Darwin noted, Cook added a hemisphere to the civilised world while Cook's great rival, the Frenchman La Perouse, said that "Monsieur Cook has done so much there is nothing left for me to do but admire his work".

Cook was never a man to aim low. "I had the ambition not only to go further than anyone had been before, but as far as it was possible for a man to go," he once wrote.

The museum's most prized possession is one of the Endeavour's big anchors that was tossed overboard when it hit the reef. The anchor was recovered in 1971. There is also plenty of fascinating Cooktown history.

The best belly laugh in Cooktown is to be found at a fantastic monument to tokenism in the park by the river. There is a cannon and a plaque that reports: "On April 10 1885 the Cooktown Council carried the following motion: 'A wire be sent to the Premier in Brisbane requesting him to supply arms, ammunition and a competent officer to take charge of same as the town is entirely unprotected against the threat of Russian invasion'."

What Cooktown got was one cannon (cast in 1803) and three cannonballs.

On the wharf, locals in singlets and thongs pull in fish so big they break a southerner's heart. And just across the road is a towering mango tree where locals like to park themselves in a daily ritual that is called "doing a wharfie".

A sign nailed to the trunk says:

"The tree of

Nollige

Noledge

Knowlige

Knowledge

Ahhh, stuff it!

Gossip."

The custom on each cruise is the captain's dinner on the final night. It's a time to swap the thongs and boardies for a jacket and tie and swap contact details with all the people you have met.

There's complimentary bubbly on each table. The menu included tomato and bocconcini salad, seared salmon fillets on sauteed vegetables and pear compote with berries and vanilla anglaise.

The farewell show featured the captain's stand-up routine and guitar playing while other crew members put on a musical skit that was unadulterated Benny Hill.

Captain Bass, after five decades at sea, also calls the Fiji-built Reef Endeavour his Love Boat - "the sweetest little ship I've ever sailed". He loves the quietness of its engines and the effortless way it cuts through any swell.

He also loves an anonymous sea poem and recites it on each voyage:

On an ancient wall in China

Where a brooding Buddha blinks,

Deeply graven is the message

'It is later than you think.'

The clock of life is wound just once

And no one has the power

To say just when those hands will stop

At a late or early hour.

The only time we own is now

The past is just a golden link

So come cruising now, my friends,

It is later than you think.

What it costs

*Three-night cruise from $1170 a person, twin share. Departs Cairns every Friday at 2pm and returns Monday at 8am.

Four-night cruise from $1560. Departs every Monday at 2pm and returns Friday at 8am.

The two short cruises can be combined for a seven-night cruise from $2457.

Contact Captain Cook Cruises, phone 9206 1100 or see www.captaincook.com.au.

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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