Today's my last day in Townville - heading back up north to Cairns/Port Douglas for the night for for a few nights before heading back home for christmas!
It's so hot here that I'm spending most of my time inside with aircon. I'm looking forward to being back in some cooler weather although I bet it'll be a shock.
Yesterday we drove down to Ayr early in the morning to board a large zodiac pulled by a tractor to dive the famous Yongala wreck. This 100m long wreck is the only reef structure around so is covered by reef and surrounded by fish. We did two dives on it and saw so many cool things including an enormous shark ray, eagle ray, turtle. Also finally got to see some sea snakes!
Okay, gotta run - time to check out of the hostel, pack up the car, and drive up north!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Townsville, QLD
Hi again! I'm writing from my backpackers hostel. It's actually quite nice and I got a good deal with free dinner at the Irish pub next door! I drove down from Cairns the other day with Steve (we hired a car). We took our time to check out the wonderful rain forest and waterfalls and even ran into a few turtles along the route. We met back up with Hader, an Israeli who was on our UE boat as well, and found a local pub to celebrate being in Townsville. Today we found Dr. Carden Wallace at the Museum of Tropical Queensland and got a behind-the-scenes tour of an amazing coral collection as well as interesting artifacts from the famous shipwreck, Pandora. Tomorrow is a day at the aquarium and on Thursday we dive the Yongala!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
tired
Hi again! I found internet once more. I'm still in Cairns staying one more night before heading to Townsville tomorrow morning. I'm traveling with Steve Lindfield who was on my liveaboard boat and whom I met in Sydney (he's applying for the aussie scholarship this year). We're hoping to dive the famous Yongala wreck out of townsville. It's a bit of an akward time to be here as christmas is coming up and people are traveling. But I"m not too worried as there are many museums and an aquarium to check out in Townsville. I'm also extremely tired from running around for the past few weeks and I'm trying to catch up on my sleep.
It's pretty hot and humid here. Steve and I went for a rainforest walk today but didn't even make it halfway when we decided to turn around. It's amazing that it's December and it's so hot. Yesterday we walked around the main Carins Mall (for the airconditioning) and there were kids having pictures taken with Santa in a complete Santa getup. I felt bad for the man underneath all that fake beard and Santa clothes.
I am definitly looking forward to being back home, a bit of cooler weather, and a bit of rest. I remember at the beginning of my year Anya Watson told me that I would need to take breaks every now and then - I said "ha! you've got to be kidding me, this is my one and only year on the scholarship! there's no time to rest!" Well, Anya, if you are reading this - you're right. I'm exhausted! But lucky for me there is plenty to do while I catch up on my sleep so I don't have to feel too bad about taking time off.
It's pretty hot and humid here. Steve and I went for a rainforest walk today but didn't even make it halfway when we decided to turn around. It's amazing that it's December and it's so hot. Yesterday we walked around the main Carins Mall (for the airconditioning) and there were kids having pictures taken with Santa in a complete Santa getup. I felt bad for the man underneath all that fake beard and Santa clothes.
I am definitly looking forward to being back home, a bit of cooler weather, and a bit of rest. I remember at the beginning of my year Anya Watson told me that I would need to take breaks every now and then - I said "ha! you've got to be kidding me, this is my one and only year on the scholarship! there's no time to rest!" Well, Anya, if you are reading this - you're right. I'm exhausted! But lucky for me there is plenty to do while I catch up on my sleep so I don't have to feel too bad about taking time off.
Diving the Great Barrier Reef
I have two minutes to write - but I thought I'd say hi to everyone while I have the chance. I got back from the week-long trip to the Great Barrier Reef on the Undersea Explorer. It was an absolutely fantastic week full of amazing diving, research, and people. Tons of sharks, turtles, beautiful coral, nudibranchs, and even nautiluses!!!
I'm in Cairns staying with pretty much whomever will take me. Tomorrow or the next day I take the train to Townsville and will hopefully get myself involved in something interesting before the holidays.
Will write more when I can. And pictures to come soon.
Brenna
I'm in Cairns staying with pretty much whomever will take me. Tomorrow or the next day I take the train to Townsville and will hopefully get myself involved in something interesting before the holidays.
Will write more when I can. And pictures to come soon.
Brenna
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Market day
Today is my last day here. I'm sad to leave this wonderful place. The diving was so nice and the people were friendly and welcoming. But, on to my next travels back to Australia. Tomorrow is my travel day - morning flight to Port Moresby, a fairly long layover, and then a flight to Cairns, Queensland.
Today I spent the morning in downtown Kimbe to see the market. I went with Lao who is in charge of the kitchen here at Walindi. She had a large list of produce to buy. I wanted to take a look at the market and people. It was incredibly hot under the tin roof and even with a nice breeze coming in I was sweating quite a bit. After walking around and sampling some peanuts I took my camera out and asked many of the sellers if I could take their picture. First of all, I should tell you that I was the only person with light skin in the entire place (probably 200-300 people there). So I stood out like a sore thumb. I had men and women staring at me and kids following me. I took my camera out and (after asking nicely) started taking pictures. Adults and kids loved it and I showed them the pictures I took of them.
All smiles - this group was very excited to have their picture taken
A very happy, drooling baby
I liked this man's hat
Selling icies
On the way back we stopped in at K-mart - yep, that's right, there's a K-mart here. Actually it's Kimbe Mart but apparently the owner decided to be funny.
The rest of the day was spent packing up my dive gear and enjoying the lovely day reading. I would recommend Walindi Plantation resort to any divers out there. It was truly a great two weeks and I hope to come back (anyone with me?).
I'm off to Queensland tomorrow and will probably not have internet for a while. When I do, I'll send an update, but until then, happy December and I look forward to seeing at least a few of you at the end of the month!
Today I spent the morning in downtown Kimbe to see the market. I went with Lao who is in charge of the kitchen here at Walindi. She had a large list of produce to buy. I wanted to take a look at the market and people. It was incredibly hot under the tin roof and even with a nice breeze coming in I was sweating quite a bit. After walking around and sampling some peanuts I took my camera out and asked many of the sellers if I could take their picture. First of all, I should tell you that I was the only person with light skin in the entire place (probably 200-300 people there). So I stood out like a sore thumb. I had men and women staring at me and kids following me. I took my camera out and (after asking nicely) started taking pictures. Adults and kids loved it and I showed them the pictures I took of them.
All smiles - this group was very excited to have their picture taken
A very happy, drooling baby
I liked this man's hat
Selling icies
On the way back we stopped in at K-mart - yep, that's right, there's a K-mart here. Actually it's Kimbe Mart but apparently the owner decided to be funny.
The rest of the day was spent packing up my dive gear and enjoying the lovely day reading. I would recommend Walindi Plantation resort to any divers out there. It was truly a great two weeks and I hope to come back (anyone with me?).
I'm off to Queensland tomorrow and will probably not have internet for a while. When I do, I'll send an update, but until then, happy December and I look forward to seeing at least a few of you at the end of the month!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
200! (no, not the prequel to 300)
Today was a momentous day! I made it to 200 dives (lifetime total)! When I had hit 100 in Egypt I looked ahead to 200 and thought - boy, this is going to be a great dive. Interestingly enough, today could have gone a whole lot better for my 200th dive. The first dive of the day was going to be my 200th and I had it all set up to video. As I descended and began looking into the view finder I was not greeted with beautiful coral reefs but with a 'condensation' error. "Couldn't be!" I screamed silently to myself before swimming right back to the boat (slowly, mind you). Because the dive had begun I gave my camera to the dive crew and asked them to dry it off and keep it covered for me. I continued with the dive.
It's funny how dependent I've become on my camera. I am determined to capture the wonder and beauty of every dive. Yes, my filming has gotten much better, but I do feel determined to keep working on it. It also gives me something to do on a dive - I like to work, I like to keep busy. Being camera happy is quite easy underwater especially since there are a myriad of animals to film. So I set off on that 200th dive with out my camera and it was, of course, one of the prettiest dives I've done here. After about 20 minutes of wishing I had my camera I finally realized that I was spoiling the dive for myself. I wasn't relaxed, I wasn't enjoying it, and I wasn't looking at the reef. I stopped, took a deep, pressurized breathe, and enjoyed the rest of the dive. Lesson learned? Maybe... I sill wish I had my camera to film on that dive, but I did indeed enjoy the dive immensely and am thrilled to have had a such a beautiful dive for my 200th.
Plus, there were two more dives that day.
I got my camera sorted out (hopefully for good!) during the hour surface interval and we hoped in at a new dive site. This site was the Zero wreck of a Japanese fighter pilot just off the beach in a near by cove. Visibility was horrible but we could explore the small wreck thoroughly.
Our second dive, after a lunch on the boat, was to Lumu reef - a nice dive but again the visibility was lacking. All in all the day was nice especially since it remained sunny all day!
Below Zero
It's funny how dependent I've become on my camera. I am determined to capture the wonder and beauty of every dive. Yes, my filming has gotten much better, but I do feel determined to keep working on it. It also gives me something to do on a dive - I like to work, I like to keep busy. Being camera happy is quite easy underwater especially since there are a myriad of animals to film. So I set off on that 200th dive with out my camera and it was, of course, one of the prettiest dives I've done here. After about 20 minutes of wishing I had my camera I finally realized that I was spoiling the dive for myself. I wasn't relaxed, I wasn't enjoying it, and I wasn't looking at the reef. I stopped, took a deep, pressurized breathe, and enjoyed the rest of the dive. Lesson learned? Maybe... I sill wish I had my camera to film on that dive, but I did indeed enjoy the dive immensely and am thrilled to have had a such a beautiful dive for my 200th.
Plus, there were two more dives that day.
I got my camera sorted out (hopefully for good!) during the hour surface interval and we hoped in at a new dive site. This site was the Zero wreck of a Japanese fighter pilot just off the beach in a near by cove. Visibility was horrible but we could explore the small wreck thoroughly.
Our second dive, after a lunch on the boat, was to Lumu reef - a nice dive but again the visibility was lacking. All in all the day was nice especially since it remained sunny all day!
Below Zero
Sunday, December 2, 2007
all things great and small
Had a lovely morning out on the water today. Walindi woke to sunshine this morning and, looking at the weather forecast, this week should be quite pleasent. This morning we went diving! We have another guest here staying - a Japanese man who speaks very very little English. This doesn't appear to be a problem because he is quite happy to sit and laugh at (with?) us at the bar, during dinner, and on the boat. He chats happily away in Japanese and I repsond happily in English. But underwater there is no need to worry about language barriers. Divers around the world have very similar signs for pretty much everything from "are you okay?" and "where is the boat?" to "get out of the way, you're ruining my picture" or "wow, look at that shark behind you."
Talking about sharks, saw a few on today's dives. The dives were lovely - the water relatively clear and with just enough current to get the fish out of their little hiding places. The first dive was fantastic - dropped down to about 35 meters to a swim-through in the reef. Unfortunately my camera had fogged up or something and I tried in vain to capture the beauty of that dive. The reefs here in Kimbe Bay are probably the healthiest, most beautiful reefs I have ever seen. I've tried to film all things great and small and I hope my pictures have shown just how splendid the reefs are. To share a few more, these two were taken by one of my new british friends, Nigel Holder:
Pygmy seahorse - about the size of your pinky finger nail
Talking about sharks, saw a few on today's dives. The dives were lovely - the water relatively clear and with just enough current to get the fish out of their little hiding places. The first dive was fantastic - dropped down to about 35 meters to a swim-through in the reef. Unfortunately my camera had fogged up or something and I tried in vain to capture the beauty of that dive. The reefs here in Kimbe Bay are probably the healthiest, most beautiful reefs I have ever seen. I've tried to film all things great and small and I hope my pictures have shown just how splendid the reefs are. To share a few more, these two were taken by one of my new british friends, Nigel Holder:
Gray Shark
Pygmy seahorse - about the size of your pinky finger nailOur second dive today was to Susan's reef were the Pygmy seahorses like to hang out. I got a few pictures but Nigel's is much better.
We got back just in time for some lunch and just in time for the rain to start again. It's been pouring for a few hours now but it's still lovely to sit under the thatched roof with a cup of tea and a book.
Weedy sea dragon
This is an image British photographer Alex Mustard took of me looking at a beautiful weedy sea dragon in Shelley Beach, Sydney about two weeks ago. Thanks, Alex!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)