Email Update

I just received the following email from Mom...

Had a great time with Sandra (their friend who lives in Brisbane, Australia).

I will write more when I do my blog. She lives in a really great place. We loved the place she took us to see the Australian animals.

We changed Lizard Island to Thursday because they were expecting bad weather yesterday. We did the (Great Barrier) reef yesterday and had a fantastic day. Wow!

I am a little anxious about (catching up with) the ship on Friday, but I am trying to let it go and play it cool.

We went to the Yacht Club today, but Dad decided not to sail due to no wind.

Got some great pics of us with a kangaroo and Koala with Sandra and a huge fish while doing the GBR (Great Barrier Reef).

We are really having a fantastic time.

The Great Barrier Reef

February 26, 2008
Reef Magic and Marine World on Moore Reef

I had selected Reef Magic because they have smaller boats and take fewer people to their pontoon. The companies take you out to a “pontoon” that is a big platform that is already anchored on the reef. The boat stays tied to the pontoon and you use the bathrooms etc on the boat, but everything else is on the pontoon.
This is our pontoon, but we were on a much bigger and faster new catamaran. Notice the small white rectangles in the water. Those are resting areas for the snorkelers.

They also offered a glass bottom boat ride, a semisubmersible and you could get a helicopter ride over the reef if you wanted to, but we were still planning on our flight to Lizard Island so we didn't do that. You can see the helicopter pad in the upper right on this pic and one of the extra boats as well.

We were going to try diving, but due to ear problems because of colds etc, we couldn't. The water is so incredibly clear that we could see a huge amount with snorkeling.

We decided to get the Lycra suits so we would be protected from the sun and also “stingers” (jellyfish). We brought our own snorkel vests, masks and snorkels which really helped us spot each other in the water. They were a little different from the others that were rented.

The water was absolutely wonderful! It was clear and warm. It was an overcast day which really helped too. We loved the fish, but I think I actually liked looking at the coral more. It there were areas 30 or more feet deep with coral, upon coral, upon coral. Different types, colors and shapes. Stunning! Some areas were very shallow. Once I hit it with my flippers (big no, no) because I didn't notice that it had gotten shallower. The water is so clear that you can't really tell if it is foot deep or 20 feet deep by the visibility.

A Giant Clam

Moorish Idols
Nudibranch
Nemo


We had a wonderful day including a great seafood buffet lunch (featuring prawns). We forgot to take pictures of the lunch because we couldn't wait to get back into the water.

One of the highlights was coming across this great big fish and having our photos taken. This was truly one of the highlights of our trip so far. We were blown away by it.

Sarah

Cairns, Australia

Cairns, Australia (Pronounced "Cans")
February 25, 2008
Eastern Time plus 14 hours

As we landed in Cairns, a very cheerful male flight attendant came on the speaker. “Welcome to Cairns. The time is bang on 7:30! And the temperature is… and the temperature is… well whatever it is, I know it's great!”

We arrived at our lodging and crashed, still recovering from our pace in Sydney and the night before.

The next morning was to be our flight to Lizard Island and snorkeling there, but it was postponed due to weather and visibility for flying. They moved our Reef Magic dive and snorkel trip to Tuesday and moved the flying to Thursday.

Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane, Australia
Eastern Time plus 15 hours

We arrived in Brisbane at 7:30 PM. It was great to see Sandra again. Peter is sadly missed. We went to her home and took the opportunity to walk around the area along the river for an hour or more. It was lucky that we did because the next day the weather was rainy. She lives on the Brisbane River and has a beautiful view of the city and a neat marina area adjoining her building. That was where Peter kept his boat. We had just planned to go out and see her grounds before the pool etc was locked at 10, so I didn't think to take my camera. I missed the opportunity to take a lot of pictures of some great boats and a wonderful view.

I bought this tile for Sandra while I was in Door County, Wisconsin with some friends this fall. I saw it and I reminded me of Sandra. She is great at keeping in touch with all of her friends around the world. I wish I would have bought one for myself!

We had a great night's sleep and got up to a yummy breakfast of Yogurt and Fresh Fruit parfaits and Hot Crossed Buns!

Here is the view from the balcony and one of her dining area.

We set off for the Lone Tree Sanctuary.
We are sort of halfway between New York and Rome. Note the distances!The Koalas were really very active! Jeff wouldn't hold it, but I felt it was a must do in Australia!

Next stop was the kangaroos! This was really very thrilling to me. They all took off at one point and it was really something exciting to see. They can really go!

We also saw an Emu, I loved the feathers!
We saw a Kookaburra (sits in the old gum tree). We didn't hear it laughing here, but did a few days later in the Daintree. Didn't see it then, but heard it.

We also saw dingoes and many beautiful birds.

Next stop was Mt Coot-tha Lookout. The views would have been much better if it was a clear day, but we could see what was there. We also had a good coffee break.

We went back to Sandra's for a get lunch and to get organized before heading to the airport for our flight to Cairns (pronounced "Cans").

Sydney, Australia

Sydney, Australia
Eastern Time plus 16 hours

I know Liz updated you on what we did in Sydney on our first day. I will just add additional pictures here.

We started our day at 5:30 AM with the Champagne and Australian Flags. It was great having Val and Denise with us because they could point out all of the landmarks etc. The Opera House is just breathtaking. It is impossible not to keep on photographing it.

The flag on this boat is the Aboriginal Flag. January 13 of this year was a historic day in Australia, Sorry Day. January 13, 2008 was the first time that the government of Australia told the Aboriginals they were sorry for the treatment they had received. They didn't just want an apology; they wanted the government and people to be sorry about it.

We left the ship to meet Joel and Tanya and noticed that in Australia they really do go up the down staircase. I still find it hard to keep to the left while passing people.

We also passed these Aboriginal performers. We later found out that Joel knows the Didgeridoo player! I think he said his name is Rex.

We met Joel and Tan and went to Darling Harbour for brunch. Joel and Jeff ordered the Blackbird Brekky.

Tanya had a work commitment come up so she went to work, Joel went home to work on the garden and Jeff and I got on the Hop on Hop off Bus. Liz and Tanya had made a very detailed Itinerary for us and I forgot it in Joel's car so we were on our own. Good thing I forgot it and not Jeff! He would have been in the doghouse!

One stop I know we were to go to was to Harry's. We went and sampled the famous meat pies!

Sydney is a beautiful city and we really enjoyed seeing it, but the best part for us was the views from Mrs. Macquarie's Chair.

I went shopping in a neat area called the Rocks and Jeff went to take a nap. I loved looking at all of the Didgeridoos!
Tanya had suggested we take the ferry to Watson's Bay for dinner. We loved the ride. We wound around little bays and even saw the end of a one design sailboat race. Jeff was even able to see a race committee closing up for the day. The ride was just delightful.

Watson's Bay was a great little beach town. We had Grilled Prawns, Rocket (Arugula) and Parmesan salad and Steamed Veggies for dinner.

We had the cab driver take us on a tour of a beautiful residential area and then to the Opera House. We had intended to have an after dinner drink, but were just too full. We walked around and enjoyed the spectacular weather, atmosphere, ambience and view for about an hour and half.This is a picture of the Opera House tiles up close. We could hardly tear ourselves away, it was just outstanding.We took a walk over the Rocks and had a Guinness (not me of course).

Sunday afternoon Joel picked us up and took us for a drive along the Northern Beaches. More beauty… we absolutely loved the Sydney area.

We stopped at a place called the Newport Arms for lunch. It was a beautiful day, great company, nice music and once again… stunning water views.

At the end of the day Joel dropped us off at the airport and we were off to Brisbane!