Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef....check.

Oh man, life is good!  I just got back from being on a boat overnight without seeing land in the Pacific Ocean over the Great Barrier Reef. 

I was with a group of about 10 other divers/snorkelers, and I did a total of 7 dives, one of which was a night dive. 

Chris wasn't feeling well enough to dive, so he didn't make the trip.  As it turns out, instead he went 4-wheeling with an American tour guide named Randy through the Hinterland, a.k.a. mountains with forest on them in Cairns as I was suiting up to dive.  

When I listened to our first briefing on the ship, I thought I would need a guide for all 7 dives.  I was nervous.  The first dive in, nearly everyone used the guide to get acquainted with our surroundings.  We saw some gorgeous coral, and we even saw a shark!  It nearly bit my nose off!  Haha, just kidding.  The shark was probably 5 meters away.  As it turns out, I only used a divemaster twice.  Don't worry, when you dive you have to have a buddy, so I wasn't completely alone roaming around the deep blue sea.  At first, I was buddies with a girl from Spain named Rocio.  She was really cool, and our dive was her first time to go without a guide too.  The visibility was about 15 meters, so it was nearly impossible to lose each other.  It was a blast, and we saw some incredible fish and coral!    

After that dive, we transferred to the boat we slept on.  Rocio was my roommate in our tiny room with 2 twin beds a bathroom. 

The communal areas of the ship were quite nice, and the food was delicious and healthy!



Once we got onto that ship and changed locations, Rocio decided to complete an advanced diving course while on this trip.  From then on, she was doing separate coursework so I became the third in a buddy pair of 2 Israeli guys - Jonathan and Yuval.  They were awesome.  We went  as a buddy team of 3 without a divemaster every dive from then on except for the night dive.  This is a photo of team international - a 70 year old Japanese man named Tadayoshi who got his scuba certification when he was 63, Jonathan, me, and Yuval.

The first dive with Jonathan and Yuval was a bit rough because we weren't warned of the strong current before getting into the water.  We went under and swam around in the deep blue water seeing nothing but each other for about 5-7 minutes.  We decided to surface to get our bearings, and as it turns out the current had been pushing us toward New Zealand, away from the ship.  We could still see the ship, but decided to go back underwater to avoid the waves at the surface and try and find our way toward the coral again.  This is one of the maps we got briefed on before our dive at the Playground of Norman Reef. 

After surfacing a bit closer to the ship one more time before seeing any coral or fish, we were tired and frustrated.  We finally made our way to a bit of coral, but by the time we got there, we were almost out of air and had to find our way back.  Even still, once we surfaced at the end of the dive, the smaller motor boat was on its way to give us a lift back to the ship.  We were underwater looking at cool stuff for about 15 minutes, but we were in the water for 2 hours total.  I hope that's the worst dive I ever have.  

After that, the dives got progressively better.  The night dive was pretty awesome.  We each had a torch (flashlight), and we all went with a guide.  At the front and back of the ship near the lights, there were lots of gray reef sharks and other fish swimming near the surface.  You better believe we were in the mix on our dive.  I'll admit, I was nervous and my breathing was shallower than it should have been, but what an experience!  At one point, a gray reef shark about 3 ft long was 2 ft. away from me.  It was similar to what I would imagine diving in an aquarium would be like. 

This morning, we got our wakeup call at 5:45 and we were diving again by 6:30.  After that, we had breakfast and then went down for two more dives before lunch.  The last dive was one of my favorites.  The ship supervisor took us out on the small motor boat and dropped us off right on top of a nice, shallow portion of the reef since the current was so strong.  We rolled off the boat backwards into the water.  I did a back flip underwater while breathing in all of my scuba gear.  What a cool sensation.  Jonathan, Yuval, and I saw more fish than we had on any of our dives before.  We also stayed underwater for a longer period of time since we were staying in fairly shallow water (~10-12 meters).  The only downfall was that I got cut by some coral.  I was swimming backwards watching a fish and my left calf got scraped up on some fire coral.  I came out of the salty ocean water bleeding and the dive supervisor got me all fixed up.  Thankfully the great whites weren't on to me.  

The visibility for our last 5 dives was only 5-10 meters.  Typically on the reef, visibility is about 30 meters.  As far as this time of year goes though, I picked a good week to dive.  Right now Cairns is between two cyclones.  One was last week, the next one is expected to hit as early as tomorrow.  Usually the difference between tides in this area is ~20cm.  Right now, the difference between tides is over 2 meters because of the weather.  This makes the currents stronger and the water murkier.  This water was significantly clearer than the rock quarry water I got scuba certified in, but when I come back to the reef next time, I’ll avoid the rainy season in the tropical north of Australia to get the better views. 

Now we’re hoping our flight to Bali tomorrow is still on schedule due to the volcanic ash over the islands at the moment.  Fingers crossed and lots of prayers that the Southeastern Asia leg of the trip goes smoothly!

Happy Australia Day!

It’s my last day in Sydney, and everyone is celebrating Captain Cook’s landing on Sydney Harbour in 1788.  It’s Australia Day, and there’s so much happening!  There are 10 stages with 7 bands each on the Rocks today.  There are street vendors, markets, and plenty of lively bars and restaurants in which to celebrate.  Sydney is so much more than a typical city with the harbor and beaches just ferry rides away.  I’ve enjoyed every single moment here. 

On Sunday, after taking a much needed 3 hr. nap once I got into the hotel room at the Mercure Sydney (which I recommend for it's concierge and location to rail and bus), I was off to explore Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.  Around noon I caught the bus to Circular Quay (pronounced Circular Key).  This is the wharf where ferries are always coming and going.  This is also where you catch your first views of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  After I parted ways from the Kiwi (aka someone from New Zealand) I met on the bus, I experienced another one of those on-the-verge-of-tears moments.  There it was.  The Sydney Harbour Bridge.  I’ve had a picture of that bridge on the back of my bedroom door for the past two and half years, and here I was seeing it with my own two eyes.  I chuckled to myself and realized how far from home I really am.  As I walked towards the bridge to take some photos, I glanced to my right after I passed some ferry boats, and felt the same sensation again.  I was across the harbour from the iconic Sydney Opera House.  It was a hot and sunny day that I’ll never forget.  This picture is from a ferry ride showing the bridge and opera house from a distance.

I decided to walk into the Rocks area and look around at all the restaurants on my way to walk over the bridge.  I stumbled upon an outdoor wedding.  It was a windy setting, but still beautiful.  It took me quite a long time to figure out how to get up onto the bridge, but once I found it I walked up into the lookout pylon to take in the view.  After that I continued across the long bridge into Milson’s Point.  It was a quaint, quiet town atmosphere that I was pleasantly surprised to find.  I ate the best fish I’ve ever tasted at a small restaurant right when you get off the bridge called Fisherman’s Cove.  I’d never even heard of Barramundi fish, but the gentleman behind the counter recommended it.  It was a meaty white fish, not flaky.  If you ever get the chance – eat it!

I took the metro back across the bridge into Sydney.  The metro here puts every single metro I’ve ever been on to shame!  They’re double-decker trains like DC/Maryland/Virginia have for commuters outside of the city, but these trains travel the entire Sydney rail system.  I went over the harbour bridge along with the bike lane, pedestrian lane, and 8 lanes of cars.  After a bite to eat, I was ready for bed.

On Monday, Chris and I were together for the morning when we took a tour of the Sydney Opera House.  It was some of the best $28 I’ve spent.  We went into the various theaters and concert halls.  The night before, Jimmy Buffet performed so they were doing some massive cleanup in one area.   Before I left on this trip, my dad told me that when he was in Sydney in 1970 on rest and relaxation from Vietnam, the Opera House was being built.  Sure enough, the opera house opened in 1973, sixteen years after it was begun.  Three years after Steve Brooks laid eyes on it.  It was an extremely controversial design at the time, and the original Dutch architect actually never saw the completed project in person.  Because of the controversy as a result of the change in government during construction, he resigned and never returned to Sydney.  On a lighter note, there are over a million Swedish tiles that cover the 4 acres of roof area of the opera house that aren't even white.  There's a cool pattern to them actually that you'd never see in typical pictures.

I went surfing after the tour!  Chris and I parted ways as I took a ferry to Manly Beach.  The waves were intimidating at first, but I actually stood up a few times!  The instructors told us the conditions were challenging due to the high tide and rip currents, but I actually got the hang of it!  Crikey!  Word of advice though, if your swimsuit bottoms aren’t skin tight, opt in for the wetsuit no matter how hot it is.  Just sayin’.  Oh, and if you ever go to Manly Beach you must eat or at least have a drink at Sugar Lounge.  It’s a restaurant with an open-air-front across the street from the beach with comfy chairs.

Tuesday, Chris and I went to the Taronga Zoo across the harbour.  I saw my first koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, Tasmanian devils, kookaburras, and freshwater crocs!  Impressive zoo for sure! 

After that I took off to the Sydney Olympic Park.  I took a ferry there and fell asleep on the way.  I’m starting to get sore and pretty worn out.  The Olympic Park was fairly desolate as expected, but it wasn’t as bad as the Munich Olympic Park in Germany.  I went into the Aquatic Centre to look around, and it’s now a community aquatic centre.  One whole section is water slides and toys for kids.  The place was packed with swimmers.  I caught the metro back into the city after walking forever, and I caught a snooze on the train too.  I got back to the hotel around 7, sat on the bed and felt so relieved to rest.  But wouldn’t ya know it, I went back out to get some nighttime photos.  I took the ferry to Manly and back again to take some pictures from the harbour.  I’d tinkered with the settings on my camera the night before and finally figured out how to take a killer night photograph.  I didn’t get home until after midnight.

Today I slept in, and then we went on the Oz Jetboat Adventure.  There are companies that have speed boat rides around the harbour, and they make it a point to get you wet with spins and tricks in the water.  Today being Australia Day, the harbour was nearly bumper to bumper with boats.  We had to get through the traffic into some open water to do the tricks.  It was awesome!  We went out so far that we passed a nude beach.  There were plenty of people standing on the sand dancing and waving to us in all their glory.  It was a stitch!  I did a bit of shopping once arriving drenched back to shore, and then I went to Darling Harbour to meet Chris for the fireworks.  He wasn’t feeling well and came back to the room while I enjoyed a Barramundi fish dinner and glass of Australian white wine.  I saw the fireworks and guess what?  I nearly cried.  The grand finale was unbelievable!  They launched the fireworks off of 10-15 platforms set up in the water and also off of the three tallest buildings nearby.  Everything was synchronized to music perfectly.  I’m not even from Australia and I felt patriotic with the Aussies.  Australia Day was an absolute fantastic final day to be here.

The next leg of the trip begins in 9 hours.  We fly out for Cairns at 8:45am tomorrow morning.  I’m sad to see Sydney go, but absolutely stoked to see the Great Barrier Reef!    

Kangaroo Tastes Pretty Great

Chris and I are in the Avalon Airport about an hour outside of Melbourne waiting to board our flight to Sydney.  It's 5:30am and we haven't had a bed to sleep in since 8am yesterday morning.  We decided to wing it as far as staying up and getting a cab out here to this airport.  Word of advice, pay the extra money to fly into Melbourne.  The 2:45am cab ride alone was outrageous, and we're going into Sydney on very little sleep.  I had kangaroo for lunch today which was just like steak.  Delicious! 

Didn't get to see the penguin parade, and didn't go to the horse track, but I did make some lovely purchases at the markets!  I saw sailboat racing at the Docklands in Melbourne. 

Now my flight is boarding, so I'll be in touch in Sydney!

Haven't Seen Any Dingoes Yet

Pop quiz: where are you when you wake up and it's 369 degrees, 246% humidity, with absolutely zero breeze?  Chris Taylor's apt. in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I was shocked to find out that it's not typical to have A/C (they call it "air con" here) where Chris lives.  Newer houses less than 15 yrs old or so come with it standard, but for everyone else it's open windows, ice baths, and fans in the tropical climate.  My first morning there was the hottest morning of the summer so far, and of course it came after a long night of enjoying Toohey's Extra Dry and Great Northern beers.  Tuesday in Brisbane included lunch at the famous Queen Street mall and a walk around the city.  I bought a new pair of "sunnies" since I'm pretty sure I left mine at LAX.  I was happy to get them since I was squinting in the sun all morning.  I was shocked that I didn't see any flooding in Brisbane at all.  Nothing even looked like it had been flooded, even though some of it had been the week prior.  There are heartbreaking ads on TV showing flood victims.  I heard there was a "queue" a mile long of volunteers turning up for the cleanup efforts.  Some of the top names at the Australian Open (including Andy Roddick) played in a tennis event called "Rally for Relief" to help raise money.

Chris and I left for the airport around 4:15pm to jet set off to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  Never before have I experienced such pleasant, outgoing people working at an airport.  We got upgraded to an exit row at no charge, and the ladies working security were ultra friendly!  I didn't have to get out my liquids from my carry-on, just aerosols which surprised me.  Security in the US is outrageous compared to Australia.  Once we landed, we got dropped off at the Melbourne Central Sky Lounge Apartment Hotel by the Sica bus and went straight to sleep.

Wednesday was a day of exploration in Melbourne.  The city has a free tram that we took to the Carlton Gardens...

Exhibition Centre...

Melbourne Museum...

Melbourne Park (where the Aussie Open is happening)...

Melbourne Cricket Grounds...

and the Eureka Sky Deck. 

We ate at the World Bar and Grill by the Sky Deck where we enjoyed some food and James Boag's draught beer.  The Sky Deck was 88 stories high.  On the clear and sunny day we had, we could see the South Pacific Ocean.

Walking back to the hotel we stopped at Aldi (yep, they have Aldi here) to pick up some bacon and eggs to make in our room for "brekkie" the next morning.  We needed a good meal to get us going for the Australian Open on Thursday!

We went to Rod Laver Arena within Melbourne Park around 10am the next morning and savored the atmosphere.  This was my first tennis Grand Slam event (but certainly not my last!).  We saw #3 seed Kim Clijsters from Belguim win...

and first ranked in the world, Rafael Nadal, beat American, Ryan Sweeting. 

If you watch that match, you will probably hear me rooting for Ryan when the rest of the crowd was silent just before a serve.  You'll also appreciate, if you've been following the Open, the fact that I was there when the commentator asked Kim Clijsters if she was pregnant after her match .  It was hysterical!  We were also there for the night matches to see Australian, Samantha Stosur, and Marco Baghdatis from Cypress win.  Marco's fan section was huge and loud.  By the end of the match I was tired of hearing Greek chants for sure.  It felt like a soccer game, the way they were cheering!  The fastest serve I saw was 213km/hr (132mi/hr), and it came off of Marco Baghdatis' racket.  On the day though, I was most impressed with Nadal's consistency and hustle.  No wonder he's number one in the world.

As for future plans, I'm about to go to Victoria Market in Melbourne to shop a bit.  Meanwhile, Chris is doing his own thing. Tomorrow we're going to the horse races in Melbourne, and then Sunday morning at 6am we're flying to Sydney.  (That'll be about 2pm EST on Saturday.)  I'm having so, so, so much fun, and I'm learning so much!  The weather has been terrific so far, so fingers crossed and lots of prayers it stays that way!

Greetings from the future!

Today in Fiji has been far more relaxing than I anticipated.  Once I got on the double decker jet in LA and found my seat next to 3 very cool Aussies, I knew I was in for a treat.  Dan, Amy, and Tara are 3 Aussies that are my age, and they're returning home to Brisbane after spending 6 weeks in the US and Mexico.  We talked on the flight as long as we could before we all crashed. 

Once we arrived in Fiji, we made it through customs and decided to spend the day together before our flight to Brisbane this evening.  We checked into the Trans International hotel right near the Nadi airport and went for a swim at 6am.  Yep, it was still dark outside, but we needed to cool off.  The moment I stepped foot outside the airport, my glasses fogged up.  I went to take a photo of the jet we were on for 11 hrs, and my camera lens fogged up.  I'm on a tropical island for sure.  The humidity is unlike anything I've ever felt before, and I like it!  Needless to say I changed out of my jeans and sneakers as soon as I could.

The locals are so nice saying "Bula!" (welcome) everywhere.  There was even a group of men playing instruments and singing island-like music to us when we walked off of our plane at 4am.  It was incredibly welcoming!  My  3 new Aussie friends and I spent the day relaxing by the hotel pool, and we enjoyed a nice buffet lunch which included a fish stir fry and the most amazing freshly squeezed fruit juice I've ever tasted.  One of the hotel employees even took me around to show me the best views from the various vantage points in the hotel.  The mountains topped with clouds in the distance are, again, unlike anything I've ever seen before.  I could get used to this.

I enjoyed a Fiji Premium beer by the pool with a guy named Eric who's also on his way to Brisbane.  He's going there from LA to reunite with his ex-wife after 31 years.  The last time he was in Brisbane with her was the last time it was flooded like it is today.  It was a really charming story until I found out he grows weed outside of LA for a living.  It's amazing who you can find when you travel, isn't it?  I also talked to a guy at LAX who's my age from Boston, and he's flying to New Zealand for 3 months to basically be a nomad.  He had his tent in hand and is going on a true adventure alone.    

I'm about to get cleaned up and head back to the airport for my flight into Australia with my new Aussie friends.  I'm so excited to see Chris again after 2 years and also meet his girlfriend, Allison, for the first time!  Fingers crossed and lots of prayers that we connect fairly easily at the Brisbane airport. 

I Guess This Really is Happening

Rachel was awesome and showed up 10 mins early this morning and brought me hot chocolate for the ride to the airport.  How nice!  It was a great send off for sure.  On the 5 1/2 hr flight, I was lucky enough to have an empty seat next to me and an adorable baby in the row ahead of me.  I used my iPod when the baby wasn't sounding so adorable though.  Thanks again Josh, that was a perfect Christmas gift.

The daunting 9 hr layover at LAX hasn't been bad at all.  I caught up with a few family members and friends on the phone while still able to catch the Ravens/Steelers game and enjoy the beautiful weather LA has to offer.  Thanks for all of the well wishes via email, text, and phone calls.  It'll be weird without a cell phone for 3 weeks, but I'm pretty excited to see how liberated I'll feel.

Now, here I am in LAX at my gate ready for my flight to Fiji.  I can't believe this is my life!  When I first saw the Pacific Ocean peek out from under the wing of my plane as we were coming upon LA earlier today, I got a bit choked up.  I know it's not going to be the last time either.  There's something about travel that just totally overwhelms me.  

In the security line just now, I was behind a girl who started conversation by commenting on how she accidentally had a full bottle of water in her carry on.  Fiji water at that.  We got to talking about our matching travel pillows, TSA security, and come to find out - she's originally from Fiji!  We're not sitting near each other on the plane, but I'll chat with her again before we board.  She siad she'd help me figure out the best way to spend my 15 1/2 hr. layover on the island of Viti Levu.  Evidently there's some flooding there too...let's hope I get to see at least some of the beauty Fiji is known for though.

So get this, I'm leaving LA Saturday night and arriving in Fiji Monday morning even though I'm only flying 10 1/2 hrs.  This will be my first experience crossing the international date line!  I don't get to experience Sunday Jan. 16, 2011, but I hope you live it up!  Fingers crossed and lots of prayers for a peaceful flight while traveling into the future over the Pacific Ocean.

The Night Before My Australian and Indonesian Journey Begins

Here I am in Washington, DC the night before I get on my first of thirteen flights to venture off to Fiji, Australia, and Indonesia for the next three weeks for the first time in my life.  Thankfully my to do list has shortened to a managable size, and the most important of that list is to sleep through tonight.  Just a couple of errands to run and a few calls to make before my attempt to slumber through a night equivalent to a 7 year old's Christmas Eve.

In recent conversations with Chris Taylor, my Australian tennis champion travel buddy, I've found out that the monumental flooding in the Brisbane, Australia area has come within a half mile of his apartment.  He doesn't have the Internet right now to even read this because the flooding has wiped out his connection.  Thankfully he lives on a hill, so his locale has gone unscathed.  He reassured me that the Brisbane airport is operating as usual and I shouldn't have anything to worry about.  All I know is, thank goodness for travel insurance!

Fingers crossed and lots of prayers for a safe and uninterrupted arrival!

My journey will begin tomorrow at 7:30am when my generous friend, Rachel Whisenant, picks me up at my apartment to take me to DCA.  I'll have plenty of time once I arrive to LAX to document the first leg of the trip.