18 Dec 2005

We had a late start on our Queensland adventure due to family stuff. We hadn't finished helping aBa setting up his new aquarium, so I stayed home to pack and cook while G helped aBa.

Belinda and G appeared late in the afternoon and we left at 4:30pm, drove 6 hours to Coffs Harbour to stay the night. We found a little hotel owned by the sweetest couple called Bell's Hotel right on the Pacific Highway.

Cultural Note: We are on a country highway and we passed a sign reading, "Stopping Bay 1km." I immediately knew what it meant, but it took me a minute to suss out why it sounded strange to me. In America, we usually call it a shoulder bump or a tip-out, among other things. Everything is so similar yet slightly different.

19 Dec 2005

Yesterday, I finally found a really good map of Sydney for Mom. I marked all the pertinant spots, bought another map of all Australia, stopped at the post this morning and mailed it all off to Ma with a can of stuffed frog. Now she can follow along on our travels.

Addendum 14 Jan 2006: I just spoke to Mom about her reaction to G's gift of stuffed frog. While I was concentrating on mailing the package of maps, G found a can that contained one stuffed rainforest tree frog. He ran over to me jumping up and down exclaiming how he wanted to buy my Mom a canned frog. My first reaction was to declare she would never eat it. Then I looked more closely and asked him if it would spring out of the can and give her a heart attack. He showed assured me it was a stuffed animal packed in a tin that made the recipient wonder if it was something that should be cooked and eaten or cuddled. I stuffed the can in the bag with the maps. One of the first things Mom wanted to do was have a talking to me about G and his gift. She received the package and was pleased about the maps. Then she looked at the can. Contents: 1 stuffed rainforest tree frog. She examined the can thoroughly. She just wasn't sure what to think of it. If it had been from me, she wouldn't have wondered. G, she wasn't sure, though. She sat for a while wondering weather to open it and even examined the bottom of the can looking for rust on the metal. She knows that when food is canned it is often laid to rest on areas wet from the packaging water and salty preservative, so the cans rust a bit. When she saw the rust, she was even more confused. She placed the can on the counter near the can opener and went out to buy her lunch so she could think about it some more.

When she returned, she focused her attention on the can. Since her health has been very fragile this winter, she gathered her courage together, put it in the electric can opener, pressed it down a bit to break the seal, then leaned in for a tentative sniff. Nothing. It didn't smell like food. Okay. She opened it a little more. Still no smell. Maybe it was a toy. Then, if it's a toy, usually toys in a can jump out on a spring and attack the unwary opener. She clutched the edge of the sink with one hand to brace herself in case she was assailed and passed out, then continued opening the can. When the lid was almost completely severed, she leaned back in for one final sniff. Still, didn't smell like anything. She finished the cut, held the can at arm's length and peeled back the lid. Staring back at her were two big, bulging frog eyes! After the immediate shock wore away, she realized it was a plush toy and pulled out a cute little toy frog. She loves it and has named it after G. My poor Mom. How we abuse her.

20 Dec 2005

We drove to Byron Bay yesterday and decided to stay a while. We signed G on to a dive course, planned out our next week's itinerary, took a suite with a kitchenette right in the centre of the action, and settled for a bit. G began his classes today.

21 Dec 2005

This morning, I went to the dive centre and took a refresher course. I haven't gone scuba diving since 1995. How did the years slip by so quickly?

The most challenging part, as usual, is my stomach dealing with the boat and surface waves. *sigh* I am weak. But, I managed to hold it together and didn't lose my breakfast.

I truly love being under water with the fish. Today, I saw my first shark. I've always wanted to see one while diving. This was one called a Wobbegong. I didn't bother him/her, they didn't bother me. It was resting on the bottom. I checked it off my mental wish list. I found out later that they are pretty harmless as they are largely docile and have only attacked divers when provoked.

I also scored an octopus, a very friendly brush (literally) with a large blue grouper, a crayfish that is the size of a large Maine lobster, and an unpuffed pufferfish.

My refresher course was actually something called a "resort dive." A dive master teaches a little bit of the important academics, we spent a couple hours in the pool practicing basic concepts, then we hopped on a boat for an open water dive. It amazes me people are allowed to do this as it seems very dangerous. It really brought all all I needed back to me, but I trained 7-8 weeks for my license. G only has four days training and they didn't even give him a book. *boggles*

In my group of four, two men hadn't dove before... ever. The master had to adjust their buoyancy for them and keep close tabs. At the surface, he told me to start my decent and stick to the bottom on the anchor line to wait for the group. I thought they were all right behind me. I slowly descended, reached the bottom, looked up and saw... no one. Hmmmm. I played with my buoyancy until it was right, looked up... still no one. I scanned about, admired the fish, looked up... yay! Approaching figures! It took them another seven minutes to reach me. Apparently, one man panicked at the surface and stayed on the boat while another man had trouble equalizing on the way down. I was only down 39 minutes and the first 12 or so I spent just waiting. It's all good. It was wonderful to be down there again. It reminds me why I love shore dives so much. I rent a tank, walk to the water's edge, suit up, wade in and cruise the reef for an hour or so. I just do a single tank so I can run my nitrogen levels up and not worry about becoming sick. I loved Roatan because it was all shore diving. Perfect. Now that G will be certified, I need to sell him on shore dives. That way, I have someone to dive with me. The boats are just a miserable experience. I was hoping I had overcome my seasickosity in the past decade, but I was still a bit queasy today. Alas.

Tonight, I sleep.

22 Dec 2005

And sleep, I did. About ten hours of gloriously uninterrupted sleep. Ahhh. I woke just before 7am with a spring in my step, laundry to clean, rooms to book and a town to explore. I spent much of the day window shopping alone, popping in and out, trying on stuff, etc. I bought a couple of tank tops as I am sadly lacking in cooler clothing. I even bravely tried on swimsuits before gagging in disgust. *giggle* They simply don't make anything cute for people my size. Bah to them, whomever they are!

G had his first dives today. He was quite disappointed by the lack of colour (he had snorkeled 15 years ago in the Whitsunday Islands further north in Queensland and seen amazing things). I tried to explain that not every place is like that. Also, he has water in his ears. His last two dives are tomorrow, then he's certified. We leave tomorrow for Hervey Bay.

23 Dec 2005

Belinda and I are waiting in a really nice café book store called, originally enough, Books, Music, & Coffee. G should show sometime soon from his last dive and then we'll leave for our five hour drive to Hervey Bay.