KEVIN RUDD has steered the nation for eight months as Prime Minister but he looked like he has having much more fun when he took to the helm of a 13m boat off Port Douglas yesterday.

Aboard Queensland Fisheries Patrol vessel, the Peter Finglas, the PM laughed and joked with his parliamentary colleagues as he took the wheel briefly during an early morning trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

The casually dressed PM did not come with more money for the Far North but instead reaffirmed the Government's commitment to a $200 million Reef rescue plan.

The eyes of the nation's leader were glued to the ocean floor at Low Isles as he inspected parts of the Reef already affected by coral bleaching.

Later Mr Rudd reaffirmed the Government's stance on climate change and justified the carbon pollution reduction scheme. "It (the Great Barrier Reef) is the greatest reef in the world. But we have a real problem on our hands and our scientists have been hard at work establishing the linkages between coral bleaching and climate change," he said.

The PM's stop-off with Climate Change Minister Penny Wong and Leichhardt MP Jim Turnour lost part of its climatic seriousness when a tourist accidentally interrupted the press conference.

"A Canadian from World Youth Day I think," Mr Rudd joked during the conference.

Sighting a reef turtle also momentarily took the focus off the PM.

As usual Mr Rudd appeared well-studied - his questions to expert Sheriden Morris showed he knew detail about coral bleaching and the affects of climate change on the Reef.

Ms Morris, managing director of the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, said the PM’s visit was to show him new tools developed to assist in tackling climate change, which included viewing a trial version of the Reef Atlas used to analyse environmental issues on the Reef.

It will predict vulnerable areas and how quickly reefs recover from issues such as coral bleaching.

Mr Rudd later visited Cairns where he met the Cairns Regional Council Mayor Val Schier and other city leaders during a civic reception.

Indigenous children who performed a dance ceremony presented the PM with a number of gifts.

Mr Rudd, who arrived in Cairns late Thursday, is due to leave Cairns today.

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