Road Trip

Off on the road trip tomorrow! Going to be waking up around 6 for a quick bite to eat and then off to the races!!! Did some serious food shopping with Devon (ended up being 40 dollars a person for the whole 10 days!) and the plan is to pack it up later tonight. Might watch a movie (Get Him to the Greek) and then finish up some packing ! Tenative name for our camper van is Winston … possibly said with a Jamaican accent ... think it might stick.  Assuming I won’t have internet for the next 10 days or so but will update you all when I get back! Cheers!

Wouldn't be a road trip without a couple boxes of cheap wine, frisbee, and a butt load of canned foods... BEANSSSSSS!

Late Post from Last Weekend and Road Trip Plans

Sorry for the late post, but here are some photos from last weekend. Saturday ended up being pretty overcast so we just camped out on this little beach we found on Rott and spent the day there. Didn’t end up getting in the water, but did manage to fit a good nap in there. There was also this cool rainbow thing around the clouds covering the sun.

If I close my eyes, they can't see me!

On Sunday I ended up going back out to the Grain Jetty with Daniel, Carmen and Adam (this really nice Scottish guy who I went diving with last week.) Although it was a beautiful day, the water felt pretty cold! That didn’t stop me from staying in for 72 minutes! Longest dive yet. Unfortunately, there was a scratch on the inside of the dome port of my underwater housing, but I am working on fixing that. Here are some of the shots that did come out though.

Can you spot the crab?

Not sure what this was, but saw it floating around. Think it is either some kind of jelly or eggs?

This Friday I am setting out on a pretty massive road trip. All in all we will be covering about 2800 KM! That is just about 1 / 5 of the way from New York to Sydney! The loose plan is to drive up to Monkey Mia (11 hours, yikes!) Friday morning; arrive that night; and stay there till Monday afternoon. Monkey Mia is basically a marine park that is the home to many friendly dolphins that I can feed and maybeeee swim with - if they are feeling especially playful. From there we will go to Kalbarri National Park (a mere 5 hours away) for a day or two to visit some beautiful gorges; and then stop by the Pinnacles Desert on our way down to Albany. Here's a fun fact: Kalbari is 974 KM away from Albany. Right next door! Once in Albany we will check out the Natural Bridge and the Gap (two pretty amazing rock structures) and then swing over to Denmark where the Valley of the Giants is located. Here we can see these huge trees and walk across a canopy top bridge. Sweaty hands and feet here I come … not the biggest fan of heights for those who don’t know, but never one to shy away from an adventure. Should be a fun trip that will be a nice distraction from school…

Random Thoughts and Weekend Plans

So today as I was walking by the quad and the reflection pool on campus, I was once again attacked by a very protective mother duck (I think it was the mom.) As I backed away from its charge, I couldn’t help but think how amazing it is that that is hardwired into creatures. Might sound corny, but it is a pretty incredible thing. It is not like anyone ever taught this duck how to be a parent but somehow it just knows that it is supposed to take care of its babies. Yesterday I saw it fly at a girl who just tried feeding the babies. People are much bigger than ducks … this is a brave little guy / girl. Reminds me of my other deep nature question/thought, which is how is it that fish that swim in large schools know that they are with other fish that look like them. It is not like there are any mirrors in the ocean. In fact, there are pretty few reflective things at all, yet somehow the fish know to swim with others of its kind. Just some food for thought.

Ended up spending most of the day Cottesloe Beach. Got a much needed swim in the ocean. Salt water can really help the body and mind. Took in another nice sunset over dinner.

Plans for the weekend: On Saturday I am going out to Rottnest with Vicki (program advisor), Lauren, and Devon. Hopefully the weather is nice and I get a good day of relaxing and bike rides out on Rotto. Then Sunday the plan is to go for another shore dive with some people from the dive club. Might go back out to the Grain Jetty or go to one that is a bit closer. We shall see.

Couple other random photos I've taken:

Grain Jetty

Don’t really know where to begin … I’ll start by just saying that today’s second dive topped them all. The first dive, at the Bell Park Wreck Trail was nothing special… visibility was not great and the wrecks just looked like brown structures. The only cool things about the first dive were the sea horses living on the ropes connecting the wrecks and this one leatherjacket. Due to all the sediment in the water, it was hard to get a good shot. Here are the few that came out:

 The second dive couldn’t have been any different. After a very greasy but deliciously fresh lunch of Fish and Chips we went to the Grain Jetty. The jetty got its name because it is where all the grain is exported from Western Australia. After setting up our gear we entered from the shore. I knew it was going to be a good dive when within the first minute, I noticed this little white ball with red dots on the sand. As I looked closer, I realized it was a little puffer! As I went to get my camera it darted away into the distance, but luckily I would encounter it again later! The water was shallow (about 12 feet) and clear; and with the sun shining it was simply beautiful. The angle of the sun created these gorgeous rays of light that would slant in between the pillars of the jetty and light everything up.

 We all just swam out following the jetty and every 3 meters or so was another pillar brimming with life. There were so many amazing tubeworms (also called feather dusters) of all different colors;

several nudibranchs;

and to my delight, puffers!!!

I chased this one little globefish down for a long time and even held him in my hand! Said hi from Desmond – figured they must be cousins or second cousins since they were both puffers. The chase begins! - anyone who knows me understands why I put so many of these up... know some of them aren't great shots, but I sure do get a kick out of puffers!

This dive spot was just perfect for photography. Just smiling thinking about this dive. Almost too happy from the dive … have this surreal feeling and feel very reflective now. Being in Australia and going diving has been giving me a lot of peace, and I’m happy about that, but hard not to think about things at times. Told Kate I must have been stung by some crazy surreal reflective jelly.

On the way out, I started to think about the little puffer I saw on the way in, and all of a sudden there he was! (It was about the same sandy area where I saw the first, so in my mind they were the same.) Again he proved difficult to capture, but I was able to get a shot off this time.

 Here are the rest of the photos from the day. Definitely proud of some of them (especially the jellies and the rock being struck by the light.) Hope you all enjoy. Cheers