Sydney

On our way out of Australia and on to New Zealand, we spent the weekend with Laura's high school friend Scott and his fiancee Lyo.

We arrived on Friday afternoon having just returned from our diving trip, spending the night at our friend Paul's place and trying to hand off our car and pick up our deposit from our house. Needless to say, we still had a few errands to run by the time we arrived to Sydney. Once we were done we met up with Scott. We went to a cool little place for drinks and for dinner and he took us to a very authentic Korean restaurant. We weren't quite sure what we were ordering, but it was delicious. After wandering around the city a bit, we took the train out to their house.

They live in this really cool little town, Stanwell Park, right on the ocean 1 hour south of Sydney. So Saturday morning we had breakfast at a restaurant down the street. We took the scenic route back, walking along the ocean. Rough life. Matt and Lyo relaxed while Laura and Scott did the marketing for the night's dinner. Later in the day we went on a great hike along the cliffs. We had some snacks along the way to keep us fueled, but the real treat was dinner that night once we returned.

Scott grilled shrimp on the barbie, which tasted phenomenal. The main of the evening was lamb. Always a good choice. Sadly we had to get up early to catch our flight to New Zealand so it was a quick visit.

Lady Elliott Island: Snorkeling

We finally received a nice sunny day on the island today.  It was warm in the sunshine and we could revert back to shorts and t-shirts.  We donned our wetsuits and went for a snorkel on the West side of the island.  Our swim started at the lighthouse and we drifted along 2nd reef with the current to coral gardens.  I decided my favorite fish were the Parrot fish; they come in a variety of colors and are neat to watch as they chew on the reef.  Another favorite were schools of these little blue/green fish that changed colors depending on how the sun hit them.

After a brief rest and cup of tea we headed out to snorkel in the lagoon on the East side of the island.  You can only snorkel here for a couple hours on each side of high tide because it is so shallow.  The best way to define the area is it is like being in a fish tank.  You are so close to everything you can reach out and touch the fish.  We were lucky to come across a group of about 6 green sea turtles who were feasting on the diced jellyfish coming in across the reef on the tide (they get broken up by the wave action on the reef.)  We spent the rest of the afternoon reading on the beach, until it was time for our plane back to the mainland.  Our evening turned into quite an adventure as we drove back to Yeppoon and tried to find our friend Paul at whose apartment we were planning to stay the night.  He had had lost his phone and the intercom in his building was broken, we finally managed to get a hold of him by climbing up a wall next to his apt. and throwing wood chips at his windows.

Lady Elliot Island: Diving Day 2

This morning we were greeted by a rainbow in the sky and sunshine.  The wind had died down a touch and it looked like we were going to have a nice day.  At the dive shop we geared up and loaded on the transport trailer to the beach.  We went out to the Severance wreck this morning.  It is a 10 meter sailboat that ran aground on the reef and was towed out to its present location to create an artificial reef.  There was a swift current out here and we had to hold tight to the mooring line as we descended to 22 meters to check out the wreck.  Once on the bottom, there still was a swift current and we carefully moved around the wreck.  Having had our fill of the Severance and the current we headed off along the bottom towards Three Pyramids.  We had used up a good amount of air by the time we got here because of the extra work swimming and the depth, so this would be a shorter dive.  There was a large Bull Ray guarding the Pyramids as well as a black tipped reef shark and we spotted a small colorful lobster hiding in the coral. 

After a quick shower to warm up, I snuck out to the east island lagoon for some snorkeling.  Others on the island were raving about the sea life out here so I had to see it for myself.  I will tell you all about it in tomorrow’s blog. 

For our afternoon dive we went out onto the reef at the Lighthouse Bommie and drifted North with the current on the Western reefs.  One of the divers in the group was having a little trouble getting equalized on the decent, so Laura and I became intimately acquainted with an anemone and its clown fish while we waited.   We saw more of the same fish and coral we had seen over the last few dives, but it still was amazing to look upon. 

Lady Elliott Island: Diving

This trip had been planned exclusively to get more diving in on the Great Barrier Reef here in Australia.  As Laura does not like being on a boat for very long, we chose Lady Elliot Island because, although you dive from a boat you gear up on land and are shuttled back to shore as soon as the dive is over.  If we had gone north to Townsville or Cains, we would have to been on an overnight boat trip to dive on the reef up there. 

We meet at the dive shop at 7:30 AM to get our gear picked out and put together.  It was still very windy, so we were headed to the leeward side of the island for calmer seas.  We were told that in the winter the ocean is often like glass on the leeward side.  Not so today, but that doesn’t matter once you are under the water.  Once in the water, I had a slight mishap of not having enough weight on me and I could not sink.  I added a weight to my BCD and we were off.  We dove today along second reef and swam along with the current along the reef.  Laura and I quickly remembered how to keep ourselves off the coral in neutral buoyancy and we were able to enjoy the sea life.  We both agreed the fish were more colorful here than we had seen off the Keppel islands.  Visibility was 15-20 meters and the highlights included a reef shark, huge sea cucumbers, a blue starfish and schools of tiny blue and purple shimmering fish.

Back on land we took hot showers to rinse off and warm up, and then we relaxed with our morning tea and books while waiting for the afternoon dive.

We headed out to Mauri Wrasse on the North-West side the island for our afternoon dive.  The current was heading south, so we drifted with it through arches down to second reef.  Laura and I both really enjoyed this dive; we were used to being underwater and could really concentrate on the sealife.  We saw a huge grouper tucked away inside an arch, lots of turtles (green and loggerhead) a few which allowed us to scratch their backs and numerous schools of colorful fish.

Lady Elliott Island

Today was a busy day that saw us packing up and leaving our home in Rockhampton and ending up on a secluded island on the Great Barrier Reef.  In the morning we put the final touches on moving out of the house.  We left a few things under the house for the Salvation Army to pick up and tried to get our checked bags as close to 23 kg as we could.  I may end up paying a weight penalty at the airport when we fly out on Friday.  We packed everything we had left into the car and stopped at a friend’s house to give him some of the useful stuff.  The rest was bound for the Salvo or a trash bin.  With the car emptied of all but the bags we were going to be taking home with us, we took off to Bundaberg.  Unfortunately the plane to Lady Elliot Island doesn’t fly out of Rocky. 

After a 3 hour drive we were at the airport with plenty of time to spare.  We checked in our small bags for the trip and relaxed in the airport.  The airport was very small no security checks and the pilot came to the gate to get us for our flight.  It was a small plane only 11 seats, every one had a great window view out both sides.  We saw a couple whales on the approach to the island and the pilot circled them once so we could watch them for a bit.  Things were very windy as we approached the grass runway, we had never been in a plane that approached the landing sideways, but the pilot knew his stuff and we had a relatively soft landing.

 The island hostess took us on a quick tour and then showed us to our Eco-tent, which although comfy was a loud place to sleep with the wind whipping all night long.   We signed up for diving the next day and played a lousy game of pool before grabbing dinner and hitting the hay.

45 Degrees

Early this morning I went out for my last Tuesday morning group ride with the cycling club here in Rockhampton. It was bloody cold this AM, 7.1 degrees Celsius, although this allowed me to wear some of the cold weather cycling clothes that I hauled all the way over here. Who would have know the tropics get this cold. We had a solid 60K ride and I was able to enjoy the sun coming up one last time. I will be packing up the bikes Thursday and they will begin their journey back to the states on Friday. I had a great time cycling in Rocky, the highlight was definitely the track riding and I will not soon forget the experience. My next scheduled race will be in Long beach in July, but maybe Laura and I will do a little riding while we are traveling in New Zealand.

Bali: Day 6

Today we headed back to Legian. So, after breakfast we packed up the bikes and hit the road. The ride back to the city was luckily uneventful. We checked into the hotel, and dropped off the bikes. Jeni then took us to another of her favorite places for lunch. Delicious, but even more spicy than we had before. Afterward she took us to another of her favorite spots, the beach club called Karma Kandara. A cliff side spa and restaurant with a lift down to the beach. We happily spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the beach, sipping fruity drinks and swimming in the ocean.

That evening we met Esi for dinner. She chose a restaurant that was on the beach. You pick the seafood and they grill it over coconut shells and another special (secret) ingredient. The served us fish, two sizes of shrimp, calamarie, and more. Everything was delicious. The night was still young once we had finished so they took us to Rock Bar at the new Ayana Resort (formerly the Ritz-Carlton). The bar was built out on an outcropping of rocks onto the water. The waves were crashing as we sipped our fancy drinks on a lounge sofa. We were sleepy but happy by the time we returned to our room that night.

The next day was spent being lazy, lounging on the beach until it was time to catch our flight back to Oz.

Bali: Day 5

Today Matt and I took the motorbike out for a short ride in the AM. Kurt and Jeni had gotten up early to try for a bit more exploring further out. We would meet up for lunch. Matt drove the bike along all of the little side roads off the main streets which allowed us to get a closer look at the way people live. We could also see how people would set the rice out to dry on giant tarps in the middle of these streets. Even though we tried to navigate around the rice, they just motioned us to drive right across it. We also ran into school children on their way home from school. They would smile, wave and say hi to us. Some even gave us a "high-five"!

We arrived to the hotel before Kurt and Jeni affording us the chance to jump in the pool. It gets pretty hot riding around on those bikes. Once they returned we headed to the Babi Gulang for lunch. That is spit-roasted pig. So, we had coconuts to drink along with the pork, which was very tender and delicious. After lunch we decided to go for a little walk to an artist colony that Matt and Kurt had found on their first day out on the bikes. It took a few wrong turns for them to remember the way, but they were all down roads we had yet to explore and gave us more photo opportunities. One of the artists we met painted intricate designs on wooden eggs. The detail was remarkable.

After our shopping trip Matt and I headed back for a rest. Kurt and Jeni had to make one more stop at a shop Jeni had seen earlier in the day. When they had returned, they told us they had been invited by the shop owner to the local temple festival. Not something most tourists get to do here, again the bonus of travelling with a local. So, we donned our sarongs, boys too and headed off to the temple. Luckily, there are people at the temple that will tie your sarong for you so you don't look like an idiot when it falls off and you are standing there in your shorts!

 The festival was an anniversary celebration of the temple and women were arriving with enormous pyramids of fruit delicately balanced on their heads. The first part of the celebration was the blessing which was performed in groups since there were so many people. Both flowers and water were used during this part. Once the blessing was complete that group moved into the community area. Here they were preparing for Balinese dancing. The dancing and the costumes were more detailed and elaborate that what we had seen earlier in the week.

Bali: Day 4

Today we woke up and Kurt, Matt and I had breakfast together. We were finished and still hadn't seen any sign of Jeni. Turns out she overslept, so I waited for her to get ready and eat while the boys took the bikes out for a spin around the area. I wasn't quite ready to get back on the bike yet. So while they were sightseeing Jeni and I wandered the streets of Ubud going in and out of shops and checking out the monkeys that were hanging by the women selling bananas in front of the monkey reserve, and yes one managed to get away with a bunch for himself.

We met the boys for lunch at Cafe Wayan. This restaurant stretched far back behind its store front with individual table tucked in along the path. The place was like a garden complete with water features. My lunch was served in a pineapple boat, very cool, and tasty. Matt tried a Lassy (basically a fruit smoothy). For dessert we had black rice pudding which is black rice, milk, coconut and banana. Very tasty. It is also eaten for breakfast here too.

Today was Jeni's birthday, so after lunch I joined her on a trip to the spa. After checking a few out she finally found what she was looking for...a place where you could have a massage in an open air room looking out onto the rice fields. Never would have though of that, but very cool. So we both had Balinese Massages very relaxing.

After our tough day at the spa we joined the boys to watch a Balinese dance performance. The Balinese are known for their unique style of traditional dance which is used to tell stories. It is marked by the distinctive eye movements and footwork and brilliant costumes. Afterwards we had dinner to celebrate Jeni's birthday. This restaurant also had the other Balinese beer, Storm. This one came in different varieties and had a bit more taste to it. We were hooked.

Bali: Day 3 to Ubud

Our goal today was Ubud, we had told Jeni we would wait for her to drive up there, as she had an early business meeting.  After a lazy morning, we decided to fuel up the bikes.  We cruised around until we found a proper petrol station, opting not to purchase the petrol in the absolute bottles from the roadside stands.  Once the scooters were topped up we attempted to get back to the hotel.  We took a circuitous route and at one point we found ourselves separated from Kurt.  Fortunately we managed to find our way to the beach and from there back towards Leigan and our hotel.  Kurt arrived not too long after.  After a yummy Indonesian lunch at Three Brothers we took off on the trip to Ubud.  It took approximately 2 hours to get there and the highlight was getting stopped by the police at a registration check point.  My fake international driver’s license passed the test and we were back on the road.  (By the time we learned we needed get an international license it was too late to get one.   Apparently if you don’t have one you just bribe the policeman with 50,000 rupiah (~ $5 USD.)  Good thing we didn’t have to bribe a policeman.

Once in Ubud we took a quick spin around the center and then found a place to stay.  The neat thing about Bali are all the temples they have around the place.  They practice Hinduism and every home and building has a small, with some having a larger more elaborate, offering area.  Our hotel had some very neat statues and arches where they placed their daily offerings.

For dinner we went for a local special called crispy duck.  We choose the Dirty Duck restaurant, because it was supposed to have the best crispy duck in town.  It was a real neat place; we sat outside on an elevated platform at the edge of a rice field.  The duck didn’t look like much more than an overly fried breast and wing, but did it ever taste good.  We also tried berem, the local liquor.  It went down easy considering it tasted like lemonade, but a bit more potent.  We topped off the meal with a rich chocolate cake for dessert.  Very decadent!