Some Diving and Some Whales

  Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia
Sunday, July 27, 2008

i wasnt actually planning on writing a blog here but after the events of today needs must!!

well im 2 driving days into my Road Trip and i am LOVING IT!!! its so so good to be back in a car again and after the initial settling-in period getting used to the automatic now i dont think ill ever be able to go back to my manual golf - its seriously like driving a go-kart - totally impossible to cut out, its magic!! anyway its just me and my map and my tunes (i invested in some E1 CD's in china!) and the open road.  its so brilliant. i can just turn off anywhere that looks interesting, stop and start as i please.  i still havent seen any kangaroo's yet (billions of dead ones, probly more than there are dead dogs in india) but no live ones.  or cassowaries either.

anyway here i am in airlie beach staying in an 8-bed dorm in the YHA and what bliss it is after some of the dumps ive stayed in (*coughs - townsville*).  its clean, its snug, we've our own bathroom and really nice roomies.  

Me on the Boat

 so anyway today i did a day trip out to the whitsundays where there was just me and a german family of 4 on the whole boat it was class. the sun was splitting the sky open and it was just glorious conditions.  i did 2 dives which were good - vis still isnt the best around here but i got to swim with a maori wrasse which was cool (they are mahoooooosive - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maori_wrasse ). the 2 dives were almost side by side so by the end of it i was so cold but it was worth it. but best was yet to come.

First Whale Sighting

on the way out the crew had been talking about how they often see whales in the bay (even though its not advertised as a whale-watching trip) and on the way back in with a sea like

Whale having a rest

glass, there they were - 2 incredible humpback whales just cycling though the water (i cant think of a better word to describe the way they move). anyway  next minute the female sticks her tail up in the air and the captain was like "oh my goodness this is amazing - shes giving birth"!!!! she stayed like that for about 10 minutes before splashing her tail down, having a little breather and then started again (youd need a rest too if you were giving birth to a one-tonne baby!!)

Whale taking a Breather

in the end lots of boats came too close (not us) and scared them off (at one point they were headed right for us!)

Whale in labour again

and the captain said shed be in labour for a couple more hours so we headed back. but seriously how cool is that - whales when i didnt even expect them.   and it means i dont have to pay to go whale watching again in new zealand cos now ive seen them by accident!!!

anyway im off to bed soon cos my stupid ear is hurting again (seems to flare up every time i dive now) so im going to take some berocca and read my book.

bye for now
xx