Back in Perth - Rotto Dive

Bit late with this post, but here are the photos from my dive last weekend. Sunday morning I woke up at 5:30 (toooo earrrrlyyyyy) to get ready for a dive on the UWA Underwater Club’s boat. The nine of us who were going loaded our gear into the Tantabiddi (the club’s boat) and set sail to Rottnest. It was a bouncy crossing, but I was excited to get back into the water. The first dive was at Swirl Reef – a dive site I had been to before. This was one of my favorite spots that I had been to at Rottnest so I was more than happy. The highlights from the dive were a couple Port Jackson sharks,

 the intricate caves,

 a fleeting stingray, and a cuttlefish (this squid / octopus type creature)! 

Got a video of it swimming away from us - I was filming and V, another diver, was busy taking pictures of it. Not as dramatic as the other octopus I saw from a few dives back, but if you look closely you can see it change colors a bit as it swims. 

Think this cuttlefish was injured because there were lots of scratches and bite marks on its body. Funny little creatures. Here are the other shots from the first dive:

Can you spot the fish?

This was in the cave... pretty incredible that there are any colors since barely any sunlight reaches this point.

The second dive we just went into this shallow bay since the wind was really starting to pick up. Mostly weedy but there were a couple nice rock formations.

By the time we left to return to Perth, the wind had really picked up and I was regretting not having had anything to eat. Contrary to popular belief, it is much better to sail on a full stomach than an empty stomach. As such, my empty stomach had me worried at one point that my “seasick-vomit-free since ’90” streak might be broken, but it all worked out. All in all it was a great day and just a nice reminder of how special it is being in Perth and Australia… not as if I could just go for a dive on a reef back at Hamilton. Seems like the vacation never ends … or until next week when I have my final exams! Eee! Pretty much my last day of classes today. Before our finals we have one reading week to prepare for our exams. Naturally, this seemed like the perfect time to get one last trip in with my friends so on Friday, I set off for Coral Bay with 10 friends. Coral Bay was one of the reasons why I chose to come to Perth and Western Australia (might have goten a little mixed up about the distances because originally I thought it was like an hour away … try 16 hours by car or a two hour plane ride) so I’m pretty excited to finally see it.  

Post XII: Wrapping up an Amazing Trip and Returning to Perth

Thursday Oct 21^st: On the last morning of our trip, my mom and I woke up early to walk around Sydney. We checked out the usual sites, Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and the Rocks. 

Got a breakfast, or should I say dessert (Belgian waffles with ice cream and chocolate dipping sauce and a hot chocolate with coffee in it) at a Guillyan café and then it was time for me to leave!

 As excited as I was to get back to Perth and see my friends, saying bye to my mom was very sad and made me feel homesick. I had such a great great time travelling with her and goofing around. Think it was the perfect amount of time to travel together. Waiting for my plane in Sydney, I enjoyed thinking back on all the things we had just done on our trip. These pleasant thoughts were rudely interrupted by the disgusting slurping noises from the elderly couple across from me who were having a pretty intense make out sesh. Think they must have decided that an airport terminal would be a good place to have a baby. They were really getting after it. Almost had to put on headphones at one point. Worst part was that I was stuck since it was the only seat that had an outlet nearby for my computer. Gross. 

Well, hope you have all enjoyed the pictures and stories! Writing this last bit on the plane back to Perth right now! Almost there! The adventure continues!

Post XI: Final Morning in New Zealand

 Wednesday, Oct 20^th: On our final morning in New Zealand, we woke up early to head over to this little place called Arrowtown. Before leaving for Arrowtown we packed up our room for the last time. The room was set up so there was a living area and kitchenette upstairs and bedrooms downstairs. Now my mom’s neck is, shall we say, a bit fragile so I was insistent that she not carry any suitcases or bags throughout the trip. I was looking at some photos upstairs and told my mom, “Don’t lift anything, okay!? I’ll be right down!” I guess the stubborn gene runs in the Tempelsman family because often my mom tries lifting things by herself when I am more than eager to help. So when I heard a thumping on the stairs and a woman’s voice behind me, I immediately assumed it was my mom trying to lug the bag up the stairs.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!” I shouted without bothering to turn around. Really screamed this with some venom because I just didn’t want her to hurt her neck again. When I turned around I saw a most terrified cleaning lady,

“I … I … am so sorry! I thought you had already left! I’ll go now…”

“Ahhh!! Oh no! Don’t worry! I thought you were my mom!” (Oh that’s much better… you know, that’s just how I usually talk to my mom… screaming.) Haha it was a pretty awkward situation, I tried explaining that I was trying to stop her from carrying the suitcase, but not really sure she got what I was saying. Oh boy. Hard to capture the moment in writing. Silly silly. Here is the final view from our hotel room.

Arrowtown ended up being this cute little mining town situated in the mountains. We found a bakery that made this delicious fudge and a store that sold these pretty cool leather jackets. Only problem was that the jackets cost 2,000$ Say what!? Needless to say we passed on the jacket, but treated ourselves to some fudge.

Tiramisu flavored fudge!

 After seeing the mining town we looked at the Chinese Settlement where the Chinese miners lived. 

This little settlement was separate from the rest of the town and consisted of these tiny primitive huts. 

With our plane leaving in a few hours we went to this winery called Amisfield Bistro.

We treated ourselves to a delicious glass of dessert wine (my favorite!) and an unbelievable lunch. For appetizers we got this Spanish ham with fennel and pear and Zuchinni and goat cheese bruschetta on fresh sour dough bread. 

The main course was just as good – risotto with Italian sausage and perfectly cooked lamb (hopefully not any of the ones we saw yesterday!) By the time the main courses came I was too hungry too keep taking pictures of the food, but believe me, it was quite delicious. We decided to try and get to the airport a little earlier than we needed to in case being a customs criminal meant a cavity search … luckily it did not. We took a plane from Queenstown to Auckland and then from Auckland to Sydney. The ride from Auckland to Sydney was especially enjoyable because it was on an Airbus-380 (not that I knew what that was before). But after riding on one, I definitely know it now, for this thing is huge. It is a double-decker plane with close to 100 rows on the first floor (the rows were 3 seats, 4 seats and another 3 seats across). Apparently upstairs, where first class is, there are showers and individual rooms. Definitely wouldn’t mind flying like that. After a smooth flight I was welcomed back to Australia. It was really great getting back there. I actually have missed it during our time in New Zealand. It’s a nice feeling missing a place after only being away for a couple days. Really starting to feel like a home away from home.