He had this to say....
After reading Mike & Trin’s blog prior to our rendezvous, we felt as if we were cheating ourselves to meet in such a westernized location, but nonetheless were stoked we had the opportunity we did.
We did our best to instill some home cooking in their lives….a little burritos with hot sauce that tasted like ketchup. A little off from San Luis Mexican food, but would do for now.
The dive boat had a great schedule, it went something like this:
6:00 – Dive
7:00 – Breakfast
9:00 – Dive
10:00 – Snack
12:00 – Lunch
2:00 – Dive
5:00 – Dinner
7:00 – Dive
8:00 – Cake
We loved it, the food was great and although it seems like a lot of eating, we were starving every time we got back from a dive.
Since Ryan and I were doing the certification course, we didn’t get to dive with Mike and Trin until the end of Day 2. But we had some great dives when we did get to go together. We saw some amazing coral and heaps of tropical fish and other sea life. Some of the highlights were turtles, reef sharks, lionfish, cuddlefish, eels and parrot fish. Mike and Trin said this was one of the top ten dive spots in their fifty dives. Ryan and I had never dove anywhere else, so we were very impressed.
Trin all geared up to dive
There’s one of the many reef sharks! They’re little guys….not very scary at all.
One of the reefs we dove on
Overall, it was really amazing to dive the Great Barrier Reef and especially to be able to do it with friends. We were glad to be able to spend some time with Mike and Trin and we even learned some things we hadn’t known before. We found out that Mike is fascinated with China and Trin loves to do laundry, very interesting!
The financial crisis news was everywhere and while it had me worried about my job prospects upon return, it led to a huge US dollar rally against Australia's. To our surprise we'd enjoy a 30% discount vs. arriving just a couple of weeks back. This was welcome news after being crushed in Europe. The only bummer was we already booked our pricey Great Barrier Reef dive trip a couple of months before the change.
PERTH:
Perth was a nice mellow reintroduction to the developed world. Kind of like a Midwest capital. We quickly resumed our Europe routine. Sipped cappuccinos with a magazine as we watched the world go by, perused an art gallery in the nearby town of Fremantle and generally soaked up the missed comforts of western living.
I thought America was bad about abusing the Christmas theme, it's still October!
ROAD TRIP:
I was definitely apprehensive about driving on the wrong, I mean other, side of the road but we decided to rent a car and a take a road trip around the southwest region. After a few minutes with the car I had managed to do the following things:
1. Sit in the passenger seat and wonder, where's the steering wheel?
2. Activate the windshield whippers instead of the turn signal
3. Hit the curb and ride the shoulder on the left hand side
Undeterred, we headed south towards Albany. After an hour we began to appreciate how spread out the people are on this massive island. There are only 21 million people here (nearly all along the coasts) which is shocking when compared to California's 36 million. Put another way this works out to roughly 6 people per square mile vs. over 200 in California. It was common to drive for thirty minutes without encountering another soul.
Our first kangaroo crossing sign! Many locals consider them to be a nuisance but I think they are completely surreal.
Albany is surrounded by state parks and beaches. The chilly water is a beautiful Caribbean blue.
Little Beach, Two People's Bay National Park
Giant rock archway, The Gap, Torndirrup National Park
Halloween isn't widely celebrated here but our hostel put on a costume party none the less. Trin painted on some scars. I put on my black base layers and snorkel mask in an attempt to look like a scuba diver. It took a couple of beers to get over the fact that I was running around in public in tights.
Next we headed inland towards the small town of Pemberton. We checked the nearby Lonely Planet highlight, Valley of the Giants, which is a 100+ foot high walkway through the trees, pretty cool.
I put my fear of heights to the test with a climb up Gloucester Tree which originally served as a fire lookout until the 70s. Two foot rebar steps wind up 200 feet to a platform overlooking the surrounding karri forest. My first thought was, ok, where is the liability waiver form? The first twenty steps were no problem. Half way up though, I admit my heart rate was really pumping but decided I couldn't turn back after two kids zoomed fearlessly past me.
The platform on top was swaying in the breeze so I snapped this photo and hurried back down.
We unwound with some with a Pemberton Shiraz along with a small mountain of cheese followed by a visit to the olive oil tasting room. We were determined to return to our pre Himalayan trek weight.
Trin, can I have a bite?
Next stop, the southwest's premier wine area, Margaret River. Here we enjoyed a group wine tour (Bushtucker) which also included stops at at brewery, cheese factory and chocolate factory. Wine, Beer, Cheese, Chocolate! Who could ask for anything more?
Giant bowls full of chocolate chips. We were advised not to take too many at one time to avoid a melting mess.
Chocolate in the making.
Four winery stops with five tastings each followed by a beer sampler ensured everyone had a great time.
Overall, the Southwest region reminded us of a Northern California Road trip. Most visitors to Australia tend to stick to the east coast but we thoroughly enjoyed our road trip and were happy with the decision to stop over here.
THE RILEYS:
While in Italy we met an Australian couple, Ian & Shelley, who invited us to stay over at their place in Swan Valley north of Perth. We enthusiastically took them up on the offer and made our way to their beautiful home and horse breeding ranch. They fed us delicious home cooked Australian dinners and let us(Trin) catch up on dirty laundry. Ian and their two sons, William and James, also took some time to introduce me to Cricket. It was humbling to be outmatched by an eight year old bowler!
While everyone was out at work & school, we checked out the nearby Caversham Wildlife Park for some up close encounters with Kangaroos and Koalas.
Here I am with a wombat, cute and cuddly, until you're close enough to smell it.
Our stay with the Riley family was great though definitely left us longing for the comforts of home. Hopefully some diving will get us back in the travel mood!
Getting ready to depart followed by waiting to depart. There was some sort of hold up (we never really understood what) and we got a late start down the river. While waiting, I took a little nap in the raft.
Sometimes it is such a small world. A few days back on the trek we met Jonathan and Brenda from San Mateo. We were happily surprised when they joined our river rafting trip as well. It's rare that we meet other Americans but when we do they're usually from Northern California.
Our camp on the river bank. On the second day we went through a series of five or six rapids and were done by lunch time.
We caught a ride with Jonathan and Brenda towards Chitwan National Park and were dropped in a town somewhere nearby. From there we took a horse drawn carriage the remainder of the way to Hotel Parkside.
Included in our stay were outings and safaris. The first morning our guide took us down a much calmer river in a carved out canoe.
From the boat we spotted one gharial crocodile warming itself in the morning sun.
On the walking safari we passed through grassland and forest. We saw a group of monkeys and a tiger's territory marking claw marks on a tree. Our guide spotted a sloth bear and was more than a little annoyed when both Mike and I failed to see it.
Rhinoceros are the main attraction of the park and you're nearly guaranteed a sighting on our next stop, the Elephant Safari. It was us and a hundred other tourists riding in little wooden boxes on the top of elephants. We quickly came across three Rhinoceroses with a baby.
The skin is so trippy. It really looks like plates of armour.
During the safari the elephants feed in the grassy areas while the tourist have their pictures taken.
Our elephant was small compared to the others but his tail packed a punch. He would occasionally give my feet a whip. I think they had clipped his tail to keep him from seriously hurting the tourists.
On the way back we stopped at the riverside to see the sunset over the jungle.
The following morning we were up early for the jeep safari. On that trip we spotted wild boars, different types of deer, an owl and two eagles.
Our final outing was the Elephant Breeding Sanctuary where all of the elephants are chained with the exception of the small babies who are coaxed by the guides over to the tourists. Most people seemed to be enjoying themselves but we thought it was sad.
