Whale Watching

We went whale-watching out of Sydney Harbor this past Friday. As you can see, the day could have been better for Myra, but we saw lots of humpback whales, including one mother-calf pair that hung around for over an hour. It was a really windy, rainy day and the water was really choppy most of the time, but I still managed to get a few good pictures of the whales. I'm posting those on the photo site under a new album called "Whale Watching." Click the link near the top left.

Skydiving

While we were in Cairns I got the chance to do skydiving. We flew up to 14,000 ft in a single-engine airplane and jumped out. The experience was amazing. It only feels like you're falling for the first few seconds. After that you're going as fast as you're going to go and you feel like you're floating. The air really blows on your face hard, leading to some really funny pictures. Some of them are embarrassing. I would post them, but my ego's not letting me. For now I'll keep them on my computer. The rest are posted on the photo site. Go have a look.

Bushwalk

Yesterday I went with Greg and his kids on a bushwalk from Cowan to Brooklyn. It was about 11 km and had several really steep rocky climbs. There were some really nice views from the tops of the hills. There are new pictures from the hike on the photo page. Click the link at the top left of the page.

Lots of new pictures

I'm uploading a whole bunch of new pictures from spring break. Go to the photo link and check out all of the new albums.

Ayers Rock

I spent the first three days of spring break in Ayers Rock. That's in the middle of the outback and close to Uluru, the big monolith you see in all of the postcards. There were a lot of fun tours to take out there. I walked 10 km around the base of Uluru, hiked through a canyon in the Olgas (the other big rock formation in the area), and rode camels through the bush on a sunrise tour. The only thing I didn't get to do was climb Uluru. They had the climb closed down because the temperature was above 35 degrees C. There are lots of pictures, and I hope to have them posted sometime tomorrow. The one beside this post can be a preview.

Just off the dive boat

I just got back to our hotel in Cairns after five days of liveaboard diving on the great barrier reef. I'm typing this post from a public computer at the hotel, so I can't post the pictures yet, but I will in a few days when we're back in sydney. I got to do 20 dives at three different sites, from 20-100 feet of depth, and saw just about every sort of ocean creature you can think off. The night dives were especially great for seeing things moving over the reef surface. I saw hundreds of different types of fish including Nemo, lots of sea turtles, a bunch of sharks (one of which came right up in my face), giant clams, sea fans, hard and soft corals, lobsters, and a black and white speckled moray eel. I actually ended up staying for an extra night because I liked it so much, and completed my advanced diver course. There are so many stories to tell when I get back home.

On Vacation

There haven't been any recent posts because I'm currently on spring break in Ayers Rock and Cairns. Once I get back (Sept. 28) I'll post all of the pictures from the trip. Just hang in there.