Location: Townsville, Queensland
Weather: What a great spring day! Blue skies, 32°c and really rather warm!

Wow what an incredible day…where on earth do I start? Another early start for me, I’m desperately trying to get in some sort of shape ready for the Hamilton Island Triathlon at the end of November so fitness has become the order of the day, I donned my running kit and headed for a sunrise run along the beachfront to get the blood pumping around the brain.

After a hearty breakfast at the Sugatrain restaurant downstairs from the Grand Mercure Apartments where I’m staying, it was a ten minute walk to the Reef HQ Aquarium – the location for the first of the day’s incredible activities.

Reef HQ is the world’s largest living coral reef aquarium and is a must see attraction in Townsville. The tanks which contain over 150 types of fish, 120 types of coral and a staggering 2.5 million litres of water are the central focal point of the exhibition and provide a near-perfect artificial environment for a wonderous array of marine life living here.

The main tank supports two underwater environments; the deep water display and the coral reef display both thriving with all the life you’d actually find out on the Great Barrier Reef itself.

Sharks, rays, sawfish and turtles swim around the reconstruction of the deck of the SS Yongella, the passenger ship which sank off Cape Bowling Green on 23rd March 1911. An extremely famous dive-site named as ‘The Best Wreck Dive’ in Australia by Lonely Planet. I’m going to be lucky enough to dive the original wreck for real at the end of the week and can’t wait!

It’s in this tank I was to have my first experience of diving with an Aga Face Mask on. It replaces the conventional mask and regulator normally used when diving and has an internal microphone and ear speakers so communication is possible with people on the dry side of the aquarium…the general public and the assembled tv and film crews all wanting to cover my appearance with the sharks for some reason.

As I lowered the mask onto my head, pulled the five straps tight and took my first lungful of bottled air, the anticipation of a new experience came over me for the umpteenth time this month – this was going to be a good one, I was so excited. As I dumped the air from my BCD the waterline rose above the mask and a descended into a truly awe-inspiring world below, I tightened the straps to ensure no water was leaking in and focused on the mighty huge fish swimming around me – Trevelley, Maouri Wrasse, Remora, Sawfish, Potato Cod, Leopard Shark, Black Tip Reef Shark, Tawny Nurse Sharks, Shovelnose Rays.

It could be possible that I didn’t take a breath for those first few minutes….or maybe I took three times as many as normal – who knows, who cares, this was a magnificent experience getting up close and personal with such an array of underwater beasts all looking pretty huge when they’re only a few centimetres away.

Part of the job for the day was to provide audio commentary of the experience to the media crews out in the auditorium discussing the feelings and emotions I was going through….and there were plenty, or at least I thought there were. You wouldn’t have been able to tell by the first five minutes of the dive as a sat open mouthed on the bottom just watching the world go by.

Steve, my dive buddy and experienced Reef HQ employee, had me approach the Green Turtle in the tank giving me a chance to stroke and pet the beautiful shell before leading me across to the ‘big boy’ a large Tawny Nurse Shark resting calmly on the ocean floor. This thing was huge and as I gently mimicked Steve’s actions stroked my hand across its surprisingly smooth back feeling the corrugations in its body without even a reaction from the tiny, beady eyes. This was brilliant madness!

For my comfort and the relief of my mother no doubt too, the sharks here are all well fed in the morning and don’t pose any threat at all, the Black Tips have been living here for 20 years and have never even taken a finger from any human occupant in the tank. As I swam around the floor of the aquarium Steve collected up some teeth which the reef sharks constantly drop, their sets of teeth acting a like constant conveyors as they replace old worn out teeth with new ones from behind.

Then all too soon the signal was given to ascend back to the surface and my adventure in the watery world was over but what a memorable one it was, the feeling of having a Sawfish cruise right underneath me checking me out all the time with its beady eyes was a total highlight.

A new facility within Reef HQ is the addition of a turtle hospital where sick and injured marine mammals can be cared for and rehabilitated, it’s just completed Phase 1 of the project which gives the carers a means of rescuing, holding and treating turtles which are generally brought in by the public after they find them in some form of distress.

Wunjunga (named after the beach she was found on) is the latest patient, recovered from a rock pool covered in leeches and barnacles floating on her back with little chance of escape or recovery. She’s been brought here and after a freshwater flush to remove the parasites, a good feed to build her back up to strength and constant monitoring from the ever-attentive Nick and Shelley meaning that in a few weeks time she should be well enough to release back into the wild. I had the chance to help bring her onto the table then measure the shell and weigh her to check that the recovery is going as planned. This is one lucky turtle!

Another quirky little thing they do here is propagate their own coral, there’s so much coral growing in the near perfect conditions in the big aquarium that the staff have started experimenting with literally taking ‘cuttings’ from established coral and growing their own in tanks up on the roof. The signs are good too with new coral forming from the little stems, enveloping the mounts they’re placed on and meaning in the future Reef HQ can grow all of its own coral rather than taking any from the Great Barrier Reef. Eco-tourism here providing a potential answer for rebuilding some of the world’s damaged coral reefs?

Reef HQ exists to inspire everyone to care for the Great Barrier Reef. It is operated on a not-for-profit basis and relies heavily on sponsorship and donations for its commercial viability. It provides an interactive experience for children and education departments, with the help of the linkup the Arga mask allows schools around the world to actually experience live HD-video feeds from within the aquarium to their classroom on the other side of the world…I wish I’d had that sort of experience when I was at school, I might have paid a little more attention then!

End of day location: Townsville
Distance covered: Maybe 50m underwater with sharks swimming by! Love it.