Travel Diary - Day 15

Date: 3/31/97
Weather: cloudy and warm
Place: Perth, Indian Ocean

My first day of sightseeing Perth was rather truncated due to the fact that today is a public holiday. I finally found a couple of open tourist places and organized a tour of the city and Fremantle, its port, for tomorrow, as well as a trip to Rottnest Island, a popular vacation destination here. By then it was mid-afternoon, however, so I caught a bus to the beach for the last few hours of sunlight and paid way too much for a less than filling meal. It didn't take long to get a bus back to the city proper. The bathroom and showers of the hostel frightened me enough to switch hostels tomorrow, and I spent an hour or more wandering around the nightlife district before going to bed.

Travel Diary - Day 14

Date: 3/30/97
Weather: cloudy and rainy, sunny and warm
Place: Cairns, Perth

I woke up with only a slight hangover from last night, and got a bus to the airport in plenty of time for my flight. It poured on the way, but our takeoff was smooth if a bit long. Lunch on the plane was good, and our stop at Ayer's Rock was hot and buggy. I hate flies. I got a picture of the the rock from the steps of the plane, but couldn't see it from the terminal. Once in Perth, I had to wait a bit for a bus, and the hostel has ants, which doesn't thrill me at all, but the city is lovely and pleasant. It didn't really hit me that it is Easter Day until late afternoon. I went and saw The Devil's Own at a movie center at 9:30pm, then came back and went right to bed after writing.

Travel Diary - Day 13

Date: 3/29/97
Weather: cloudy, warm, sunny
Place: Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

I was up at 6:00 am again today, and on the first dive we saw two sharks, one of which was a little more than a meter and a half long. Dolphins swam in front of the boat for a while like they did yesterday when I got pictures. The only significant things we saw on the second dive were a lobster and a barracuda. We were hoping for a turtle, but it was okay, because the scenery was spectacular: huge coral walls covered with life. I could only snorkel while the rest of my group dived the last time, but I saw lots of blue clams. I met two girls from my group at the Wool Shed, and ran into Paul by coincidence, so I got to thank him.

Travel Diary - Day 12

Date: 3/28/97
Weather: sunny and warm, a bit of rain
Place: Great Barrier Reef

I was woken up at 6:00am by a knock on my door. We didn't go in at 5:30 am because of choppy weather. The reef is absolutely pristine. It is the most pure place I have yet seen. In the Grampian Mountains there were metal handrails and steps in some places, along with a a bit of litter, but not here. Our two dives in the morning finished our education and Paul certified us. He left the boat at 2:30pm without giving me my temporary certification because I was in my cabin resting. I saw my first shark today. It was incredible, at only 1 meter long. The night dive was a trip, too. I saw a crayfish with glowing red eyes at one point and another guy said he saw a shark's eyes. The divemasters joke about sharks a lot.

Travel Diary - Day 11

Date: 3/27/97
Weather: hot and sunny
Place: Cairns, Great Barrier Reef

When I showed up at 7:30 am today to take my test, the shop was closed. Luckily, they were just late. I got all but the last question done before we had to get on the boat to Fitzroy Island, then finished with 90% correct. The "beach" at Fitzroy was nothing but coral skeletons, impossible to walk on without shoes. After a boring hour there, we were off again to meet up with the catamaran we were to be staying on. It's large and stable, but with little privacy. The food is OK but nothing special. I led the first dive down, and it looked like I was following a chain into an abyss. Everything went right on the 2 dives today, and the boat rocked me to sleep at night.

Travel Diary - Day 10

Date: 3/26/97
Weather: sunny, hot, humid
Place: Cairns

My class started today in the pool, and early: 7:30 am. Things went well and I felt prepared thinking the test was today. However, we just had another learning session based on the book in the classroom after lunch. I didn't get supper and attended a class called Reef Teach to learn specifically about the animals and organisms that live out there. It was about 2 and a half hours long, and when it was over I was looking for something to do (besides studying for the test, of course). After failing to get into one club due to dress code, I went to Samuel's Backpacker bar and saloon, where I got a plate of spaghetti and a Coke for $3.50 with my hostel coupon. After I got back I studied a little, called home , and went to bed.

Travel Diary - Day 9

Date: 3/25/97
Weather: hot, sunny, and humid
Place: Cairns

After waiting half an hour for my bus, a guy working the desk of my hostel told me I got a message yesterday from Down Under Dive saying their program was postponed again. I had already changed my tickets for the first delay, so I canceled that program and booked at the hostel desk for the same program, only with Cairns Dive Center instead. I had originally gone with them anyway. The class started in 1/2 hour, so I got over there and spent 1/2 the day in a classroom learning dive theory and the other half in the pool with full scuba gear. That evening I went to a mall and ate American before going to The End of the World nightclub for a free XXXX beer, which I liked better than VB (Author's note: VB = Victoria Bitter).

Travel Diary - Day 8

Date: 3/24/97
Weather: hot and sunny
Place: Cairns

With nothing to do all day, I bought a Skyrail ticket which took me to 3 destinations by enclosed gondola over the rainforest canopy. It was pretty amazing stuff. There was a "save the rainforest by education" center at one stop, a short walkway through it at another, and the Barron Falls, which were running like they never had before, according to the guides, because of all the rain from the cyclone. It was spectacular, and the last stop was a small town in the middle of the rainforest, that I think could only be reached by Skyrail or train, called Kuranda. It existed solely for tourists, and I bought a crocodile foot. It came with a permit so I hope I can get it home.

Travel Diary - Day 7

Date: 3/23/97
Weather: hot and sunny, hot and cloudy
Place: Brisbane, Cairns

After a rancid breakfast at the hostel, which was mostly cold and almost made me sick, I took the complimentary bus to the transit center and the $6 one to the airport. I ate Hungry Jack's in the airport and an unexpected late lunch on the plane, so I skipped supper entirely. I had already eaten three meals. Hostel 89 is nice, if not as good as the last one. There were limbs in the pool when I got there, and it rained sporadically while we gathered around the outdoor TV for The Simpsons and Seinfeld, followed by Single White Female. I met an Air Force guy stationed in Guam who was supposed to be Reef diving yesterday. I found out my program had been pushed one day.

Travel Diary - Day 6

Date: 3/22/97
Weather: cloudy and cool, hot and muggy
Place: Melbourne, Brisbane

I got up at 5:01am in order to make the Skybus from Spencer St. Station at 6:00am, which in turn was to get me to my 7:05am flight to Cairns. There was no milk left so I didn't get any coffee at the college (Author's note: in Australia, "college" means dormitory). I began by walking but got a cab when I got to Lonsdale for fear I'd miss my bus. I got on the plane, which served breakfast, just fine, until we were called off at Brisbane, where we were told that Cyclone Justin was hitting the coast at Cairns and the airport was shut down. I found a great hostel in Brisbane near the South Park Gardens which had an even better Australian fauna exhibit than Melbourne Zoo. It cost $12 for a ticket that also included a butterfly house and a very relaxing boat ride. After about five hours, I ate my third Australian meat pie in three weeks, bought a postcard and left. The hostel showed Barb Wire that night.