Greetings One and All,
It's hard to extrapolate Dingo Dave from remainder of the trip, as he and the island experience were enmeshed as one, but I'll try. Fraser island truly is remarkable. It's a sand island, about 20 km by 80 km. Surprisingly, it's covered in rain forest and sub tropical forrest. All of the lakes and streams are perfect fresh rain water on white sand, so the water is very clear in most bodies of water. Imagine a white sand bottom swimming pool - that's several of the lakes. Imagine huge sand dunes plunging in lake water. Really amazing. One of the thrills for me was riding shotgun in the bus with Dingo Dave, as I had a much better view of the surround terrain. I'd relish in the jolted movements of the bus and we crawled up bumpy sand roads and hills, and feel the rush of racing along the sand at the beach for miles and miles. This trip sure brought out the little boy in me, that's for certain. One of the highlights was organizing sand dune races which ended with a full speed plunge into the waters of Lake Wobee. Trecking through rain forest was also pretty amazing, as was swimming in crystal clear waters of lake McKenzie, and then laying on her white sand beach. A must do for visitors to Australia.
The Sunday night of our return to Hervey Bay, I enjoyed dinner with some new friends on the boat - Ekaterina and her mother Doris from Germany, and Christoph and Christina, a sweet couple also from the Germany. We happened upon a really delicious Italian eatery, and enjoyed the evening, namely to jokes and stories of Dingo Dave. The next morning I caught a lift back to Noosa with Ekaterina and Doris. Surfed a little, hung out with the Foleys some more, and relaxed. The next day, Tuesday, I caught a shuttle down to Brisbane, and flew up to Townsville, to visit my friends from San Jose, Lelena and Daniel.
My last couple of days have been eventful. I visited Billabong wild animal sanctuary just 20 minutes down the road from here. I finally got to hold a koala, as well as a wombat named Willemina, a black headed python and baby crocodile. Then there was the crocodile feeding, which was one of craziest things I have ever witnessed. Salt water crocodiles can grow up to 23 feet long, though the ones at Billabong were only a paltry 16! To see these beasts lunge their bodies out of water to grab at meat was unreal. One of the females came darting out of the pool, right for the handlers, jaws snapping at full speed. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the handlers whacked her repeatedly on the head with large wooden rods. After a few good whacks she retreated into the pool. Apparently that's the only way to show dominance over a croc - whack it heavily on the head with something heavy! Also saw wallabies, cassoweries, emus, dozens of other tropical snakes and reptiles. And of course, the kangaroos. Go my Facebook albums for all of the pictures.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing more scuba diving, and this time I rented a camera using my own memory card. I took a 2 1/2 hour boat ride - each way - to the dive site of the shipwreck Yongala. It's a rare site, located several hundreds of kilometers between and away from any of the natural reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. It's 103 meters (over 300 feet long), and is now home to hundreds of corals, plant and animal species. Visibility was not that great, and in truth diving the wreck you wouldn't know it was a ship at first, looks more like a sea mount. But the fish were plentiful, and this time I caught 'em all on camera. A bull shark came swimming by, which really excited most on the trip. Me, now the seasoned bull shark diver, did notice it to be slightly larger than most, but otherwise didn't bat an eye! :-) A basic rule of diving is that the deeper you go, the less amount of time you can be underwater. Generally dives deeper than 20 meters only last 30-40 minutes max! So, we did two dives of the Yongala, but only for about 35 minutes each, which really isn't all the much time. I really love my underwater time, which is why I think I'll pursue slightly shallower reef dives from here on out.
Whelp, that's about it. Tonight I fly up to Cairns to take in city, local rainforest and diving adventures. I'll update more when I can.
Well, since re-reading my last entry, things have certainly been looking up. Much has happened since my last entry, so here goes.
After finally departing Avatars Abode, I was able to stay another night up in Noosa with the Foleys. Many thanks to Tony and Charmaine for your hospitality. Did a little surfing and a little relaxing. On Thursday the 12th I took a bus heading up to Hervey Bay, to visit the world famous Fraser Island. I stayed a night in Hervery Bay, and after a mix up the next morning with the tour company, who missed picking me up from my hostel because they though I was elsewhere, I caught a lift down to the docks and was aboard the ferry without further incident. Once on Fraser Island, we were greeted by a seemingly mild mannered tour guide named Dave. He gave us our itineraries and directed us to the 4-wheel drive bus that we would be touring the island in for the next 3 days. Dave was something else, to say the least - definitely not mild mannered. He wore a headset with a microphone to talk to all 26 of us with. And talk he did - The. Whole. Three. Days! He let us know a little something about everything, from nature and science, to Aboriginal history and creation myths, the ancient origins of the sands of Fraser Islands, to his views on human infestation of Earth and the need to have a cull. I have never been in such captive audience as I had with this guy. Dave, who by night one I had named Dingo Dave, would utter something blatantly offensive and then in the same breath, impress you and make you laugh. He has been leading tours of the Island for 18 years, I don't imagine he'll ever leave. Here's to yah Dingo Dave!
It's hard to extrapolate Dingo Dave from remainder of the trip, as he and the island experience were enmeshed as one, but I'll try. Fraser island truly is remarkable. It's a sand island, about 20 km by 80 km. Surprisingly, it's covered in rain forest and sub tropical forrest. All of the lakes and streams are perfect fresh rain water on white sand, so the water is very clear in most bodies of water. Imagine a white sand bottom swimming pool - that's several of the lakes. Imagine huge sand dunes plunging in lake water. Really amazing. One of the thrills for me was riding shotgun in the bus with Dingo Dave, as I had a much better view of the surround terrain. I'd relish in the jolted movements of the bus and we crawled up bumpy sand roads and hills, and feel the rush of racing along the sand at the beach for miles and miles. This trip sure brought out the little boy in me, that's for certain. One of the highlights was organizing sand dune races which ended with a full speed plunge into the waters of Lake Wobee. Trecking through rain forest was also pretty amazing, as was swimming in crystal clear waters of lake McKenzie, and then laying on her white sand beach. A must do for visitors to Australia. The Sunday night of our return to Hervey Bay, I enjoyed dinner with some new friends on the boat - Ekaterina and her mother Doris from Germany, and Christoph and Christina, a sweet couple also from the Germany. We happened upon a really delicious Italian eatery, and enjoyed the evening, namely to jokes and stories of Dingo Dave. The next morning I caught a lift back to Noosa with Ekaterina and Doris. Surfed a little, hung out with the Foleys some more, and relaxed. The next day, Tuesday, I caught a shuttle down to Brisbane, and flew up to Townsville, to visit my friends from San Jose, Lelena and Daniel.Lalena and Daniel recently moved to Townsville after Daniel accepted a position at James Cook university in oceanography. Lalena was one of many instructors at my yoga studio in San Jose, so I jumped at the chance to visit when I discovered that they would be moving here. Townsville is a small city on the coast. It's hot and humid up here, for sure. Lalena and Daniel live in a great house with their super Jack Russel Terrier named Jemez! Jemez and I bonded instantly. Lalena taught me how to get him to sing along to a finger snappin tune, and it's been all song every since. I've spent time relaxing, watching movies, playing beach volleyball, having a day and night out here and there with my hosts, and generally having a nice time.
My last couple of days have been eventful. I visited Billabong wild animal sanctuary just 20 minutes down the road from here. I finally got to hold a koala, as well as a wombat named Willemina, a black headed python and baby crocodile. Then there was the crocodile feeding, which was one of craziest things I have ever witnessed. Salt water crocodiles can grow up to 23 feet long, though the ones at Billabong were only a paltry 16! To see these beasts lunge their bodies out of water to grab at meat was unreal. One of the females came darting out of the pool, right for the handlers, jaws snapping at full speed. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the handlers whacked her repeatedly on the head with large wooden rods. After a few good whacks she retreated into the pool. Apparently that's the only way to show dominance over a croc - whack it heavily on the head with something heavy! Also saw wallabies, cassoweries, emus, dozens of other tropical snakes and reptiles. And of course, the kangaroos. Go my Facebook albums for all of the pictures. Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing more scuba diving, and this time I rented a camera using my own memory card. I took a 2 1/2 hour boat ride - each way - to the dive site of the shipwreck Yongala. It's a rare site, located several hundreds of kilometers between and away from any of the natural reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. It's 103 meters (over 300 feet long), and is now home to hundreds of corals, plant and animal species. Visibility was not that great, and in truth diving the wreck you wouldn't know it was a ship at first, looks more like a sea mount. But the fish were plentiful, and this time I caught 'em all on camera. A bull shark came swimming by, which really excited most on the trip. Me, now the seasoned bull shark diver, did notice it to be slightly larger than most, but otherwise didn't bat an eye! :-) A basic rule of diving is that the deeper you go, the less amount of time you can be underwater. Generally dives deeper than 20 meters only last 30-40 minutes max! So, we did two dives of the Yongala, but only for about 35 minutes each, which really isn't all the much time. I really love my underwater time, which is why I think I'll pursue slightly shallower reef dives from here on out.Whelp, that's about it. Tonight I fly up to Cairns to take in city, local rainforest and diving adventures. I'll update more when I can.All the best.
J
At that moment I realized I was the punchline in a subpar joke. I wont repeat the words that came out of my mouth from that moment on. Just suffice to say that clearly I'm meant to be here for this time. Both banks now assure me that my cards are due to arrive by tomorrow, guaranteed. Well, they'll certainly arrive somewhere, that's for sure.
All that more or less brings us to today. With any luck I should be able to continue my travels sometime in the next few days. I'll keep you posted, as well as ad a few pics to the blog to flavor it up a bit. I've found a quicker connection that affords more reasonable upload times.
About 20 minutes later we stopped and dropped anchor at the marker bouy. After a briefing that felt way too, well, brief - we were simply advised not to panic if the 6 meter tiger shark showed up. For those of you counting at home, 6 meters is 20 feet! Don't panic huh!?! Sound advice, I suppose. But then what!?!? No time for questions, we all hopped in the water and descended to 17 meters immediately. A short swim along a descending ocean floor soon had us at 25 meters all lined up along a rope that ran more or less across the ocean floor. Only 3 meters in from of us was a concrete grid made of individual concrete slabs. This was the bistro. I looked up and behind me and saw one of the Fijian dive masters swimming with a huge wheeled trash bin towards the bistro. It was somewhat of a funny sight, and yet it made perfect sense. They needed something to attract the sharks. Now, before the bins were even opened, there were hundres of fish, including a massive grouper, and large, black traveli, all getting a little frenzied. Apparently, they knew the routine. The bins were opened, and the divers each pulled out a large dolphin tuna. They cut it up right there on the ocean floor, and began waving the chunks of fish around. Sure enough, here came the sharks.
We returned to the dock, purchased the gratuitous "I survived the running of the bull sharks" T-shirts, and went back to our resort, where we just hung out for the remaining two days. Our last day in Pacific Harbor we visited Suva, the capital city of Fiji, but it was a Sunday, and most things were closed. We had some lunch, took in a movie, and headed back. The next day we headed back to Nadi, on the Western part of the main island. We were lucky enough to catch a lift with a local named Chetty, which cut our trip time literally in half. I was looking forward to another short trip back to the Yasawa's, and Keiren to returning home to Melbourne. Or so I thought. On January 7th, Keiren and I took a trip to the world famous Natadal beach, to take in the blue waters and relax. It would be the last day I would see sun in Fiji.
That night, the worst cyclone in 13 years hit Fiji, and everything came to a grinding halt. I cancelled my trip to the islands, and resolved to remain holed up at Momma's Tropic of Capricorn resort in Nadi Bay. There are a series of lower to higher end backpacker resorts and hotels in Nadi Bay. Moma's was run, naturally, by Momma. Momma is a 70 year old Fijian-born, Australian-raised, no-nonsense firecracker. All of her staff are in the family one way or another. She doesn't take crap from anyone, she swears like a sailor, and is by far the most loving and loveable Fijian in all of Fiji. The cooking is homestyle, the prices are more than reasonable, and the staff is friendly. Pay Momma a visit if you're ever in Nadi Bay.
The cyclone, however, was not nearly as nice as Momma. For 4 days everyone just did, well, nothing. Ryan had returned to the area and all of his dive jobs were cancelled, so we got to hang out a bit fair bit. I met more travelers from Columbia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia - all with stories of trips cancelled or prolonged due to the storm. By the 9th, Nadi town was flooded - really badly. The river banks were no longer discernable. So, on the 10th, we did what anyone with all the time in the world and nothing to do would do - we visited to town. Even in the middle of a catastophe, Fijians are friendly and joyful. "Enjoying the weather?" "Bula, where are you from?" "In town to go for a swim?" Pretty much all were heard. One Fijian named John escorted us everywhere through the flood waters, just to make sure we were OK. We passed by one photo shop that was open, now flood waters. Perhaps the shop where my shark dive photos were posted was open and safe too! A few blocks later, I discovered that of all the shops in all of Nadi, it was the deepest under water - about 5 feet! No photos that day. We waded through the waters, chatted with townspeople, police and other travelers alike, and capped off the visit with a trip to a McDonalds a few hundred meters away on higher ground. It was fun actually, though certainly not the tropical paradise we had all become accustomed too.
The next day - last Sunday - was my departure day. I arrived at the airport on-time. Problem was, the flight crew couldn't get there due to all the flooding all over the area. Flight cancelled, flat out. I was put on standby for a flight to Sydney. People were frustrated, angry, stuck. Some had arrived Nadi only a few hours before and were basically turning right around because most people couldn't get into or out of the airport. It was a little chaotic, but after some moments of disorganzied uncertainty, I got on the flight and ended up on the top deck of a 747 with a whole emergency exit row to myself. Leg room for miles!!! 
I arrived Sydney, was rebooked to Brisbane, and arrived later that night. 3 1/2 hours of travel turned into 11, but at least I'm here. Now, my Australia adventure begins. I'm staying in the gracious hospitality of Bill LePage on the Sunshine Coast at Avatar's Abode - another center dedicated to Meher Baba. It's beautiful here - and I've made some lovely friends already. From here I'll continue to plan my strategy for travel, and in some time I'll update you all again.
Three relatively uneventful flights later, on Christmas eve I arrived in LA to a warm greating from my brother Anthony. We made a frantic dash to REI to help me find some lighter and more versatile clothing. After that it was sushi for the both of us in Santa Monica and on to our brother Francis's home for Christmas. I lightened my baggage load by nearly 1/2, as I soon had come to realize that I didn't need half of what I originally packed. After some breakfast shopping with Anthony and laundry, Mom, Christina and Merwan arived Christmas day around midday. For the first time in our family's history, we celebrated Christmas together somewhere other than one of the parents' homes. I schooled Mom on the proper protocal for drinking yerba mate from Argentina, and we all enjoyed a fabulous heat n' go meal on behalf of Francis. The theme this year was scarves, as Francis, recently back from India, delivered at least one to each of us. The photos, once posted, will speak for themselves. After some time spent with Francis's girlfriend Vivian and her father, Mom, Christina and Merwan headed home, and Anthony and I to the airport. For being my only day of winter this year, I certainly chose a good one to spend at home. It's always a treasure to return home to family, even if for only 24 hours. Unbelievably, I was now on my way to Fiji!
The warmth, friendliness and happiness of the Fijian people radiates! And I was feeling it before we even departed LAX. The crew on the flight were all Fijian, were all helpful, were all smiling. It's hard to describe the virtual fresh air you breathe in such warmth and happiness. Crossing the international date line, I departed the night of the 25th and 10 hours later arrived in morning of the 27th. I hope you all had a smashing Boxing Day. Mine evaporated before it even had a chance! :-) After a long wait in customs and for luggage, I was supposed to depart for Momi Bay, about 40 minutes from Nadi, to begin my open water scuba course. Before I could even say "taxi," I was warmly greeted by Amy, no doubt the slickest travel agent in all of Fiji. Before I knew it, Amy had me up in her office convincing me that my time and money would be better spent in the Yasawa island chain a two hour boat ride away. Funny thing, it turned out . . . I wanted to go to the Yasawas! I just thought that I would go later, after my dive course. There was an open water course available for me on MantaRay island, and a package that included accomodations, food and all transfers. I could kill two birds with one stone. After some frantic phone calling, the package was booked, I was hurried into a cab for a 30 minute ride with 45 minutes to make the boat. I got to the harbor, dropped my bag, and got on the boat. Done! Now I was heading for an island chain of white sand beaches and amazing coral reefs to learn to scuba dive! Total whirlwind, but well worth it all.
As before stated . . . There. Are. No. Words. The sense of overwhelm that struck me was so incredibly visceral and elating as we came upon the first of dozens of vistas in this, one of the most beautiful and amazing places on the entire planet. Again, I will emplore you - if you don´t have a facebook account, sign up for one. The photos of this place are quite spectacular. There were kilometers of bridge track at three different levels running along the first face of the falls. Words can´t describe what it´s like to see and hear a kilometer long section of thundering falls through beautiful subtropical forrest. Please do enjoy the pics and videos on Facebook. We spent the first two hours exploring the entire bridge network, before Mo and I hopped on our boat for an uplcose view of the falls. The boat took us immediately up to one of the falls, whereby we were gratuitously soaked. Actually, it was more that welcome on this hot day. We went back for two more passes at another section. Soaked on top of soaking. The cost, about 25 bucks. The time, about 12 minutes. The memory, indelible.
After our boat ride we hopped another boat for a small beach across one section of the river where we rejoined Esthee and Aparna. After a quick swim from there we took trails to more vista points before heading back across for lunch. Coatis abound during lunch time. These little gals and fellas were even more relaxed around people than the most seasoned racoon. Enjoy the video I was fortunate enough to grab of these babies as they were foraging for food right next to the trail our way out of the park.
