Back in Sydney

We are back in Sydney. We flew in at noon and Derek wasn't feeling well. We hung out at the hotel for the afternoon. I tried venturing out by myself, but couldnt' figure out how to know how much I had to pay for fares. You pay different amounts depending on where you want to go. In the evening, Derek and I went and figured out our train tickets. When we bought the tickets, we asked the guy in the ticket booth if he could recommend a place for us to eat that would be open at 7 or 8 at night. That's something I forgot to mention. Stores close early here. It seems as though businesses and restaurants are either open until 5:00 or 5:30 or they don't open until 6:00 or so and then are open quite late.

The guy recommended a noodle bar. After getting lost after we exited the train station, we finally found the place he had recommended. It was a very hip place. Located in Chinatown, the clientele ranged from cool, younger asian adults to a white businessman to an Asian grandma who sat across from Derek. There were 2 long tables with benches. We ordered at the counter (from a menu which we couldn't read)and then were brought yummy bowls of noodles and broth. Derek's was a pork broth with ramen noodles and I had a chicken broth with fried chicken and fat noodles in it. It was delicious and we were so hungry.

As were were walking (which we did a lot of when we got lost) I noticed that they had labelled the street at the curb (or kerb, as they spell it here) which way to look in order to avoid being hit by a car. That's something that my sister, Heather, had mentioned from when she was in Australia that you have to adjust to which way to check for on coming traffic before you cross the street. Derek and I have commented to each other a number of times how it feels like you may get hit from one side (the expected side in Canada) when the traffic is moving in the opposite direction.

We went through Central Station as well. It joins all of the train lines in Sydney. It's this cool, old train station and it's always bstling with activity and accents from around the world. Very cool.

Last Day in Cairns

Our last day was our hottest day. My hair is crazy as it is so humid here. We tried an Australian BBQ restaurant while we were here (I'm still looking for an Aussie Pie) and have enjoyed the range of types of food that Cairns Esplanade has to offer. We spent the day relaxing, checking out a local music store, and buying taffy and a few souvenirs to take home. We enjoyed one last evening on the esplanade, followed by a return to the crepe stand (they make the crepes in front of you, filled with fruit and whipped cream) and gelati (I have to admit I am a bit obsessed, but with flavors like kiwi fruit, mango, blood orange (like tangerine) and passionfruit, who could resist?)


We returned just as it was getting dark as Derek wanted to get some pictures of the bats. I have to confess, he took most of the pictures as they kind of freaked me out. It was crazy though, to see how they were basically sleeping when we got there and within 15 minutes or so, as it started to get dark, they started flying until the sky was filled with them. These pictures don't do it justice. The sky was totally filled and they were flying quite low, while screeching. It was quite a sight.

This last picture is at Derek's request. He has a funny, unexpected, and interesting fascination at creatures everywhere we travel. Geckos are of particular interest...ones that turn yellow to camouflage against the wall are extra interesting, hence the photo. There were lots of these little guys running around, particularly at night.

More from the Great Barrier Reef

Some more from the Great Barrier Reef:

You can see all of the fish we were swimming with. The videos are a little shaky as it was getting a bit windy. You can actaully see where the reef is in the middle of the ocean from far away, because there are waves that form over the shallow reef areas like they do at the beach.

The Great Barrier Reef

We woke up at 5:45 to get ready for an incredible adventure (not a small feat for those of you who know how we like to sleep). We drove about an hour along the coast (really beautiful) to Port Douglas. There we got on a fast boat (sort of yacht-looking)where they had breakfast for us and made us sign papers saying we knew that snorkeling and scuba diving were dangerous, yadda, yadda... We rode out to the reef, which was about an hour ride where they gave us, who hadn't scuba dove/dived before a lesson on how to scuba. Actually, it was also a video on all the bad things that could happen like lungs popping, running out of air etc. They told us that the most important thing was not to hold your breath underwater, just to kep breathing slowly. Since when does breathing become so complicated?? (Oh, right when you're underwater for 40 minutes) So the ride itself was pretty bumpy and Derek (for those of you that have heard about our not-so-fun cruise experience) wasn't feeling top notch anymore, but we had taken some anti-nausea pills, so it wasn't too bad. We got suited up and weighed around 150lbs more with the tank and the weights around our waist. They put weights around your waist so you don't float to the surface, which I kept doing anyway. We went under and practiced switching to our secondary air supply and clearing our masks. We went under the water and looked at all the coral. The coolest part was seeing an anenome and seeing the little clown fish (like Nemo) less than 12 inches in front of us. Ok, so I have to be honest with you, I really hated the diving part. My mask kept filling up with water because I didn't have it positioned right and there were several times where all I could think about was "breathe, breathe". My eyes were stinging with saltwater and the instructor kept having to come and get me as I tried to clear my mask and was floating to the surface. My air regulator came out of my mouth (which then you have to blow small bubbles out of your mouth so there isn't as much pressure on your lungs). Anyway, I was super glad when it was all done. I would try it again, but only after lesssons and becoming certified. **Aside: I wasn't sure how much detail to put here, but basically the rest of the day for Derek went like this: Derek was sick, threw up over the side of the boat, went snorkeling for 15 minutes at my request, and slept for most of the rest of the day inside the boat. (this is a sea cucumber, they breathe out of their butts) I went snorkeling at the next 2 locations, which were absolutely beautiful. I resolved my facemask issues and took pics and videos with an underwater camera we rented, and enjoyed the rest of the day, and was thrilled that I didn't get stung by a jellyfish (this is the beginning of the jellyfish season). We had been snorkeling in the Bahahas, and I thought it was cool, but not amazing. It was so amazing at the Great Barrier Reef. I am so glad we went to the reef (and Derek is almost glad we did too)

The smells we smell...

Have you ever noticed how there are different smells depending where you visit? Florida smells like water, chlorine, and moist, California smells like smog and tropical flowers. So what does Australia smell like? Where as in Canada a mall would smell like food and cleaner, in Australia it smells like food and incense. Sometimes at night there is a smell like hot garbage and dog food. Other times is smells like salt water and sunscreen. The food markets smell more like surrry than in Canada.

I just noticed this and thought i'd write it down so I'd remember.

The Rainforest and The Ocean

We took a drive up the mountains near Cairns, to the Rainforest Village of Karumba. Karumba Village is located in the Rainforest. This rainforest is considered the oldest Rainforest in the world. We walked a 3km pathway through the rainforest. It's crazy how the canopy really does block out the light (and the rain, as it was sprinkling in the morning).



We then drove to Barron Falls, also located near Karumba. The road back down the mountain, was the narrowest 2 lane road we have been on. Derek didn't have to touch the gas once the whole way down the mountain. He only had to use the break as he navigated around hairpin turns. Once we reached the bottom, we went to check out a golfcourse nearby. It was also so incredibly beautiful (wee may reutrn to try it out).



On the way back to Cairns, I suggested that we go down the road to Trinity Beach. The area down to the Beach was full of Beach homes and apartments. When we made it down to the ocean, it was absolutely beautiful. I suggested parking down near the beach and that we walk along the water. That progressed to taking off our sandals, and finally to my suggesting that we take a swim. We went back to the car, changed into our swimsuits and went back to the water. There are red and yellow flags set up on the beach, indicating where swimming is recommended. We may have wandered outside the flags, but had a great time jumping into the waves. It was pretty windy here today, so we had lots of great waves to enjoy. There were a few saves that were so strong they knocked us down and pulled us along the bottom of the ocean. The sand was soft where it was still dry but in the actual ocean, the grain were far more coarse. Coarse sand plus being dragged along the bottom by waves equals a bathing suit, hair, ears, and every other orifice full of sand. I had 2 large handfulls of gravel-like sand fall out of my bathing suit afterwards, but boy was that spontaneous swim ever worth it. It was amazingly beautiful. The beach curved around to where a small mountain rose next to the ocean.



After showering and removing all the sand, we went for supper on the Esplanade. We parked and started to walk to the restaurant when Derek looked up and saw something flying overhead. It wasn't a bird, it was a bat!!! We looked in the trees and saw them hanging upside down in the tree. When we returned to the car later in the evening the were screaming and swooping overhead, with their nasty, glowing eyes.

As a nice finish to the evening, I had the most wonderful Rhubarb Ice Cream. For those of you who don't know, my favorite types of desserts are Rhubarb dessert, so this little flavor discovery was quite a treat.

Couples Retreat

We are totally living the life here. We had a nap this afternoon and then went and booked our SCUBA adventure and walked along the boardwalk. After that we went for oven fired pizza on the Esplanade...had the Don (kalmatas, roasted red pepper, basil, ham) and spiced chicken (chicken, garlic) and they were so yummy. We just saw the new movie Couples Retreat, which was pretty funny and less inappropriate than I was expecting. It's 9:00am in Manitoba and midnight here, which is still kind of strange. I'm sleepy and off to bed...