Last Day in Hawaii

Today was jam-packed. We decided we wanted to see more of the rest of the island so we headed out fairly early in the rental car. We drove straight up the middle toward the famous North Shore, which has the monster waves for surfing in the winter. On the way, we stopped to see the birthing stones where female royalty went to deliver their children so that they would be blessed by the gods and thus suitable to continue the royal lineage. This occurred from the 12th century through 1800.

Then we went to Pupukea Beach Park which has three separate sections. We rented snorkeling gear for the first beach, Three Tables. We saw a green sea turtle swimming as well as lots of reef fish. After lunch on the beach, we went snorkeling at Shark's Cove on the other end of Pupukea. We saw another green sea turtle, this time eating, plus large parrotfish and surgeonfish. On the way back, we stopped at another beach where sea turtles were basking in the sun. It was very neat to see, although once again the tourists were getting way too close despite all of the warning signs. It's been amazing how many turtles we have been able to see on this trip!

We then drove to the west shore to see some sealife in tidal pools. We didn't see much other than crabs but we got to see a fantastic sunset out on the point. After a wonderful Thai dinner, we came back to the hotel to blog and to pack for tomorrow. We have to get up early tomorrow to return the rental car and to catch the five-hour flight back to the mainland to visit Neil in San Francisco. So little time left!

Rummy!

Believe or not Alan and I have not been nonstop sightseeing fanatics during our trip. We have read several good books, slept in numerous mornings, eaten some fantastic food and drank lots (and lots) of good local beer. But, we have also been playing a good amount of cards -- 500 Rummy to be specific. I think we played our first hand on one of the first plane rides and we've playing regularly ever since. Why Rummy you might ask? I'm not sure, but I can say that it was definitely, solely Alan's idea. This is important because Alan has won virtually EVERY SINGLE game we have played in 6 weeks! He says it's because he "does statistical analyses" of the available plays, which, quite frankly only adds insult to injury. I mean come on. Every time I refuse to play anymore, he somehow cons me into one more game -- And then promptly beats me. The lesson from all this? My husband is a sneaky devil that relishes in winning and I apparently seriously suck at Rummy. -- Kelly

Hawaii Diving

Today we tried a little scuba diving, Hawaii style. We were picked up at our hotel for a dive by our divemaster Bob. We went out with one other student with him on a catamaran, but with about eight other divers led by other instructors. We were a little apprehensive at first because the boat took us out of the harbor, around a point, and straight out from Waikiki Beach a stone's throw from some surfers waiting far out for the big waves. But we were more than pleasantly surprised!

On the first dive, we saw eight different green sea turtles in Turtle Canyon, the name of the dive site. Three were seen swimming, four were sleeping or relaxing on the bottom in coral and one was being nipped at by fish in a cleaning station. We also saw four different moray eels (a first for Kelly) of three different species. We saw two black-speckled white ones that were out of their crevices and being cleaned by small wrasses.

At the second dive site named Horseshoe Key, right outside of the harbor entrance, we saw two more moray eels as well as a four-foot whitetip reef shark under a ledge. Suffice it to say that we were amazed at the number of 'big' animals that we saw, plus the innumerable 'regular' fish that inhabit the reefs. Alan saw tons of triggerfish, which are his favorite.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sun and water on Waikiki Beach, as well as the views of the longboard surfing. Some of these surfers are amazing. We saw one couple that would ride the wave in with the girl on the guy's shoulders doing various acrobatic moves as they cruised into shore! Others would ride in groups. We saw one family (dad, mom and very young child) riding a wave, all on the same surfboard, standing in a row! We were amazed.

Tonight, we ate at Fatty's Chinese restaurant, which has about ten total seats for customers. We had an awesome meal, and it cost only two-thirds of what we spent on our margaritas alone last night! We really enjoy the local restaurants, yes for the prices, but mostly for the good food and local spirit.

What We Can't Wait to Experience Back Home

As the trip nears closer and closer to completion, with only six days left, we have thought more and more about what we miss most about home and what simple things we can't wait to have in our fingers again.

For Alan:

1. Twirling through so many TV channels on our soft leather couch
2. Enjoying a beer at my favorite pub McCarthy's where I know people
3. Going joy-riding and fishing on the family boat, the PolarKraft
4. Reading the Sunday paper from cover to cover
5. Making good coffee or espressos in the comfort of my home

For Kelly:

1. My GIRLFRIENDS!! (this is a big one)
2. Going to the farmers market with Alan on Saturdays
3. Sleeping in my own bed with the ceiling fan overhead
4. Not wearing the same outfit every other day (I may burn some of these
clothes after this trip)
5. And finally, I must agree with Alan, I miss McCarthys.

Hawaii Preserve

Today we wanted to see a little more of 'natural' Hawaii, so we headed to the Hanauma Bay which is a short drive from Waikiki Beach. It is a nature preserve created from a volcano flooded long ago. We went snorkeling around the reef which fronted the entire beach. We saw alot of fish most of which we had seen either in Fiji or Oz. But we did see large schools (hundreds) of convict tangs, plus some very large parrotfish up close. Unfortunately it misted several times throughout the day, but we still enjoyed the beach. It's not like being in Fiji or on an Aussie liveaboard, but Hawaii is still very beautiful.

Afterwards, we got cleaned up and went to a little Mexican restaurant, named La Cucaracha, where we had mucho margaritas. Of course, we paid an arm and leg for said margaritas. Word of warning, if you want to come to Hawaii, be prepared to spend some cash.

Hello America!!

On 5:00 Friday, we said a heartfelt goodbye to Melbourne and its lovely trams and boarded a flight destined to arrive in sunny Hawaii at 8:00 am . . . the same day. Yes, our flight took negative 9 hours. And they said time travel wasn't possible!! Of course, this was all courtesy of the blasted international date line and, in actuality, was an extremely long flight (10.5 hours). Add to that the fact that Alan and I decided to go budget with Jet Star, thus there was no free food or drink on the flight aside from tap water, and it was downright miserable. But, despite our sleep deprivation, hunger and screwed up internal clocks, Alan and I definitely knew that we were in America when we landed. Yes, the screaming passengers and rude airport personnel were a dead give away. It really is quite amazing what a sense of entitlement that Americans seem feel when they vacation. It's like, "damnit, I've worked 50, 65-hour weeks this year to take this vacation and, by god, I'm going to have the time of my life no matter who else it makes miserable or how much it costs!" Ahh, it's good to be home.

Anyway, we got our rental car and made our way to our hotel on Waikiki Beach all before 9:30 am. After napping until about 1:00 pm (which was like 9:00 am Melbourne time), we headed to the beach. Despite the throngs of tourists, Waikiki really is beautiful. Palm trees and immaculate landscaping line the beaches and there are lots of surfers and outrigger canoes on the ocean. We hung out there for most of the afternoon just lounging and people watching.

That night, after dinner, we went back down to the beach to watch a fireworks display that is put on every Friday from one of the upscale hotels. It was beautiful.-- Kelly

Farewell to Australia

This morning we packed up our stuff, checked out of the Nunnery, and tried to enjoy a few more things in Melbourne. We headed to the Melbourne Museum to see some Victoria history and some aboriginal culture. Afterwards, Kelly went shopping for that last-minute memento.

We will now endure the 10.5 hour overnight flight to Hawaii. We are looking forward to it, but can't believe that over five weeks have passed and that we are already going to be back in the USA.

Which reminds us of an interesting story from last night. We enjoyed a great meal at an African restaurant, the first for both of us. Then we went to the Rob Roy, a small bar that attracts local bands. We were there for two bands, the first of which was OK (especially with a gifted violin player) and sang "At least we're not in the USA." The second was a heavy metal band whose lead singer screamed nonsensically while the two electric guitars, drums, trombone, oboe and accordian players rocked on. No kidding. It was all we could do not to leave behind our second jug of beer.

Which is another segway. Every place in Australia seems to have a different system and language for disbursing beer. During our three weeks here, we have ordered pints, pitchers, jugs, mugs and schooners of beer, as well as just pointed alot. We have drank Aussie beer the entire time. And we are amazed that Vegemite, a concentrated yeast extract that is found throughout the country, is actually made from the leftovers of beer-making. It is horrible!

We are really going to miss Australia.

David and Janine- this blog's for you!

As is typical in large cities, there are lots of street performers in Melbourne's city center area. Violists, guitars and various brass instruments can all be heard. But, nowhere before have I heard a street dulcimer player! There is a guy at the corner of Swantson and Bourke, right in the heart of it all, that Alan and I have seen playing the hammer dulcimer twice. His performances were beautiful ! I thought of you guys. -- Kelly

Tramming it in Melbourne

Let's see. Where did we last leave you? Oh yes, we were getting ready to have dinner last night. Alan and I ate at a great Spanish restaurant near our hotel for some tapas and Australian wine. For those of you that have not yet discovered tapas- they are delicous smaller appetizer-like dishes that you share and I highly recommend them. We had some salmon ceviche, a scallop / cauliflower dish and a pan-fried cheese dish. Yummy. After that we ventured into The Evelyn, a local Fitzroy bar, for the evening. They had a electronica reggae band playing that was interesting to say the least. All in all a great evening.



We started off our sightseeing today by catching a tram to Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens. The highlight of the Gardens- judging by Alan's camera flashing- was most certainly a lake on one of the lawns that was infested with eels. I don't know what kind they were but they were fairly large (some perhaps 3 feet) and they would swim to the surface when you approached the water's edge (presumably they are accustomed to being fed). Gross! After that we got slightly lost on the city's tram system (I have been designated the Cheri of our trip, i.e., navigator extrodinare, so this was my fault), but finally ended up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, aka, the "MCG". It seems that Mebournites are sports fanatics and this is their shrine. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the damn thing was closed for the day, so we were left peering through the gates just like at the St. Kilda lawn bowling club yesterday. (I guess we were not meant to have a sporting experience in Australia).

As an aside, you may have noticed that our Melbourne blogs frequently mention the Tram. The Melbourne Tram system (similar to San Fran's cable car system) is extensive and has been pretty much vital to our getting around. We love it. Public transportation rocks. No parking, less traffic congestion for the city, and -most importantly- it's cheap. It costs about 6 dollars for an all day ticket (which, by the way you can also use on the city's bus and train system). The only problem?- The sytem is so extensive that it usually takes me about an hour of studying the map to make sure we get on the right ones to get where we are going. It's exhausting.



Now we are off for dinner and who knows what after that. Tonight is our last night in Melbourne. I can't believe that I am typing this but, tomorrow we are actually heading back to the states (Hawaii). Friends and family have your phones at the ready!


--Kelly

Lazy Day in Melbourne

Today we had a leisurely day. After breakfast in the hotel's communal kitchen, we took a tram into downtown for some shopping. We did not find anything, so we took another tram to the bay area outside of town to try our hand at lawn bowling at a local club. We found out yesterday that the Aussie rules football league only plays games on the weekends, so we would not be able to go to an event. So we thought we would create our own sporting extravaganza, but the club was closed. We did have a nice walk around the pier until we tried to catch the tram home. A large fire had broken out at a local theatre and all tram traffic was stopped and car traffic diverted. It took us awhile to walk through the mess. Tonight we plan on enjoying some tapas and drinks at a local Spanish restaurant.

Flying American

Yesterday we had another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. While walking in the park of the botanical gardens, we saw an aircraft carrier in port in a bay of Sydney Harbor. It was the USS Kitty Hawk which is to be decommissioned within the year. We could see people walking on the deck so we walked for a half hour around the bay to see what was up. Signs were posted that public tours were not being conducted; it was for VIPs and certain Aussie military personnel only while the ship was in for just a few days. We were later told that only 3000 people would be allowed onboard during its stay. I had Kelly ask multiple times to see if we could enter. Finally a friendly, older semi-retired pilot (who obviously liked Kelly) ushered us past security, stuck us on the back of a group of Aussie helicopter pilots and mechanics and told us to be quiet about it. When we got inside the inner hanger deck, our 'tour group' did not have a guide so was milling aimlessly about the hangar. Kelly asked an officer where we were allowed to go, and he took our group on a personal tour.

We were taken to see the inner hangers with elevators, engine repair room, radio/communications room, pilot house, and Kelly was even allowed to sit in the air traffic controller's seat. Of course the most interesting part was being able to walk out on the top flight deck and be able to touch and tour the sitting aircraft while the officer explained their different missions and parts. We were on the ship for over an hour. It was very interesting and fun!

Typically the Kittyhawk docks in Japan with about 5,000 naval and air force personnel living aboard at any given time. With the Kittyhawk (but obviously not open for any visitors) were several very intimidating cruisers, one of which was the USS Cowpens. The Kittyhawk is scheduled to be retired in the Seattle, Washington area.

Alan

Last Day in Sydney

Yesterday was our last full day in Sydney and we started off the day by sleeping in-- again. (Our excuse is that we've had a bit of a bit of a head cold the past couple of days). It was dreary-just like the day before-- but since the rain was only intermittant, we went ahead and went to the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens. Between light showers, we saw some monstrous fig trees and great views of Sydney's famous bay, bridge and opera house. Also, we also saw a flock of noisy Australian Cockatoos on one of the lawns. During our hike through the gardens we spotted the USS Kittyhawk across the Wooloomooloo Bay (yes, this is really the name of the bay), which led to quite an excursion in and of itself that took up the whole afternoon (see Alan's blog). After that adventure we headed to Queen Victoria Arcade, an upscale shopping area. Sadly, I did not get to buy anything as the shops were about a half an hour from closing (I can't shop under pressure). So we headed up to Chinatown to Yee King, a restaurant specializing in northern Chinese cuisine. Neither of us got what we tried to order, but still enjoyed our meals immensely. We topped it off with ice cream. It was a great day but once again, exhausting!

This morning we left on the 1.5-hour flight to Melbourne (under bright sunny skies damnit). Syndey was definitely one of the parts of our trip that I was most looking forward to. Although the weather could have been better, it certainly didn't disappoint. It is an amazing city. Very cosmopolitan and with its many distinct neighborhoods, it makes me think of what San Fran might be like with a British flair. And the Opera House-- I could not take my eyes off of it. Dan would have had a field day with his camera. The other main attraction, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was not as striking though as we expected it to be. It's got nothing on the Golden Gate Bridge.

--Kelly

Rainy Day Activities

After a hectic day yesterday, we slept in this morning, which was nice. At about 10:30, when we finally emerged from our hotel, we found that it was going to be a rainy, dreary day in Sydney. So we were especially glad that we made a full day of it yesterday. We originally had planned to go to the Botanical Gardens today but, given the weather, changed our plans. We went to an area called the Rocks down by the harbour and had lunch at the Australian Hotel. There we had a local micro-brew and a kangaroo and emu pizza. Yummy! After that we walked out onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge for another view of the Opera House and bay area (albeit in a slight drizzle) and then to a craft market where we bought a souvenir Christmas ornament. Since it was still raining we then caught a bus over to Darling Harbour to the IMAX Theatre (with the world's largest screen) to watch Deep Ocean in 3D. It was awesome and brought back fond memories of our Great Barrier Reef adventures, especially of the cleaning stations where we repeatedly saw LARGE fish (like grouper, cod and sea bass) waiting in line at specific coral formations to be cleaned of parasites by small wrasses. Now we are heading to dinner for some noodles in Chinatown and will decide afterwards if we are up for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie or a beer at the Three Wise Monkeys Bar.

Hangin' with the Locals

Tonight, Alan and I went to Scruffy Murphy's, an Irish bar here in downtown Sydney, to watch the revered Australian Wallabies trounce South Africa's rugby team on the big screen with a host of rugby shirt-clad Aussies. It was a lot of fun but the meal that I was served by Ol' Scruffy is the reason for this blog. First, let me say that I believe that Alan and I have truly embraced the Australian / New Zealand culture wholeheartedly and without hesitation. Tonight alone, we readily cheered at every "scrum," "ruck and maul" and at every sap that got sent to the "sin bin" even though we had absolutely no idea what in the hell was going on. Moreover, we've accepted without question the fact that fries are "chips," trash is "rubbish" and "cheers" apparently means both "hello" and "you're welcome". However, I personally have some issue with the Aussie / Kiwi version of the "Burger." Here Burgers are not served with cheese, lettuce and tomato. No sir. Even at the most basic diners, beets and carrots -- yes beets and carrots -- are most commonly served on burgers. Now, although it is a little shocking the first time you take a bite, this is not as bad as it sounds. It is actually not half bad, but still, in a country where they have McDonalds everywhere, they should know that this is not even close to a "burger." Tonight, the burger I got was especially noteworthy. It was dressed with carrots, lettuce, ham and fried eggs. Go figure.

Busy First Day in Sydney

Our first day in Sydney was jam-packed. First we woke up at 4:15am to pack and get to the Cairns airport for our flight at 6:25am. Luckily we were able to sleep a little on the plane. Once we arrived, we had to deal with the normal rigamarole of a shuttle. One guy tells us it's free for our hostel, another refuses to take us without paying him, Alan almost causes an international incident getting his money back, etc. We finally arrived at the hostel (for free) two hours before check-in. So we stowed our bags and hoofed it to Darling Harbor. It's not the big one here, but it was very nice. Plus it allowed us to see where we are in the city, and we are right in the middle of downtown with lots of restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. We spent two hours walking around, including through Hyde Park, before finally checking in.

After getting cleaned up, we caught a bus to Sydney Harbor to catch a half-hour-long ferry ride to Manly Beach. That ferry runs right between Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. We docked on the other side and shared two pot pies (an Aussie regular) while watching surfers. We got to see the bridge and opera house during the day and at night. Without a nap, it was a LONG day. And then we decided to go out afterwards. We'll see how we manage tomorrow.

Home is Fast Approaching

It's really starting to hit us how quickly this honeymoon vacation is progressing. Of course we missed the July 4th festivities in the US. So our skies were not lit up with fireworks (which we miss enjoying in downtown Lexington outside our condo), but we do have some nice sky views here as well (on the dive boat, especially). But we are two-thirds of the way done. We are leaving northern OZ tomorrow and we will be back in the states (at least in Hawaii) in a week. We have so many good memories already, but it's hard to believe how much time has passed. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again, but we really don't want this experience to end!

Last Two Nights in Northern Australia

We had a good time last night in Port Douglas. I cooked BBQ, and then we went to a local bar for a few beers and some music. We played 'Pokie' for the first time, even though these little rooms are in a corner of every establishment serving alcohol. Of course, we lost our money fairly quickly. This morning we woke up early to bring the rental car back to Cairns. We had an hour-long drive along the coast, and the scenery was beautiful. We spent the day hanging out in the sun along the Cairns lagoon again. And tonight we went back to Sushi Zipang to choose among the sushi floating along the conveyor belt. This was the first time we had eaten in the same restaurant twice since we started our trip, but it was just too good to pass up. Tomorrow we head to the airport at 5am for our 3-hour flight to Sydney and more of the big-city life.

Crikey Beach

Today we decided to hit the beach because we have not felt sand in our toes since we left Fiji. It is winter here, so Four Mile Beach was fairly secluded. Don't ask us why it's called this because Australia does not measure length in miles. Anyway the sun and sand was warm, but the water was a little too chillly to enter. Plus there were warning signs that crocodiles visit these coastal waters occasionally. We spent the day playing cards, reading magazines, collecting sea shells and taking naps. It was a great change of pace after yesterday's hikes. Today we bought some groceries so that we can barbeque around our hotel's pool tonight with some Aussie wine.

"Other" Australian Wildlife

Given that Australia has so much wildlife that is totally unique to its borders, we keep our eyes continually peeled and our cameras at the ready during our travels through the Tablelands. Aside from the awesome Platypus, Rock Wallabies, termites (or their mounds at least) and dead (damnit) Kangaroos we've already mentioned, we have seen some very noisy kookaburro, turtles and several brush turkey. Alan has expertly documented these animals on film for your viewing pleasure.

Mossman Gorge

We spent this afternoon hiking once again, this time closer to the coast in a gorge surrounded by rainforest. The hike was about 3km on a dirt trail, so it was not difficult. But it was very different from our earlier hike and very beautiful. It's amazing how these two environments are only about an hour or two apart.

Granite Gorge

After a restful night at the Wallaby, we headed north to the mining town of Mareeba where we visited a park area called Granite Gorge. We went on a hike through what is very appropriately described as, yes, a granite gorge -- granite boulders everywhere! It was somewhat strenuous clambering from one rock to the next, but well worth the views. And at the end we visited their "Rock Wallaby Sanctuary" which is basically an area where they have fed Rock Wallabies to the point that they have become tame. We have very mixed feelings about this sort of wild animal-human interaction, but hey, it was probably our only chance to see a live wallaby and it seemed that the damage was already done, so we fed a Rock Wallaby. It was cool, but not as cool as seeing the platypus in the wild.

Waterfalls and Platypi

Yesterday, our first day in the Atherton Tablelands, we did what is known here as the Waterfall Circuit, where we basically visited four waterfalls that are all in close proximity to each other (about 20 kms apart) . Each was less than a 10 minute walk from the road so this was not a strenuous undertaking. The falls were quite beautiful and for lunch we enjoyed some deli sandwiches on a log directly in front of a waterfall. But by far the highlight was the last one we visited, called Souita Falls. This one was quite a bit more secluded so there was no one around but us. As we hiked down the trail toward the falls what did our little eyes spot in the babbling brook, but a PLATYPUS! We couldn't believe it at first but it really was and he let us watch him feed and swim around for about 20 minutes, sometimes within 15 feet. Very cool. After the waterfall circuit we drove to Yungaburra, a tiny tiny town, and stayed at the "On the Wallaby" a great little hostel where Cleo, the manager or owner (we couldn't tell) cooked us an amazing dinner of local steak and brats with mashed potatoes, sauteed onions, and salad, all for just $8 each! Our room was comfy and we slept great.

On the Road Again

Well, after partying with the ProDive crew for a few hours after our boat returned to land, we picked up a new rental vehicle the next morning and headed out. By luck, we received a brand new vehicle, which we named 'Spiffy'. We headed inland to the Atherton Tablelands. We assume they are named that because we drove for a half-hour straight up switchbacks into mountainous terrain. Once we reached the top, it was totally flat for the entire day-long drive. When we headed back to the coastline today, we had a half-hour trip down through different swithbacks about 100km away. The mountains were beautiful and lush forest both ways. The Tablelands looked like what we expected for interior Australia, semi-desert-like and filled with huge termite mounds as far as we could see, plus more dead kangaroos on the side of the road than deer in rural KY. No wonder the insurance deductible on the car is double that for hitting a kangaroo than another car; it's a money maker.

Her Thoughts on the Live Aboard

Well, we are back on dry land and I must say I had no idea what I was getting myself into on this one. In my head I saw myself lounging on a sun deck with a strawberry smoothie in my hand only to be interrupted with an occasional leisurely dive. In fact there were no smoothies and, sadly, minimal lounging. Yes, the focus of this 50 km jaunt into the Pacific Ocean was strictly diving. The three days went something like this, up at the crack of dawn, dive briefing, dive, breakfast, dive briefing, dive, lunch, dive briefing, dive, afternoon tea, dive briefing, dive, etc. As a novice diver, I can say it was definitely the experience of a lifetime but not, I repeat not, relaxing. Diving that many times (I went on 8 day dives) also put a serious strain on my sinuses. Toward the end, I was having some trouble equalizing, causing some pain in my ears. Our last dive was yesterday at around noon and I am still so congested that I can barely hear. Plus, although it is warm here - around 80 - the water was a chilly 75. Even with a wetsuit on this was a tad unconfortable- especially at 6 am.

Congestion and lack of smoothies aside, the Great Barrier Reef is AMAZING! In a three day span, we saw a manta ray, two sharks (one of which was large and quite scary causing me to suck down way too much air in a matter of minutes), dwarf minke whales (about 7 meters in length), sting rays, and heaps (as they say in Australia) of beautiful fish and coral. My favorite though were the green turtles, especially when they were swimming to the surface or munching on some breakfast. So beautiful and graceful! They made me feel so awkward, with all my hoses and equipment.

Most of the dives were unguided, which meant that Alan was my compass. He did great. We only had to be towed in twice (once due to admittedly bad directions by the dive master and once due to an unexpected current). The second tow ended up being one of the most memorable moments of the trip for me. As we were bobbing in the ocean, being picked up in a dinghy by our dive master, she yelled to us "behind you, behind you!" At her command, we stuck our masks under the water to see - you are not going to believe this - a minke whale! We only saw it for a short period and we later learned from Tanya that while we were waiting it actually surfaced within 2 meters of us. It gives me butterflies to even think about it now. After we got on the main boat three minkes began to circle and surface around the boat for about 20 minutes. It was definitely awesome.

The people on the trip were great too. There were about 30 of us plus about 8 hilarious crewmembers. Most of the people on the trip were single and a bit younger than us, mid twenties, and were from everywhere- Sweden, New Zealand, France, Germany, US, Australia. Above is a picture of us with the boat's dive master, Tanya. We met the crew out for a few drinks last night in Cairns after we got back which was fun. The captain, Fozzie, was especially funny. He is a former Marlin fishman who cussed like a sailor.

As for spending three days on the ocean, I thankfully did not get sick. We had great, calm weather, so that helped. In fact, I feel more sick now that I am back on dry land. I have what Tanya told us was sealegs, where I feel unsteady all the time (kind of like I can't get used to not rocking). I am hoping this will pass soon. -- Kelly

His Thoughts of the Liveaboard

The whole liveaboard scuba adventure was great, and I would recommend it to anyone! Having been scuba certified for 7 years now, I have been diving many times and in several different places around the world. What I noticed most about the Great Barrier Reef (in comparison to other places) is the size of the sealife, including corals and individual fish. I did not see as much of the teeming schools as I have seen in the Caribbean, but I was amazed at the size of many of the fish I did see.

Anyway, I completed all 11 dives offered during our cruise. The first one made me very apprehensive. Before we booked, ProDive told us that the first day and first night dive would be led and chaperoned by a dive instructor. The rest would be done just with your dive buddy or a group you organized on your own. But we got separated from our dive instructor on the first dive, as well did everyone else, and were given bad instructions (because of a changed mooring position) so we saw little reef and alot of blue water. In fact, we had to signal for a pickup because we surfaced so far from the boat. However we did see a large manta ray while in the deep, which no one else did. That was the first I had ever seen, so it was great and worth the bad advice.

Afterwards, everything was fine. I was the leader of our dives, at Kelly's request, and actually I got fairly good by the third day of using the compass and directions given to us to see everything. We have all of the stuff we saw written in our dive log books, but I will recount a few. On both night dives (which I did with another dive buddy, not Kelly), I saw sharks, including a nurse and whitetip reef shark. These were the first night dives I had ever done; it was actually no problem at all. Together Kelly and I saw sharks during the day on two separate occasions, including a whitetip and a very large grey reef shark in very shallow water on our last dive. We were able to see green turtles feeding on coral and swimming to the surface on multiple occasions, and it was awesome to see Kelly's expression every time. She loved them! We were also able to see jellyfish and HUGE Maori wrasse and giant trevally. And of course we saw hundreds of different kinds of small fish. As a previous diver, this was actually the best part of the liveaboard situation for me. You knew that you had multiple dives ahead of you, so you did not have to concentrate on only finding the big things because you knew you had so many future chances. Instead, you could enjoy the multitudes of small fish and coral and just wait for the big things to find you.

With that being said, we were VERY lucky a second time as well (beside the manta ray sighting). On one dive, we got sucked out to slightly deeper water by a current on the outside of the reef. We signalled for another pickup, which means being towed through the water on a rope behind a small motorized dinghy back to the main boat. When the instructor came to get us, she was screaming. Apparently a dwarf minke whale had surfaced 2 meters (6 feet) behind us while she was motoring out. How a 7-meter-long whale surfaces right behind you without one knowing seems difficult to believe, but the captain later verified this sighting from the top of the main boat. So we missed out, yes. But as we were beig towed in, the instructor stopped the dinghy because the whale was following us somewhat. We were able to turn arouind, put our heads under the water, and see the whale swimming! Obviously few people get to ever experience this, but that did not matter to me. It was just plain beautiful! As we got back to the main

ship, we sailed to another mooring. Then three dwarf minke whales circled the boat and swam undfr it for several minutes. I have some camcorder footage I whill share when we return. It was amazing!

All in all, it ws great. Sometimes it was a little busy underwater with 30 other divers on board. But the food was good, the weather and ocean were beautiful, the company was great as was the staff. And we got to sun on the top deck waiting for the next dive while reliving the last one. I can't wait to do it again in the future, especially with Kelly! For someone who had been in the open ocean on only two other occasions (in Fiji), she did an amazing job keeping up with the rigor of 6am wake-up calls and daily gear preps we had to do on our own, not to mention not freaking out underwater with sharks.

--Alan