Scuba on The Great Barrier Reef

August 17-18, 2009
You can’t be in Australia without spending some time on the Great Barrier Reef. We decided that we wanted to go to the outer reef and scuba dive and snorkel on the more secluded areas. We found a charter that could take us out for 2 days and we would spend overnight on a floating hotel on the reef. The large ship where we sleep would relocate to 3 different spectacular dive sites over the course of our travels on the reef.
Stan dropped us off at the “jetty” ( pier) at 6:45AM with all our luggage and snorkel gear. We made our way onto the transfer boat called the experience and motored out to the first dive site which was about 2 hours from the jetty. During the boat ride, we got to know some young people from Holland who have been backpacking through Australia between their university graduation and the commencement of their careers. Emily however, couldn’t take her eyes off this young English dive instructor named Scott. She kept lurking around the boat with my camera trying to secretly take his photo so she could send it to her friend Mecca. Another crush, another day.
We arrived at McKays’s Reef and went snorkelling. It was so amazing and colourful that we lost track of time. We saw every colour of coral imaginable. The reef was teeming with life from large parrot fish to small neons. Christopher , Nicholas and Emily would hold their breath and dive down about 15-20 feet to get closer to some of the larger coral and the hiding fish.
While we were in the water, the crew transferred our baggage onto the floating hotel and prepared an amazing lunch for us. When we swam back to the boat, we had a meeting with the dive master Laura who convinced us that we should all do our advanced Scuba course which would make us extremely experienced divers. The course involved 6 separate dives including a night dive, and a navigation dive where they drop you in the water and give you coordinates like a scavenger hunt. You must find each of the locations using only a compass and your observation . since one of the coordinates is your way back to the boat, it is really important that you get this part right otherwise you would be in trouble and likely lost out in the ocean until they came to retrieve you or you run out of air and have to surface and send out your emergency sausage tube. Once we passed Tracie and I were able to lead our own dive with our kids as followers. This is scary. I still don’t feel that confident as we have only completed 10 dives and now we have the lives of our children in our hands at 40-60 feet below the surface of the water. It is amazing how things become real and how the course kicks in when you are dependent upon the information.
Well we all survived and all members of the family are advanced divers with the exception of Lizzie because she was too young. In Australia you have to be 12 to become certified but she still went diving but with all the instructors who didn’t have a class. She had a great time and was able to do things that the rest of us would not have done. She and one of the instructors went searching for small reef sharks and large fish called Trevallies.
We did so many dives that we were in the water so much we couldn’t get our body temperature to warm up. I think Tracie was going to experience hypothermia as she couldn’t stop shaking and trembling, despite wearing a 6ml bodysuit. Thankfully, they had hot showers which we stayed in for about 15 minutes between dives just to warm up.
You would think that we would sleep well given the amount of physical activity we were doing but no way. It was windy and after we had completed our night dive where the only light you had to see was the flashlight you were carrying and you had to keep track of everyone and you got to see some of the LA RGE nocturnal fish that would appear out of nowhere attracted by the torchlight. The adrenalin rush was still pumping as we got back to the boat. Sleep would not come easy this night and it didn’t. Tracie was worried about our deep dive which was to be our first dive the next day where we were scheduled to go down around 100 feet deep. I would like to sound brave but I can’t, I was feeling a little motion sick from the rocking of the boat. In any event neither one of us slept well.
The next day proved to be equally exciting and exhilarating on the reef. The deep dive proved to be no big deal ( Tracie worried for nothing), and the remainder of the day was full of everything you could imagine on the reef. We even swam with the sharks. Yikes! But in truth they were not that big and they ate fish the size of your hand so I can imagine we looked pretty intimidating to them.
We finished the day by transferring onto another boat that came to pick us up and head back to Cairns. The kids had an opportunity to do one more snorkel on the reef halfway back and my kids never miss an opportunity…..
Great experience, life changing, incredibly memorable.

Calgary Updates

August 16, 2009
I have been in touch all day with everyone from Calgary with updates on my Dad. Thanks to everyone who sent me information.

Karunda Village

September 15, 2009
We raced through our daily workload today and got away before noon to the Barron Gorge. This is the dry season in Australia and the gorge is quite empty but in a few months it will be filled with water and rapids that carved a pathway through it for many years.
Above the gorge is the Famous rain forest village of Kuranda. There are three ways to top of the mountain where Kuranda is situated: a) Skyrail b) train c) by a serpentine, cliff hugging, heart racing road. Can you guess which one we took? Yes you are right, the road. Now, please understand that we are driving an oversized vehicle on a narrow mountain road where people generally drive too fast. To lend to our confidence, about halfway up, the authorities had stopped traffic to try to retrieve the vehicle that went over the edge moments before ( a small little red Toyota that ctually fit in the lane). All drama side, we made it, and yes I am still married, my kids still talk to me and Stan will still ride in the van with me although sometimes (most times) he likes to close his eyes or sit in the back where he can’t see anything.
When we got to Kuranda, we did the jungle rainforest hike before entering the village. The village was full of merchants from Opal traders, to Candy factories to Koala Zoos. Main Street is quaint with little shops lining both sides. The kids decided to go to the Koala park while Tracie and I sipped on ‘long blacks’ ( cup of coffee made with 2 shots of espresso and hot water), playing Othello all the while sitting on a patio watching the sun set, contemplating life and people watching. Meanwhile Stan ventured down the street to the local pub where he had a beer and watched the local aboriginals smuggle cheaper booze into the establishment and play pool. The kids returned from the Koala Park with photos of them holding the little marsupials and a variety of other little critters. Chirstopher is sporting a new set of aviator sunglasses which now makes him way too cool for his shoes.

A soul searching moment

On the same day as Susan's passing, my dad had emergency surgery in Calgary. According to my mom, when he woke up after the surgery, he said to my brother Peter that he just had a conversation with Susan and that they both were having a tough time. She reasured him and he woke up. Susan passed away at that moment.

When I heard this story I felt compelled to share it. For some it may mean nothing and yet for some of us, it has shaken us and moved us. Decide for yourself but think about it all the same.

September 15, 2009 - The Day Susan Giuffre became an Angel

September 15, 2009

Today was the day my beautiful sister in law became an angel after losing her battle with pancreatic cancer. She is loved and will be missed by us all. Please say a prayer for my brother and her sons that they can endure this massive loss in their lives. Susan truly was an angel when she was among us and now above us.

GIUFFRE Susan Jayne October 16, 1956 - September 15, 2009 With great sadness we announce the passing of Susan Jayne Giuffre on September 15, 2009. Susan was born October 16, 1956 in Calgary, Alberta. She worked as a nurse for over 28 years, commencing her career in pediatric care in Calgary and then specializing in neonatal intensive care at the University Hospital in Edmonton and then at the Children's Hospital in Vancouver. Susan is truly one of God's angels and the many nurses and doctors that she worked with would attest to her love and commitment to her craft and the many children and infants that she cared for. Susan was an accomplished runner, participating in many marathons and ultra marathons and loved to run and walk with her friends and family and her two dogs throughout the north shore mountains. Her smile was infectious and her zest for life, positive attitude, vivacity and generosity were boundless; as was the love she shared with those closest to her. Susan will be dearly missed and lovingly remembered by her husband, Joseph and two sons Jason and Michael, her sister, Karen (Hamilton) and by her extended family and many friends. Prayers will be held on Thursday, September 24 from 7:00 to 7:30 PM and a funeral mass will be held on Friday, September 25 at 11 AM at St. Pius Church, 1150 Mt. Seymour Pkwy, North Vancouver. A brief reception will follow the mass from 12:30 to 2:30 PM. Location details to be posted at St. Pius Church. In lieu of flowers, Susan would appreciate donations to the Children's Hospital Foundation.

Port Douglas and those racing toads

September 12-14

We have spend these past few days trying to get updates from home and work. We are still struggling with getting a decent connection. The kids have hve been laying low getting caught up on their schoolwork.
After a few difficult days of schoolwork and office updates, we decided to head north to Port Douglas which is about 2-3 hours north of Cairns. We got about 20 minutes on our journey when we saw a bunch of crazy guys jumping off a cliff with kites strapped on to their backs.
We eventually land in the beautiful Port Douglas with a huge number of tourist traps and restaurants. It also had one of the most impressive marina’s we have seen. If you owned a million dollar yacht, you would have to hang out in the poor mans area. Some of these vessels are truly amazing and all of them were privately owned.
We parked ourselves at the Marina bar to watch the boats come in and sample raw oysters and prawns with head and shell on, calamari and several glasses of wine and lemonade. Afterwards we went over to a pub/restaurant where they were holding cane toad races. They would auction off the toads prior to the race. Both Emily and Elizbeth participated and gave their toads kisses for good luck, secretly hoping one of them would turn into a prince. The myth can now be dispelled, no prince’s apparated. Tracie was chosen as the official scorekeeper because the goof thought she was single. Anyway it was a fun time and the kids won the experience and a souvenir frog leg form a previous champion (gross).

Hartley's Adventure and Crocodile farms

September 11, 2009
It’s our niece MAIA HORNER’s Birthday today and although she is back in Calgary, we thought we would celebrate her day by exploring Hartely’s Adventures and Crocodile Farms. Located just 30 minutes from where we are staying, along the Bruce Highway on the way to Port Douglas ( the place to be in North Queensland) is Hartley’s adventure and Crocodile Farms. This place started out as a small tea house and bed and breakfast for roadweary drivers in the 1950’s. In order to entice people to stop, the owner bought a massive crocodile and put it on display. Over the years and a few owners, floods changed the landscape and a new park was built. . Hartley’s now has several thousand crocodiles, both saltwater and fresh water varieties as well as Koala’s, kangaroos, wallabees, possums, wombats and Cassowarys (Australia’s most unique and prehistoric birds).
After a full day at hartley’s we stopped along the road and swam at Clifton Beach. Stan and I were happy because across the highway was a biker bar where we enjoyed a cold one. The interesting thing about the bar was that it was surrounded by Mango trees, it had live music and its bar menu consisted of full roasted chicken, and pies.

Yorkey's Knob

September 10, 2009
We are settled into Yorkey’s Knob. We located the local grocery store called Coles and felt like a couple of bargain hunters. We left the store with 3 buggies of groceries and did it for around $500.00. about half of the price of groceries of Hawaii. We explored the area which had a wide beach which went on for about 4 km. The beach is hardly used. They had a stinger net set up to keep the deadly “box stingers” out of the beach area. As I said previously the authorities hang barrier nets out about 100 meters from the beach as a barrier. Warning signs also indicate that sharks and crocodiles also frequent the area.
We are having a monster of a time trying to get an internet connection that works here. This may require a serious investment. We can get Skype to work but nothing else. We went to the mall and bought a cell phone and broadband stick. $500 we are in the technology. For those who want to know our number it is 045-881-8577
We have made friends with the local merchant by the name of Malcolm who runs the Beach Place Confections and Tour booking office and picked his brain about the area, things to do and to get the overall lay of the land. Stan and Malcolm decided that the best way to chat was with a beer in their hands and once that started we got a plethora of information. Stan says “ Malcolm was especially nice and to meet someone who gave such great information and who was a great ambassador for his area. He was extremely helpful.”
After a tough day at the condo with the kids schooling, the kids and I went to the beach after dark ( 6:00pm) and began to set up a flag football game under the beach flood lights. Dad and the girls against the boys. For the record, the girls won!

Arrived in Cairns (pronounced CANS)

September 9, 2009

We got a much better start today and went straight away towards Innisfail. The scenery on the way was lush and fantastic as we were entering part of the Queensland Rainforests. On the side of the roadway were Banana Pantations, Sugarcane Plantations, Lycee fruit Farms etc… It seems that everything you can image can grow here.
On our way Northward, we saw a sign for a winery by the name of MURDERING POINT. I don’t know if that reflected the mood of the travelers in the van or their frayed nerves, however, the name seemed to resonate with everyone and we decided to divert to the winery and sample their wares. It turns out that the winery was built on a historical site where a Cannibal tribe had kidnapped and subsequently cooked two sailors from a stranded ship in the early 1800’s. The remaining crew discovered the remains and the cannibals and with the ensuing battle the cannibals lost. There were many gruesome details to this story that have been omitted but you get the point ( pun intended). In any event, this was no ordinary winery as all of the wine was made from various exotic fruits. Naturally we had to sample them all before we could decide which 6 flavors we liked the best.
We carried on to the nearby town of Innisfail and had a picturesque lunch at a famous Italian Deli called Olivetti’s. Innisfail is at the junction of 2 major inlet rivers ( the north and south Johnson rivers). Watch out because alot of Crocodiles live here. Innisfail is only about 1.5 hours south of Cairns. We did a little shopping and carried on. We drove through one of the suburbs of Cairns called EDMONTON on the way to our rented villa. If you ever hear that Edmonton is not such a bad place, clearly people must be referring to this place in Australia and not the Alberta capital.
We arrived at last to our holiday villa just outside of Cairns in a beautiful hamlet of Yorkey’s Knob. We are staying at the villa called the Driftaway ( 12 Boden Street). The villa looks and feels a lot like the place in Kelowna that we used to spend summer vacations at when we were kids. Nothing fancy, but it has 3 bedrooms, kitchen, living room and (aghast)only one bathroom. I think the girls will be posting a schedule and booking time. We are only 2 blocks from a white sand which stretches out for miles. The swimming area of the beach is protected with nets to prevent stingers (jellyfish), crocodiles and sharks from entering the area. ( no I am not kidding). Good news is that it is still spring here so the Jellies are not too prolific as they will be when the water warms up in the months of November thru to February.

Trekking to the Queensland Province

September 8, 2009
Last night we got off the main boat at Hervey Bay around 7pm. If any of you have been to Australia before, you know that it is pitch black at 7pm, the roads are narrow and we have GPS. What more do you need. Our plan was to get as far North as we could this evening. We drove for only a couple of hours before everyone’s nerves were fazzled. The narrow highway and all the transport trucks and winding roads nearly did us in. The funny thing, maybe not so funny, was that we couldn’t find a single motel that was still open. We started searching for a place to bunk down around 9pm but every little town or village that we passed through had their sidewalks rolled up for the night. We were forced to press on to get to the next biggest town which was Gladstone. We arrived thereat 11:00 and the place seemed deserted. Now this is not a small place. Gladstone is a major sugar refinery and shipping harbor but you would not believe the lack of activity in the evening. We knew we were in for a challenge when we found a local bar and it was abandoned except for the cleaning staff. One of them was nice enough to direct us to a backroads motel that often took in late nite guests. It worked out well and we finally were able to get everyone settled. The best part of this motel was that it had running water and the showers felt fantastic.

Today, we started off early, planning to make some headway. We made it as far as the local McD’s and the kids loaded up. Today we decided to experiment and let both Tracie and Stan attempt to drive. I am now certain, whatever hair I have remaining will be grey by the end of the week. The shoulder of the road saw many of our tire tracks and I know that my adrenal glands are in fine working order. I had to move into the back and focus on the kids and their homework assignments, trying desperately not to look up for fear that the optical illusion of going in the ditch every 10 seconds could be averted. I think we are more exhausted today than any other. Could be the pace we are running or the jet lag or the road trip but everyone needs a bit of a break.
We arrived in Townsville around 6:00p and I lost the vote to press on versus stay and get rooms while it was still light out. We pulled into the “Spanish Lace” Motel ( you can just imagine based on the name) and got a couple of rooms. We ordered some takeout and enjoyed our slightly above flea-bag surroundings. I should have taken a picture of this place but I was somewhat afraid that if I took out the camera, it would have caught too much attention. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and I am certain it will be better.

Whales at Hervey Bay

September 7, 2009

We are in Hervey bay and we stayed on the Ocean front hotel/condo called Mantra. Ouch! Sorry that was my wallet. We needed two rooms to house the seven of us but it is worth it. The pier is right outside our window and the buzz of morning activity with boats getting ready to spend the day on the Bay is exciting. We booked our passage on a larger boat to spend the day with the whales. Today, Tracie gets to realize one of her dreams about being on the water with these massive creatures.
Enjoy the photos and video.
We will be traveling along the Bruce highway up to Cairns afterwards which is a piddley 2 lane highway. However it is like there Trans Canada – main highway. Scary. We will get as far as Gladstone tonight and then Townsville tomorrow then we should be in Cairns by the following day by noon. Its not like driving in Canada. Average traveling speed is between 80-100 so it takes quite a bit linger to put some miles in.

We are in Australia - Wow what a beautiful country!

September 6, 2009

We made it, we are here in Australia. It is 16 hours ahead of Calgary time and right now it is all feeling a little surreal. We landed safely in Brisbane, went through the easiest customs clearance that I have ever experienced on International Travel. Our van was waiting for us, a brand new 4 cylinder Hyundai, no fear of breaking any speed limits but the thing is huge.
We are heading north towards Cairns which is about 1700kms away. We will be doing this over a 3 day period. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, people here drive on the wrong side of the road and the steering wheel and drivers side is on the right. Now for those of you who have never driven on the opposite side of the road it takes some getting used to. The passenger feels like they are going to go over the left shoulder and they are probably right because when you first learn to drive opposite you have a tendency to veer left. Despite these struggles, no accidents yet ( touch wood) Tracie and I are still married and Stan has not left although he was threatening if I put us into the ditch.
We are going to spend the first night in Hervey Bay which is famous for housing a massive migrating whale population. In any given season from May to November more than 20,000 Humpback whales enter the Bay and calve and rest before heading to the south pole and colder waters to feed on krill.