11 Sep 2024
Heron Island Day 1: The Swan has landed
G’day! So after a long two days of traveling from Sydney, I FINALLY arrived on Heron Island!! It’s so beautiful here! And the water is super clear(: we saw two black tipped reef sharks and a few beautiful parrotfish just off the jetty as soon as we arrived. I’m SO excited to get in the water tomorrow(:
Yesterday was pretty crazy trying to get here from Sydney… The plan was to fly from Sydney to Brisbane and then from Brisbane to Gladstone. But because of traffic in Sydney I missed my flights for the first time ever (and hopefully the only time ever lol)… Because when I missed my first flight it put me behind and made me miss my connecting flight to Gladstone. :/ So a couple hours and a few hundred dollars later, I finally was on my way to Brisbane to spend the night with a wonderful friend and then catch an early flight to Gladstone the next morning (today). Here’s a photo of Sydney Harbour from the air.
When I got to Brissy, I was already positively knackered.. but I still had to train to meet up with my friend. Which again took hours.. We finally pulled into the house around 9:30pm and after a bath and some supper I was sleeping like the dead. 🙂
This morning brought us all to the ferry dock in the Gladstone Marina. We caught the ferry and began the 2hr long journey to Heron Island. It was quite the trip! A couple of us got a nice boat nap in during the ride! It was a beautiful day and the waves just rocked us to sleep(: After orientation and a tour of the Research Station we were able to go to the beach and watch the sun set. It was SOOOOO beautiful! <3
After we had a great dinner with chocolate mousse for dessert and I can officially say we’ve had a damn good first day here at the Heron Island Research Station!
XXOO
Susie