Month: December 2009

Christmas Tree Worms

Christmas Tree Worm

In keeping with the season another part of the ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef and one of my favourites is the Christmas Tree Worm.  So name because of the shape of the extruding part of the worm.  The trees are the mouths of the worm. Christmas tree worms feed primarily by filtering the food from the water around it. Each spiral is actually composed of feather-like tentacles which allows any prey that are trapped in them to be transported straight towards the worm’s mouth. they also use the trees as gills.  Any sudden movement or sounds near the worm and it retracts immediately into it’s tube.

Nudibranch – Species of the Reef

The colourful nudibranch

One of the most brightly coloured species of the reef the Nudibranch, is a strange and beautiful creature.  Nudibranch literally means “naked gill”.  They have no hard bones or shells to protect their gills.  They are often refered to as sea slugs, although a lot more beautiful then the commmon garden variety.  They feed on soft corals and are immune to the toxins that some of these corals produce.  They come in a large variety of bright colours and forms. these colours help them blend in with the corals in their surronding environment.

They have the sex organs of both sexes but do not normally fertilize their own eggs.

Jetstar Silly Season

Time to get moving north and enjoy the best parts of Australia.  Jetstar has Announced Some Really Cheap Flights to Cairns next year.  Here is a sampling.

Sydney Cairns
For travel Tuesday and Wednesday flights only		 4 May – 19 May 2010 $59
Melbourne (Tullamarine) Cairns
For travel Tuesday and Wednesday flights only		 4 May – 19 May 2010 $69
Adelaide Cairns 4 May – 19 May 2010 $69
Brisbane Cairns 19 Jan – 24 Mar 2010 $89
Melbourne (Tullamarine) Cairns 19 Jan – 24 Mar 2010 $129

For more details go to the Jetstar Website and don’t forget to book your trip to the reef as well.

Guest Survey Results for Oct 09

Once again the customer survey results are in. This time for the month of October with again a great showing in all categories with customer satisfaction ranking extremely well.  Once again 100% of surveyed guests saying they would recommend the trip.  That is awesome and I thank once again everyone who traveled with us and our crew for making our jobs the best in the world.

Who Came on Our Trips:

48% European,  26% American

39% 30-39 year olds, 21% 20-29year olds,

45.5% management, 22% professionals, 41% travelling with their partner,

87% first time visitors to TNQ, 87% first time GBR visitors.

Satisfaction:

Reef met expectations:  77.3% very much (22.7% Yes)

Trip met expectations: 77.3% very much (22.7% Yes)

Received value for money: 86.4%

Would recommend the trip: 100%

Average Score : 8.87 / 10