The following morning we met Emma and Luke’s three daughters, Georgia, 5, Gabriella, 3, and Lilianna, 8 months, along with their little dog Moses. The girls are adorable and took to me immediately! Since there are numerous diving opportunities and hikes on the island, Emma and Luke are flexible with the work schedule (WWOOFing is an accommodation and food exchange for about four hours of work a day) in order for us to have completely free days to explore the island; therefore, the first day we spent eight hours painting a bunch and doing a bit of weeding. We painted again the following day and then went to part of the national park and did a short walk up to an old fort and look out.
The next morning we took advantage of the work we got done earlier and Emma dropped us off at the beach to go snorkeling. We started off at Florence Bay, spent most of the morning there, hiked over to Radical Bay, Balding Bay, and ended in Horseshoe Bay, the one closest to where the Speare’s live. Total hiking was 5.8km. It was a spectacular day (about 30 degrees Celsius)! Supposedly there was a crocodile spotting in Radical Bay, although rumor on the island is that it was just a foolish tourist. We were in the vicinity of the national park for a bit, but I still haven’t seen any koalas! This island is well known for having a high native koala population… I won’t believe it until I see it! There are only 3,000 people that live here year round so it is funny to hear Emma and Luke talk about tourists (Australia is on a long holiday right now because of Easter and Anzac day).
With the winds low and the weather deteriorating in the coming days, we booked scuba gear for the next day. Our first dive was in the marine reserve in Geoffery Bay at the Moltke shipwreck, a German boat that wreck in 1890 and was used as target practice for the air force during World War II. It was awesome! It wasn’t deep, maximum of 7.6m, and I stayed down there exploring for 90 minutes! Afterwards, we went back to the dive shop (Pleasure Diving), had lunch, and then got a tank refill to go to Alma Bay where we explored some small caves, again, so sweet! It was another long dive, 75minutes, and I am rather proud since I “outlasted” Torrey on both dives, so apparently I use air very conservatively while down there. I want to get my advanced open water certification now. I wonder why I didn’t study Marine Biology! It’d be sweet to have to dive as a job. That evening, we went with Luke to a yoga practice on the island with a bunch of residents. We even saw the owner of the dive shop who let us know that he would be willing to do a night dive with us to check out the wreck the following evening. This island is amazing; I love the small town feel, despite the tourist attractions (Moke and “topless” cars). Torrey went on a night dive that I planned to do, but figured I will be doing two in Cairns so I passed.
Over the next few days we washed the car, helped finish laying a walkway, set up a small garden, and did other small tasks around the house. On Easter Sunday I baked an apple pie, lemon bars, anzac and chocolate chip cookies! We've spent quality time with this family and it has been wonderful (I even taught the girls some gymnastics). It has also made me excited to come home! I'm still waiting to see a koala... I went on a 6km walk by myself, and still no luck! Fortunately they have internet, although my mobile doesn't work, so I was able to book my live-aboard diving trip (three days, two nights, eleven dives), sort a hostel and couchsurfing in Cairns, as well as a way up there! I won't be spending anymore time in Sydney as initially anticipated because the tickets south were really expensive because of the holidays.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Queensland
Hitch hiking (kind of)
So my flight into “Brizzy” was delayed by over an hour, but fortunately I had a long layover. There were a number of passengers who intended to catch a connecting international flight, and were not so happy about the situation. When I landed I didn’t quite know what to do since the bus that goes to St. Lawrence had already left for the day. Another charter company failed to answer their phone despite being during business hours. I started to walk from the airport to town to find the rail station. I ended up stopping and asking two cars that were pulled over and chatting where the station was; it was “just down the way.” I asked if the gentleman was heading that way; fortunately, he was. It was hot walking in lower eighty degree heat! As it turns out, he was the manager of a trucking company and I mentioned how I might have to hitchhike if the train didn’t work out. He said that one of his employees was just getting ready to head that direction. He gave Ben a call and within minutes I was in a big rig heading towards St. Lawrence. Ben had just come back from a five week holiday in Vietnam, where he also just got married! An hour and a half later I was dropped off on the side of Bruce Highway just as it was getting dark. Torrey came to pick me up and we went to Greg and Colleen’s, where he was WWOOFing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms).
St. Lawrence
So I should start out by explaining a crabbing outing in the Broad Sound and estuaries surrounding the Coyne’s 6,000acres. It is a five minute drive to a dock where the tide changes up to 6m (18ft). In the back of the pickup we have a couple empty bins (for the crabs we catch), a bin of bait (fish heads or shark bits), a couple frozen two liter containers of juice, and two cans of fuel that we fill the boat up with each outing. Greg has one hundred pots set at all times, but each outing we only switch about half of them. We are out on the water between three and a half and four and a half hours, depending on wind, where the pots are, etc. In order to pick up the bots, we use a gaff hook, pull them up, take out the male crabs, switch the bait, and pile them in the back of the boat until it is time to put them out again. Since we are catching mud crabs, whatever one is wearing is filthy by the end, smelling like fish guts and all. We go out with the tide (while I was there, it was typically in the morning), leaving earliest at 6:00am. We did do one night run where we left at 6:00pm and went out via moon and boat light. It was much more challenging, particularly because the few mornings I was out, it wasn’t windy, and this night it was, so picking up the pots was much more difficult due to the rocky boat. When I wasn’t crabbing, I helped box the crabs, take down a fence, or break things down for a dump run. I did manage to finish a book and watch “Killers,” the newer Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel (sp). Our last evening we went pig hunting but we failed to kill one. We worked four hours each day to cover food and lodging, and the rest of the time we worked we were paid. It was a fun rural experience! I feel like we ate all the time, with three meals a day, including tea breaks, where the snack food was often a meal in itself; I suppose we were working though! Nevertheless, it was a great start to seeing QLD.
Actual Hitchhiking!
We got a ride with Colleen back up to Mackay. It was Sunday though and much of the city was closed, including the Greyhound bus station. I had the number from when I called when I first arrived and tried them, but found out that the bus wasn't coming for eight hours. We walked through the Sunday market, grabbed a delicious apple, rhubarb crumble and headed to the highway; our goal: to head to Townsville (400km north) to catch a ferry to Magnetic Island, where we had a place to stay. After an hour and a half we were picked up by this guy Mike, who has been living on the road for the past eight years. He was going to party before working in Cape York for a few months. He drove us just outside of Airlie Beach, gave us energy drinks and sugar cane and we stuck out our fingers again. Within five minutes another "bloke" picked us up who was heading just south of Townsville to go fishing. He listened to cricket the whole time and was not very chatty. He dropped us 50km outside of Townsville. Elated that things were going so well, we were picked up again within ten minutes by a father of nine, with only one child in the car, and his dog. He took us the half an hour to Townsville on his way up to Cairns. We were 7km outside of the city and started walking in with our fingers out. A german guy, Hogard, and his Malaysian wife, Eta, Townsville residents, although heading the opposite direction stopped and asked us where we needed to go. We told them the ferry terminal and they were happy to drop us right there. Talk about a successful trip up the coast! We got to the ferry station six and a half hours after our start of hitchhiking (a straight drive probably would have taken four hours), and a half an hour past when we would have left Mackay had we waited for the Greyhound. We took the ferry across, caught a bus to the Stearns.
So my flight into “Brizzy” was delayed by over an hour, but fortunately I had a long layover. There were a number of passengers who intended to catch a connecting international flight, and were not so happy about the situation. When I landed I didn’t quite know what to do since the bus that goes to St. Lawrence had already left for the day. Another charter company failed to answer their phone despite being during business hours. I started to walk from the airport to town to find the rail station. I ended up stopping and asking two cars that were pulled over and chatting where the station was; it was “just down the way.” I asked if the gentleman was heading that way; fortunately, he was. It was hot walking in lower eighty degree heat! As it turns out, he was the manager of a trucking company and I mentioned how I might have to hitchhike if the train didn’t work out. He said that one of his employees was just getting ready to head that direction. He gave Ben a call and within minutes I was in a big rig heading towards St. Lawrence. Ben had just come back from a five week holiday in Vietnam, where he also just got married! An hour and a half later I was dropped off on the side of Bruce Highway just as it was getting dark. Torrey came to pick me up and we went to Greg and Colleen’s, where he was WWOOFing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms).
St. Lawrence
So I should start out by explaining a crabbing outing in the Broad Sound and estuaries surrounding the Coyne’s 6,000acres. It is a five minute drive to a dock where the tide changes up to 6m (18ft). In the back of the pickup we have a couple empty bins (for the crabs we catch), a bin of bait (fish heads or shark bits), a couple frozen two liter containers of juice, and two cans of fuel that we fill the boat up with each outing. Greg has one hundred pots set at all times, but each outing we only switch about half of them. We are out on the water between three and a half and four and a half hours, depending on wind, where the pots are, etc. In order to pick up the bots, we use a gaff hook, pull them up, take out the male crabs, switch the bait, and pile them in the back of the boat until it is time to put them out again. Since we are catching mud crabs, whatever one is wearing is filthy by the end, smelling like fish guts and all. We go out with the tide (while I was there, it was typically in the morning), leaving earliest at 6:00am. We did do one night run where we left at 6:00pm and went out via moon and boat light. It was much more challenging, particularly because the few mornings I was out, it wasn’t windy, and this night it was, so picking up the pots was much more difficult due to the rocky boat. When I wasn’t crabbing, I helped box the crabs, take down a fence, or break things down for a dump run. I did manage to finish a book and watch “Killers,” the newer Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel (sp). Our last evening we went pig hunting but we failed to kill one. We worked four hours each day to cover food and lodging, and the rest of the time we worked we were paid. It was a fun rural experience! I feel like we ate all the time, with three meals a day, including tea breaks, where the snack food was often a meal in itself; I suppose we were working though! Nevertheless, it was a great start to seeing QLD.
Actual Hitchhiking!
We got a ride with Colleen back up to Mackay. It was Sunday though and much of the city was closed, including the Greyhound bus station. I had the number from when I called when I first arrived and tried them, but found out that the bus wasn't coming for eight hours. We walked through the Sunday market, grabbed a delicious apple, rhubarb crumble and headed to the highway; our goal: to head to Townsville (400km north) to catch a ferry to Magnetic Island, where we had a place to stay. After an hour and a half we were picked up by this guy Mike, who has been living on the road for the past eight years. He was going to party before working in Cape York for a few months. He drove us just outside of Airlie Beach, gave us energy drinks and sugar cane and we stuck out our fingers again. Within five minutes another "bloke" picked us up who was heading just south of Townsville to go fishing. He listened to cricket the whole time and was not very chatty. He dropped us 50km outside of Townsville. Elated that things were going so well, we were picked up again within ten minutes by a father of nine, with only one child in the car, and his dog. He took us the half an hour to Townsville on his way up to Cairns. We were 7km outside of the city and started walking in with our fingers out. A german guy, Hogard, and his Malaysian wife, Eta, Townsville residents, although heading the opposite direction stopped and asked us where we needed to go. We told them the ferry terminal and they were happy to drop us right there. Talk about a successful trip up the coast! We got to the ferry station six and a half hours after our start of hitchhiking (a straight drive probably would have taken four hours), and a half an hour past when we would have left Mackay had we waited for the Greyhound. We took the ferry across, caught a bus to the Stearns.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Climbing and a travel adventure
Linfield
For my last day in Sydney (for the time being), I stayed around Collaroy, grabbed a baguette for breakfast, watched Bree try to fly a kite (it broke within minutes), and ended up getting a swimsuit (all summer stuff at this store was half off!). Dave picked me up and we headed over to the crags over at Linfield to go climbing. He was kind enough to belay me on a bunch of top ropes. It was a great area to practice skills and get some conditioning in. I only did about five routes, but I down climbed them, some were a bit thin, and the last was an overhang. Not too shabby for not climbing for a while. The rock was sandstone and super sticky! Ohh how I miss climbing! Then Dave dropped me at the train station in Chatswood to go the airport to attempt the standby flight thing, which I was quite weary about.
En Route to QLD
I found out that “stand by” flights don’t really exist in Australia as I was previously told, and encouraged to try in order to save money; so much for not trusting my gut feeling and booking ahead! I got to the airport and just ended up buying a flight for the following day. Since I already paid to get to the airport, I figured I’d just hang around. There was free wifi so I downloaded a bunch of podcasts and games on my itouch. I fortunately also had a few books to pass the time. I ended up having to go to the international terminal for the evening since the domestic one closes in the evening; it was either there, or McDonalds… A girl from Germany shared a power outlet with me and I got a few movies from her. In the morning I caught the train back to the proper terminal and caught my flight into Mackay via Brisbane. Once I arrive in Mackay, it will be after when the daily bus goes to St. Lawrence, so I may be hitchhiking down the Bruce Hwy... tbd
For my last day in Sydney (for the time being), I stayed around Collaroy, grabbed a baguette for breakfast, watched Bree try to fly a kite (it broke within minutes), and ended up getting a swimsuit (all summer stuff at this store was half off!). Dave picked me up and we headed over to the crags over at Linfield to go climbing. He was kind enough to belay me on a bunch of top ropes. It was a great area to practice skills and get some conditioning in. I only did about five routes, but I down climbed them, some were a bit thin, and the last was an overhang. Not too shabby for not climbing for a while. The rock was sandstone and super sticky! Ohh how I miss climbing! Then Dave dropped me at the train station in Chatswood to go the airport to attempt the standby flight thing, which I was quite weary about.
En Route to QLD
I found out that “stand by” flights don’t really exist in Australia as I was previously told, and encouraged to try in order to save money; so much for not trusting my gut feeling and booking ahead! I got to the airport and just ended up buying a flight for the following day. Since I already paid to get to the airport, I figured I’d just hang around. There was free wifi so I downloaded a bunch of podcasts and games on my itouch. I fortunately also had a few books to pass the time. I ended up having to go to the international terminal for the evening since the domestic one closes in the evening; it was either there, or McDonalds… A girl from Germany shared a power outlet with me and I got a few movies from her. In the morning I caught the train back to the proper terminal and caught my flight into Mackay via Brisbane. Once I arrive in Mackay, it will be after when the daily bus goes to St. Lawrence, so I may be hitchhiking down the Bruce Hwy... tbd
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sydney - Collaroy
Upon landing in Sydney, I took a train to Circular Quay where I caught a ferry into Manly. Nikki picked me up and we got sorbet and ice cream! Doug and Bree are finishing their time with the Norwegians at a hostel in Collaroy so I stayed with them for the night. The following day we went to the mall, got myself a new camera (as mine died in the water in Fiji) and a passport photo so I can send in my PADI card. We picked up my belongings from Dave's so I could organize what I wanted to bring up north to Queensland. I went out to dinner with the group at a Thai restaurant across the street from the hostel. I spent a bunch of time online and organizing photos, etc. I talked with Torrey and figured out that I would fly into Mackay, bus into St. Lawrence and work with where he is at. I am going to go to the airport tonight after climbing to see if I can fly standby. We will see how that works out... From St. Lawrence, we will go to Magnetic Island, work and hopefully scuba, make our way up to Cairns, maybe scuba, and make it back to Sydney fo our flights. I will probably head back end of May so I can climb the three sisters and maybe do a canyon. Regardless, my flight is booked to Seattle May 4th!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Fiji
I flew in Nadi in the afternoon with a carryon and easily made it through security. I took a taxi to Nadi Bay Resort Hotel where Kim, Jordan, and David were just returning from the beach to meet me. We talked with the travel lady and booked transportation on the Yasawa Flyer for a week to explore the islands northwest of where we currently are and booked a few nights at my parent’s timeshare for when we return. It was going to be a much more expensive week than I anticipated as we are going to the islands rather than exploring the mainland, but it was great!
Bounty Island
Our first stop was in the Mamanuca Islands at Bounty Resort after only half an hour on the flyer. It was beautiful weather and we went to the beach immediately. Kim and I decided to get some activities in our lives, we would walk arond the island. We found an employee spear fishing and we watched him for a bit. It took about 15 minutes, maximum, to walk around the island. We then joined the boys snokeling, came in for lunch, (where the food is very reminiscent of India and I LOVE it!) , went kayaking arond the land, worked on our tans, had dinner, watched the sunset and went to bed after many card games.
Beachcomber Island
The following morning we woke up early to catch the flyer to Beachcomber, known as the "party island." It was only 15 minutes away on the flyer. David upgraded up to a bure because the beds in the dorm were rumored to have bed bugs. We took a whole ten minutes to walk around the island before laying out to work on our tans again. We took a break to go snorkling. Over the day we met a few Norwegians, English people, and Israelis and hanged out with them for the day. After the buffet style lunch, we went out on a boat to the edge of the reef and snorkled some more. We then day drank, socialized with travelers, had dinner, enjoyed live, local music and a playlist afterwards. The food there was great and the people were fun! It was a great time, but I was happy to just spend a day there.
Tavewa Island
We woke up early to catch the flyer, looking forward to staying somewhere longer than a night, even though it would be a five hour ferry to our next stop. We had looked into PADI scuba certification and decided on Coralview Resort, on the northern end. We ended up spending the rest of our time on the island there, but it was wonderful. The staff was so welcoming and really made you feel at home. They were like family rather than just coworkers. Every night they sang, danced, and led everyone in a game (crab races, four corners with cards, etc). We met an array of interesting travelers. The weather was not so great all the time, but it worked out well because since we were getting certified, we were in the water a lot, or reading the PADI book. The "confined water" sessions were held at Blue Lagoon in shallow water. It was awesome- so much better than a pool! Every dive we did was beautiful with quite good visibility, and a wide variety of coral and aquatic life. I am so happy to be certified and am looking forward to being able to scuba more. The most amazing thing was, for our final dive, since we "did well" on our exams, we got to do our final dive at 20m to watch a shark feeding. So SWEET! Great pictures as well :).
Nadi
We took the long ferry ride back to the mainland and booked a hostel in Smugglers Cove at Bamboo, an extremely economical choice, but also with an incredible and welcoming staff. It turned out great, we had a kava session, listened to Fijians play music, and went out to a local bar. Again, great people. The following day, we ended up just hanging out after check out, made coconut bracelets, and I spent way too much time online, and am considering coming home early because I looked to much into the uncertainties of my upcoming month. We'll see! I would really like to go up to the Great Barrier and scuba there, but I am so indifferent on employment opportunities, I dred looking into it, also accommodation , etc. Who KNOWS! We took a taxi to Denarau Worldmark Resort where we enjoyed the comforts of a condo, (thanks mom and dad!). We layed out by the pool, watched Greece 2 at the pool bar, sat in the hot tub, watched the news, ordered in from Mamma's Pizza, did laundry, watched the Prince of Persia and Grown Ups. For my last dinner with the group, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, followed by an evening out at the Ice Bar and Ed's. The following morning, we packed up, dropped off their things back at Bamboo and quickly went into town before I went to the airport to return to Australia.
Bounty Island
Our first stop was in the Mamanuca Islands at Bounty Resort after only half an hour on the flyer. It was beautiful weather and we went to the beach immediately. Kim and I decided to get some activities in our lives, we would walk arond the island. We found an employee spear fishing and we watched him for a bit. It took about 15 minutes, maximum, to walk around the island. We then joined the boys snokeling, came in for lunch, (where the food is very reminiscent of India and I LOVE it!) , went kayaking arond the land, worked on our tans, had dinner, watched the sunset and went to bed after many card games.
Beachcomber Island
The following morning we woke up early to catch the flyer to Beachcomber, known as the "party island." It was only 15 minutes away on the flyer. David upgraded up to a bure because the beds in the dorm were rumored to have bed bugs. We took a whole ten minutes to walk around the island before laying out to work on our tans again. We took a break to go snorkling. Over the day we met a few Norwegians, English people, and Israelis and hanged out with them for the day. After the buffet style lunch, we went out on a boat to the edge of the reef and snorkled some more. We then day drank, socialized with travelers, had dinner, enjoyed live, local music and a playlist afterwards. The food there was great and the people were fun! It was a great time, but I was happy to just spend a day there.
Tavewa Island
We woke up early to catch the flyer, looking forward to staying somewhere longer than a night, even though it would be a five hour ferry to our next stop. We had looked into PADI scuba certification and decided on Coralview Resort, on the northern end. We ended up spending the rest of our time on the island there, but it was wonderful. The staff was so welcoming and really made you feel at home. They were like family rather than just coworkers. Every night they sang, danced, and led everyone in a game (crab races, four corners with cards, etc). We met an array of interesting travelers. The weather was not so great all the time, but it worked out well because since we were getting certified, we were in the water a lot, or reading the PADI book. The "confined water" sessions were held at Blue Lagoon in shallow water. It was awesome- so much better than a pool! Every dive we did was beautiful with quite good visibility, and a wide variety of coral and aquatic life. I am so happy to be certified and am looking forward to being able to scuba more. The most amazing thing was, for our final dive, since we "did well" on our exams, we got to do our final dive at 20m to watch a shark feeding. So SWEET! Great pictures as well :).
Nadi
We took the long ferry ride back to the mainland and booked a hostel in Smugglers Cove at Bamboo, an extremely economical choice, but also with an incredible and welcoming staff. It turned out great, we had a kava session, listened to Fijians play music, and went out to a local bar. Again, great people. The following day, we ended up just hanging out after check out, made coconut bracelets, and I spent way too much time online, and am considering coming home early because I looked to much into the uncertainties of my upcoming month. We'll see! I would really like to go up to the Great Barrier and scuba there, but I am so indifferent on employment opportunities, I dred looking into it, also accommodation , etc. Who KNOWS! We took a taxi to Denarau Worldmark Resort where we enjoyed the comforts of a condo, (thanks mom and dad!). We layed out by the pool, watched Greece 2 at the pool bar, sat in the hot tub, watched the news, ordered in from Mamma's Pizza, did laundry, watched the Prince of Persia and Grown Ups. For my last dinner with the group, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, followed by an evening out at the Ice Bar and Ed's. The following morning, we packed up, dropped off their things back at Bamboo and quickly went into town before I went to the airport to return to Australia.
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