The GREAT Barrier Reef

Hey strangers! So sorry I've been missing in action for a couple weeks, but the Coral Sea doesn't have very good wifi.

I'll start from the beginning, I suppose. Two weeks ago on Thursday, I started my volunteer position on Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, an excellent liveaboard dive boat out of Cairns. They do 3, 4, and 7 day dive trips out to the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. I was initially on for a week as a domestic volunteer.

Now, before I bore you with an account of every single dive that I went on and every fish that I saw (I won't do that, we'd be here for a week), I'll explain a little of what I did as a volunteer. I spent the majority of the time working with the hostess, Becks and the chef, Levi. I initially wanted to be down on the dive deck helping out with the diving side of things, but I really had a blast hanging out in the kitchen. Becks are Levi are really fun people and there was a lot of laughter coming out of that kitchen. I helped out with some food prep (although it was quickly discovered that I cannot cut a watermelon in straight, even pieces to save my life), lots and lots and lots of dishes, cleaning up the guest rooms, lots of vacuuming and other similar chores. It was hard work, but I was rewarded with some of the best diving I have ever done.

The first dive that I did on our first day on the water I couldn't contain myself. I was seeing coral in colors that I didn't know existed. I practically screamed when I saw my first giant clam. And lets not even talk about how excited I was when the white-tip reef shark swam by. I think my dive buddy, an experienced diver who had spent a good bit of time in the Great Barrier Reef, thought I was an absolute nut.

The next amazing, jaw-dropping dive was later that afternoon when we dove a site called the Snake Pit. Now I had kind of forgotten that sea snakes even exist. We sure don't have them in S. Florida or the Caribbean... But as soon as we dropped down, BAM. At least four or five olive sea snakes, just swimming around like its nothing. Now, sea snakes are actual snakes (as opposed to eels which are fish) and breath air and flick their tongues and act just like regular snakes, except they're 60 feet underwater. Awesome.

Olive sea snake

The first day we spent on the GBR, but that night we ran up to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea. This is a reef that comes out of nowhere. The water surrounding the reef is literally thousands of feet deep, which means really really epic wall dives. On the first dive at Opsrey Reef, a site called Halfway, I went to nearly 100 feet, but I could see down at least another 100 feet, and it was just sheer walls of coral and blue water as far as you could see below. 

This picture is the best one I have showing the wall, but it goes

 for probably 1000 feet just like that...

At Osprey Reef, we also did a shark feed at a site called North Horn. There's an area in the coral that almost looks like an amphitheater. They do this shark feed usually once a week, so the sharks know that as soon as the boat shows up, there will be some tuna heads. When we jumped into the water, there were already maybe 15 or 20 sharks swimming around. After everyone got settled, sitting still and not moving around, they brought down three tuna heads in a garbage can. When the tuna heads came out of the garbage can, 30-40 grey reef sharks and a dozen white-tip reef sharks went at it, full feeding frenzy style. It was AMAZING. I felt like I was in a documentary or something, watching these sharks tear into the tuna heads. Really neat to be able to witness that many sharks in that small of a place. 

After Osprey Reef, we stopped at Lizard Island and changed some passengers. Some stayed on for a week, but we traded out about half of the passengers for some new ones that were on for the 3 day leg of the trip. We bounced back through the GBR diving at some other amazing sites like Acropolis, which was the best coral cover I have ever seen on any reef ever. 

So over the course of this first week, I discovered that while the other two volunteers were on for two weeks, I was initially only scheduled for one week. I definitely wanted more diving. There was going to be some crew shuffling after the first week and when we got back to Cairns after seven amazing days on the water, we realized that the video pro wasn't going to be on for the second week, meaning there would be an extra bed in the crew cabins. We got back into Cairns, cleaned up the boat and then the crew had a couple hours on dry land before the boat was leaving again. I hung around the boat, waiting for the operations manager or the captain to show up so I could try and talk my way on for another week. Eventually the captain came out and asked if I wanted to be on for another week, of course I said yes. He asked if there was anything I needed to get done before the boat left again. I did, I needed some clean clothes... He told me to RUN. I had to be back on the boat in 45 minutes if I wanted to be on for the second week. Instead of running home (I never would have made it) I wound up running to mall and picking up a few essentials from Target (yeah, Australia has Target, its wonderful). 

I was back on the boat for round two! And round two was even better! This trip was a week long, no stopping in the middle and switching passengers and it was a deep reef expedition. We went to some deep reefs in the coral sea that hadn't been dove in quite some time. Some of the guests on the boat were excellent rebreather and technical divers, going to 160 ft and more, exploring depths of these reefs that had never been explored. Even though I didn't go that deep, I still saw some amazing things like....

SO MANY SHARKS

And potato cod!!! (like a goliath grouper, only more personable)

NEMOS

And really amazing reef fish...

It was a really amazing two weeks and I did some of the most amazing diving I've ever done. The people on the boat were so much fun and I would love to get back out there again... This was definitely an experience I will never forget and I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity...

Now, I'm off to try and find a real paying job! Wish me luck! 

Love and fishes! 

Total Eclipse of the Sun... and some other exciting news :)

This was a morning so monumental, it got me out of bed at 4:30am. Today was a total solar eclipse. It's the first one to come across northern Queensland in 700 years and another one won't happen here for another thousand or so, so it was a really big deal.

The newspaper said they were anticipating an additional 50,000 visitors in north Queensland JUST for the eclipse and there were  5 charter planes that came over from Japan JUST for the eclipse. I met someone who came here from San Francisco, just for five days, just to see the eclipse. Apparently these things are a big deal and I just got damn lucky.

The only problem was that its been raining and cloudy here for the last three days or so, which has made everyone really nervous about the eclipse viewing. People were trying to avoid it by chartering boats or driving out to the country, but I decided to head down to the Esplanade this morning with the riff raff that can't afford those fancy things.


It was pretty cloudy when I got to the beach around 515. The sun was going to be rising in eclipse, starting at like 5:30. It was mostly overcast for the beginning, but the sun finally peeked out when it was about 60% eclipsed. It was incredible, like nothing I've ever seen. After that, it looked like there was no hope. The big clouds rolled in and it looked like we would miss the total eclipse.

Cloudy, cloudy, cloudy...

BUT for about 30 seconds, the clouds parted and we were able to see the sun just as it was turning into the full eclipse and it was AMAZING. Such an incredible experience. As soon as the sun eclipsed, it got so dark that you could see the stars (including Venus and Mercury!) The total eclipse lasted for two minutes and then is started getting light again... really such as surreal experience.

Partial solar eclipse taken through my sweet eclipse glasses. 

It was a really really amazing experience. I might not travel across the world to see another one, but I can absolutely see why you would want to!!!

Now... drumroll please... I've got some excellent news!!! I'm going out to the Great Barrier Reef!! TOMORROW! I got a last-minute position as a volunteer on a dive boat going out for 7 days! I'll be living, eating and diving for free, but I'll be earning my keep doing some housekeeping and helping out the staff. I'M GOING TO BE DIVING IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF! This has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid and I can't even believe that it's finally happening!!! I'll be off the grid for 7 days, don't miss me too much! Hopefully I'll be back next week with some amazing stories!! 

Rain forests, cassowarys and waterfalls.

After spending the last two days wandering aimlessly around Cairns, I decided I needed to branch out a little bit. I booked a tour that would take me up to the rainforest and do some silly touristy things like pet kangaroos and learn to throw a boomerang.

I left this morning at 715 in the rain. We took a bus up to Kuranda in the rain. I pet the kangaroos in the rain. Despite my very very bad luck with the weather today, I had a grand time. I went to this place called Rainforestation, which is a little tourist attraction up in the jungle. They had cool animals...

Like these really stressed out, not at all relaxed kangaroos...

But they don't pose for pictures very well... they really like eating grass. 

This is a really cute wallaby. 

So yeah, the animals were awesome. Except for the cassowary. I didn't even photograph it because the first time I walked by, I was too afraid of it and the second time I walked by, it was hiding behind a bush. For those who don't know, a cassowary is a flightless jungle bird, like a smaller version of an emu or an ostrich. Now, for those of you who know my irrational fear of birds larger than chickens, you know that this bird, just in its mere existence is the embodiment of terror. Now, lets add some more variables to this terrible creature. 1). It looks like a dinosaur. Google it. 2). It's very territorial. 3). It has three razor sharp talons on each foot. Now, combine numbers 2 and 3 and you have a bird that will disembowel you if you piss it off. I'm sorry, if that's not the scariest animal in the jungle, I don't know what is. 

After the adorable/terrifying animals, we went to the next part of a tour, a demonstration of aboriginal tools, like spears, boomerangs and didgeridoos. I don't even want to talk about how terrible I am at throwing boomerangs and playing the didgeridoo. After failing both of those tasks, they definitely wouldn't let me play with the spear. 

The last leg on the Rainforestation extravaganza was a really cool tour through the rainforest in one of those amphibious boat/car things.

Rainforest! 

This rainforest is a World Heritage Site, which makes it super important and awesome (The Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite are among others). Well, from what I saw of it, I agree. Some of the plants made me feel like I was stepping onto the set of Jurassic Park. Really, really cool. 

So the next (and last) adventure of the day was the village of Kuranda. It's a cool little town nestled up in the rainforested mountains. It's a cool place to see and has other attractions within it, like a butterfly sanctuary and a spider zoo (yeah... a zoo just for spiders). I spent a little while browsing the shops, but once I decided I didn't want to spend any more money, the town got quite small. So I ventured out with my tour friend and we decided to go find Barron Falls, which was about a 5km walk (I have to learn kilometers now... dammit). It was a really lovely walk through more rainforest areas, although it was a little scary when I saw the sign that said "Caution: Recent Cassowary Crossing". Anyway, long story short, we found the falls and they were glorious. 

So that was my super cool day. I'm a big fan of the rainforest and hopefully I get back up in that region again, because I'm sure there are more really cool things to see. But now I'm going to try and buckle down and find a job in a dive shop. Wish me luck! If I don't get out to the reef soon, I might die. 

Petting koalas and pictures...

Drumroll please...

I have moved into my apartment! Hooray!

My bedroom is THE tiniest thing in the entire universe... no holds barred. I think my bathroom in Miami was bigger. Actually I think the bathroom in THIS appartment is bigger than my room! It's all good though. It has a bed and a dresser and a mini desk thing... what else could I need?

Life is going swimmingly around here... spent the last two days wandering around some more, taking a nap on the Esplanade and getting nice and sunburnt, which means I have some awesome tan lines... haha. There's a mini zoo on top of the casino here (random, I know) but I went there yesterday. It was pretty small, but there were some neat birds, reptiles and a big ass crocodile named Goliath. But the BEST part was the koalas. There were three of them and I got there just before feeding time! One of the keepers pulled one out, her name was Pavlova, and I got to pet her cute little face! If I had paid an extra $16, I could have held her and had my picture taken, but I refrained. There is plenty of time for koala holding, I can't do all the fun stuff in the first week! But apparently in Queensland (the state that I'm in) is the only place in Australia where you can hold koalas because the further south you go, the bigger they get and in southern Australia, it would be like holding a small labrador!!!

And now, what you've all been waiting for... pictures from the last few days! Hooray!

Some sailboats across from the harbor... apparently Australia has mountains. I missed that memo initially. 

A non-rosette spoonbill

I wish you could see how BIG this pelican is. 

BATS! I wish I had a crazy zoom, because they're super cute, but they're too high up in the trees to photograph well! 

The swimming lagoon at the Esplanade... it's a nice little man-made beach and pool since there's not really a good place to swim near Cairns. 

Kookaburra at the zoo! 

Goliath the crocodile... 

And last but not least, the cutest creature in the history of the universe, Pavlova the koala! Look at the fuzzy little ears! 

SO. After a harrowing few days of moving out of my apartment and getting ready to move around the world, I managed to get all my stuff in two backpacks and a large suitcase. Everything I need in my life I can shuffle around the airport by myself. It seems crazy. I left Miami around four on Monday evening. I got in to Cairns around noon on Wednesday... It took a 5 hour flight, then a 13 hour flight and another 5 hour flight.

After nearly missing the first flight because Miami Airport has literally the slowest security line EVER, I was sure that I had gotten all the weird flight juju out of the way. Nope. My first flight runs out of WATER. They come in halfway through the flight to tell us that if we want to go to the bathroom, they'll provide hand sanitizer since they neglected to fill the water tank before the plane took off. How does that happen? The good news is that after that hiccup, everything went great. On a related note, I would just like to throw it out there that I think Air New Zealand might be my new favorite airline. If you ever have a reason to fly with them, I encourage it. Their safety video is really funny (youtube it!) and they fed me like six times. It doesn't take much to win me over ;)

Probably about 9 hours into the 13 hour flight, I just couldn't sleep anymore and found myself sitting in the dark and asking, "What in the world am I doing?" I had a moment of panic when I realized that all this was actually happening and I was on a plane en route to New Zealand. No turning back now, that's for sure. When it started to get light out, and the clouds began to clear and I could see my stopover destination, things were looking good again. I wish I could have spent a more time in New Zealand. It just looks way to beautiful not to return to. Gorgeous shorelines, rolling green hills... I'm going try and find my way back there at some point.

A few hours later I found further undeniable confirmation that I'm doing the right thing. I saw the Great Barrier Reef from my plane window. Any doubts I had were gone.

I got to Cairns, got through customs without a hiccup and headed to my hotel. I'm staying in a hotel for the first two days so I can get my feet underneath me and figure out the time change without having to worry about the other variables like roommates, unpacking and all that. I'm agreeing with this decision, except that I'd really love to get rid of this giant, overweight suitcase.

I got into the hotel and came to a horrible realization that most travelers probably figure out BEFORE they leave. My computer, cell phone, hair dryer... none of them are going to fit in the plugs! Australia has different outlets! So I was set out on an adventure to find a voltage converter thingy. Now, normally the mall would not be the first place I would set out to explore in a new place, but that's where the closest electronic store was, so there you go. It was actually kind of fun and probably a good exercise since that's where a grocery store and a currency exchange are.

I spent the rest of the day getting hopelessly lost in Cairns. I found the docks, a lot of the shopping and dining areas, I found the ocean, the swimming area...

Sometimes, walking around, it reminded me of Miami. Other times, Honolulu. But then I would look up and see something so completely different, there would be no doubt that this was Australia. Like street signs in kilometers, flying foxes (a kind of bat) in the trees, cars coming down the wrong side of the street, kangaroo burgers...

So day one was a success! Good introduction to this new crazy place! Stay tuned for more adventures in Oz!