Days 458 – 459, February 28-29, 2012
After another night where I paid for my bed at the hostel but stayed overnight at Scott’s place (the guy I met at the bar the other night), I was awake early again and waiting at the hostel for the shuttle to the Deep Sea Diver’s Den main office. With the snorkelling trip out of the way, I was now headed for a two-day, one-night liveaboard dive trip to the outer Great Barrier Reef.
Day 457, February 27, 2012
With so many different companies to choose from, deciding on whom to take for a trip out to see the Great Barrier Reef can be daunting. I ended up spending a good part of an afternoon pouring over brochures and pamphlets from numerous dive shops, trying to pick out the one I wanted to go with. In the end, knowing how gorgeous the Reef was meant to be, and how colours tend to dull the deeper you dive, I decided to do one day as a snorkelling trip and then a separate two day diving trip.
The company I ended up going with was Deep Sea Divers Den for both trips. I also decided to rent a camera with an underwater case as well to try and capture the beauty of this natural wonder.
Canon Powershot G10 (Not pictured)
Days 454-456, February 24-26, 2012
Coming to Australia so soon after getting my dive certification, it shouldn’t be any wonder that a trip up to the Great Barrier Reef was high on my list of things to see and do. Even with its immense size, probably the easiest jumping off point to visit the Reef is from the small city of Cairns in northern Australia.
To get to Cairns, I opted to fly. Strangely enough, flying ended up being much cheaper, and obviously faster, than any other mode of transportation available to me. And so, at stupid o’clock in the morning, I left Paula’s home, caught a bus to central Sydney and walked to the Central Train Station to grab a train to the Domestic Terminal.
It’s so empty
This takes place on Day 449, February 19, 2012
Australia is expensive. Very expensive. At least in terms of a backpackers budget. After the insanely cheap living I was doing in South East Asia, Australia was a massive shock. Even knowing that it would be expensive did not fully prepare me.
And so, I began really looking for anything to do that was awesome and free. Thankfully, searching Google for “free things to do in Sydney” brings up a host of options, including probably the most popular option I found: the Coastal Walk between Bondi Beach and Coogee Beach.
Days 447-454, February 17-24, 2012
After a couple days with Steve at the extremely posh hotel, I was kicked to the curb. Well, not really. Steve’s boyfriend Matthew was coming to Sydney and they wanted a little privacy. And since I’m not really a voyeur, nor are they exhibitionists, I left to find a new place to stay.
Luckily Australia seems to be the one area of the world where I have no limit to the number of people I know who are willing to offer a place for me to see. This time was no different. Back in December of 2010, I had met the lovely Carnegie family in Cuzco, Peru. I had stayed in contact with them throughout my trip and when it became known that I would be in Sydney, they hooked me up with their friend Paula whom they had met years ago in India.
Lorikeets on Paula’s deck
