Plan to come up here and join us with some great tropical weather while the Sydney winter kicks in. Virgin Blue are offering such cheap flights to Cairns from Sydney at the moment.
From Sydney to Cairns, Travel between 20 Jul 10 – 15 Sep 10 pay only $139 AUD* and you have to book by 01 Jun 2010.
Or enjoy the tropical spring weather;
From Sydney to Cairns, Travel between 12 Oct 10 – 09 Dec 10 pay only $139 AUD* and you have to book by 01 Jun 2010.
For more details and to book your trip visit the airline website. And of coourse don’t forget to visit the Great Barrier Reef while you are here. These dates fall within some of the busiest times of the year so the prices are good but make sure you book your reef trip early to avoid disappointment.
Starfish Facts – Species of the Reef
When people think of starfish they think of the typical five armed creature as pictured above and that is correct for the majority of species. But the species is very diverse and starfish can have anything up to 50 arms and come in a large variety of shapes as shown by the feather stars on a previous post. There are so many beautiful members of this family that you can see while you visit the Great Barrier Reef.
The starfish uses water to propel itself. Yes you thought that it used all those little “legs” with suction caps to move along. Well they do and they use water taken in through their body to provide suction to those “legs”. This helps the starfish to appear to float or glide across the surface of the water.
Starfish generally eat their food whole and use their stomachs to digest their food. They eat just about anything they can find on the reef including clams, fish, molluscs, small fish, coral and algae. They can also digest food outside their body by excreting their stomachs allowing them to eat creatures much largers then they could through their mouth.
Sea stars have endoskeletons. The top of the starfish is sensitive to light and the bottom of the starfish is sensitive to different chemical compositions allowing them to “smell” food. Another cool fact is the starfish breathes through it’s feet.
Starfish breed a lot depending on species. The can be hermaphrodites, capable of sexual and asexual reproduction, some are born males and later change into females. One common fact is you cannot tell the difference between the male and females unless you see them during spawning. Reproductive organs are contained within the starfish.
Tiger Airways – New Route Melbourne to Cairns
Tiger Airways have announced that they will start flights from Melbourne to Cairns mid-September. If you are looking for discount flight to get a head start on the warmer months you may want to have a look. Full Story here…...
We Want to Show You the Best Place to Work
With the biggest natural wonder in the world as our office and playground we lead a privileged existence. We get to experience the magnificent beauty of the Great Barrier Reef and marine life from the smallest nudibranch or shrimp to the humpback whales as they make their way north for their winter vacation. We get to scuba dive in warm water alll year round. So It can’t get much better right?
Well it can… One of the best parts of our jobs is introducing people to the wonderful ocean and the wonderous life that lives in it. Meeting people from all around the world, from the person experiencing scuba diving for the first time to the most experienced divers, sharing this natural beauty is truly a rewarding experience.
When we receive reviews and comments like this one as we often do, months after our guests have returned home it really makes our jobs even better. “The group was so happy and I spoke with tour leader and she said that literally this journey change their life!” They are planning on coming back next year as well, so the pressure is on for us to make the trip better… Thanks guys for the feedback and glad we were able to show you mother nature at it’s best.