Its been a long time since my last post, so I apologize to the close followers (if there are any). We’ve done a lot in the past week or so, but haven’t had much internet access during that time. This is going to be a long post too, so hopefully I can keep your attention for the whole thing. Currently I’m looking out over the oriental style rooftops in Bali, Indonesia from our 3^rd floor hotel room balcony just a few blocks from the beach. Let me go back to where I left off though and get you caught up on everything that we’ve done.

On Friday 10/16 we lathered up in sunscreen, apparently not enough for me, and headed east on the Ocean Free sailboat to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. It couldn’t have been a better day for it as the air temperature was right around 90, water temperature about 75, not a cloud in the sky, and not a breath of wind. That was also a problem since we took a SAILBOAT out there. It took about 2 hours to arrive and return to the reef since we had no wind power to use, but it wasn’t a problem since we still had plenty of time to snorkel, and a lot of the other passengers were around our age so we struck up some conversations and made some friends.

The dive spot was located just off Green Island which is absolutely gorgeous with all the colors of the water right around it. I ended up buying a post cord with an aerial view of the area we snorkeled just because I couldn’t capture the beauty with my camera. After the morning session they fed us a delicious lunch on the boat and took us to the island in shifts to spend some time on the beach there. Jonathon and I made sure to catch the first ride back to the boat so we could have quite a bit more time in the water before heading back to Cairns. As we were about to get in the water again we were greeted by 2 sharks and a couple of other large fish that were swimming around the boat. Feeling invincible like we are we slipped into the water quietly to swim with these animals. In the mean time our captain begins throwing pieces of left over lunch meet in the water real close to us (I was hit in the head once) and tells us to keep our hands and arms tucked in close to our body. I think you can imagine why, and I didn’t want to temp the sharks to think that my fingers were nice little pieces of meat that they can have for a dessert, so I obeyed without questioning. It was such a cool experience to be in the water with 3 sharks (a 3^rd came up later when they were eating) in the wild like that and watch them eat and swim. The crew was extremely fun and you can tell they love poking fun at specific nationalities when they get a chance…Canadians, and Italians were on the receiving end most of the day.

We had 2 more days in the Cairns area before flying to Darwin after that so we explored some beaches in the area and just relaxed by the pool and ocean. Cairns was a really fun city but its essentially on a lagoon and there is no beach there. It’s a shame since it’s the main destination for the reef and in Northern Queensland, but they did have a huge pool right in the main park of the city right across the street from where we were staying.

In my opinion when you picture the countryside of Australia the Northern Territory around Darwin fits the bill. We rented a car again to drive to Litchfield National Park, and see the Katherine Gorge. On the drive out that first morning to Litchfield we had to stop at the Adelaide River to do a crocodile jumping cruise. Any gator or croc that you’ve seen in the states would be a light snack for these creatures. The cruise consisted of a two deck boat, and one of the crew members dangling a piece of meat from a stick over the water. The crocs swim up to it and jump to try and get it. Seeing them open their jaws like that and the power of them was incredible. After the tour was over we continued onto Litchfield where we were both pleasantly surprised by the number of water holes and waterfalls to swim in. They were swimming pools of the wild that brought along probably the most refreshing dip I’ve had, not only because of the purity of the water and that we could have the waterfall rain down on us, but remember we’re in the Northern Territory…so it is HOT. I also quickly understood why people where the hats with the bug screen around their face because the flies up there were terrible. That was another reason that made the water feel so good, because you could escape the bugs for a little bit.

It was a great 2 weeks in Australia filled with a wide variety of things. We were cold and wet in Sydney while walking around the Olympic park and during the Australia vs. Netherlands soccer match, hot and stuffy in the Northern Territory while hiking the Katherine Gorge and Litchfield, saw numerous wateralls, and potentially deadly animals. We met some nice people from all around the world that we might be able to meet up with again in the New Zealand portion of our trip, saw one of the natural wonders of the world, and for me I got to learn some Aussie slang and expressions that I’m hoping to bring back to the states with me. Some of my favorites are how everything is abbreviated, when you hear me say sunnies I’m talking about sun glasses, and if I’m going to buy the next round of drinks, “I’ll shout for the next.” I’m excited to move onto our next leg of the trip in SE Asia and also to return to Australia in December when we’re done with SE Asia and New Zealand.

A potential major setback almost happened in the Darwin Airport. As we went to check into our flight for Bali we were told they couldn’t let us board the plane since we didn’t yet have a departing flight from Indonesia. Apparently Indonesia has very strict immigration and customs laws so we would have been sent back to Australia on the first flight out of there if they found out we didn’t have a departing flight booked. Luckily we got to the airport early enough that we booked a flight with the same airline to go to Singapore as our next stop, mainly because it was only a $50 flight, and that is the central location for all of SE Asia so it will be easy to head off in a better planned route from there when we can sit down and figure out some of the details.

I’m going to head to the beach now, so my next post will be about Bali, which if our first 2 days are any indication of what the remaining 4 are going to be like it should make for a good read if I haven’t put you to sleep already. More pictures to follow. Cheers!