Here are a few quick stories from the travels. We drove back from the Cradle Mountain Area to Hobart and on the way stopped at a Crepe place. This was my request as I just wanted to eat lots of crepes, who wouldn't? It was made for old people, as in I think I started to develop arthritis just by walking in. In retrospect, what did I expect from a crepe place, not a wafflehouse or a pancake palace, crepes. There was a threesome (yes, elderly) sitting at the next table over who were enjoying themselves and as we were just about ready to leave they started a conversation with us. It was nice, but right off the bat they misinterpreted me when I said we'd be in Australia for another 2 weeks as we'd be in Tassie for another two weeks. They then proceeded to tell us every place to in Tasmania mainly to find good food (the OLT was not included). Then it got very uncomfortable when they mentioned that they used to be a foursome, but the husband of one of the women had died a few months ago and she started to tear up. We'd never even met these people before, but they love sharing apparently. They were sweet and well meaning, but eventually we were able to get back on the road.
We went to a sushi place for dinner where the sushi moves around on a conveyer belt and you grab what you want. They then charge you by plate. We kicked ass, totaling 15 plates between the two of us.
Next day we flew to Cairns. Funny story on the plane. Isabel had a window seat with no window. It was hilarious. A window should have been there, but it was just a blank wall. She was not amused.
We went grocery shopping, not really worth writing a post about, so I didn't.
The next day we got picked up and brought to a little domestic terminal on they had us weigh our luggage to make sure it wasn't too heavy. Procedure was: put carry-on on baggage scale and step on person scale. Isabel had no carry-on so they just had her step onto the baggage scale.
Then we got in this tiny little airplane
Which had an ipad as a steering wheel
And we flew for about an hour to Lizard Island, getting some awesome views on the way
Then we boarded the Spirit of Freedom and did the necessary orientation. What to do for emergencies, where we lived and ate and did things, who the crew were, what daily life would be like, and what expected in terms of diving. The usual stuff. They also figured out our dive histories and ranked as either red, yellow, or green based on experience. (Red is the highest level. They never told us this, but you sign in after every dive and you can see whose what color and do the math). There are a total of 26 passengers on the ship and 11 crew members. We'll likely get to know all of them rather well
Then we did two dives just to kind of get a feel for things and make sure we were all on similar pages. Darling Isabel was my Dive Buddy of course. I think they're making an effort to keep you with the person or people you're traveling with. They also put your fins on for you which is kind of hilarious, but convenient. In other words, they're babying us.
On the first dive we saw a cuttlefish! We got to watch it swim around and change color almost instantaneously. When it was over reef it was reddish, and over sand it turned grayish. It was amazing, and just so crazy for to comprehend. Imagine being able to change your skin color and texture simply by thinking.
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| Mr Cuttlefish |
The second dive was also pretty exciting. We were in a group which is nice because it means that just because someone is out of air does not mean their buddy needs to go up too. The buddy can stay with the group and everyone is happy. Isabel went up a bit before me on this dive, but got to see an octopus. She missed out on the moray and octopus though.
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| I did not take any of the underwater photos as I don't have a $15,000 camera |
A great first day on the reef. Now we're heading to bed and hoping it's not too rocky. We've let the main reef so nothing is acting as a barrier to the ocean waves any longer, meaning it can be a bumpy night.
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