Certifiable!
Or, rather, certified. Open Water Diver, that is. Did my four OW cert dives Saturday and Sunday on our Live-a-board tour of the Great Barrier Reef. It was very very fun, thanks to the group I got to do it with. Saw plenty of fish, turtles and coral to remember for a lifetime (swam with a turtle – he got between me and my dive buddy). Touched a nudibranch – go look that one up!
Going out to the Reef was less fun – the weather was a little windy, the waves were a little choppy, the boat was a little rocky, and Brian was a little sea sicky – for about one and a half days. Not the funnest thing in the world for him, to be sure. But an experience for him none the less. He was not able to dive… Australia is racist against asthmatics and thus he wasn’t allowed to don a tank and BCD. He did get to snorkel, as did I (my ears got a little wonky because of my cold the second day, so I opted to snorkel and was surprised and what you actually get to see!).
Besides diving, the other things to do on the boat were eating and sleeping. Food was good, IMO, thanks to the cook. And the rest of the divers were a fun bunch, from the UK and Switzerland and Denmark and the US mostly. We chatted and what-not, shared diving and non-diving stories. In fact, we’re off to have supper with the lot right now… tomorrow we get to Kuranda via the Skyrail over the rainforest, gonna see some wildlife (that means pics!), and back to Sydney on Wednesday super-early.
Cheers!
Filed under Diving, Travel | Comments (2)Holy Humidity, Batman!!
We are now in Cairns. Got here this morning, on a quite comfy flight that was continuing to Tokyo (nope, not on my itinerary). I say the flight was quite comfy because I slept through most of it, in spite of this nagging little cough/cold I’ve developed.
After arriving at the hostel (I’ll give a better review of the hostel later, but I’ll say it’s not up the same as the other two we’ve stayed in thus far), we went on a mission – a short mission. We dropped into the dive shop we’re taking our dive trip with, got fitted for wet suits (OMG! It’s sooooo much easier to move in a 4mm wetsuit, even putting it on is easier, and we have full boot fins!! So different from the frigid North Atlantic).
Later in the evening we went to Reef Teach, a two hour performance/presentation on the fish and coral you can see, along with tips for leaving things as you found them. Dude (who’s name escapes me… I’ll update the post with his name) was awesome!! I wish he taught ECE courses in the same manner… class attendance would skyrocket!
I’ll digress to yesterday’s wine tour another time. It was good… but I gotta run. I’ll let you know how diving went when we get back!
Filed under Diving, Health, Travel, Wine | Comments (2)Best Warning Ever
Took in the Maritime Museum and Aquarium yesterday… 25 km of walking in days is too much for my poor little feet (and Brian’s pontoons as well). After much studying I passed my dive medical, yay!
Enjoy the pic. Cheers!!
Walking, walking, walking
That’s how to sum up Monday. We put our walking shoes on and, well, walked. First up George St. (not like the one in St. John’s, sorry, it’s just a road) in search of a dive shop, to enquire about dive medical stuff. But the one we were seeking was not yet open because of the Easter Monday holiday. So we kept on walking. Along the way we saw Sydney’s Town Hall, a bunch of stores, some great architecture and more. And finally we got to Circular Quay and the Rocks, the birthplace of “modern” Australia really (it’s the place where all the convicts got let off). Some beautiful buildings, quaint little alleyways and winding roads (note to self: they drive on the left!! Gotta remember to start looking that way when stepping off the curb). A gorgeous harbour, and views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Just stunning… had to sit for a while to soak it in. Then more walking, up to the Bridge and across it. On the way back visited the Pylon Lookout, a museum in the south-west pylon of the bridge, dedicated to the history of the bridge and nabbing a great view of the bridge and the crazy bridge-climbers (those with the money and balls to don a suit, strap themselves in and climb).
Next stop was the Opera House, but first, lunch! In keeping with the budget we dined at Subway, where the subs taste the same but the cookies are a bit off. Caught a bit of live jazz as well. On our way around Circular Quay stopped to watch a contortionist put herself in a plexi-glass box (let’s say it was fun to watch – she was hilarious and bendy). We took an hour-long tour of the Opera House with a group led by Troy… what a gorgeous building with such an interesting history!!
Then, after walking for an hour around the Opera House, we walked some more! Through the Botanical Gardens, past Mrs Maqueries Point and Chair, and down to the Hard Rock for a shot glass (which they were out of) and supper (which was discounted because of a coupon). Then back here, where we passed out at 7:30pm.
I will post more pics later, and write when I get the chance, but right now I need some breaky! Cheers!
Filed under Travel | Comment (1)What Day is it??? How did I get halfway around the world? Where’s the monorail Station?
Here, it is Sunday, 8:30pm. In Newfoundland, it’s about 8:00am Sunday morning. The Easter Bunny hit here first, and said to say hi. :) I’m getting used to the time difference. I think the plane ride is disorienting enough to put you out of whatever time zone you thought you were in. But I digress a bit…
So, we got here in good shape and with no big difficulties. We had about a billion connections (okay, only four… but that’s a lot!!). All our flights were on time and rather straight forward. We got the emergency exit row almost all the way, so that means extra legroom for Brian (and me, but I don’t really use it up). Thought our luggage wasn’t going to make it with us (see comment on number of connections), and we did have a wait in Vancouver on our bags (where we had to pick it up to get through US Customs… the plane was landing in Honolulu, so because our lugggage was on the plane it needed to go through US Customs too), but just when I had given up hope that the bags were with us they rolled up the conveyor belt and onto the luggage carousel. So the moral of the story is that I should have given up hope earlier, then we would have had more time to wait inside Security.
Surprisingly, it was easy for both Brian and I to sleep on the plane, and we even got to step out in Hawaii – the 25 degrees night air was nice (they have an “open air” airport, meaning there are no windows in places, you’re basically outdoors) but the luggage stayed in the plane. We got in here (Sydney) around 6:30 am (so… about 6pm Saturday in Newfoundland), went through Customs and Quarentine no problem (they use beagles to do the searching – they are cute little working dogs!). Got a little shuttle bus with a nice but crazy-a$$ driver, who got us here safe and sound by about 8:30am. Then we waited in the lounge area for 3 hrs while our room was readied. The place we are staying for the next three nights, the Railway Square YHA, is nice – room is very basic but has all that we need and is comfy. There is a large lounge/lobby area, a kitchen for storing and cooking your own food (eating out is expensive here!), a small cafe to buy coffee and toast for a reasonable price, among other things. Part of the hostel is in an old railway building.
We spent our waking hours today touring Darling Harbour and Chinatown, both a very short walk away from the hostel. In the same area is the largest indoor market I have ever seen… tons of stalls with fruits and veggies, clothing, jewellry, makeup, souvenirs, food… just about everything. Over in Darling Harbour we found some acrobats and clowns (which made me think of Nikki, if she reads this :P ), a gorgeous Chinese Garden we have to re-visit, the Maritime Museum which has a submarine you can go on, a monorail (it’s not just for Ogdenville anymore!) that we have to go on, and more. Lots to see and do, and lots of pics will be taken, but not today. After all that we came back to the hostel, napped and grabbed some McD’s (hey, familiarity is good sometyimes, but man does the ketchup suck). Now I’m emailing, blogging and gonna hit the hay (they have nice matresses here, BTW… not made of hay). Later!
Filed under Travel | Comment (1)I don’t want to ask the question too loudly for fear Mother Nature will hear me and dump snow on me. But the weekend was great for weather, and the snow is melting… it’s a mood booster to be sure! Next winter I’m buying a sun lamp or investing in some tanning sessions (for my well-being, not for my looks).
My weight-loss has remained rather stale the past few weeks. No gains (yay!) but no losses (boo!). I’m being extra vigilant with the exercise and eating this week. See how that goes.
Countdown to Australia is 11 days and ticking! That’s another mood-booster. I’m actually looking forward to all that time sitting on a plane, doing nothing.
I’ll try to more intelligent/interesting.. perhaps comment on world peace (spent some time reading about Rachel Corrie this weekend… the world is so unfair) or Extreme Ironing. But for now I’ll go get lunch!
Filed under News, Travel, Weight Loss | Comments (2)