GFPKTravels2

Greetings! We're inside what UNESCO calls the Great Sandy Biosphere.  It's the same category of world environmental diversity as the Galapagos and the Amazon Basin.  Marine species come here to have their young, nurture their families, or to breed.  The water is so warm and clear that they are easy to see.  The sky and trees are so bright, and air so warm, that sounds and visuals are easy on the senses. And on a peak season Sunday, with the kind of chaos which brought us here, there's no seats left on any tours to see anything in the wild.  So what do we do?  Visit the Flying High Wildlife Sanctuary .   Tonight, our last night here, we'll have dinner at the restaurant in our hotel (Indian).   Tomorrow, we drive to Noosa Heads for what I hope will be my opportunity to spend some time in waves higher than my knees. To see the photos we took at the Sanctuary, click: Sunday, Oct 30th, Hervey Bay .

Greetings! Just when we thought our trip couldn't get any more challenging, I crippled our car in a truck stop in Bundaberg.  How many of you know there's an additive put into diesel trucks that crystalizes the engines of automobiles when you substitute it for gasoline.  Well, I didn't.  Getting gas at a huge Liberty station at noon to make the 5-hour drive from there to Hervey Bay, I had a choice of diesel, diesel plus, and AdBlue.  I knew not to put in diesel, but so the third alternate hd to be some form of gas.   Wrong.  At $2.99/liter, Pat knew something was wrong.  but not soon enough to stop me from destroying our car. Thus began a day-long expensive adventure which involved: a very fortunate partnership with a super-smart and helpful station gasoline supplier on his last delivery before the weekend; many rental car (Jucy) staff in Australia and New Zealand, and a tow truck driver (Anthony from Trio) who drove from where we were going (Herv...

Greetings!  You've all seen the videos of the sea turtles coming in to a beach at night , digging holes in the sand, and laying eggs.  You watch them cover and leave the eggs, and return to the sea.  Months later, the turtles break out of the shells, dig their way out of the sand, and scramble to the surf, through a gauntlet of awaiting birds and crabs. We visited the beach (and home research center) where the founder and marine educator-turned-scientist discovered and advanced our knowledge of the whole process.   To see the photos taken today at the Mon Repos Beach Turtle Research Center , click on: Thursday, Oct 27th, Bundaberg.

Greetings! Today was a long driving day, ending in a haircut.  After arriving in Bundaberg, and unloading in the  Spanish Motor Inn , we decided to drive downtown and check out the classic older buildings by the river.   Passing a barbershop that was serving one of its last customers, Pat reminded me that I had agreed to get a haircut about two months into our trip.   Stopping inside, we asked if they had time for one more.  The main stylist didn't, but he said that his apprentice did, if I agreed to let him.  I did, and we spent the next hour getting to know the wonderful staff and owner of Slick's Barbershop.   I came away with new friends, who we are eager to return the favor anytime they want to visit us.   To see the photos taken today, click on Wednesday, Oct 26th, Bundaberg .

Greetings! Australia's coastal beaches have to be the easiest to photograph well.  They usually have white sand, several colors of blue water, many palm and other unique trees vying for skyspace, and clouds leftover from a night of lightning and thunder. Every day, we wake up in a waterfront location deciding what combination of park, garden, museum, cave, beach, seaside town, marina, or mountain forest we want to see.  On the way, we choose restaurants, information centers, and libraries. Since our last post on Sunday in Mackay (a great town well worth three days), we've spent our time in Yeppoon (four hours driving south).  We're still wrestling with technology, but seem to be back to having a cell phone that helps us find our way, photographs what we see, and can be used to make reservations for tours and dinner.  Lunch is usually found at a cafe while exploring, and breakfast starts off the day from grocery shopping at Woolworths. Tomorrow, we drive four hours so...

Greetings! Well, it seems we're taking you all on an internet travel.  On Thursday, in Arlie Beach, we joined about twenty-five holiday snorkelers out on the Great Barrier Reef.  RedCatAdventures provided us with an 8-hour double-dive, and lots of very speedy, DJ-enhanced, very wet racing around and between the WhitSunday Islands.  We don't know when we've ever been as wet and wind-blown out of the water. But the very important lesson learned was to make every effort beforehand to waterproof your cell phone.  Nothing in the boat avoided getting soaked.  Not in the tightest wrapping, in the most secure hole, did the backpack holding the cell phone survive.  So a week after finding the best computer geeks in Cairn to try to fix our precious and essential Apple MacAir (and eventually buying a new MacAir from JB High-FI ), we found the best computer geeks in Mackay (who were again unsuccessful in repairing what seawater will do), and eventually bought a new G...