Great Barrier Reef Ocean Swim: a 3km loop around Heron Island - What would Alexander Popov do?

Looking back at Heron Island over the coral

To say we had a great time on Heron Island is an understatement. 

It was a HUGE four days organised by the island in conjunction with everybody's swimming mate Paul Ellercamp, the bloke behind www.oceanswims.com

Okay, so occasionally the organisational side of things went awry but overall the program did it for me.

This wasn't just a turn-up-and-swim holiday. Written in to it were swim clinics with swim coach and former Olympian swimmer Graeme Brewer. I found these to be incredibly informative and since returning to Sydney I've been trying to put Graeme's advice to good use during swim squad. 

Graeme is a big boofy bloke with shoulders as wide as a bloody door frame. He's also a bit of a rugger bugger, but he can be forgiven for that because in the water he is beautiful to watch.

More importantly, he's a good coach. 

He ran a theory session with video and handouts.His main example of how to swim properly is Alexander Popov. Now, when I swim I think: "What would Popov do?" because Graeme constantly referred to the former Russian champion's perfect technique and body alignment in the water.

Graeme then put the theory into practise when we gathered in the 22 degree 'harbour' next to the jetty for a stroke correction class (because there were so many people we were lumped into group A and group B). 

This was worth attending - though, you wouldn't believe it, everyone got cold because we were standing around watching the demos a lot. 

Graeme's daughter, Carly, demonstrated the drills and then we had to do them. It will take me a while to learn some of them because a couple were complicated (haven't done any yet and I've been back for over a month). 

Paul Ellercamp filmed the whole thing. I was really self conscious and I think it caused me to screw up a couple of the drills! I'm not the most coordinated person in the pool.

The next day we were taken out in boats and dumped in the ocean. It's not that bad. We were close to the island and only had to swim 1km around the front of the island and to the jetty. It was a warm up for the 3km swim around the island the next day - Sunday. 

On Sunday, the 3km start was delayed because some boof-head didn't take the tide into account. We had to wait until it started to come back in because we were doing a beach start. At low tide it's very shallow and you'd have to walk along way out, over coral some of the time, to get deeper water.

Rocks exposed at the gantry at low tide on Heron Island

Rather than start in one wave, we could choose to swim in the fast, medium or slow group. I chose the medium and it was just right for me. 

The swim around the island was pleasant but uneventful. I didn't see much sea life at all. The water is clear and sparkling though, which made it a pleasure. 

I haven't checked my time but I think I did the 3km in just over an hour. It didn't feel at all hard but maybe that is because there wasn't any swell or waves to negotiate. There was a current we all had to swim against at one stage of the swim but it wasn't that bad and I handled it.

Afterwards, some people said the course was longer than 3km. 

Even though this is the second year of the annual Great Barrier Reef Swim, this was the first time swimmers circumnavigated the island. Last year the strong current made it way too dangerous to attempt. 

I've blathered on too much so I will have to talk about sharks, rays and bird poo in my next post. 

This weekend the Dawny swim is on in Balmain, Sydney. For me, this signals the start of the open water/ocean swimming season. 

Hoo roo!   

 

Nobody told us about the birds on Heron Island: doh! It is named after a bird

Two old birds join hundreds and thousands of birds.

I knew virtually nothing about Heron Island before I went there. Sure, I'd read a few blurbs that talked up the turtles and the island as a snorkelling and diving wonderland.

I expected to see turtles all over the place and to swim with them like a mermaid through an abundance of psychedelic coral populated by exotic fish.

I should have done some reading.

When Ms Fivestar and I arrived at the island (which is really a coral cay) for the Great Barrier Reef Swim 2012 the turtles were nowhere to be seen*.

Mr Turtle alone at sea near the jetty at Heron Island.

But there were lots of birds. In fact, during our group's official welcome to the island one of the staff explained that around 70,000 black noddy terns had just flown in to prepare for their breeding season from September to April.

Our friends the black noddy terns outside our apartment.

Think about it. Heron Island is tiny - only 42 acres.

The black noddy terns were in the trees tending to nests made from fallen leaves that they drape over the boughs. They make a sort of gentle "kek" sound.

Imagine it: "kek kek kek kek kek kek kek..." all day and night. They also coo and purr. It's rather relaxing and you get used to it.

What you don't get used to is the sounds made by the wedgetailed shearwaters (also known as mutton birds). Around 30,000 of these guys fly on to the island every night from September to March. Their nests are burrows in the ground.

These dark grey birds make two distinct types of sounds.

One is a ghost-like howl. It is a mournful "wooooooooo woooooooo woooooooooo". Then at around 3am, they ratchet up the volume and get really vocal with a cry that sounds like a distressed baby. It goes "wah!!!!!!!!!! wah!!!!!!!!!!!!! wah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I'm serious. It sounds like the pub has closed and all the pissed punters are outside having a street brawl. 

I couldn't believe the cacophony outside my window. Unreal.

I don't have any photos of the mutton birds because they're only around at night in their hidey-holes. Ms Fivestar almost trod on one (I think it was intentional).

On our second night on the island I went to reception and got earplugs, which made a huge difference - though I still woke up at 3am because of the huge ruckus.

 Ya gotta love nature!

 In my next post I'll write about the Great Barrier Reef Swim, sharks and bird poo. It's bound to be compelling. 

*We learned that the green and loggerhead turtles nest on the island from November to March. We were two weeks early.

Not to worry. We still got to see several turtles bobbing about in the water near the island's jetty and I saw one when I snorkelled off the wreck of the Protector, located just beyond the the jetty.

Heron Island: swimming adventure where sharks are part of the scenery

Heron Island is a coral cay located 72 kilometres off the mining port of Gladstone in North Queensland. It is a national park on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef that also accommodates a research centre and a resort for 200 guests.

I was there a couple of weeks ago with around 150 mad ocean swimmers, who got the opportunity to swim 3km around the island.

During our stay, we also swam with sharks, rays and turtles. Yikes! Sharks!

I never thought I would calmly observe a shark as it glided underneath me but I did. And it was the most amazing experience. Heron's sharks are predominantly the black tipped and white tipped reef variety. I also saw a lemon shark, which has a fatter body.

The reef sharks are long and sinuous and can look rather scary, especially when you see their fin slicing through the water. But these sharks aren't the least bit interested in biting humans for a taste and there has never been an incident involving humans and sharks on the island.

Below are some happy snaps of my holiday. More to come - with more of a story about the trip.

The wreck that greets visitors on their approach to the island.

Every island has to have a sunset.

The rays hang out near the shore.

The black object is a shark.

Bait fish.

The gantry.

  

The end is in 5 billion years so let's swim

I heard an astronomer talking on the radio yesterday. He said Planet Earth would "evaporate" in 5 billion years when the sun finally petered out - but not before exploding in a spectacular fashion to take us with it.

Of course, I won't be around in 5 billion years. That's ridiculous. That's like, way beyond my pea-brain comprehension. But my guess is that we will have nuked our poor old abused planet well before its natural use-by-date.

Oddly enough, the thought of there one day not being anything made me feel really sad. So I booked a flight to the Gold Coast.

There are lots of ocean swims in incredible locations coming up in the next few months. I couldn't afford the Hamilton or Heron Island swims on the Great Barrier Reef. For the cost of the airfares, accommodation, etc... to get to those locations I could fly to the States and back on a seven day holiday package. And have money to spare.

The other value for money option was the swim at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast on October 23. It's a 2km swim along a lovely stretch of Queensland coastline.  Airfares to the Gold Coast are reasonably priced and there's loads of great accommodation that won't break the bank.

I know you can't beat the reef but this isn't half bad.

Find out more about the swim at: http://www.oceanswims.com/Events.asp?EventID=13

or go to the Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park Surf Life Saving Club's website at: http://www.burleighslsc.com.au/

I feel better now. Or I will soon. Possibly. But the 5 billion years is a killer. I won't dwell on it. I'll focus on sun, surf and sand... but not sand that gets into the crotch of your cossies or blows into your eyes. I want golden sand that doesn't move and isn't too hot underfoot... 5 billion years...