The ride down
Me and my buddy Danny rented a car and drove down from
Cairns to Ayr. Being from the Netherlands I still greatly underestimate the
vastness of this country. On the map it looks quite close, but it turned out to
be a 5 hour drive to cover the roughly 450 km stretch. Since the car was hired
on my name and Danny doesn’t have a license I was the designated driver. There
was not much to see since it was dark so we cranked up the radio and introducing
each other to our favorite songs we kept ourselves occupied. After about 4
hours we passed Townsville. I remembered that that was quite close to Ayr and
was looking forward to finally arrive. But again the size of the country caught
me unawares and we still had another 110 km to go. During the last 50 km there
were heaps of Wallabies grazing on the side of the road. ‘They are going to get
themselves killed’, I thought by myself. The next day I would find out it was
right or not.
I was getting tired and wasn’t paying as much attention
as I should to road signs and speed limits. As we pulled into Ayr the flashing
lights of a police car helped remind me. We got pulled over and the police
officer informed me that I was doing a 103 km/h in an 80km/h zone. This would
have been a hefty fine but since I hadn’t been drinking (I got breathalised)
and we were just 15km from our destination they let us go with a warning. Awake
from the adrenaline we continued and a short 10 minutes later we arrived at the
dive shop and lodge. We found the key in a hidden spot as directed by the dive
shop, went into our room, crawled into our bunk beds and passed out immediately.
Dreaming of the wreck we would go visit the next morning.
The Dive
We had set our alarms for 7am, since check in at the dive
shop was due at 7.30am. Even before our alarms went off to announce a new day
of adventure the ridiculously loud footsteps of an obese Canadian named Tom
brought us back from our dream world. After freshening up we had breakfast served
by divemaster Roberto from Italy. The dive shop (http://www.yongaladive.com.au) was an
old Queenslander house surrounded by a tropical garden with the lodge, holding
two dorm rooms, 1 private room 2 lounge areas and a kitchen on the top floor.
Where the office, little shop, beach café and gear room were located on the
ground floor. After checking in and setting up our equipment we listened to the
dive briefing by Instructor Aeron, aka Aza. Who was cracking jokes like: “How
do Aussies find Dugongs in the mangroves?” Anwser: “Really appealing”. That set
the tone and we loaded up in the back of a truck to drive down to the beach.
The 10mtr long super Rhib (rigid bottom inflatable boat)
was already waiting for us. With just 12 guests on board we had plenty room and
the promise of a relaxed not crowded dive site. It took about half an hour of
flying over the waves, which were very small since the conditions were superb,
to get to the dive site. There was hardly any wind and the visibility on the
wreck about 15 to 20 mtrs. Danny and I buddies up, back rolled into the blue
and followed Divemaster Roberto, nicknamed Super Mario, down a line to the
wreck to let the adventure begin.
The wreck lies on its starboard side in about 30 mtrs of
water with nothing but flat sandy bottom for miles in every direction. This
makes the SS Yongala an artificial reef and an oasis to hundreds of fish. We
started at the stern and slowly made our way to the bow. Big schools of thousands
of silversides (little bait fish) swarm the wreck being bombarded with attacks
from giant trevally, snappers and red and spangled emperors. Sixbanded angel
fish forage inside the wreck and one big male maori wrasse swims around
checking on the many females. 
I was taking pictures of the many soft corals and sea
whips that cover the wreck when Danny pointed out a tawny nurse shark on the
bottom.
It is not allowed to enter the wreck since it is been
classified as a grave site and to prevent the further deterioration of the
structure by the bubbles of the scuba divers. Sometimes it was hard to look
inside because of all the fish that are in the way, blocking your view. Half
way down the wreck the chimney sticks out like the barrel of a cannon. You can
hardly make out the shape anymore because of the corals that cover it and
changed its appearance.
As Danny and I made it to the bow we looked back over the
entire length of the ship. The sharps ‘knife’ like bow sticking out giving the
front a sleek and slender look. Some of the portholes still had the glass in
it. The name of the Yongala on the bow was all but gone. Worn away by time and
coral growth.
Danny was running a bit low on air so we made our way
back to the aft of the wreck. Underway we encountered a 2mtr long guitar shark.
I’d never seen a shark like this before and the weird looking creature was absolutely beautiful. Slowly swimming in the opposite direction just a few mtrs below us. Danny went back up with Super Mario and I buddied up with someone else to stay a bit longer. I cruised around the back of the wreck a bit enjoying a few big great barracudas as they passed by in the endless blue.
After a few minutes I decided to go back up too and
spotted a sea snake going up for some air. Back on the boat I was smiling from
ear to ear. What an amazing dive.
We enjoyed a simple lunch of sandwiches, tea and fruit
provided by Yongala Dive while Aza enlightened us with the history of the
wreck, who it supposedly sank and how it was found. You’ll have to go do the
dive to hear that story for yourself. He is very knowledgeable about the
Yongala and it was a most interesting surface interval before we went down to
do the second dive.
On this second dive, Danny and I decided not to follow
Super Mario and explore the wreck on our own. We found an iron bathtub and the
toilets, which were visible through holes and cracks in the wreck. The current
had picked up a bit and we slowly made our way to the bow along the bottom of
the ship to let the current take us back while hovering on the other side over
the deck. We did not see any big animals on the second dive. But the red bass
and giant trevallies made for a good show hunting for the little bait fish. We
spend a bit more time taking picture of ourselves doing silly stuff than on the
first dive. Just before we decided to go up Danny pointed out a sea snake and I
swam down to take a closer look. You could clearly see the green scales on the
snake and it ‘accidentally’ swam into my hands before taking off onto the
wreck. That was personal highlight on this second dive.
Back on the boat we talked about all the cool stuff we
saw and both were very happy that we had taken the time and effort to drive
down and visit this amazing place.
On the way back to the dive shop the skipper and
operations manager Tony hinted, not too subtle, that they needed a new
instructor in a few months and that I might be able to get the job. That
definitely is some food for thought. Being able to work and only teach advanced
courses or higher on one of the best dive sites in the country.
The ride home
A few hours and about 250 km later we stopped in Caldwell for some food. We saw
a big sign saying ‘Country Fried Chicken’ and we made a U-turn to check it out.
It turned out to be a quite disappointing trucker café with not very appetizing
food in a hot box. Instead we went to a restaurant 1 block down which had a
giant mud crab on its roof.
I dropped of Danny at his place and thanked him for an
awesome trip and new adventure to add to my list. Coming home I passed out
almost immediately, dreaming of guitar sharks and giant marble rays. What a
trip, what a dive, what an exhausting yet exhilarating two days. Now off to find
the motivation for towing around Asians in 5 mtrs of water over a sandy bottom.
It might be time for a change.
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