We headed to Tasmania for our last 4 days in Australia (although, clearly not on the mainland). Now, people make fun of Tasmania, but I have to say, we loved it! Our first day we did the Lonely Planet walking tour, and got acquainted with Hobart, we spent some nice time soaking in cafes, books, beers, etc. Our second day, we picked up a car and headed for the Cadbury “factory”, which as it turns out doesn’t do tours anymore (because they used to let people PICK UP CHOCOLATE off the conveyor belt and they decided that wasn’t sanitary TWO YEARS AGO. I was like, could you not just build a fence or walkway?) But what they lack in tour, they make up for in free chocolate. So that was awesome. Then we wandered to an awesome winery/micro-brewery Moorilla Estate, where we tasted to our hearts content and bought wine and beer… couldn’t help it. We ended the day by driving up Mt. Wellington which towers over Hobart, it is spectacular up there (and windy!), we even climbed up a little rock scramble to the pinnacle.
The following day we headed out to Port Arthur. Port Arthur is a sort of Alcatraz like prison colony a little over an hour outside of Hobart, and the most famous in Tasmania (some would say Oz), and while we heard it was a morose and foreboding place, much like Alcatraz it is GORGEOUS on a beautiful day. As a part of the entrance fee you get a little cruise around the harbor and an informative tour, but we enjoyed most just wandering around, soaking up the history (and the sun). We finished up the day by picking up a dozen local oysters, more local beer (made with oysters), Tassie smoked salmon and two kinds of Tasmanian cheese… it’s possible we had a feast. It was DELICIOUS.
Our last day in Tas, we headed to the historic village of Richmond. There we crossed the “Richmond bridge” (it’s about 10 meters, hehe), walked around, and bought the cutest souvenir ever. I have been mispronouncing the word Echidna (correctly eh-kid-na), it’s a porcupine like animal native to Australia. I call it all sorts of things, depending on how hard I’m trying. Anyway, we found a handmade, little echidna made of Tasmanian wood that is a toothpick holder! I’m going to giggle every time I serve a toothpick needing appetizer for the next 50 years!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Red Center!
Last week we headed from Melbourne to the ‘Red Centre’ to go check out Ayer’s Rock (or Uluru as it is traditionally called). We flew in to Alice Springs and rented a car for the 4.5 hour drive down to pretty much the dead center of Australia. It was a hilariously small airport (one where you get to deplane on the runway, although that seems to be happening a lot lately). And the moment we were off the plane, we were attacked. By bugs. GIANT BUGS. Not biting bugs, just crazy ass large ones. Moths, cricket/locusts, flies, beetles, you name a bug that does not bite, enlarge it, and it got caught in my hair. Beyond the bugs, the countryside was quite pretty, although totally desolate.
There is no where to stay near Uluru except this weird 5 hotel complex called Yulara. We stayed there in a four bed dorm, where we met a lovely Brazilian couple who is actually on a very similar trip! (actually, they recommended the awesome hotel with free wifi where I type this right now).
Our first evening we headed out to watch the sunset (well, to watch Uluru change while the sunset behind us). While the sunset was beautiful, what struck us most were how many freaking flies really wanted to be all up in our eyes/noses/mouths. Gross. On our way back to the hotel we got fly nets, being that it was late-ish, we had to get them from the supermarket so they were gheeee-tto.
The following morning we got up for sunrise, and although we could have gotten there a smidgy bit earlier it was gorgeous, beautiful in three directions, sunrise, Uluru and the Kata Tjutas (a nearby super cool rock formation from a similar time as Uluru). The aboriginal people who live around Uluru ask that people not climb it (for like 8 different reasons including safety, preservation and respect) but people still pour up it all day. It blows my mind that people would go through all the trouble to get to the middle of the country, just to completely disrespect the inhabitants of the land. Anywho, we joined a free ranger tour for the morning which was fantastic. It was a great introduction to Uluru, the land, the Anangu (the aboriginal peoples who are stewards of the land), traditional stories and history. And it wasn’t hokey or patronizing like I feel like some of those tours can be. The areas around Uluru have been inhabited by Anangu for around 45,000 years (young compared to Uluru itself, in the 350 million year range), and if that wasn’t a strong enough reason for them to be stewards and inhabitants of the land, when they were removed from the land within 15 years there were a series of terrible bush fires the likes of which they had never seen in the area because the land wasn’t being managed by the people.
After the tour, we set out on the Uluru base walk (about 10.4 km) which was HOT and fly filled, but ultimately really beautiful and inspiring. We finished up the day by walking out a bit from our room to do some star gazing. The following day we did a nice hike through Kata Tjuta (36 domes of rock, coolio) and headed on back to Alice Springs.
There is no where to stay near Uluru except this weird 5 hotel complex called Yulara. We stayed there in a four bed dorm, where we met a lovely Brazilian couple who is actually on a very similar trip! (actually, they recommended the awesome hotel with free wifi where I type this right now).
Our first evening we headed out to watch the sunset (well, to watch Uluru change while the sunset behind us). While the sunset was beautiful, what struck us most were how many freaking flies really wanted to be all up in our eyes/noses/mouths. Gross. On our way back to the hotel we got fly nets, being that it was late-ish, we had to get them from the supermarket so they were gheeee-tto.
The following morning we got up for sunrise, and although we could have gotten there a smidgy bit earlier it was gorgeous, beautiful in three directions, sunrise, Uluru and the Kata Tjutas (a nearby super cool rock formation from a similar time as Uluru). The aboriginal people who live around Uluru ask that people not climb it (for like 8 different reasons including safety, preservation and respect) but people still pour up it all day. It blows my mind that people would go through all the trouble to get to the middle of the country, just to completely disrespect the inhabitants of the land. Anywho, we joined a free ranger tour for the morning which was fantastic. It was a great introduction to Uluru, the land, the Anangu (the aboriginal peoples who are stewards of the land), traditional stories and history. And it wasn’t hokey or patronizing like I feel like some of those tours can be. The areas around Uluru have been inhabited by Anangu for around 45,000 years (young compared to Uluru itself, in the 350 million year range), and if that wasn’t a strong enough reason for them to be stewards and inhabitants of the land, when they were removed from the land within 15 years there were a series of terrible bush fires the likes of which they had never seen in the area because the land wasn’t being managed by the people.
After the tour, we set out on the Uluru base walk (about 10.4 km) which was HOT and fly filled, but ultimately really beautiful and inspiring. We finished up the day by walking out a bit from our room to do some star gazing. The following day we did a nice hike through Kata Tjuta (36 domes of rock, coolio) and headed on back to Alice Springs.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Just a quick note
Hi everyone! Just a quick note on free internet from the Tasmanian Government.... Sorry it has been a few days our internet access has been super limited, but rest assured, we are alive and Uluru was awesome. We've also had a relaxing and fabulous 4 days in Hobart, and we will tell you all about it in a day or two when we land in Christchurch (New Zealand) and have a hotel with free wifi for a couple of days!
Don't worry, we're brewing up a great list of best/worst ofs for our 6 weeks in Oz.
Don't worry, we're brewing up a great list of best/worst ofs for our 6 weeks in Oz.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
GOR: The Great Ocean Road!
The last two days, we have been driving the Great Ocean Road! We picked up our rental car yesterday morning, and made it out of Melbourne almost without incident (lost once, helped by construction man). We spent the morning cruising down the highway, and by lunch time were just arriving to the coast. The Great Ocean Road gets a lot of comparisons to Hwy One in California, and there are lots of similarities. The vistas were scenic, there are gorgeous cliffs and rock formations, and the weather was about 75 and breezy. We made it to our stopping place of Apollo Bay at around 4 pm, checked out the hostel (gorgeous, eco-hostel, very cool), then decided that here was a great place to make our food so we headed to the grocery store for some provisions. First we got pancake shake for brekky (that’s right, their pancake mix only comes in pitchers that you add water to and shake!), then peanut butter and nutella for sandwiches for lunch, and stuff for a beef stir-fry. We also got cookie mix to make to eat with our amazing dessert wine from the Queen Victoria Market… but those didn’t work out so well.
Today we spent the morning driving down a stretch of road where we heard there were koalas in the wild!!!! There were and it was beyond cool. We stopped every time another car stopped, and people would point them out to you, eventually we were able to spot them for ourselves. At one point, Mike even spotted one on the ground and we stopped and watched him cross the road and climb a new tree! It was incredible. Our morning was capped off by seeing a mother and joey hanging out in a tree.
Then we headed on to the road, we stopped at the Twelve Apostles, possibly the most photographed natural landmark in Oz, although there are fewer now, they occasionally fall into the ocean . We also saw London Bridge (which has fallen down, although there is still one arch, it just hasn’t been connected to the mainland in a few years) and a number of other cool sights. We capped off our day by heading to a local cheese factory where we picked up a havarti smoked with eucalyptus leaves. Then we headed back to the hostel, made pasta and watched the sunset from the roof deck with a bottle of wine. We also got invited to dessert with some lovely ladies on holiday from Melbourne (they make a mean rum/almond torte!). Tomorrow we head back to Melbourne and on to Alice Springs on Thursday.
Today we spent the morning driving down a stretch of road where we heard there were koalas in the wild!!!! There were and it was beyond cool. We stopped every time another car stopped, and people would point them out to you, eventually we were able to spot them for ourselves. At one point, Mike even spotted one on the ground and we stopped and watched him cross the road and climb a new tree! It was incredible. Our morning was capped off by seeing a mother and joey hanging out in a tree.
Then we headed on to the road, we stopped at the Twelve Apostles, possibly the most photographed natural landmark in Oz, although there are fewer now, they occasionally fall into the ocean . We also saw London Bridge (which has fallen down, although there is still one arch, it just hasn’t been connected to the mainland in a few years) and a number of other cool sights. We capped off our day by heading to a local cheese factory where we picked up a havarti smoked with eucalyptus leaves. Then we headed back to the hostel, made pasta and watched the sunset from the roof deck with a bottle of wine. We also got invited to dessert with some lovely ladies on holiday from Melbourne (they make a mean rum/almond torte!). Tomorrow we head back to Melbourne and on to Alice Springs on Thursday.
G'day from Melbourne
G’day from Melbourne!
G’day from Melbourne! We’ve spent the past six days here in lovely Melbourne. When we arrived on Tuesday we learned of a disturbing trend that is taking place, wherein everywhere we go is hit by some sort of cataclysmic weather condition that somehow doesn’t affect us (for instance, in Sydney there was a massive rain storm that some called a hurricane, which hit after we were in bed; after we left Brisbane, southern Queensland was wracked with storms and flooding; and just before we arrived in Melbourne they had a huge storm that caused tons of flooding and also featured golf-size hail that demolished cars. The Melbourne storm is expected to result in $500 million in insurance claims, the fifth largest insurance event in Australian history!). Meanwhile, we’ve had perfect weather here. It’s been cooler than the tropical coast, which is a nice respite from the heat and humidity.
Anyway, we’ve been all over town and have done lots of stuff. On Wednesday we met up with Nicki, a friend who we know through Talia, and her boyfriend Nick. Nicki just moved to Melbourne a few weeks ago, so we got to spend a lot of time with her exploring her new city. They were great guides, taking us on the first day for coffee in the small beach town of St. Kilda (Melbourne is known for its café culture, so of course it was the first thing we had to do!), then strolling through downtown, grabbing a beer, and winding up the day on top of the Eureka Tower, from where you get 360 degree views of the city. That night we also caught a free movie at our hostel called Kenny, a funny Australian cult classic mockumentary about a guy who works for a port-o-potty company.
Other highlights of the last few days include the Queen Victoria Market, a huge outdoor market where we tasted wine, breads, spreads, cheeses, and delicious Tasmanian smoked salmon; the Old Melbourne Gaol (pronounced “jail”), where infamous bushranger (the Australian version of an outlaw) Ned Kelly was hanged…I’m now reading a classic Australian book called The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey, a historical novel written in Ned Kelly’s voice; Lygon Street in the neighborhood of Carlton, Melbourne’s Little Italy (where Debbie accidentally got the largest ice cream cone EVER); the Melbourne Museum, where we wound up with a private tour (nobody else showed up) of the Aboriginal section by a really nice elderly woman who taught us a lot about Aboriginal culture…and where I learned for the first time about the Stolen Generation – aboriginal kids who were taken from their parents by the government as late as the 1950s so they could be raised by white families; the Royal Botanical Gardens; my first Belgian beer garden; the Rose Street Artists Market, where Debbie bought a pair of earrings; Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, where we had coffee and lunch at a café and then found a brew pub where we enjoyed an amber microbrew; Federation Square, the funky center of town; Birrarung Marr, a waterside arts park; and the Immigration Museum, where we learned about Australia’s anti-immigrant past (fairly pro-European…not all that different from the USA’s history in terms of immigration).
Most importantly, last night we went with Nicki to an Australian Rules Football game! It was sort of a big game…the superbowl of the pre-season, between the Western Bulldogs (who I rooted for, and who won by 40 points) and the St. Kilda Saints (who Debbie rooted for, and whose fight song is “When the Saints Go Marching In”). We even understood most of what happened in the game. Rather than trying to describe the rules, I’ll just link to the Wikipedia page about it. But suffice it to say that the game involves no helmets or padding, tackling, kicking the ball while running, dribbling, and three goal areas. It was awesome.
Finally, I’ll also throw in that we went to a free stand-up comedy show the other night. We got in free because we are YHA hostel members, and since it was free for us they decided to put us right in front (never a good thing at a stand-up comedy show). Needless to say, Debbie wound up on stage at one point, where before leaving the stage she was asked by the host (a fat comedian missing numerous teeth) to give him a kiss on the cheek…only to find that he turned at the last minute to kiss her on the lips! Yuck! He gave us free drinks after that though, so all wound up okay. Debbie was a champ about it :)
We’re leaving here tomorrow…renting a car to go drive the Great Ocean Road, Australia’s version of PCH. We’ll be on the road for three days, then returning here for a night and flying to Uluru on Thursday. Very excited!
Side note: Later that day we went to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival where we gorged ourselves on Cajun food (or the Aussie version), churros and crepes, then learned some Bollywood dance moves (it was international day). It was awesome!
Posted by Mike...even thought it doesn't look that way.
G’day from Melbourne! We’ve spent the past six days here in lovely Melbourne. When we arrived on Tuesday we learned of a disturbing trend that is taking place, wherein everywhere we go is hit by some sort of cataclysmic weather condition that somehow doesn’t affect us (for instance, in Sydney there was a massive rain storm that some called a hurricane, which hit after we were in bed; after we left Brisbane, southern Queensland was wracked with storms and flooding; and just before we arrived in Melbourne they had a huge storm that caused tons of flooding and also featured golf-size hail that demolished cars. The Melbourne storm is expected to result in $500 million in insurance claims, the fifth largest insurance event in Australian history!). Meanwhile, we’ve had perfect weather here. It’s been cooler than the tropical coast, which is a nice respite from the heat and humidity.
Anyway, we’ve been all over town and have done lots of stuff. On Wednesday we met up with Nicki, a friend who we know through Talia, and her boyfriend Nick. Nicki just moved to Melbourne a few weeks ago, so we got to spend a lot of time with her exploring her new city. They were great guides, taking us on the first day for coffee in the small beach town of St. Kilda (Melbourne is known for its café culture, so of course it was the first thing we had to do!), then strolling through downtown, grabbing a beer, and winding up the day on top of the Eureka Tower, from where you get 360 degree views of the city. That night we also caught a free movie at our hostel called Kenny, a funny Australian cult classic mockumentary about a guy who works for a port-o-potty company.
Other highlights of the last few days include the Queen Victoria Market, a huge outdoor market where we tasted wine, breads, spreads, cheeses, and delicious Tasmanian smoked salmon; the Old Melbourne Gaol (pronounced “jail”), where infamous bushranger (the Australian version of an outlaw) Ned Kelly was hanged…I’m now reading a classic Australian book called The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey, a historical novel written in Ned Kelly’s voice; Lygon Street in the neighborhood of Carlton, Melbourne’s Little Italy (where Debbie accidentally got the largest ice cream cone EVER); the Melbourne Museum, where we wound up with a private tour (nobody else showed up) of the Aboriginal section by a really nice elderly woman who taught us a lot about Aboriginal culture…and where I learned for the first time about the Stolen Generation – aboriginal kids who were taken from their parents by the government as late as the 1950s so they could be raised by white families; the Royal Botanical Gardens; my first Belgian beer garden; the Rose Street Artists Market, where Debbie bought a pair of earrings; Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, where we had coffee and lunch at a café and then found a brew pub where we enjoyed an amber microbrew; Federation Square, the funky center of town; Birrarung Marr, a waterside arts park; and the Immigration Museum, where we learned about Australia’s anti-immigrant past (fairly pro-European…not all that different from the USA’s history in terms of immigration).
Most importantly, last night we went with Nicki to an Australian Rules Football game! It was sort of a big game…the superbowl of the pre-season, between the Western Bulldogs (who I rooted for, and who won by 40 points) and the St. Kilda Saints (who Debbie rooted for, and whose fight song is “When the Saints Go Marching In”). We even understood most of what happened in the game. Rather than trying to describe the rules, I’ll just link to the Wikipedia page about it. But suffice it to say that the game involves no helmets or padding, tackling, kicking the ball while running, dribbling, and three goal areas. It was awesome.
Finally, I’ll also throw in that we went to a free stand-up comedy show the other night. We got in free because we are YHA hostel members, and since it was free for us they decided to put us right in front (never a good thing at a stand-up comedy show). Needless to say, Debbie wound up on stage at one point, where before leaving the stage she was asked by the host (a fat comedian missing numerous teeth) to give him a kiss on the cheek…only to find that he turned at the last minute to kiss her on the lips! Yuck! He gave us free drinks after that though, so all wound up okay. Debbie was a champ about it :)
We’re leaving here tomorrow…renting a car to go drive the Great Ocean Road, Australia’s version of PCH. We’ll be on the road for three days, then returning here for a night and flying to Uluru on Thursday. Very excited!
Side note: Later that day we went to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival where we gorged ourselves on Cajun food (or the Aussie version), churros and crepes, then learned some Bollywood dance moves (it was international day). It was awesome!
Posted by Mike...even thought it doesn't look that way.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
We (were) on a Boat! (Redux)
Today we snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef! We got up bright and early to pop on a boat at 7:30 to spend all day out on the reef. We have definitely been looking forward to this as the GBR is a) one of the wonders of the natural world, b) the only living thing that can be viewed from space and c) slowly dying due to increased water temperatures and pollution (BOO). All told we spent nearly 3 hours in the water, and it felt like no time at all. We saw incredible things. The coral was spectacular, there were an unbelievable number of fish (of all shapes, sizes and colors) and GIANT clams, I mean HUGE and beautiful, really colorful and intricate (although I learned later on the boat, the pretty colors/patterns on the clam are the other things that live on it). Around lunch time there were gorgeous black-tipped reef sharks in the water (not dangerous, although Mike was happy we were on the boat), ironically, our boat staff calls them reef chickens because they are pretty easy to scare off and there is a giant fish (that they call Darth, obvi) who is the real dominant fish in the area who we watched chase the sharks around.
After lunch we headed over to Green Island (anonymous cute little island on the reef), where we tried to walk around it. This is where trouble hit. The sand was uber hot, so we switched to walking at the edge of the water, but there were some mossy rocks there and poor Mike took a mega fall! Don’t worry, we think he’s ok, he took a bit of a chunk out of his foot, got some minor scrapes and we put him on some ibuprofen. On our way back to the boat we met some adorable Japanese ladies who noticed his injuries and plied us with wet wipes and band-aids (they were the cutest). But worry not, Mike was a trooper and wouldn’t let a little blood get in the way of his reef enjoyment, so after he was bandaged up we popped back in the water for another hour. We were the last people out for both lunch and to head home… but I can’t see why you wouldn’t be! As we were heading to the boat to leave and we were sucking up our last bit of the sights, I turned my head and was looking straight into a row of 5 cuttle fish! We had seen a couple over the course of the day (squid relative funny looking), and the funniest bit is that they a) don’t really seem to move a lot and b) have giant squid-y eyes so they totally look like they are staring at ya. So here I was staring at a row of them that were staring right back, I felt like I was at the OK Corral. It was an incredible day, even with the mishap (good thing we were just planning a hang out day tomorrow, now it’s a recovery day) then Tuesday it’s on to Melbourne where it will be about 10 degrees cooler, and we hear very SF-esque.
After lunch we headed over to Green Island (anonymous cute little island on the reef), where we tried to walk around it. This is where trouble hit. The sand was uber hot, so we switched to walking at the edge of the water, but there were some mossy rocks there and poor Mike took a mega fall! Don’t worry, we think he’s ok, he took a bit of a chunk out of his foot, got some minor scrapes and we put him on some ibuprofen. On our way back to the boat we met some adorable Japanese ladies who noticed his injuries and plied us with wet wipes and band-aids (they were the cutest). But worry not, Mike was a trooper and wouldn’t let a little blood get in the way of his reef enjoyment, so after he was bandaged up we popped back in the water for another hour. We were the last people out for both lunch and to head home… but I can’t see why you wouldn’t be! As we were heading to the boat to leave and we were sucking up our last bit of the sights, I turned my head and was looking straight into a row of 5 cuttle fish! We had seen a couple over the course of the day (squid relative funny looking), and the funniest bit is that they a) don’t really seem to move a lot and b) have giant squid-y eyes so they totally look like they are staring at ya. So here I was staring at a row of them that were staring right back, I felt like I was at the OK Corral. It was an incredible day, even with the mishap (good thing we were just planning a hang out day tomorrow, now it’s a recovery day) then Tuesday it’s on to Melbourne where it will be about 10 degrees cooler, and we hear very SF-esque.
Friday, March 5, 2010
We (were) on a boat!
And yes, we brought our flippy-floppies… well I did, Mike brought his Tevas. We have spent today on a bus from Airlie Beach to Cairns. A note on Australia: It’s effing huge! 3 days ago, we did an overnight bus from Rainbow Beach to Airlie Beach. I will say, neither has been unpleasant, but I am glad that after this we’re mostly flying from place to place in Australia, it’s just such a darn large country.
Also, a moment for a pet peeve. I hate paying for things that should be free. Wireless for instance… we’ve discussed that previously, but we have had significantly less access than we expected because they make you pay for wireless access everywhere (but apparently McDonald’s… where we might start hanging out). But here, they make you pay for little packets of sauce. I hate it, that .25 to .50 extra cents per package is just rude, those things cost nothing and food here is expensive! Don’t begrudge me that tiny packet of ketchup! It’s similar to how I felt about paying to use bathrooms in the Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, etc.), I mean really, you don’t want me to pee on the street right? And making me pay only makes me messier in the bathroom…
On to the awesome! When we got in to Airlie Beach it was POURING. Parts of Queensland (the state we’ve been in since Brisbane) have been flooding since we got here, but other than raining while we fed the elephants, it really hasn’t so much effected us. It is the rainy season here, so we were hoping for the best and crossing our fingers. So after the rainy morning, we explored town, and decided whether we were going to spring to go on an overnight sail in the Whitsundays, or maybe just a day of snorkeling or something. By the end of the day we decided to go for it, just for a 2 day, 1 night and we would get a free night at the place we were staying when we got back. So a couple of mornings ago we got down to the marina bright and early where we boarded the Siska IV, a maxi racing boat built in the 70’s which has circumnavigated the world twice, had Prince Charles ‘on its crew’ once and at one point held about 20 race records (cool right?). We spent two days in GLORIOUS weather, cruising around the Whitsundays, the first day we hiked up to a little lookout and then spent time down at Whitehaven Beach (one of the top 10 beaches in the world). It was lovely, despite the fact that the whole time we were in the water you have to wear ‘stinger suits’ (pretty much wetsuits) because October thru May is jellyfish season and they have some really dangerous ones… Also, I got bitten by a fish! A biggish one! We were standing about knee deep in the water and there were a bunch of fish swimming around and people were talking about how cool it was that they let you get so close, and then splash! One jumped out of the water and full on bit me, I guess my fingers look like worms! Worry not, it didn’t hurt, but it was ridiculous! There were some lovely people on our boat including a Scottish couple who got married at a similar time to us, doing a similar trip! And these two lovely Scottish women who taught us a card game called Switch (which is essentially Uno with a couple extra rules, like Uno for grownups!). We stayed up late watching the sunset, and stars and moonrise, it was spectacular.
Day two was snorkel day! Our first snorkel location was awesome, tons of fish, beautiful coral, awesome big clams, huge Parrotfish (they eat the coral like it’s their job, which it is, but you can see and hear it). When we got back to the boat they told us to hop in the water because there were Batfish, we were like aight… I don’t know what a Batfish is, you know what it is? A HUGE FISH the size of most of my torso, probably around 15 lbs? And there were like 20 of them swimming right next to us, then they threw them bread from the boat and they went crazy, jumping out of the water, pushing for food, it was an intense and fabulous experience. We popped back on the boat and headed to a different location where the tide was a little high so we couldn’t see much, but just as we were giving up a couple brought everyone over to another spot because they thought they saw a cool ray, then Mike thought he saw a shark, then when it stopped moving and chilled out we realized it was the same thing! It was a shovel-nosed ray, essentially it looks like the head of a ray (a big triangle) and then a sort of sharky body with 3 fins, about 3 feet long. It was awesome. Then when we were taking the tender back to the boat, we saw a turtle and they let us jump out. I was probably about a foot away, and it let us swim with it for a while, it was spectacular. All told, the boat was totally worth it, gorgeous weather, fun experience, great snorkeling.
Also, a moment for a pet peeve. I hate paying for things that should be free. Wireless for instance… we’ve discussed that previously, but we have had significantly less access than we expected because they make you pay for wireless access everywhere (but apparently McDonald’s… where we might start hanging out). But here, they make you pay for little packets of sauce. I hate it, that .25 to .50 extra cents per package is just rude, those things cost nothing and food here is expensive! Don’t begrudge me that tiny packet of ketchup! It’s similar to how I felt about paying to use bathrooms in the Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, etc.), I mean really, you don’t want me to pee on the street right? And making me pay only makes me messier in the bathroom…
On to the awesome! When we got in to Airlie Beach it was POURING. Parts of Queensland (the state we’ve been in since Brisbane) have been flooding since we got here, but other than raining while we fed the elephants, it really hasn’t so much effected us. It is the rainy season here, so we were hoping for the best and crossing our fingers. So after the rainy morning, we explored town, and decided whether we were going to spring to go on an overnight sail in the Whitsundays, or maybe just a day of snorkeling or something. By the end of the day we decided to go for it, just for a 2 day, 1 night and we would get a free night at the place we were staying when we got back. So a couple of mornings ago we got down to the marina bright and early where we boarded the Siska IV, a maxi racing boat built in the 70’s which has circumnavigated the world twice, had Prince Charles ‘on its crew’ once and at one point held about 20 race records (cool right?). We spent two days in GLORIOUS weather, cruising around the Whitsundays, the first day we hiked up to a little lookout and then spent time down at Whitehaven Beach (one of the top 10 beaches in the world). It was lovely, despite the fact that the whole time we were in the water you have to wear ‘stinger suits’ (pretty much wetsuits) because October thru May is jellyfish season and they have some really dangerous ones… Also, I got bitten by a fish! A biggish one! We were standing about knee deep in the water and there were a bunch of fish swimming around and people were talking about how cool it was that they let you get so close, and then splash! One jumped out of the water and full on bit me, I guess my fingers look like worms! Worry not, it didn’t hurt, but it was ridiculous! There were some lovely people on our boat including a Scottish couple who got married at a similar time to us, doing a similar trip! And these two lovely Scottish women who taught us a card game called Switch (which is essentially Uno with a couple extra rules, like Uno for grownups!). We stayed up late watching the sunset, and stars and moonrise, it was spectacular.
Day two was snorkel day! Our first snorkel location was awesome, tons of fish, beautiful coral, awesome big clams, huge Parrotfish (they eat the coral like it’s their job, which it is, but you can see and hear it). When we got back to the boat they told us to hop in the water because there were Batfish, we were like aight… I don’t know what a Batfish is, you know what it is? A HUGE FISH the size of most of my torso, probably around 15 lbs? And there were like 20 of them swimming right next to us, then they threw them bread from the boat and they went crazy, jumping out of the water, pushing for food, it was an intense and fabulous experience. We popped back on the boat and headed to a different location where the tide was a little high so we couldn’t see much, but just as we were giving up a couple brought everyone over to another spot because they thought they saw a cool ray, then Mike thought he saw a shark, then when it stopped moving and chilled out we realized it was the same thing! It was a shovel-nosed ray, essentially it looks like the head of a ray (a big triangle) and then a sort of sharky body with 3 fins, about 3 feet long. It was awesome. Then when we were taking the tender back to the boat, we saw a turtle and they let us jump out. I was probably about a foot away, and it let us swim with it for a while, it was spectacular. All told, the boat was totally worth it, gorgeous weather, fun experience, great snorkeling.
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