December’s Whirlwind Tours: US, Australia and New Year’s in Hong Kong

December was a whirlwind with a trip to the states (SF (mere hours to see all our buddies which were were able to do thanks to Marija hosting a fabulous party!!!), IL (for David’s sister’s wedding -please check out David’s moves on the dance video- youtube.com/watch?v=OeIqPfJhu2o ), and AZ (for work)) then to Sydney to meet up with Shauna and Daniel. Daniel and Shauna took us to the overwhelming Sydney Fish Market (for prawns Daniel’s favorite) and then we suited up to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was practically a military operation and fours hours well spent! kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=hggnkpd.3f1khl5x&Uy=-ujpqe&Ux=1

After repacking (and stocking up on cold medicine as we all had colds!) we headed to Hervey Bay and then Lady Elliot, which is the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. We could only take 20 pounds each on the plane – and our scuba gear weighed nearly that! Once we boarded the plane, we understood the weight restriction. It was a true puddle jumper and they were shifting people and luggage between 3 little planes to make it fit! Shauna got to sit next to the pilot with the bird’s eye view. Lady Elliot itself was a bird sanctuary and all we heard and saw were birds, birds, birds. You literally would step on them at night if you weren’t careful! It is also a turtle nesting ground – which Shauna and Daniel stayed up one night to get some photos of turtles laying eggs! kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=hggnkpd.anx1aw79&Uy=-311hv4&Ux=1

After a brief tour of the island we donned our scuba gear and headed out on our first dive. David and I had a new underwater camera and we got carried away snapping photos. Here’s a link to 201 of the best photos (yes there were many more that we edited out –if you can believe that!) kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=hggnkpd.9pf8o0n1&Uy=-26du25&Ux=1 Highlights of the dives were rays, swimming with turtles, a wreck dive, schools upon schools of fish, and the beautiful reefs. Snorkeling was also big so when we weren’t diving we were snorkeling. The first snorkel was truly a “drift snorkel” AKA fly by fish snorkel as the current was so strong we just held hands and were swept around the island. Our most amazing snorkel was the last full day around 5 pm where we found ourselves amid 20+ circling reef sharks. Daniel and I headed straight into them cameras clicking and then surfaced and wondered aloud whether these sharks really wouldn’t bite??? Intellectually we knew that they were there to have little fish clean them – but still it was still a terrifying and exhilarating experience. I even got videos of some of the sharks and a beautiful turtle! youtube.com/watch?v=TFTagExMmZE Not only was the whole experience amazing – the 4 of us are now certified advanced divers. To attain that exalted status we did a night dive, a drift dive, a deep water dive and learned to navigate (though I’m skeptical I could actually do the navigation on my own!) Here I will do a plug for a BBC documentary we have been watching called Blue Planet about the oceans, fish etc! It’s amazing and for anyone that likes to dive, snorkel or swim in the ocean it is a must!

After 3 nights, we hopped back on the puddle jumper to Hervey Bay and picked up a 4WD to go camping on Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world and home to dingoes (wild dogs – which we never saw until the Sydney Zoo!) kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=hggnkpd.56bh8k99&Uy=2hymz4&Ux=1 We had about a half an hour to shop for food before the ferry left – so we over bought – but determinedly ate everything we bought!!! Traveling with Shauna and Daniel is a culinary experience and we had prawns daily – including the first night of camping! We did a whirlwind tour of Fraser on what looked to be barely passable sand roads and then along the ocean. Beautiful freshwater lakes, sand dunes, champagne pools, old wrecks and sea bound rivers. It was truly breathtaking! Also, we were very impressed with Daniel’s driving skills! After 2 nights in the wild – back to civilization- via Hervey Bay to Sydney.

The Lovells, Shauna and Daniel’s friends in a remote community in the north of Sydney, hosted us the first night back. It was a community accessible only by boat/ferry and surrounded by national park. It was beautiful as a walk the next day showed. http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=hggnkpd.8nm559s5&Uy=n94lfj&Ux=1

Then David and I headed into the city for adventures on our own. The first night we took a tour of the Sydney Opera House and then saw a show. It was amazing! kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=hggnkpd.4dqzvk79&Uy=dyk1pr&Ux=1 The next day, Christmas Eve, we did a tour bus that took us to major sites, including a very old amusement park, botanical gardens, the art gallery and finally the aquarium (never can get enough fish!) We ended the day with an amazing meal at the Flying Fish – anyone headed to Sydney really should try it! Christmas Day included breakfast in bed, followed by a visit to the Zoo and Manly Beach. It is called Manly Beach because the English saw some “manly” looking aborigines on the beach when they first spotted it!

The next day we headed home with way too much luggage and after frantic repacking attempts the nice lady at Singapore Air didn’t charge us for the excess baggage. What a treat the flights home were – movies on demand, edible food. Asian airlines beat the US ones hands down!

After doing laundry and answering e-mail, New Year’s was upon us. We went to a yummy dinner of Peking Duck at the ironically named American [Chinese] Restaurant and then headed to Times Square for the countdown. kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=hggnkpd.br2qzx51&Uy=866tqk&Ux=1 Unlike the US, Hong Kong’s Times Square is small and we were too late to be part of the action so we headed to hear Hong Kong’s cannon blow. We actually gave up on that too and ended up at home at midnight! Still an amazing end to a wonderful year!! We did a marvelous hike to Tong Wong Beach on New Year’s Day, a beautiful remote beach in the New Territories. On the car trip to trail, I actually drove, terrifying to do on the wrong side of the road but a personal accomplishment. It was well worth the effort and there was a good symmetry to be on a beach on both Christmas and New Year’s Day! kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=hggnkpd.267pjy11&Uy=-vyz3tx&Ux=1 Happy New Year everyone!