My Weblog

Being a Great Friend

As we depart I would just like to give a few quick thanks to our dear friend Krista:

For most of the time on this big trek, it has been just Lex and I -- and although we missed our family and friends, we were often caught up in the moment deciphering maps and exploring new playgrounds. The farther and longer we traveled, our fond memories of America became lost in some hazy dream of a life we put on pause.

However, once we came to Australia you welcomed us with open arms into your world. You fed us, loaned us your car & bed, gave us generous portions of champagne, took us on tours, shared the holidays and the New Year in fashion and gave us many laughs.

But that’s not all. You also shared your friends and family with us and reminded both Lex and I how happy and lucky we are to have you in our life and how important our own family and friends are. We look forward to the day you visit NY so that we can share our world with you.

Thank you again for all your generosity and love.

Rusel.

Treehuggers

Rusel and I have been spending a lot of time outdoors while we’ve been in Australia and have really been enjoying the chance to let the “outdoorsy” parts of our personalities out for a little holiday before they are forced into hibernation by the cold streets and fluorescent lights of New York City.

We’ve really been enjoying one of Australia’s natural resources: trees. We camp under them, we’ve climbed them, we watch the many different species of birds found here fly amongst them and today we did a “Treetop walk,” through a suspended bridge overlooking the tops of them. The trees here are huge – with daunting circumferences and gargantuan branches.

This part of Australia is famous for the Karri trees and the Red Tingle trees (hee hee). Yesterday we went to the Gloucester Tree, which had a spiral metal ladder that wrapped, helix-like, around the big trunk of the tree to the top (about a 200 ft. climb). We both climbed to the top, which was actually quite frightening for both of us and something that would definitely never exist in the States. One small slip and we both would’ve taken out the four people below us and that would’ve been the end of that.

But we overcame our fears and were rewarded with a beautiful view. Last night we spent the night in a Caravan Park near the small "shire" of Denmark (not sure what makes something a town and what makes something a shire) which was right near the beach. It was probably one of the most gorgeous beaches I have ever seen. Unfortunately, though, we are encountering our first spat of bad weather for so long I can't remember. It is overcast here at the moment and we were woken several times throughout the night by the sound of rain coming down through the trees and pounding on our tent.

While on this trip, Rusel has taken endless pictures of trees and as boring as this may sound, our love for trees has grown. Here are some pictures of the gorgeous trees -- please enjoy them as much as I enjoy sitting in the car while Rusel runs around the countryside, trying to get the best angle. And don't forget to ask him about his "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire," story regarding an electric fence at the brewery in Margaret River!

The Australian Way

Today we lazily made our way down to the sleepy and beautiful village of Pemberton, located a bit inland from the coast and down the road from Margaret’s River, where we were last night. We went to another cave – this time called Jewel Cave – where we met some really funny and cool Australians.

The first were two brothers, about eleven and nine years old. They took a shine to Rusel and I when we were observing a forest ranger that had become stuck in one of the holes that leads down to the cave. It wasn’t much of an emergency as he wasn’t stuck too badly, but it was still interesting to watch. He eventually made it out of the hole safely but as we were observing, these two friendly guys struck up a conversation with us and ended up hanging out with us throughout the entire tour of the cave.

When we said goodbye to them, the youngest one sweetly invited us to his house “next time you’re in Perth (where they live).” They were so friendly and really embody the general feeling we’ve received from so many Australians – genuinely interested in us and very concerned that we are having a good time here in their country.

Rusel and I have devised a “Top Ten” things that we have noticed about Australia and Australians that we have found interesting. We hope that you do, too.

1. The toilets have two separate buttons for flushing. One is for a “Number One” and uses less water. The second is, of course, for a “Number Two.” Australians are very ecologically aware and we haven’t noticed much trash or pollution at all, which is especially nice on the beaches. Rusel is still trying to figure out if the water really does circle the drain in a clock-wise motion.

2. Australians are very patriotic, especially when it comes to Australian phrases and words. Rusel especially enjoys ordering “fries,” only to be corrected by the person behind the counter, or the person in line behind him, that they are called “chips” here in Australia -- thank you very much!

3. Australians love roundabouts and Rusel has become a pro at maneuvering around these circles in the road.

4. It’s stereotypical but true: Australians absolutely love to throw something on the “barbie.” Krista’s dad has even gone so far as to name his special steel spatula that he uses to flip the meat “Ken,” because it says, in small letters on the spatula: “Barbie Mate.”

5. It is untrue – and we have been told many times in many ways – that Australians are all descendants of English criminals. Apparently, many Englishmen and women were exiled to Australia for minor crimes such as stealing a loaf of bread to feed their families, or immigrated here willingly.

6. We have learned a new term since we have been here in Australia: “pohms,” which stands for “Prisoner of Her Majesty’s Service,” referring to British people. Many Australians that we have met consider their home country a paradise (rightly so) and wonder why anyone would ever voluntarily live in England when they could live here. Funnily enough, however, Australia is still a part of the British empire.

7. Some Australian phrases we have learned and incorporated into our everyday language:
Arvo – afternoon
Back O Bourke – middle of nowhere
Blowies – large flies
Bludger – a lazy person
Mozzies – mosquitos (Australians love to shorten their words)
Chuck A U-ey – make a u-turn
Roo’s – kangaroos
To Crack The Shits – to lose one’s temper
Drongo – stupid person
Whaddayareckon! -- Just what it sounds like
Strewth -- crikey, wow, geez!
Grog – an alcoholic drink
Middy – a 285 milligram glass of beer
Ratbag – friendly term of abuse
Rooting – to have sex with someone
Sparrow’s Fart – dawn
Stroppy --- bad-tempered
Yakka -- work

8. Australians seem to really enjoy the outdoors and sports. We’ve been shamed at every campsite we’ve visited when we pull up next to an elaborate outdoor tent or mobile home system and we pop our tiny, dinky (yet trustworthy) tent. Adam, please note, we miss your ability to pack and make delicious meals out of nothing. Krista regularly participates in triathlons and marathons and rides her bike to work every morning after her morning gym session.

9. It’s interesting that Australians follow American politics quite closely. With everything going on in America regarding Obama, Hillary, Huckabee (who the heck is that?) etc. etc., it’s all been front-page news here on every paper. Much like the rest of the places we have traveled, it’s surprising yet interesting when we can talk to just about anyone here about our own politics and encounter people who know just as much as we do about our own government and its policies. Sadly, Australians also follow some of our pop culture quite closely – Britney Spears, please clean up your act! You’re shaming us.

10. The Southern Cross and the Australian sky are truly sights to behold. Rusel couldn’t believe how blue the skies were here when we first arrived, and I am still mesmerized each night when we sit outside our little tent and gaze at the Southern Cross. It’s not only in the night sky, either: it is tattooed on Australian’s biceps, backs and stomachs, on the flag, on bumper stickers, etc. The Southern Cross is really synonymous with Australia.

The Last Hurrah

Krista, Liz, Rusel and I headed down to Busselton in Betsy for an all-day music festival called Southbound, which took place on Saturday. We rolled into town on Friday night for dinner and drinks at a nice place with a beachy feel called the Vasse. It was here that Rusel first observed and learned the young male Australian ritual, which we have termed “ratbagging,” in which young guys who know each other greet each other with a quick flick to the nether-regions in an attempt to cause a little pain. Real close friends will actually give a quick grab. Rusel is going to try to introduce this style of saying “hello” soon to Brooklynites – stay tuned.

The concert was really great, although extremely hot. I can’t complain, but the heat is really hard on my poor, pale Rusel. But I must report the strangest phenomenon: Rusel got a slight burn on Thursday up north in Jurian Bay and I swear that by Saturday it had faded into what can almost be called a tan! Okay, at least a slightly less white shade of white.

We arrived at the show just in time to watch one of my favorite bands – The Pipettes. They are an all-girl retro-style group of three ladies and they were really fun to see. It’s always so much fun to see someone live after you have listened to their music on repeat hundreds of times.

After the Pipettes we saw Jose Gonzales (slightly disappointing but mainly because of sound system problems and a late start), Angus & Julia Stone (a great surprise) and The Go! Team. We were just about to run out of steam when we headed over to listen to Girl Talk and he was definitely the highlight of the day for me. He’s this DJ who samples and mashes up songs and he got everyone dancing like crazy. He entered the stage in a retro 70’s jogging suit -- complete with a sweatband around his head -- and seriously spazzed out dancing while he DJ’d. He slowly stripped down to just his jogging pants and Rusel and I observed that he was almost as pale as someone else we all know and love. It was so much fun, and again nice to see someone live that I love to listen to on my ipod. 

After that, we made it over to the main stage to watch Spiderbait (terrible), Kings of Leon (pretty good) and Groove Armada (absolutely fantastic). They finished around midnight and we slowly made our way back to Mal and Di’s, where we all crashed out. It was a really long day in the sun but so much fun – thanks again for the tickets, Krista!

We all slept in a bit today and before we knew it, Krista and Liz were leaving with Krista’s roommate, Shelly, to head back up to Perth. We hugged Mal and Di goodbye, jumped in Betsy, and away we went. We’re “on the road” again until Saturday, when we’ll make our way up to Perth, where we fly out next Monday (the 14^th).

Rusel aptly observed that we only have about a week left at this point – the same amount of time that people normally go on a vacation in America. It is so strange for both of us to realize that we are at the end of our long adventure. Rusel has been having work dreams and the other night, I had a dream that I was back at my old job. It’s almost as if our days of traveling are our dreams, and our dreams are our “real lives.” We’re both a bit sad about wrapping up our trip but at the same time excited to get back to NYC -- our old haunts, friends, favorite brunch spots and that gorgeous downtown skyline.

Australia has been a fun place to visit, yet also slightly disorienting to both of us after traveling in so many places so completely foreign. Today I was thinking about it as we drove along the southern tip of this great, huge continent and I think that it touches upon one of the reasons that I ended up so unhappy in South Africa. When you’re traveling in a place that is completely different than your own home and what you are familiar with, it is easy to lose yourself in the “newness” of a place: learning the new customs, navigating the new language, trying the new food. But when you’re in a place that it is only slightly different than your own home, you are only reminded how far from home you are. Don’t get me wrong, we have really been enjoying ourselves here but at times there is a melancholy sadness – some might call it homesickness – that envelopes both of us as people who look similar to us lead their normal, everyday lives which anchor them.

We’re taking the next couple of days easy and won’t be covering too many miles in Betsy. Today we went to a cave called Lake Cave, which was spectacular and tomorrow we’re going to a cave called Jewel Cave. After that, we’re planning to hug the shoreline down to a town called Albany. We’re spending the night tonight in our trusty tent and are staying at a campground closer to what we’re used to back home – no electricity, no loud music, and much more room between campsites. It’s also much cheaper – only $6.50 per person – so that’s great news.

After our picnic dinner we headed down to the ocean and witnessed another gorgeous sunset – something Australia seems to specialize in. As we were walking through the bush back to the car, a huge kangaroo ran out across the road about ten feet in front of us. Although Rusel is starting to make fun of me, I still get overly excited when I see one, and this was the closest we have come yet. He didn’t stop to check us out but kept on hopping across the road and into the bush, where we watched him go until he got to the top of a hill and disappeared completely.

And soon, we will be gone as well and Australia, kangaroos, and sunshine on our faces will be just another memory.

The Spirit of the West

Rusel and I spent the past three days camping in a “caravan park” about 250 km north of Perth in a town called Cervantes. We lazily drove up on Wednesday and are now making our way back down to Perth to pick Krista up and then continue south to Busselton again for the weekend concert.

Staying at the caravan park was a necessity -- because we are flat broke -- but was also an interesting anthropological study in Australian culture. The caravan park was one part trailer park and one part camping from your car. “Camping” seems to be something that is deeply ingrained in Australian culture and some of the campsites were so elaborately set up with trailers and tents that they appeared quite permanent. When we asked about it in the manager’s office she told us that many farmers actually live in the trailers part of the year when they are working in the fields near Cervantes.

The caravan park had a really huge building in the middle with bathrooms, a kitchen/television room and laundry room. The caravan park was completely filled with an interesting combination of farmers (who all seemed to be missing at least two teeth), families, an old lady who only wore tie-dye, and other backpackers like us.

We were planning to camp from Betsy (Krista’s car) to save some cash. Betsy is a very dependable and roomy station wagon and Krista is letting us borrow it for a bit as we travel around Western Australia for the next ten days or so. Although sleeping in a car isn’t ideal, we figured it would be manageable and we had a blow-up air mattress which fit perfectly in the back.

We made it up to Cervantes in pretty good time on Wednesday and began getting the back end of the car ready for the night. Cervantes is definitely a sleepy little village that doesn’t have much more going on other than its relative proximity to the Pinnacles and the beach. The beach right there wasn’t very nice as it was covered in seaweed. The town was sleepy and sparsely populated. Apparently most of the people who live in the town work on the crayfish boats that we could see anchored in the bay.

When we arrived, we noticed that our neighbors at the caravan park weren’t the friendliest of women (at first we weren’t even sure if they were women at all) and, to add insult to injury, their musical tastes were significantly different than ours. They had set up their elaborate campsite close to the border of ours, complete with a huge stereo system that blasted a strange combination of bands and singers: Elton John, Celine Dion, Huey Lewis, the Monkees and numerous other slightly offensive singers that you probably wouldn’t chose to listen to all night as you tried to relax, especially not at the volume at which it was being bombarded out of the speakers.

It has been extraordinarily hot here in Australia and the day we drove up it was over 100 degrees outside. We were just finishing setting up for the night as the sun began to set. We splurged and bought some lawn chairs at the general store in Cervantes so that we had a place to sit next to the car. We stayed up for a while talking, looking at the stars, and listening to “Tiny Dancer” and “Happy to Be Stuck With You.”

When it was time for bed, we opened up the hatchback and climbed in. Because of the heat we rolled down the side windows. There wasn’t much of a breeze and it was stuffy. We rolled the windows down even more. I contemplated murder (to either Elton or our neighbors) but soon the music, thankfully, stopped. I began to doze off.

I awoke suddenly a few hours later. I was covered in sweat and there was a mosquito buzzing in my ear –- playing a dreaded yet familiar tune. I was covered from head to toe in mosquito bites. The damn bastards had found me. Rusel was covered in perspiration as well and was swatting around in the dark, cursing under his breath.

“I haven’t slept at all. It is a bloodbath in here,” Rusel said. He hadn’t been bitten as much as I had but the heat was bothering him more. There seemed to be so many mosquitoes in the car that neither of us even knew where to swat – our hands just flew through the air blindly as we futilely tried to splatter the tiny bastards up against the windows and the ceiling of Betsy.

In the darkness of the night, things sometimes seem worse than they really are. This seemed like a catastrophe. Rusel and I have been through some bad nights on this trip – the overnight train from Mongolia to China, the overnight bus from Bangkok to Chaing Mai – and this seemed to rank up there in horribleness.

We contemplated driving down the road to the motel. We contemplated going into the communal kitchen for the night. We cursed our current financial situation – too cheap to even buy a tent. I contemplated moving the air mattress outside to escape the heat but I knew that the enemies were waiting for me to make this move and that it would basically be suicide by mosquito out in the open.

“Let’s roll up the windows and only roll down the front ones slightly,” Rusel said. That seemed to do the trick and soon, I fell back asleep. Rusel was up most of the night, however, and at 6:00 a.m. I felt the car moving – we were on our way out to the Pinnacles for sunrise. I had to laugh because usually Rusel gets up a few hours earlier than me each morning to take sunrise pictures while I sleep in (I’m more of a night owl). This time, he was taking me with him whether I wanted to go or not.

The Pinnacles were pretty cool, as Rusel’s pictures clearly show. It was slightly creepy for some reason because the thousands of pillars looked like gravestones, or people from a different planet coming across the desert. Rusel thought that they all looked like big phalluses. Regardless, it was an interesting site to see, especially at sunrise and it was nice to be moving in the car if only to cool off a bit.

We spent the rest of the day buying a tent (of course, thank God for credit cards) and swimming on a beautiful beach one town over called Jurien. The town kids, who are out of school for the next month or so because it is their summer holidays, were jumping off the jetty and I joined in. Rusel sat underneath the jetty all afternoon to stay out of the sun but somehow managed to get a burn anyway.

We headed back to the campsite, pitched the tent, and headed back out to the Pinnacles for sunset pictures. On the way there we went to a place called “Kangaroo Point,” recommended for kangaroo spotting. The Pinnacles are in a big national park called Nambung National Park and so the kangaroos just run wild. Disappointingly, we didn’t see any at first and were leaving and then I spotted two off in the distance. Because of the bush, which closely matches the color of the Kangaroo’s fur, they can be difficult to spot. We watched them for a while and I got pretty excited when one hopped away – they really get pretty high off the ground and their huge tails gracefully follow behind them.

We then continued to drive out to the Pinnacles and saw several larger groups of kangaroos even closer to the road. Dawn and dusk are apparently the right times to see them as it is cooler and they come out from the shade of the trees to eat.

At one point, we came around a bend and one kangaroo was standing right next to the road; he or she was thinking about crossing it. Rusel quickly braked and the kangaroo ran off the road but then stopped and looked back at us over his shoulder. We were only about 10 feet from him and then we noticed he was hanging out with two other friends, who were also close to the road. They are pretty glorious creatures and I can’t get enough of looking at them. Maybe it’s because we don’t have anything similar at all to them back home, maybe it’s because Neene and I used to repeatedly watch a movie called “Dot the Kangaroo” when I was growing up.

We made it out to the pinnacles for sunset but unfortunately the sky was overcast. Rusel was cursing the clouds but as we drove around, the sky turned a glorious patchwork of reds and pinks through the clouds in the sky. Rusel got his pictures, I got to see my kangaroos -- all was right in the world.

And that night, we slept like two bugs in rug inside our new tent -- sans Elton and Huey as the ladies next door were gone for the night.

Going Places That I’ve Never Been

Krista heads back to work today and Rusel and I have been entrusted with Betsy (a million thanks, Krista!) for a little road trip. We are leaving for three days to drive up north from Perth to see the Pinnacles Desert, where thousands of limestone pillars are scattered in a moon-like landscape across a golden desert floor. The lime-rich desert sand originated from seashells, which compacted with rain and subsequently eroded, forming individual pillars, some towering up to 5 meters. I’m expecting some amazing pictures from Rusel – watch this space.

It was my dream to fly to Ayer’s Rock in the time that we have left (we are leaving Australia on January 14, arriving back in NYC on January 15), but unfortunately the budget simply won’t allow. I’m sure we’ll be back in Australia again someday and we’ll do Ayer’s Rock then. Krista’s Dad said of Ayer’s Rock: “You know, in the end…it’s just a rock!” and there you go – it was decided.

So we’ll be cruising up north for a few days before we head back down to Perth to pick Krista up and we’ll all go down to Busselton again for a music festival called Southbound. Krista bought Rusel and I tickets to the concert for Christmas, which was very sweet of her. Groove Armada, Kings of Leon and lots of other great acts will be playing. We’ll be staying with Krista’s mom and Dad again for two nights to go to the concert and then Rusel and I will be taking Betsy down south for about ten days before it is time for us to head back to the good old US of A.

I’m not sure what the Internet situation is going to be like up north but I will try to update the blog as much as possible while we are on the road.

Martina Would Be Proud

Rusel, Krista and I rang in the New Year in style here down under. We’d been in Busselton for about a week and decided to drive back up to Perth – about a three-hour drive – to attend an 80’s tennis party. Like the British, the Australians seem to enjoy having “fancy dress” parties (what we in America would call a costume party) and Rusel and I were excited to take part in an Australian tradition.

We spent Monday morning cruising the secondhand shops in Busselton, trying to find appropriate attire. I got lucky and came across a pink tennis skirt and a pink tennis top. Rusel found a nice green tennis polo top and wah-la, the costume was almost complete. I added some Madonna-ish lace and there you go. Krista borrowed her clothes from her Mom, who was a 15-time Busselton tennis champion or something crazy like that. Her Mom still plays tennis all day on Saturdays.

So we came back up to Perth and away we went. We picked up her friend, Joe, whom I met when I was in London two years ago and happened to be visiting London at the same time as well. We went to Topshop together – neither here nor there, just made me reminisce about my favorite store in the whole wide world.

Regardless, we picked Joe up in a park near his house, where he was playing croquet with a bunch of friends. We also had a photo shoot there, which turned out to be a lot of fun. Next, we proceeded onto the party, thrown by some friends of Krista’s. She knows them from Busselton but also works with one of them. Their house was absolutely gorgeous and when we showed up the party was already in full swing.

We had a great time – I can honestly say that it was probably about three times more fun than it would’ve been had we been wearing normal clothes. We had several “matches” in the kitchen/dance floor, which usually ended when one of the tennis balls would get lost behind the dog’s bowl of food or fly out into the back yard. The hosts were playing fabulous 80’s music and every hour or so, a bunch of people would decide to swap tennis outfits (Rusel and I never partook in this tradition, however).

Before we knew it, it was midnight and 2007 was just a memory. We stayed until around 2 a.m. and then took a train home. The train is about a 30-minute walk from Krista’s apartment so when we got off at her stop in downtown Perth we still had a little bit of a trek home. The streets were full of revelers and as we walked home, people screamed out “Happy 2008!” to us. It was a really fun night.

We slept in today and mostly keep it chill. Her friend Deirdre, featured prominently in many of the pictures I’ve uploaded, picked us up and took us to Betsy, Krista’s car that we left at the party. We then went down to Cottelsloe beach, the best beach in Perth, and had coffee at a great café right on the beach. It was really hot today and we were all feeling a bit ill so we came back to Krista’s and spent the rest of the day watching movies. The last movie we watched was About Schmidt, which I had never seen but always wanted to catch. It was definitely a bit surreal to watch a movie about Nebraska here, so far from home.

I hope that there is peace and happiness in 2008 and all my love to everyone out there that I didn’t have a chance to call and wish a Happy New Year. I had the chance to meet so many new and amazing people this year – Martin, Ivana, Nina, Shirley, Friska, Kate, Kari – and also spend time with old friends – Christy, Mere, Rog, Krista (to name a few). I’m a very lucky person and I have high hopes for 2008 -- it is going to be a great year.

The Underwater Forest and the Swan

Krista had been raving about the diving in Australia for a long time and we decided after discussing it a bit that we would dive together while we were here on our visit. I was excited because I hadn’t put on my diving “hat” since Bali and also because it would be nice to dive with a friend. Aside from two dives that I did in Hawaii with my brother and his wife, Amy, I hadn’t really ever been diving with friends or family.

We decided that our first dive would be the Busselton jetty, which I am sitting and looking at as I type this post. Busselton has the longest timber jetty in the southern hemisphere, measuring 2 km out. Constructed in 1865, it’s the landmark that allows you to spot Busselton when you’re in a boat on the water or when you’re walking on the long beach along the bay. The bay is incredibly quiet and calm and I was excited about doing my first dive in a while there as a warm-up for the Swan wreck dive which we were going to do the following day.

Her Dad decided to go along on the dive with us so we all set out on Friday afternoon for the dive shop. The dive boat was filled to capacity with divers. This is an incredibly interesting yet easy dive so it attracts lots of families. The people who ran the boat and the diving company were really funny and incredibly “Australian.” Peter, the captain and owner, was especially “crocodile Dundee-ish” to me, if that is even a word. The two divemasters on board, Brendan and Lindsay, also used the word “crikey!” and the like a time or two, which made me smile.

It took a while to get all of the equipment sorted for the almost twenty divers and then we headed out to the bay and the jetty. I was slightly nervous, as I think I always will be right before I go on a dive when I haven’t been diving in a while, especially after my first dive with Martin in Aceh. The deepest that this dive goes is 8 meters (26 feet), which isn’t much at all and so I wasn’t as nervous as I would’ve been had we been going deeper. We were diving directly under the jetty and swimming amongst the pylons, which held the jetty up so I didn’t feel as if we were far at sea at all.

The jetty dive doesn’t really require that divers have specific buddies or even safety stops, because it is so shallow. They anchored the boat down; we put on all of our equipment, and jumped in. From the boat, we could easily see people walking along the jetty and enjoying the beautiful day. Mal, Krista and I decided to stick together on the dive, so we all dove in one after another. We started at the farthest end of the jetty and kind of zigzagged in between the pylons back towards the underwater observation station, where Rusel was taking pictures.

The dive truly was a very memorable one because it was so different than anything I had ever seen before. The pylons resembled large tree trunks and they were covered in magnificent-colored coral and plants. There were huge shoals of fish swimming around the pylons and I almost got the feeling that I was swimming through a forest and the fish were birds above. When I looked down, the sea floor was covered in canary-yellow seaweed that swayed in the “breeze” created by the gentle underwater waves. Magic!

There were so many divers about that it would’ve been hard to stick together if it hadn’t been for Krista’s blonde hair! Both Mal and I used her hair as a way to stick together and pick her out of the crowd.

Suddenly, I saw something silver diving down to my right and I looked over to see a shiny cormorant bird (also called a shag here in Australia) diving down to try his hand at catching some fish. His metallic-colored feathers and large beak caught my eye but it was his quick movements and sassy attitude that impressed me. He quickly darted back up to the surface, beak empty, and away he went.

We had been instructed not to swim within 10 meters of the underwater observation area, where Rusel was taking pictures, so I stuck to the rule and didn’t swim up to get my picture taken. When we talked to Rusel later he said that not all of the divers followed these instructions and they got quite close (I’ve included some of the pictures). It was funny to be able to see people inside the observation area looking out at us from their dry little perches.

This was the first dive I’ve been on where I wore a full wetsuit, but we definitely needed it, as the water is a bit cold here in Australia. Around the thirty-minute mark Mal made his way to the surface and Krista and I swam around a bit longer -- we still had air. Suddenly, Krista’s weight belt fell off and one of the weights fell to the bottom of the sea and hit the sand. Weight belts are required to help divers stay under and as soon as her weight belt fell off, Krista motioned for me and swam up to the surface with one of her weights. I grabbed the other weight and just sat on the bottom for a few moments more, observing the amazing scene around me.

With the jetty dive behind us, both Krista and I were excited yet a bit nervous about doing the Swan wreck dive the next day. It’s further out in the bay and the wreck is at about 30 meters (or around 100 feet). Her Dad already did this dive a few years ago with her brother, James, so Krista and I were on our own this time.

On Friday night, the night before we were going to do the Swan wreck dive, we decided it would be a good idea to go down to “the pub” for a few drinks as her sister Jemma had driven down from Perth for the weekend. Needless to say, Krista and I weren’t in much of a mood to get out of bed the next morning, let alone attempt a difficult dive. But we had already signed up for it so we peeled ourselves out from under the covers and away we went.

Mercifully, the woman at the dive shop gave us two big mugs of coffee, which helped both of us revive a bit. It was nice because we didn’t have to go through the process of getting our equipment figured out, as we had already dived the previous day and they remembered all of our measurements, etc. We jumped on the boat – which was almost at capacity yet again – and away we went into the harbor.

Krista and I started talking to Martin, a guy from Sydney who had traveled to Busselton just to do the Swan wreck dive. He was doing two dives a day at the same site for four days in a row. He had already done the dive before and raved about it. Talking with Martin took our minds off of the dive ahead and the nervousness and hung-overness we were feeling. Soon, we were at the dive site and putting on our equipment.

If the jetty was for more “beginner” divers, the Swan is definitely advanced. It’s really deep and there are several swim-throughs. The boat was purpose-scuttled in 1997 just for diving and it is absolutely gargantuan – probably just a little bit smaller than the Liberty off the coast of Bali. As I put on all of my dive equipment, I couldn’t ignore the slightly nervous feeling that I had in the pit of my stomach. We were out in the open water, about 2.5 km from shore. Although we could see the shore, I really felt as if we were out in the middle of nowhere just a bit. Krista pointed out that we could see the beach where we had picnicked on Christmas. That comforted me a little bit.

I jumped into the water and grabbed onto the line weaving out behind the boat.

“Somebody lost their weight belt!” one of the other divers who had already dived in yelled.

I looked down – it was my belt. I looked down in the water again and I couldn’t even see the bottom of the ocean or my now-disappeared weight belt. I’m a big one for signs and omens and suddenly I became even more nervous. This had definitely upset my “game.” The divemaster we had been assigned, Brendan, quickly grabbed me extra weights, which we put inside my buoyancy control vest. The problem was quickly rectified but now I was a bit psyched out. The waves were quite big at the surface and we were knocked around a bit as we swam away from the boat.

Krista was my buddy once again but this time it was essential that we have a divemaster, due to the difficulty of the dive. Martin, the guy from Sidney, was also in our group as well as one other couple. We made our way out to the buoy that marked the ship’s underwater location and began our descent.

Diving is one part physical and one part mental. Physically, you are constantly checking your surroundings, your depth, and your air. Mentally, you are checking yourself constantly to make sure that everything is “ok.” With my first dive in Aceh with Martin, I wasn’t able to keep my mind or my physical equipment in check and it was a horrible dive. The deeper we descended into the Australian water down the boat, the more I began to panic just a little bit.

I quickly realized that this could get out of control and downward spiral and was able to nip it in the bud. I concentrated on my breathing, and my surroundings, and suddenly everything was slightly better. I’m the type of person who likes to “talk through” my panic and so this is why diving can be a challenge for me – it’s really just you inside your wetsuit and your mind. However, I am so glad that I was able to practice “mind over matter” in this situation and enjoy the dive. On the first dive, we were only able to inspect the first half of the ship before we were all out of air and began to do our two safety stops before reaching the surface.

We had an hour-long break on the boat and, in true Australian style, they threw some meat “on the barbie” and everyone had a nice lunch. Krista and I had cheese sandwiches, which was just fine with us. Soon, it was time for our second dive and we began to suit up.

This dive was truly one of the most spectacular and special dives I have ever done. I was so much more relaxed this time and completely forgot that I was breathing through a machine. We began exploring the boat and suddenly, down where the boat was resting on the sea, a huge, 6-foot black stingray was swimming around. He was absolutely gorgeous and huge and got quite close to us – he was very curious. We watched him sweep across the bottom of the ocean, circle around, and come back, for quite some time.

I was so enchanted with the stingray and his graceful motions that I didn’t pay attention to everyone in my group disappearing into the boat for a swim-through. I looked up just in time to see the last person’s fins disappearing into the boat. I quickly said goodbye to the stingray and swam in after them. This swim-through (one of many that we did on the dive) was really cool because we went through about three different rooms. Inside the rooms it was slightly dark and the bubbles that accumulated on the ceiling from our exhalations gathered like big, mirrored balls. I had my brief moment of Zen – the reason that I love to dive.

Soon, it was time to resurface again and up we went. Because we were diving pretty deep, air consumption is higher and each of our dives was only about 30 minutes. It’s a lot of preparation and money for essentially only an hour of your life, but in the end it’s so special and worth it that I don’t mind. Doing the dives with Krista was especially nice. It was good to know that if something did go wrong, I had someone along with me who would definitely have my back. We jumped back into the boat and sat in the sunshine all the way back to shore, swapping stories and fish sighted with the other divers on board.

The Pictures Say It All.....

We've been out and about having a great time and, of course, Rusel has taken some amazing snaps. We've been going around to more vineyards (yesterday in an area called Marget River) and yesterday went to some great beaches. We were walking on a small, wooden bridge over some water yesterday and saw a huge, magnificent ray swimming below us. It was amazing.

Tonight, Krista and I are taking Rusel to the drive-in movie theater. He's never been to one before! This should be exciting, stay tuned.

That's about it for right now. We've uploaded all of Rusel's great pictures but because of a very slow internet connection, we are giving up on labeling all of them. They were all taken in Perth and Busselton.

We hope that everyone is still having a great holiday season!

So, This Is Christmas

Yesterday was an amazingly fun Christmas. We woke up to champagne and croissants and plenty of sunshine. Krista's parents say "Happy Christmas," and there were plenty of toasts and smiles to go around.

We opened some presents under the tree and then went down to the beach for a walk and a swim. Rusel even got into the water -- his first dip in Australia. It was great because the water is so clear and calm here it really feels as if you're in a gorgeous lake.

We went back to the house and Krista's parents had prepared a really great picnic for us and we headed off to a beach called Castle Rock, about a 20 minute drive away. We had a picnic and then did some more swimming.

Do you see a theme here?

Back to the house we went for afternoon naps and then more eating. We had more champagne and cheese inside (it was over 100 degrees here yesterday and the flies were a little bit insane) and then had dinner outside. Krista's Mom gave us "Christmas Crackers" gifts which were more along the lines of gag gifts. Krista and I got doilies and Rusel got an Australia sticker.

Then, the bocci game began. Bocci is a game played with steel balls and basically you're just trying to throw your balls closest to the small wooden ball which is thrown at the beginning. Krista was quite the player but Rusel and I were formidable opponents. One of Krista's best friends, Jody, came over with her boyfriend Miles and they joined in the game.

We topped the day off with a late-night walk to the beach. It really was a great way to spend the holidays. Now it's "Boxing Day" here, which is called that because in the past, it was the day that people boxed up their presents and went home! We are now in the middle of a tour of the wine region, called Margaret River. We found an internet cafe and here we are -- sorry about the length of time between posts but we've been trying to be good guests and not be on the computer too much.

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas, and we'll be seeing you all soon! Above find a picture of everyone in the "Nebraska" t-shirts that Cheryl sent us from York. Thanks, Mom!