Amazing. That's the best way to describe today. In the morning I decided to repeat the turning lesson, which was a wise choice. My class was made up of myself and six women, who were all as bad or worse than me. Our teacher was better than the guy yesterday, too. I learned how to transfer my weight from my toe-edge to my heel-edge to make a left turn. It turns out that this is a pretty natural motion. Going from heel-edge to toe-edge to turn right is much more difficult, though, and I was still falling often. Over lunch I had a reunion with Daniel and Cathy from the original Stray crew. Both are experienced boarders, and Daniel is an expert, as I suppose many Swiss are. I wanted to try a real slope, but was afraid of getting off the lift, so they took me up. It was pretty rough at first, as I could only slide down on my toe-edge, which is very tiring. You have to zig-zag so you use different muscles. And since I was moving right all the time on my toes, I would fall on the right side, which meant I would have to get up on my heel-edge, which I couldn't do at first. I finally got the hang of this, and eventually could start on the left, make it to the right, turn, and make it to the left before falling. A few times though I was able to zig-zag back and forth a couple times, and it was great. Snowboarding is a difficult sport to learn, but a rewarding one. I wish I had more time to devote to it. I feel that with two more days of practice I could start nailing right turns, then I would be set. Unfortunately, I have to move on. I want to go again soon, though, so I won't have to start from scratch next time. Even with all the falling, I had a great time today. Much better than yesterday.

Tonight was out last night for Queestown's "legendary" nightlife. I've heard so much about how great it is, but in reality is sucks. We did have a brief reunion with Clare and Sara from the original crew. I've created controversy with my last anecdote.

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Anoushka said I should raise the smut level, so here goes. Today we were in Invercargill, or Invercarg-hole, as Auto calls it. It's a smallish town at the bottom of the South Island, and we only really stopped here so people could go to Stewart Island, which I passed on. There's not much to do here. That night the gang went out in search of nightlife, which this town is not known for. We first met up with a nice Kiwi couple Matthew and Melissa the Irish lads know from Oz. The six of us headed for a pub, which turned out to be the most lively place I've been here. In the course of the evening Roddy hooked up with a Kiwi chick, who he brought back to the hostel with him. She wouldn't go in the room, so they got busy in the TV lounge, and woke up the Dutch Duo. The next day Auto had fun with the situation and played a Kiwi song called "Come my Little Penis."

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After sitting on the bus again all day, we made it to Dunedin, a big college town. All the towns here are like time-warps to the 1960's with downtowns lined with shops. Dunedin is like that on a massive scale, with shop-lined streets extending in every direction from a central octagon. It's a bit dirty and run-down, though. The people here drive like maniacs, and someone in a passing car honked and flipped me off in the first few minutes I was here. Needless to say, I'm not crazy about the place.

That night we went to a wild college bar with table dancing and "strip chicken." The Irish lads were looking for a bit of "who's yer father," as they say. I was in a funk, though, and didn't have much fun. I'm not much of a party-person to start with, even though I've gone out practically every night I've been here. On top of that, the novelty of being in a foreign country has worn off, and the constant moving around, and lack of sleep is getting to me. I'm going to get off the bus here to hang around with Noel, Roddy, and Anoushka a little longer. Hopefully the time in one place will cheer me up. One of the American college students studying in Sydney on the tour for Spring Break said I could look her up there. Unfortunately, I can't access her website, and I don't have her email address (hint, hint).

NOTE: My first batch of New Zealand pictures have been there for awhile, but I haven't mentioned them. I had a chance to add some caption, so check them out. I'm also attaching a relevant photo to some journal entries, so you may want to look through some of my old entries.

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Nothing much of interest to report. There’s not much to do here, but I didn’t want to do much anyways We went out Captain Cook’s Tavern again, and it turned into a late night, even though we were all tired. For a college town, there doesn't seem to be much nightlife besides CCT’s.

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Nothing to report.

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The gang, in Milford Sound

Another day on the bus took me to my last stop in New Zealand, Christchurch, a nice little city with lots of character, but not a heck of allot to do. That's fine, since I am still catching my breath and getting over a sore throat.

I almost booked Oz Experience, but after talking to a bunch of people about it, the consensus is that the passengers are mostly 18-year-old English kids. Not only do I not want to deal with that, after being on a four week tour I'd like to try traveling independently. So I'll be taking the Greyhound. No worries, though, Greyhound in Oz is supposedly much better than in the US.

Most of the bus went out to an Irish pub that night. There was an American girl there who had been working in Antarctica for the Past 14 months. doing carpentry and painting Apparently you can apply for the job on the internet. Christchurch is the point of departure for Antarctica, and you can leave for tours from here. I'll have to catch that on the next trip. There was also a very drunk American guy who was leaving for Antarctica tomorrow, and a woman from Wisconsin, who I talked to for awhile, since that's where I was born.

NOTE: I just found a website called spellcheck.net, which I used for this entry. I may go back and check all my New Zealand entries too.

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The Wizard of NZ

Busy day for me today. First I called my mom, then off to Quantas to see if I could change my flight from Cairns -> Sydney to Alice Springs -> Cairns. I could, but five days later than I wanted, which will limit my time on the East Coast. Then off to a travel agent to buy bus tickets. Now that I've bought them, I'm wishing I would have booked tours up to Alice, since I won't see much on Greyhound. So tomorrow I will have to see if I can get a refund. Noel also says I should have gone all the way up to Darwin so I could see Kakadu, which he says is the best thing in Australia. That's a hell of a long way, though, and I've also got the East coast to cover, so that will have to wait.

Later I listened to the Wizard of New Zealand for awhile, then checked out the Antarctica exhibit at the Canterbury Museum, which was rather lame. That night it was time to say farewell to Roddy, Noel, and Anoushka. It was great to be adopted into the Irish lad's clan, and to be introduced to their myriad friends. It's tough to move on, but it will be good to see a new country. Anyway, I'd like to send a mad shout out to my homies. (They confuse me with Irish slang, so I can confuse them with American slang.)

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My arrival in Australia late last night was uneventful. Well, besides getting into somebody else's bed. I got to the room at 1 am, and it was dark, of course. I could see the nearest bunk; somebody was sleeping on top, but the bottom was open, so I climbed in and tried to go to sleep. Shortly a couple guys came in noisily, and I heard lots of giggling and complaints that "somebody's in my bed." Now I'm still learning hostel etiquette (actually, I don't think there is any), but usually you leave some stuff on your bed to claim it. So I just pretended to be asleep, and that was that. I tried to sleep in the next morning, but there was a constant stream of people getting up once it was 7 am. Tomorrow I will wear earplugs.

Once I got up, I engaged in my favorite new activity, walking around a new city checking out the sites and the people. I really like Melbourne, and it's my favorite city I've been to on this trip so far. It's very cosmopolitan and multicultural, not too big, and there are lots of arcades, narrow twisty streets lined with cafes. I went to one and tried two things I never had, pumpkin soup (excellent), and a long black (Aussie coffee -- espresso with water, very strong).

I sorted out my bus situation and ended up booking a couple tours. I realize this contradicts what I have written before, but without my own transport, a tour is the only way to see the stuff I want. Plus, they are shorter tours, so I shouldn't get burned out on them. First up is a three day trip to the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians, which will take me to Adelaide. Next is a day trip to a winery. Finally the piece de resistance, a seven day outback adventure to Alice Springs. The last one was expensive, but it includes food, accommodations, and park entry fees. Also, once you start buying bus tickets and trips to places like Uluru and Kings Canyon, it starts to get expensive. So I'm just doing one big tour to cover everything. Unfortunately I have to leave on Friday, so I'll only have one more day in Melbourne. From Alice I'll fly to Cairns where I'll use my bus pas to get to Sydney. I'm still not sure where I'll stop, since my time will be limited.

The hostel I'm staying at, Toad Hall, is wonderful, the best place I've stayed so far. So it will be three nights of pleasant relaxation for me.

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Buskers in Queen Victoria Market

I only had two goals for today: to move my flight to Bali back two weeks, giving me five weeks for the East Coast (done), and to pick up my photo CD and ftp some pics to the website. So I picked up the CD, which they charged me $10US for, then walked to Queen Victoria Market for some cheap lunch. While I was wandering around, some students asked if they could ask me some questions for a documentary. So they asked me what I thought a graphic designer does, then asked if I had heard of three people, presumably Australian graphic designers, which I hadn't. So watch out for an Australian documentary on graphic designers, I may be in it.

After the long black, I figured I should play it safe, so I had a cappuccino at a cafe. Then I wandered across the river to check out the Crown Entertainment Complex, the largest casino in the Southern Hemisphere. It was indeed large, at about two blocks long, and I couldn't find the entrance where I had checked my bag.

Then it was time to look at my pictures. They looked terrible, all grainy and dark. I checked the file sizes, and they were much smaller than they should have been, so they must have set the compression ratios too high for some reason. Luckily I got to the store before it closed, and they gave me my money back.

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London Bridge

Up early to get on the bus at 6:45, and then get out of the city. There are only seven of us, plus our Aussie driver: an older German couple, a young Dutch couple, a Swiss woman, an English woman, and myself. The plan for today was to see the Great Ocean Road, known as one of the most scenic ocean drives in the world. Scenic it was, and the places we stopped were quite spectacular with sheer cliffs and crashing waves. We saw London Bridge, an arched rock formation off the shore, Loch Ard Grotto, site of a famous shipwreck, and the 12 Apostles, a formation of 14 (go figure) rocks off the shore. We came back later to watch the sun set over the seven Apostles we could see, which was quite dramatic. However, the highlight of the day came when we hung around in the freezing cold to watch the penguins come in for the night. We were high on a cliff, so they looked like ants waddling across the beach. There were so many of them, though, so it was pretty neat. That night we stayed in a cabin we had to ourselves on the beach.

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A few of the Twelve Apostles

Today was off to a disturbing start with news that a drowned woman had washed up on the beach in front of our cabin. The police were still there when we left.

During the morning we saw some more spectacular coast, including the Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands. Even though it was beautiful, we were all ready to head inland to the Grampions. Here we did a two hour hike through some funky rock formations up to the Pinnacle for some spectacular views of the forested valley below and the mountains across the way.

En route to the park I saw my first kangaroo, a dead wallaby in the road. However, later on we saw plenty of live ones lurking about the road. That evening there was a whole herd of them grazing in some people's back yards, so we took lots of pictures. They let us get pretty close before hopping away.

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London Bridge

Another early start today for a bit more sightseeing in the Grampions. Just a couple of short hikes, one out to another spectacular lookout point over the valley, the other down to a waterfall. Then it was back on the bus for the long ride to Adelaide. En route we crossed from Victoria into South Australia. When a country is as large as Australia and has so few states, crossing into a new one is an event.

Me, Lisa, and the Dutchies are staying at the Glenelg Hostel in Glenelg, a little beach resort a half an hour by tram from Adelaide. Lisa, the English woman, is an aspiring actress. She's worked on cruise ships as a dancer for a year, and has been is Australia for the past year, working in Sydney for seven months and traveling for four. The four of us went out for pizza, then went back to the hostel to drink Victoria Bitter (which, unlike Fosters, is really Australian for beer) while I tried to explain American politics.

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I was supposed to meet Lisa to tour the chocolate factory, but due to the slow tram and walking in the oposite direction, I arrived just as the tour was ending. Sounds like I didn't miss much, though. We figured we would spend the rest of the afternoon sightseeing, but there aren't that many sights to see in Adelaide. I suggested the Aboriginal Culture Center, so we started the long walk back into town. When we got to the city center, there were police cars and ambulances everywhere, and the whole area was blocked off. Aparently a guy shot two people outside of the government building. First the news about the bombing in Bali, the Maryland sniper, and now this. It looks like nowhere is safe.

So the immediate problem was trying to get around town when half of it was blocked off. It took us about two hours to figure out how to get to that place, and upon arrival they informed us there were no exhibits, since they were changing them. After that fiasco we rode the free city loop bus, then trammed back to Glenelg for dinner, overcooked ihyros, or gyros, as I am used to seeing them spelled. Then we went to see the Bourne Identity, which we both enjoyed very much.

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I got up in time for breakfast today. There's nothing like instant coffee, Rice Bubbles (Aussie for Rice Krispies), and all you can eat toast to start your day. Yum. It was a beautiful day today, shorts and tee-shirt weather, so it was nice to be outside for a change. After the fiasco yesterday, Lisa wanted to go see the Buffalo, a replica of a ship that sailed here from England rumored to contain a shark museum. After carefully consulting the map, I navigated us down the beach a half an hour to the town of Brighton. Upon reaching Brighton, it quickly became aparent that due to a slightly confusing marking on the map, what I thought was the Buffalo was actually Sea City Country Craft, and the Buffalo was located 5 minutes from our hostel in the oposite direction. So back we went. Luckily it was a pleasant walk, and there were dolophins swimming around just off the shore. Eventually we made it to our goal, which turned out to be quite tacky, and contained only an overpriced restaraunt and a museum with pictures of people getting married on the ship. Even though we had another fiasco on our hands, it really wasn't a wast of time, since there's nothing to do here anyway. After a quick lunch it was time for Lisa to catch her flight to Perth to look for a job, since she has four months on her visa.

Alone again, I trammed in to Adelaide to try my luck with a photo CD again. I found a place that did it for $8US, and the pictures look great. Hopefully I can post them on Friday (done). Back at the hostel I watched Austin Powers. When it was over at 9 they wouldn't put on another movie because it was "too late." So my choices were to sit in the empty bar, or go to my room to read. So here I am in the room. I'm glad I'm only here until Friday.

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Today I went on a tour of the Barossa Valley wine growing region. The tour consisted at stops at four winneries, where we sampled a variety of reds, whites, and ports. The wines were very good, but after awhile they all started to taste the same. For lunch we had a BBQ, including kangaroo, which was actually quite tasty. On the tour were two Americans from Indiana, one of whom was a student at Purdue, where I went to school. He's studying for a semester in Adelaide. Aparently, out of Purdue's 30,000 students, only 120 are studying abroad.

Back at the Glenelg Beach Resort it was another boring night. Meet the Parents was playing, which was pretty funny, but hard to hear. The hostel has a small bar, which even though it's totally empty, has loud music playing. Over in a corner is the movie area. So you have to try to tune out Eminem while you're watching. After the movie, rather than going to bed at 10:30 again, the residents of our dorm room: me, a Dutch guy, and a French woman, plus an American from Boston, decided to check out the bar down the street. We all complained about how boring the place is. Not surprisingly, the bar was nearly empty and playing crappy music. The most interesting aspect was a guy of about 70 in a suit and top-hat dancing and spinning around. The French woman claimed to have learned English by spending a month in Australia. She is pretty fluent, but as is always the case when talking to non-native English Speakers, you have to watch your slang, lest you confuse them.

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This seems like a nice place to live, but it's rather boring to visit, so I'm glad it's my last day here. tried to sleep in, but I can't sleep much past 8 anymore. I was still too late for breakfast, though, so I had a bacon and egg roll and giant cappuccino at a cafe. I keep forgetting that bacon here is just a slice of ham.

Then I trammed into the city and went to the South Australia Museum. They had some interesting exhibits on Aussie geology. I pretty much spent the rest of the day working on the website, then went to bed early.

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On the road to nowhere

An early start, 6 am, to catch the Groovy Grape bus. I'm traveling with an Irish woman, a Kiwi couple, and a bunch of English, 12 of us total. Our Aussie driver Jen is the same one I had for the Great Ocean Road. We pretty much drove for 12 hours today to get to the Flinders Ranges. It was neat watching the landscape change from green fields and forests, to smaller trees and brown grass, to shrubs and red soil. Even though the land was pretty flat, there were hills and low mountains on the horizon, so the sense of desolation was not complete. We made it to the Flinders Ranges and drove a narrow, twisty road with some decent views of the mountains. Even though the mountains are red and dry, there is quite a bit of vegetation, including pine and gum trees. We had a bit of excitement when we got to a flooded part of the road, but Jen got the bus through. We spent the night in a hostel in the middle of nowhere.

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Jen and friend

Today was a strange day. I guess most days are pretty strange for me now, but this one was especially so. In a good way, though. This morning Peter & Dan, a father/son team from England and myself hired mountain bikes and went for a pleasant, mostly downhill ride through the Flinders Ranges. The weather was beautiful, the sky was blue, the rocks were red, and the trees were green. It was some very surreal landscape. En route we came across a lizard in the road, which we chased to safety.

Then we drove several hours on nice, smooth sealed road until we reached the start of an Outback track, complete with "warning, remote area" signs. From then on we traveled on bone jarring unsealed roads. The landscape became more desert-like with shrubs replacing trees and the soil becoming redder. The landscape is mostly empty, but every once in awhile there you come across weird stuff. We stopped briefly at a crazy guy's homemade house in the middle of nowhere. his claim to fame is his carvings made from talc stone, which surround his metal house. I was in a slightly bad mood after almost getting left here while I was using the toilet.

Ghost town

Then it was a couple more hours until our next stop, lunch at a ghost-town. The desolation of this place was pretty overwhelming. Another long ride and we stopped at Lake Eyre South, a dry salt lake. It was totally flat as far as you could see, and was like walking on the moon. On our final stretch we stopped at some sculptures made from vans and airplanes, and the "Pussy Willow," a tree with cat skins hanging from it. The cats are feral, and are a threat to the indiginous life.

Finally we made it to Williams Creek, the smallest town in South Australia, which was basically just a pub. I had read about places like this: the walls and ceilings were covered with ID's, photos, tee-shirts, and bras, and there were a few Outback characters about. The Irish woman was pretty crazy, Riverdancing and shouting to country music. I wasn't in the mood to get too pissed, though. Then we went to bed in swags under the stars. For the uninitiated, a swag is a canvas bag with a mattress. I didn't get a sleeping bag, so I froze me arse off.

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The sort of place Mad Max would call home

We had a short drive today to Coober Pedy, Australia's opal-mining capital. In Australia, two hours is a short drive. En route the landscape became totally barren: flat, no trees or shrubs, only red soil and some spiny grass. In the middle of this desolation lies Coober Pedy, the strangest place I've ever been. The people here dig opals out of the ground, then live in the caves. About 70% of the population of 5,000 live underground. We stayed in a hostel in a cave, which was nice and cool. We got a tour of the town, and went to the museum where we saw a cave-house. The town itself is ugly, dirty, and run-down, with lots of dodgy characters lurking about. There are hills with heavy machinery on top and piles of rocks everywhere, and nothing worthy of a photo. it was neat to visit for a day, but I wouldn't want to spend any more time here. That night we all got dressed up and went out for pizza, then a few of us went to a pub in a cave, but didn't stay too long, since tomorrow is an early day.

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At Australia's most famous rock

Up at 6 today for the 12 hour drive to Ululru, formerly Ayers Rock. There wasn't much to see on the way, just endless desert. After leaving Coober Pedy, the trees, bushes, and grasses returned, so there was a little more to look at. Before we got to our destination we crossed in to the Northern Territory. The plan was to watch the sunset at the rock, so we first deployed our swags at the campsite (I have a sleeping bag this time), then headed to the sunset viewing area, crowded with busses and tourists, mostly elderly and/or Japanese. We were able to walk down the path to get away from most of them.

You see so many pictures of Uluru, you figure that when you get there you won't be impressed. In person it is very impressive, since you can see just how big it is, and can see all the cracks and crevasses. It's quite fascinating to look at, and even changes color as the sun sets. When it was dark we headed back to camp for dinner and a couple beers, then it was to our swags, since we have to be up early tomorrow for the sunset.

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Made getting up early worth it

I wanted to climb Uluru, but didn't think I would, since the Aborigines "request" you not to. At the last minuted I went ahead and did it, and am glad that I did, because it was an amazing experience. The day began insanely early at 4:30 am. needless to say, I felt like shit on the way to the rock, and during the wait for the sun to come up. As we waited in the cold, the busloads of tourists began coming. As the sun started to rise, the rock changed from a featureless black mass to dark shades of red with shadowy crevasses to a bright red covered with smooth red lines and holes. While we watched the show, Jen made a breakfast of bacon (ham) and egg sandwiches.

Now that the sun was up at 7, we had a choice of walking around the base, a 9 km 3 hour hike, or climbing to the top. I didn't think I would go up, so I wore my sandals. When we arrived at the base I was amazed by how steep the climb was, and by how many people were doing it. It was like a line of ants going to the top. If so many people were going, I wouldn't feel so bad about climbing. Also, Jen explained that they let people climb since if they closed it off, fewer people would come to the park. I figured if they really didn't want you to climb, they would just block it off. Martin the Dutchie said he was going. I wanted to, but wasn't sure I could to it in sandals. Then Keeley and Sarah from England said they would go, and Sarah was wearing sandals too, so I figured if she could do it, so could I.

So off we went, and were immediately confronted by the very steep incline. There is a chain railing, but it doesn't start until about 50 ft up. It was steep enough that after 30 ft there seemed to be the possibility of losing your footing and falling, especially in sandals. Sarah shares my fear of heights, and wanted to turn back, but I talked her into continuing. In reality I was more afraid than her, and would have turned back too if she did. The trick was just to climb as fast as possible to the railing. Once we grabbed the railing we had some security, but in reality it's a hindrance since it's so low you have to stoop while you walk, which puts strain on your back and calves. Also as people are coming down some are clutching the railing with fear and won't let go, so you have to get out of their way somehow.

At the top

If you don't have a problem with heights, the climb is not that big of a deal, but me and Sarah found it to be quite frightening. You're walking up a ridge that's only about 6 ft wide and drops off beyond that. And as you get higher the view gets more spectacular, ie scarier. And plus climbing stooped over made it twice as hard. Eventually we made it mostly to the top, where there was a wide ledge, and took photos. To get all the way up you had to use a railing to get up a steep slope dangerously close to the edge, then walk up an incline without a railing. The fact the you would slide into oblivion if you slipped freaked me out, and I had to go back down to the ledge. Sarah and Keeley went on, though. In total it took us an hour to get up, and 20 minutes to get down. Then we did a small part of the base hike. En route Katie and Claire #1 from England told me I have a very British sense of humor, since much of what I say is sarcastic with a deadpan delivery, so most people don't realize I am kidding. High praise indeed.

By 10 it was damn hot. It was so opressively hot it was like a blow torch was on your face. You don't want to do anything in that kind of heat, and luckily we had nothing to do. I tried to take a nap laying on my swag in the shade, but it was like sleeping in an oven. It was especially bad when the hot wind blew sand on you. When I woke up I found that the sweat and sand had combined to make my trousers (pants are underwear in British English) dirty. We took a dip in the small, dirty pool later. I found out it got up to 43C today.

That night we stayed up playing silly party games even though we have to be up at 4:30 again tomorrow.

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Outback explorer

We had to get up at 4:30 again today, but I was awake at 4 with a stuffy nose and sore thought. I seem to be alergic to the Outback. It was also getting quite loud, since everyone gets up early for the sunrise. On today's agenda was Kata Tjuta, a formation of 24 red rock domes, individually similar to Uluru. We were doing a 5km hike among the domes to a lookout point, with the option of going 3km more. The trail was rocky and difficult and uphill most of the time, but I was feeling pretty good after climbing Uluru, and everyone else was going so slow, so I ventured ahead on my own. I've been kind of anti-social on this tour anyway, and have been sticking to myself alot, since everybody seems to be traveling with a buddy. So I went and did the whole 8km and beat everyone else doing 5km. Then I walked out and met Jen, Breda, and Katie. It was a good morning of walking, but it doesn't compare to yesterday, which was the most amazing thing I've ever done.

Then we drove three hours to Kings Creek Station, a touristy resort with camel rides, quad bike rides, and helicopter rides. But the high prices, fatigue, and blistering heat combined to make nobody want to do anything but soak in the pool. That night we sat around the fire for a little, but most people went to bed at 9, even though we could sleep in until 6 tomorrow. So I wrote yesterday's massive entry until 11, then went off to my last night in a swag.

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On top of the world

This morning we hiked in Kings Canyon for three hours. It was a nice walk, and the scenery was, as is usual here, surreal. We walked up the canyon to the top, which was dry and rocky. Then we walked down into the Garden of Eden, which was green and lush, and even had a water hole. Then we had a five hour drive to Alice Springs, a city in the middle of Australia. We all got dressed up and went out, first to Bojangles, a country-western pub where you eat peanuts and throw the shells on the ground. There was a guy with a big snake there, and women were letting it wrap itself around them. Only in Australia. I had a kangaroo fillet, which was delicious. Then we went out to a dance club.

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Took it easy today. I did laundry, then walked around town for awhile. It turns out that Jen, our driver, hooked up with Dan last night. Crazy kids.

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Alice Springs

I walked along the river out to the telegraph station, the original settlement here. The river is dry, of course, like everything else here. It cost $4US to get in, and there wasn't much to see. Even the actual Alice Spring was disappointing, since it is underground. There are lots of tourist attractions here, but they all cost money.

Walking around town is just like what I had read about. There are Aborigines just wandering around and loitering in the park. They totally ignore you, and many are bandaged up or carrying boxes of wine. It's pretty depressing.

I walked up ANZAC Hill and met a Canadian guy, Keith, up there. We ended up hanging out for the rest of the day. We tried to go to some sites, but didn't want to pay any entry fees, so we drank at Bojangles instead.

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I flew to Cairns today. When I got to the airport, I couldn't find my passport, so I was stressed out for the whole three-hour flight, and the drive to the hostel. Luckily I found it after unpacking all my stuff once I got to my room. In the future I will have to remember to sort this stuff out earlier.

This place is not only hot, it's humid too. It's humid enough to make you sweat as soon as you step outside. The upshot is that there are no more flies. I never mentioned the flies in the Outback. They would just not give up. You would swat one away, and it would just go back in your ear, or your nose, or your eye. They would just keep coming. So luckily there are no flies here. There are mosquitoes instead...

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This place may be tropical, but a nice place to spend your holiday it's not. There is no beach, just mudflats, and the town is characterless and dumpy. You don't come here to see the town, though. You come here for the Great Barrier Reef. I'm a bit nervous about diving, so I found a company that will let me try it in a pool for 15 minutes tomorrow for free. I also changed my flight to Bali to Singapore instead. The lady warned me that I will need an onward ticket, so I'm not sure what I will do about that.

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My first dive consisted of kneeling in the shallow end of a pool. Submerging my head while breathing seemed very strange. There were bubbles everywhere, and it was very loud, so I freaked out and stood up. But then I calmed down and I was fine. The instructor took me through taking out my regulator and putting it back (breathe out first), and taking out mine and using his spare. For some reason I had trouble with clearing my mask, so I had to practice a little. Then I swan the length of the shallow end a couple of times, and even got the hang of kicking from my hips. I had fun. SO much fun I signed up for the five-day live-aboard PADI course. It will be two days of "school and pool," then three days living on a boat on the Reef. Two of those three days will be training dives, and the last will be fun dives, including a night dive. Now that I'm spending seven days here, and want seven in Sydney, I'll have to book it down the coast.

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Today started with two hours in the classroom, where we watched some video and got a little lecturing. It was a pretty boring way to start off, but I guess you gotta know the theory. Our lunch hour was pretty busy. We had to get our cursory medicals, get photos taken, sign away our lives, take our first quizzes, and eat. The quizzes are trivial; as long as you are awake for the videos, you can answer most of the questions. The rest you can look up in the book.

After lunch we had to prove that we could swim 200 meters and tread water for 10 minutes. I knew I could do neither of these, so I was pretty nervous. I managed to do the five laps around the pool somehow, although I came in last. I was only able to stay afloat by staying close to the shallow end and kicking off the edge when needed, so I am a cheater. It was either that or drop out.

Next we learned how to attach our tanks to our BCDs (Bouyancy Control Devices, the vests that hold all your stuff), hook up our hoses, and put it all on. Then we walked in to the shallow end, and did our skills, most of which I had done yesterday, so it was pretty easy. Eventually we had to go down to the bottom of the deep end, probably 5 metes down. As I feared, I couldn't equalized my ears, so I didn't make it all the way down. Hopefully I can figure out how to do that.

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Another early day in the classroom, with more exciting videos. Then it was back in to the pool. It turns out that three English guys, including my buddy, dropped out, so today my buddy was the instructor. We learned to do the giant step entry, then it was straight to the bottom. I used the rope this time, and eventually made it all the way down. We did a drill where the instructor shut off our air, so we had to signal our buddy to give us his alternate regulator, switch them, head to the surface together, then manually inflate our BCD. We also learned how to take off and put back on our BCDs, both while floating and while sitting on the bottom. Then we swam across the pool with our masks off, put them back on underwater, and cleared the. Finally we practiced hovering. This was tricky, and I usually ended up shooting to the surface. That afternoon it was more theory, then they took us to the shop and tried to sell us masks and snorkels. I must admit it was tempting, but even though I hope to go again, I don't want to carry more stuff around. Plus I want to be sure I'm OK in the ocean. At night I went to "Reef Teach," a talk on the wildlife I will be seeing. I'm a bit worried, though, because I can't hear out of my left ear.

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