salty experiences

Driving up the Northeastern side of Australia, it would be a shame if we didn't get out to see the Great Barrier Reef area. So, while Storey was living out his childhood dream on a 2 night sailing trip, I took a shorter day trip through the Whitsunday Islands aboard the Reefjet.

Our first stop was at a snorkeling and diving spot. I decided to try scuba diving for the first time. I didn't know if I really wanted to go under the water and Storey doubted that I would actually dive, so I had something to prove to he and myself! I was the only person on my boat to dive for the first time, so I had an instructor, Iain, all to myself, which was nice. It made me feel extra safe. I put on a stinger suit to protect me from the jellyfish and give me some buoyancy. Then came all the scuba gear which is super heavy!

Before I knew it, I was jumping in the water, learning how to empty my mask of water, and catch my regulator if it would fall out of my mouth. Then it was time to dive. I was a bit scared. I'm not sure why. The breathing didn't seem to be a problem for me, but I suppose I was exploring entirely new territory that was dark and a bit spooky got to me a bit. The first half of the dive I was thinking about what I was doing how I was breathing. The second half I feel like I was finally able to look around and see all the amazing creatures around me. The Reef is quite alive with corals, huge clams with big purple lips and tons of schools of fish. It was surreal and amazing! After we came out of the water, the dive master on the boat said he had seen a white finned shark. I missed that!

The second stop was at Whitsunday Island, in a little cove where green sea turtles frequent the water. I saw two huge ones poke their necks out of the water. These turtles can stay down 5-6 hours at a time, but when active you may see the same one every hour, or two. At this stop we took a pontoon boat to the island for a short, one kilometer, walk up to a lookout toward Whitehaven Beach. The walk was nice and the lookout is the 4th most photographed spot in Australia.

When we pulled into this bay, Storey's sailboat was also taking a stop there. We nearly saw each other, but missed each other by about 15 minutes. If nothing else, it was nice to get a picture of our boats in the same frame!

Whitehaven Beach is one of the most pristine silica beaches in the world. The rumor is that 50 ton of sand from this beach was given to the Hubble Telescope project and when it was messed up, the Australian government denied the project from taking anymore of it's National Park's sand. The sand is a result of the coral in the area and two plates rubbing together to create a "washing machine" effect. Coral from the Reef area is pulled in, ground up, and washed up on the beach here. It is fine and great for exfoliation, cleaning jewelry, and sinking your feet into!

The actual beach was our final stop on our trip. The boat pulled right up to the shore, so we all put on our stinger suits, hopped off the back, and waded about 5 meters to the shore. Some played cricket, took walks, sat in the sun, or built sand castles. I sat and wrote in my journal for awhile and then hung out in the boat to stay out of the sun.

The trip back seemed long, but it was a nice afternoon to be boating through the beautiful islands and seen the amazing blues and turquoise of the Coral Sea.

great barrier

Monday morning came and we decided to head back into Airlie Beach so Storey could get ready for his two day, two night boat trip that left on Tuesday. We spent part of the morning in the inland town of Proserpine where we found cheap internet at the local library. Proserpine, incidentally, is also the town where there is a hospital equipped to take airlifted patients from the water to the emergency room for a three day stay if you have the unfortunate collision with a box jellyfish, or irukandji stinger.

After settling in our camp later in Airlie, we took off to find some late lunch at one of the restaurants on the tourist strip and take an evening swim in the town Lagoon. The Lagoon is a huge swimming pool built into the shoreline so that people can safely swim without the stingers all year long. It's also a close option for swimming as the tide can go out quite a ways when it is down. We successfully stayed out of the sun all day long to protect our sunburns and the water was so nice after a hot and humid day.

The next day, we spent the morning purchasing sunscreen, a beach bag, and an underwater camera for Storey's trip and I booked my own day trip for the next day. I was excited and sad to spend a day on my own, so I was happy to run into my friend Nichole, and her boyfriend, Drew, who were staying in the area. After I dropped off Storey at the marina, I caught up with them for the afternoon and evening.

Nichole and Drew had seen some colorful lorakeets in the palm trees the night before, so we took a walk to see if they would return. They did come back around 7:30pm. In all their noise, they are quite beautiful little birds. They swarmed the trees to find a mate. By the time we left them, they were all paired off. We had dinner together as well at Fish D'Vine. I had Spanish Mackerel fish 'n chips. This turned out to be a poor decision as I came down with a little case of food poisoning that night and the next morning.

beauty of bowen

One of my favorite memories from this trip will be the lazy day we spent wandering around our slow town of Bowen on Sunday. Nothing was open so we had to find our own entertainment. There were three things on our to-do list as tourists: Check out the Mullers Lagoon, walk the boardwalk from Horseshoe Bay to Rose Bay, and look for stingrays and turtles on the pier.

Our first stop was Muller's Lagoon. We were a bit disappointed that the upkeep of this city-centre park wasn't up to par with that of the Sydney Botanical Gardens, but it was a nice day to walk around the lagoon and spot a couple of their over 100 birds that visit the park.

We never found the start of the boardwalk, at Horseshoe Bay before we started bouldering our way around the coastline. It was a memorable and fantastic time negotiating our way around the huge rocks. Occasionally we saw a sea creature scitter across the rock and we found an entire dead cow, but most of the time we bounced from rock to rock. Somewhere around the beds and turns we found a coconut. Storey broke it open and we got to eat fresh coconut on the beach! I think I'll remember that as one of the best memories in Australia!

After beach combing for awhile, we stopped back at our beach on Rose Bay and sat for a long time on the rocks there watching the waves come and go, a couple sea turtles surface for air and dive back down, and a crab clinging to the rocks while the tide washed over it.

After all the rock scrambling, we went to find the pier. We walked in a lot of wind to the end and saw plenty of two meter waves, but no turtles and no stingrays. There were some peculiar birds on the sand and we watched a couple of kite surfers finish their day on the waves.

It was a pretty great day spent together until later when I woke up with the worst sunburn I can remember on my back. The sun is pretty intense in Australia and the water probably amplified the problem; even on my SPF 45 coated back! A bottle of ice on the neck cooled me off quite a bit and helped me get some sleep. It felt a little better by morning and we determined it would be best to stay out of the sun all day!

brisbane and then some

After two sunfilled days in Syndey, Storey and I continued our Australian adventure up to Brisbane. We picked up $79 tickets one-way up there and were thrilled when they didn't charge us for any extra luggage. It turns out that on discount airlines, and most domestic Australia flights, they use their commercial airline to cart cargo around the country, thus limiting personal bags. But, we passed and after some question, found our car rental and finally got on the road.

We made very little progress our first day, but used it to get our feet on the ground and our car supplied with food and such for our 12 day roadtrip. As dusk approached and we hadn't found a place to camp, we saw an amazing number of bats fly over our motorway. It looked a touch like a horror movie, but we were capivated by their silouettes against the sunset.

We ended up on Peregian Beach, just south of Noosa Heads. Camps were closed when we rolled in and though the beach was absolutely stunning, as well as the stars that we hadn't seen in awhile, we ended up sleeping in our little Toyota Yaris.

re-exploring sydney

Our first two days in Australia were in Sydney. Being my second time in the city, it was extra fun to have Storey along this year. It's amazing how many things other people see that I would have missed otherwise.

One of Storey's friends, Dallas, from the WAIS Divide field camp where he was working for 5 weeks in Antarctica, was also in Sydney for the two days we were in town. We met up with him for dinner and then also spent a full day on a walking tour of the city with him.

Our self-guided tour took us downtown. Storey and I had explored some of the amazing architecture in the buildings (the Queen Victoria Building, mostly) and revisited them briefly. We walked through Hyde Park and then the Botanical Gardens where dozens of bats hung from the trees!

We saw cockatoos all over the gardens and watched their funny characteristics come out when a few crumbs of granola bar were offered to them.

Of course, we saw the opera house and noted that the sails are actually completely covered in small white tiles. We laid back and enjoyed the view of the Opera House for awhile before continuing on sore feet to walk across the Sydney Bridge. Storey swung the three of us a view from the top of one of the pylons for free, so we were able to see a great 360 degree view of the city from above!

The bridge is an amazing feature and we took plenty of pictures. My favorite was this of the sun behind the structure! We also saw the shadow of the bridge against the water!

gorgeous time off

This morning I woke up, walked outside, and nearly felt like I was in the real world. It was comfortable to be outside; the skies were clear, the air was easy to take in, and I had a day off!

Our ship is offering us another connection to the life-filled world up north; breaking up the sea in anticipation for our various vessels to arrive.

My friend, Storey, and I took a hike around Ob Hill today. The Oden made it's rounds breaking up the ice as we walked along our beach. I dared to take my layers off down to my tank top for a fun photo (it was chilly, and I was glad to put my fleece back on, but not as bad as I thought)!

Around Ob Hill, there is a section of open water that caught our attention. After months of ice as far as the eye can see, Storey and I were fascinated by the ripples and wetness before us. We saw plenty of seals lounging around the icy edge and thought it would be funny if the ice broke beneath them, forcing their fat bodies awkwardly though the ice. We waited awhile, and it didn't happen. We did, however, get to see a whale surface, exhale, inhale, show its fin and duck under the water again. This happened over and over again. Meanwhile, a pair of adelie penguins torpedoed out of the water and waddled around below us. So, we were able to witness the Antarctica wildlife tri-fecta: the seal, the penguin, and the whale, all at the same time!

the ridge trail

In my time off, I completed the Hut Ridge Loop Trail. I'd never done the entire track, so it was a treat to run, walk and snap some photos along the way. From the top of the ridge, I was able to see open water; a vivid blue line along the horizon that will get larger and larger as the summer goes on. Our volcanic island is quite peculiar. At some points there is hard, exposed rock, and around the next bend, it turns to dust, or loose rock. Due to the snow, ice, and glacier erosion, there are numerous riverbeds, hills, and mounds that form as the rock is eaten away and washed into the Ross Sea. And, this portion of the Ross Sea, along the coastline of our island, and shoved up against the permanent ice shelf ripples with pressure ridges.

I saw a little seal sliding its' way across some of the icy ridges from my perch on the hill. More and more of these sea slugs are popping up now that the temperatures are warming and the ice is getting thinner along the shore. The Weddell seals have a big chisel of a front tooth and are able to chew through up to six feet of ice to reach the surface if they need to; so even the smallest of openings can be a great door to the underworld.

The weather was sunny and beautiful. The mountains were out in amazing array across the sea from our island and town of McMurdo!