February 6th, 2007 - LHI

Once again, I spent my day paying my dues. I read all day long in the shed while everyone else went out diving. I have been assured that I will get out on more dives, and to be honest, I really don’t mind kicking back and talking to people on the beautiful lagoon. I guess it helps when I consider that I could be in a foot of snow back home!

I read some more of my dive master texts and had a nap in the afternoon, and headed to Palm Sugar for a shift. Later on that evening I sent some friends a few e-mails from the Pandanus’ restaurant hotspot.

February 5th, 2007 - LHI

This morning I went for a dive at Ned’s beach since the wind was still howling pretty hard from south-east. The dive was kind of strained, since the people I was diving with weren’t very cooperative. Regardless, I enjoyed it and took time to look at the details of the marvelous and unique dive site. If there is one thing that I have taken away from the last month, it is the absolute necessity to look closer at the fantastic details of marine life on the reef. On this dive, I happened upon the most interesting neon-coloured dancing shrimp.

In the afternoon I sat in the shed and finished the meat and potatoes of the Howea Divers website. I have put a lot of work into building the site, and it looks good. I hope to have it online within the next couple of months.

After work, I went for a quick swim to find an anemone for our two little anemone fish; they’re very territorial and there was only one anemone in the fish tank, leaving the other swimming around aimlessly. I then grabbed some candy from Joy’s shop and sent a package to my sister back home. On the way back to my apartment, I bumped into Ian Hutton and discussed my next project: Editing some HD clips for him and taking some underwater photos (using film) for the 25th anniversary of the LHI World Heritage listing. Although I won’t be receiving any money, I will finally become a published photographer.

I read for the rest of the evening, and I am making good headway on learning the complex physiological and anatomical complexities of scuba diving.

February 4th, 2007 - LHI

Today I turned over a new leaf. I got up extra early, went for a run down on the beach, did a workout including some Yoga, and went for a swim in the lagoon before work. It felt amazing to be up early and the rest of the day I was exhilarated. I’m going to try and do the routine at least three times per week. I’ve been working heaps lately, so we’ll see how we’ll do.

During the day I stayed in the shed and read my dive master manual. I’ve been a little disappointed about not being able to dive recently; the weather has just not been cooperating. I had a little time off in the afternoon, read some of my novel, and went to work at Palm Sugar.

February 3rd, 2007 - LHI

The weather was a little better today but still not the best. Mel and Todd took some people out to Comet’s hole for a dive while I stayed in the shed and studied my dive master material. I was feeling a little hung over so it was a relief to find out that I had the afternoon off. I did some more work on my dive master and had nice long nap.

Before work at Palm Sugar I went for a bike to Old Settlement, did some Yoga on the beach, and waded through the warm water. When I got to work it was dead - only two bookings, so we had an easy night, talked on the verandah, and drank Shiraz.

After work I went for a walk down to Middle beach to check out the full moon over the water and disturb the seabirds. I managed to get under the electric fence okay on the way through to the beach, but on the way back I misjudged (probably because of the wine) and got a mighty shock that sent me flying into the ground; it stuns you pretty good at first but once you realise what happened you can’t help but laugh!

February 2nd, 2007

The swell has been up recently because of the south-westerly wind and the low pressure system in the area, so we haven’t been able to do much in terms of diving. It rained a bit again this morning (which is always welcome to fill up the tanks), but all the dives for the day were cancelled. I spent the morning in the boatshed working on the website; it’s coming along great and I don’t have too much more to go.

In the afternoon I watched two films by Jacques Cousteau, “The Secret Society of Dolphins and Whales,” and “Warm Blooded Sea: Mammals of the Deep.” They were both pretty good, but I felt restless after a day of inactivity, and decided to do some Yoga and a workout.

At 5 o’clock I met the Howea team and some friends down at the boatshed for some drinks. We had nibbles and watched the sunset over the lagoon. After everyone left I went back up to Todd’s new place with Luke and we watched some of his surfing footage and listened to music while sipping on some rum and Coke’s. We got loose and headed to the bowling club for a boogie. It was a good night and the dance floor was on fire!

February 1st, 2007 - LHI

It was a pretty ordinary day today. It was raining in the morning so everyone who was supposed to go for a dive cancelled. Busty was still a little sick, so he gave us all the day off. I spent the morning working on the website, and in the afternoon went for a bike down to Little Island, a run and a swim at Blinky beach, and completed the first two chapters of the dive master manual.

January 31st, 2007 - LHI

Mel had the day off today and Busty was still ill with a cold, and had to stay back in the shed. Todd and I took the boat out with John, Chris and two other experienced divers, and headed off to the north head gutters. Todd stayed on the boat and I went for a dive; my first time at the gutters.

The terrain at the gutters was exceptional. There were heaps of overhangs and small caves to explore, and most of the area was covered in extremely healthy hard corals. On the dive I managed to see some pretty awesome aquatic life, including a conspicuous angelfish, brown triggerfish, crayfish, catfish and even an octopus walking over the top of the reef. I’m completely fascinated with the octopus and its amazing defense mechanism; it changes colour and body shape to match its environment nearly instantaneously when threatened. It’s a pretty amazing sight to observe.

In the afternoon I cleaned up in the shed and then got ready for my first shift at Panadanus restaurant at the top of the hill. Every Wednesday and Thursday night’s I’ll be helping out in the kitchen for some extra cash for my trip to Asia. As of now, I’m working five days and five nights a week, in addition to my video and web design work. Yeesh.

January 30th, 2007 - LHI

This morning I went on a dive to the Admiralty Island’s to explore Rupert’s reef and help Heather, the marine park manager, collect some anemone fish for some researchers in Melbourne. We went out on the boat with Todd because Busty was sick with a cold. John and Chris came on the dive too.

It took the entire dive to locate and capture the fish. The surge was pretty heavy, and we were sloshed around in our attempts to get a net over a breeding pair. I didn’t have gloves, so it was tricky for me to stay still. In the end though, we managed to capture and bag the fish we came for. It was a shorter, challenging dive, but definitely a good learning experience.

For the rest of the day I worked on the Howea Divers website. It’s almost finished, and I am eager to get it online to share diving at LHI with the world.

I was supposed to work at Palm Sugar tonight, but it wasn’t busy, so I continued to work on the site and read up on the marine park.

January 29th, 2007 - LHI

Today was my sisters 22nd birthday; however, I have to wait one more day to call her because of the time difference. I dearly miss my sister and can’t wait to see her again.

This morning I woke up an hour early and biked down to Arijilla to meet the Yoga instructor Donna for a session. I turned up and there was an older couple there for the session, but that was it. The Yoga room was extremely beautiful and peaceful; it’s a large circular wooden cabin nestled amongst the palm trees and a giant banyan. Donna was amazing and took us all through some very basic (but challenging) Yoga positions. It was a great way to start my day and I have vowed to go at least once a week.

I showed up at the boatshed ready for work but Busty was sick and told me I had the day off; my second day off in a row! Not wasting any time I got on my bike and rode down past Capella to do the Goathouse Cave walk, the second hardest hike on the island.

It took me less than an hour to hike up the steep incline, and I was sweating profusely by the time I reached the summit. I was wearing thongs and still managed to pass five people making their way up the mountain. The views today were spectacular since there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I sat down next to a nesting red-tailed tropic bird, had a piece of homemade pear and coconut cake, and read the first two chapters of my dive master manual before descending the mountain and returning home for lunch. Along the way home I stopped at Joy’s shop and picked up the new Australasia Scuba Diver magazine because it has a feature on Thailand’s top ten dive sites.

After I finished eating I headed to the boatshed, picked up some snorkel gear, and headed out to Middle beach for a swim; my intentions were to catch a crayfish for dinner, but after an hour of searching underneath the reef, I gave up. One of these days I’m going to bring home a big one!

For the rest of the evening I worked on the website, read, and chilled out. It was a super busy day and I know I’m going to be feeling it tomorrow.

January 28th, 2007 - LHI

The storm last night kicked up the surf and made for rough seas, so Busty decided to let everyone have the day off. In the morning I took my bike and iPod down to Blinky beach and walked all the way to the end, went for a swim, and took my time getting home. I stopped to look at a baby White Turn nesting on a tree branch about six feet off the ground; it had fluffy grey down all over its body compared to the brilliant white adult, who I could tell didn’t really enjoy my presence.

In the afternoon I slept for few hours, read some of my book, and took it easy. I got a little more done on the Howea Divers website, but had to leave to go to work at 6 o’clock at Palm Sugar. I worked the shift, had some dinner and wine with the owner Kathy, had an early night.

January 27th, 2007 - LHI

The days seem to be melting together. I spend most of my days in the shed, although I have been promised that February will be better for completing my dive master, since most of the people diving are regulars and there’s more time for us to get dive’s in. To be honest, I really don’t mind hanging out on the beach, talking to tourists and dragging kayaks down to the shore. I got out of the shed for the afternoon though, and joined Busty on the boat to Comet’s hole. I took my snorkel gear along and went for a dip while Busty took a couple doctors down for a dive.

I got off at 4 o’clock, took a quick nap, and headed to Palm Sugar for my evening shift. The weather forecast called for storm to pass through, and you could smell it in the air. By the time I finished my shift, the lightening was streaking across the horizon. Andrew and Shannon, my co-workers at Palm Sugar, and I decided to get a couple drinks and head down to the lagoon to watch the storm blow in. The wind was blowing from the all around us and we watched as the rain moved across the horizon and up onto the beach. We darted into the boatshed to avoid getting totally soaked, and watched the lightening until we got too cold.

I got home, worked on photoshop for a bit, and completed the staff photos for the website. I nodded off to the sound of thunder and lightening crashing through my window.

January 26th, 2007 - LHI

I spent the entire day in the shed because Todd had to teach a dive course and Mel had the day off. It was a beautiful day, and I wish I could have gone for a dive, but sitting by the lagoon reading a book for most of the day suited me just fine!

Later on in the afternoon, I jumped on another booze cruise with a bunch of the staff from Pinetrees, some locals, and other friends; it was the second booze cruise of the week, so I was stoked. There was probably 30 people stuff onto the boat. Pete took us around the lagoon and we had a few drinks while watching the sunset over the ocean. At one point everyone on the boat jumped in the water to cool off. It’s a tough life here on Lord Howe!

Friday nights there is a dance at the bowling club, and pretty much everyone who went on the cruise decided to go to the club. It was a late start, but in the dance was amazing. We grooved the dance floor until one in the morning.

January 25th, 2007 - LHI

This morning I hung out in the shed with Todd while Mel, Busty and a group of divers headed out to Malabar for a dive. I was a little disappointed considering I haven’t had a chance to dive Malabar yet, but I’m not worried because I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to head out there over the next three months.

Already I’m starting to feel as though time is flying; I can’t believe were already a whole month into 2007! Time is definitely flying.

In the afternoon we headed out to the north head gutters for a dive but once again the conditions were rough so instead we decided to dive the Favourite wreck at North Bay. In the end it turned out to be a good thing since the first-time divers we took out were really uncomfortable underwater and took some coaxing to get them to submerge. It was a short, shallow dive, but nonetheless a good one.

After work I caught up with some e-mails at Brian’s; it’s interesting to see how many people are getting onto the facebook.com bandwagon! Unfortunately I didn’t get much done because I had agreed to meet Ian Hutton, one of the Lord Howe Island experts and authors, to discuss a couple videos he wants edited and a personal website. We met at the museum, and when I arrived the Thompson sisters were singing with acoustic guitars for cultural night. They were absolutely incredible and the harmonies that came from the girls just blew me away!

When everyone cleared out, Ian and I had a meeting to discuss our game plan for the videos, and he hooked me up with some Sony editing software to play with. The two videos we’re going to put together involve the weeder’s that come to Lord Howe in the winter, and one featuring the work that Dr. Peter Harrison was working on with the coral spawning the last couple of weeks.

I was surprised to find that there’s lots going on at the museum, including the cataloguing of thousands of old images from the island into digital format. By the stacks of boxes, I could tell it’s going to be a big job. Ian was nice enough to offer me cameras to use while I was on the island, including the HD camera by Sony and a 12MB Nikon still camera. I’m definitely going to put them to good use.

January 24th, 2007 – Lord Howe Island, NSW, Australia

This morning we headed out with a full boat expecting to dive the north head caves. Unfortunately, like many occasions lately, the conditions just weren’t right and we had to abort to plan B: The Octopus Gardens near the south passage to the lagoon.

I was pretty excited to dive a new site, although I was a little apprehensive because of navigation (I had no idea what to expect) and I was taking Pete’s 9 year old daughter and one of his good friends Anthony on the dive. Luckily, the dive went great; Brooke is really confident for a 9 year old, and she communicated underwater, which the most essential part of safe and fun diving. Although there were no octopi to be seen on this trip, we explored some awesome terrain, including some impressive corals and gutters.

My afternoon was spent cleaning up our mess and filling tanks, but after work I was invited to go on a booze cruise in the lagoon with some of the staff from Arijilla, one of the resorts on the island; one of the staff Ash was celebrating a birthday. We spun around the lagoon looking for turtles and I drank back a few imported beers from Laos. Yummy.

After the cruise we got into a huge BBQ and ate like kings. We seem to be doing the BBQ thing quite often, and I can’t complain one bit! Truly, the BBQ is definitely an Aussie event.

January 23, 2007 - LHI

It was my day off today, but instead of sleeping in and wasting my day in bed, I got up at the crack of dawn and went on a fishing trip to Ball’s Pyramid with an islander named Scotty and the boat “Belle Chase.” There were six other guys on board for the trip, and the day was perfect; beautiful sunshine, light breeze, and small swell. We left Lord Howe for the Pyramid, which is about 50 kilometers north at seven in the morning.

It took us a couple hours to get to the Pyramid, and we trolled for fish the whole way, catching a nice big kingfish to start off the day. For the first hour and a half we used sonar to detect schools of mackerel and caught them for live bait. We then headed north of the Pyramid and dropped our lines with squid as bait. Almost immediately, all of us had big kingfish on our lines; kingy’s are a great sport fish and fight like troopers. We must have hauled about 10 in on the first go. All of us on board were stoked and having the time of our lives. Unfortunately, because of the rising water temperatures around Lord Howe, the sharks soon came to rain on our kingfish parade. The entire day, we must have hooked about 30 Galapagos wailers. They became such nuisance that we had to move almost every time we got fish on board, and often they took big chunks out of our fish before we could get them on board.

For the rest of the afternoon we fished some deeper troughs around the Pyramid, and hauled in some more kingfish, perch, fusiliers, and of course some more sharks. All in all, we ended up with two huge tubs full of fish.

Scotty cleaned and filleted the fish on the way back to Lord Howe and everyone on board got to take as much fish as they could possibly handle. I managed to walk away with four kingfish and a perch. I’m going to have one hell of a BBQ!!!

January 22nd, 2007 - LHI

This morning we headed off to dive the north head cave; however, once we got out to the dive site, Busty thought there was a little too much surge coming through the area. Instead, we decided to dive a site called Yellow Rock, which is located just on the south-side of the north passage. I buddied up with a girl named Nina and we had an hour dive exploring the awesome channel. There were hundreds of different species of hard and soft corals, in addition to lots of crayfish, scorpionfish, cardinalfish, butterfly fish, and I even spotted a rare black-coloured lionfish.

After the dive I hung out in the shed; it was a busy afternoon and we had nine people to set up for, all of whom were first time divers. They all arrived at 1:30, watched the introductory video, did some skills in the lagoon with Busty and Todd, and we headed out to Comet’s hole. There were four teenage girls with Todd and I had a laugh at the hard time they were giving him; if I could have had a dollar for every time they said “Oh my God!” I would be a billionaire! Everyone had a good laugh though.

When we got back I had to hurry up and get ready for my shift at Palm Sugar. I’ve been working heaps the last few days, and feel much better now that I’m making some cash instead of just spending it!
January 21st, 2007 - LHI

This morning I borrowed Busty’s truck to take Laura to the airport; it was her last day and we got up extra early to make sure that she had everything packed and didn’t forget anything. It was really great getting to know her and she was an inspiration to me. I was sad to see her go; we had a really good time together the last two weeks. She worked extremely hard on her PhD work, was studying some fascinating stuff, and got to travel around to some of the most beautiful places on earth while being paid. It has seriously made me consider going back to school and pursuing marine biology. Who knows what the future will bring?

Mel and Busty had a dive at the Twin Caves today and I stuck around minding the shed. I drove Dan to the airport and said goodbye to him, and knocked off around 1:30. After my shift I went for a swim and took a kayak out to the reef for some exercise. The sun was extremely hot today, and the weather has been perfect; it hasn’t rained once in the daytime for the entire three weeks I’ve been on the island!

For the first time in a long while I had an opportunity for a proper catnap. I slept like a baby for a couple hours before heading to Palm sugar for a shift.

January 21st, 2007 - LHI

This morning I borrowed Busty’s truck to take Laura to the airport; it was her last day and we got up extra early to make sure that she had everything packed and didn’t forget anything. It was really great getting to know her and she was an inspiration to me. I was sad to see her go; we had a really good time together the last two weeks. She worked extremely hard on her PhD work, was studying some fascinating stuff, and got to travel around to some of the most beautiful places on earth while being paid. It has seriously made me consider going back to school and pursuing marine biology. Who knows what the future will bring?

Mel and Busty had a dive at the Twin Caves today and I stuck around minding the shed. I drove Dan to the airport and said goodbye to him, and knocked off around 1:30. After my shift I went for a swim and took a kayak out to the reef for some exercise. The sun was extremely hot today, and the weather has been perfect; it hasn’t rained once in the daytime for the entire three weeks I’ve been on the island!

For the first time in a long while I had an opportunity for a proper catnap. I slept like a baby for a couple hours before heading to Palm Sugar for a shift.

July 20th, 2007 - LHI

With all of the excitement these days I’ve been running a little behind on rest. It doesn’t help that today I woke up with a slight hangover from the night before. Luckily, I had shed duty this morning and didn’t have to do much; I got the dive gear ready, tidied up the shed, and sat in the sun until noon.

In the afternoon Busty, Todd and I took a big group out to Erscott’s north for a dive. Although Erscott’s is a shallow dive, roughly eight meters maximum, it’s pretty special due to the healthy coral and abundant fish life. On this occasion I took some first time divers along the wall of the reef and we spotted a few unicorn fish, a moray eel tangled in some finger coral, hundreds of endemic McColluch clown fish sitting in anemone, and a school of Galapagos wailer sharks encircling their prey!
After a busy day in the boatshed I headed off to Palm Sugar to work the dinner shift with Shannon from Pro Dive, and it turned out to be a busy night. Cathy cooked us up an amazing beef curry for our evening meal and we gorged ourselves on her homemade cakes; tonight was pear and coconut, lemon chocolate and triple-layer caramel cake.

As soon as I finished my shift I met up with Laura and we headed down to Ned’s beach for the radio shack fundraiser dance. It was five dollars entry fee and it was a really great time, despite the fact that I was completely burned out. I chatted with a bunch of people, splashed around at the tide break with the fluorescence, and headed home at half past midnight to get some well-needed sleep.

January 19th, 2007 - LHI

After a great night sleep (I’ve been having restless sleeps lately), I headed down to the shed for a boat dive first thing. I was pretty excited because the conditions were perfect to go explore the Cathedral caves at the north head wall. Two regulars, Chris and John, and another guy from New York named Craig geared up and were in the water by 10 o’clock in the morning.

Thus far, the Cathedral has been my absolute favourite dive. The terrain is otherworldly, with a huge cave that drops down from the surface and extends around some big rocks and into the island. Its name comes from the fact that the sunlight comes through the ceiling making it resemble the light coming in through the glass in a church. It was just stunning.

Along the way, Craig and I spotted some pretty interesting marine life. The Cathedral is Nudibranch heaven, and we spotted heaps of them of all different shapes, sizes and colours. Also, we ran into some big sea stars, a few scorpion fish, schools of brown triggerfish, spangled emperor and a big octopus hiding underneath a rock in the Cathedral cave. I seriously could have stayed down there all day!

I covered the shed over noon hour and in the afternoon I went out with Busty, Todd, Renae, and Heather, the Marine Park manager to work on some of our skills for our Rescue Diver certification. We went to Erscott’s north and practiced a few skills in deeper water, including finding a missing diver, rescuing an unconscious diver from the bottom, and dealing with a tired and panicked diver. Great stuff to know and I feel a lot more confident, although a little more practice will definitely help.

Tonight the entire Busty’s Boatshed family got together with the researchers, a couple of the regular divers and a few friends for a BBQ under the pines. I went up to the Top Shop at the top of the hill on the island a bought some fresh, homemade sausages, some onion and zucchini for Laura and I, and we had some drinks at the boatshed before heading over to the BBQ area to cook up a storm. Busty brought some kingfish, and Pete and Vic brought heaps of salad, sausages, homemade bread, and Vic brought her famous coconut pumpkin bake (which I now have a recipe for). The feast was incredible, and we had full bellies by the time the sun set over the horizon. The night ended up being extra special because we were treated to an amazing view of a comet moving through space; the tail on the comet was so bright, and it was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. I took a few pictures but they don’t do it justice.

After the BBQ Dan, Laura, Todd, Luke and I headed off to the bowling club for the Friday night dance. A few hours and a few drinks later I headed home, a little tipsy and buzzing from the incredible day.

January 18th, 2007 - LHI

This morning I helped Pete clear out one of the storage lockers at the teachers’ housing near the police station. Another teacher is coming soon and he has 27 cubic meters of stuff to be unloaded; Pete has lost one of his storage spaces to make room for all his gear. We made a few trips up to a new storage space and I stopped by Pandanus restaurant to ask for some work. They seemed keen so hopefully I’ll be able to get some more shifts in the evenings to start saving for my Asian adventures.

The afternoon was pretty hectic in the shed, and we finished late. None of us felt like cooking so we decided to meet at Humpty Mick’s for a drink and a meal. I went down with Laura and we both had some amazing steak sandwiches and cold Aussie beers.

To finish off the night, I threw on 2 Fast 2 Furious, one of the movies that Dan, the other researcher, burned for me.

January 17th, 2007 - LHI

Despite the overcast weather, the morning wasn’t all that bad. I went out with Todd on a boat dive, and stayed on board to keep watch (I.E. read my book). They explored the North Head Gutters, and I got through about 50 pages while Turns and Noddy’s fed off of small fish on the ocean surface, swooping just above my head.

I helped clean up in the shed and had the afternoon off to do whatever, so I decided to take a nice catnap and then headed out for an evening ride with Laura down to Little Island. It was her first time riding down to that area and she did really well considering the monstrous hill by Capella resort. I rode home quickly to get ready for work.

Tonight was my first night at Palm Sugar, and the job ended up being really good. Kathy, the owner, cooks all the meals, another girl Rachael from Pro Dive waited the tables, and Pam from Pinetrees washed up; I shadowed Rachael for the first night to get the hang of it. Palm Sugar is a small restaurant at the top of the big hill on the island, and it is tucked away amongst the palms and giant hibiscus bushes. It’s an incredibly romantic venue. At the end of the shift Kathy cooked us all a meal and we had homemade cake and wine. I think I’m really going to like working this job!

January 16th, 2007 - LHI

Today was magic; both the weather and the diving were incredible! In the morning I went out one of my favourite dive sites, the Arch. I took two teenage Aussie guys down and showed them around. Although the visibility wasn’t as great as it usually is, and there was a little bit of surge, we still had a great dive and saw heaps of marine life. For the first time ever I got to see a huge Spanish dancer. We also saw a school of trumpet fish, two lionfish, lots of crayfish, a hungry moray, a few scorpion fish, a brightly coloured nudibranch, and of course the hundreds of dotted sweetlips swimming underneath the arch.

Straight away after we got back I went out on the boat with Todd and went to Comets hole for a dive; I stayed on the boat because the dive was part of an Open Water course and Todd had to teach them some skills and ensure they had learned everything they needed to know. Pete’s son Noah and his friend stayed on the boat with me while I read in the hot sun; definitely not hard work!

In the afternoon I headed out to Middle beach with the intention of catching some crayfish for dinner but there was too much wind so I abandoned my initial plan and headed to Ned’s beach for a snorkel instead. It was my first time snorkeling Ned’s this season and it was just as amazing as I remember it. The kingfish were still going crazy near the shore, the coral was colourful and healthy, and I saw a big Galapagos wailer shark at the back of the sandy channel leading out to sea.

In the evening I chilled out with Laura the uni researcher, and we watched the Golden Globes together. It was funny because I had no clue what movies and television shows were up for awards; I have been away from North America so long that I am so out of touch with film and television. Regardless, it was nice to just chill out and watch some of the old idiot box with a sexy PhD student.

January 15th, 2007 - LHI

This morning I went for a dive at Rupert’s Reef just off the Admiralty Island’s. I went with Jenn, my good friend from Pinetrees, Dan the researcher, and another regular diver Ralph. We descended at half past ten in the morning.

Quite literally, Rupert’s was my favourite dive so far on Lord Howe. There was a spectacular diversity of brightly coloured hard and soft corals, not to mention the amazing terrain and fish life. The site is a coral reef about 50 meters in length with a huge gutter down the middle. I buddied with Jenn and we explored around the entire reef before heading down the gutter. Along the way, we encountered a big trumpet fish, the rare clown trigger fish, a beautiful (but intimidating) moray, an aggressive stonefish, a big hawksbill turtle, and a few fascinating nudibranches.

After a busy afternoon in the shed, I went back to my place with Todd and had a couple drinks, went for an evening ride, chilled out reading books and worked on the website for the rest of the night.

January 14th, 2007 - LHI

I had intended to work at Pinetrees today, so Busty gave me the day off. Unfortunately, the owners of Pinetrees are being very inflexible, and have decided (at the last minute) that they’re unable to accommodate me by paying me cash-in-hand for one day a week’s work. It seems silly and pretentious to me, but everything happens for a reason, and instead I will be working somewhere else (which is just fine with me!). To be honest, their loss!

I had some letters to write today, and went to Busty’s to use the internet, print out the letters, and scan some receipts; it wasn’t exactly the kind of stuff I like to do on my days off, but it had to be done. The letters are for OHIP, asking for an extension, or else I may not have health insurance in Ontario when I return to Canada. Like I said before: Necessary, but completely mundane.

In the afternoon I wrote a little bit of my novel, had a snooze, and met up with Laura, the PhD student studying the corals. We hung out for a bit and I went over to watch a movie with her and the other researcher Dan at the research lab. Before I went there though, I went up to the Palm Sugar café to see if they had any work for me. I met the owner Cathy and she was incredibly nice. She said that there was work for me and they could pay me cash in hand. Problem solved.

January 13th, 2007 - LHI

It was a very busy day in the boatshed today, and there was a lot to be done in addition to the regular duties of filling tanks, cleaning up and selling tours. First off, it was inventory day. Luckily, there wasn’t much left and it was all relatively in one spot. We ran out of water to wash off the gear, so we also had to fix that issue as well. All went smoothly, and the day turned out to be magic.

In the morning I accompanied Brian on a dive to Noddy’s Island, one of the Admiralty Island’s. The conditions were perfect; the lagoon was like glass, the sun was peaking through the clouds, and the water was a warm blue from the northern currents pushing in the tropical water from Queensland. Although I had to stay on the boat, it was absolutely amazing to be out on the water with hundreds of seabirds flying above my head.

When I knocked off in the evening I went for a swim in the lagoon and got ready to go to Pinetrees for my first shift. When I got there I was surprised to hear that I wasn’t working after all. Typical of Pinetrees, no one notified me to let me know that I wasn’t working because they were unwilling to pay me cash-in-hand for the next couple of weeks while I sorted out my Visa. I wasn’t a very happy man, that’s for sure. Marie, one of the managers, bought me a beer and I went on my way back home.

One of the girl’s on the island named Alex turned 18 today, and there was a big party to celebrate. I went over to my friend Jenn’s house before hand while she and another friend Shelly ‘got ready.’ Girls are funny. We arrived at the party around 10 o’clock with Shelly’s boyfriend Shane and Troy, another ex-Pinetrees employee. The party was bumping and there were plenty food and drinks. The dance floor (the outside deck) was the hotspot, and it was going off all night. I definitely had a great time, and left just after midnight.

January 12th, 2007 - LHI

I have officially been in Australia for one year today. Thinking back on all that I have accomplished, I am so pleased; okay, I admit, ecstatic. The past year could not have been any better, and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to explore this fine country. With all my heart, I am sold. I love the landscape, the climate, and most of all, the people. I’m still waiting to meet an Aussie that I don’t like. I know that Canada is home, but someday, eventually, I will make Australia my new home. It’s just too good.

I was woken up late today by Laura after some crazy dreams. I hadn’t slept well during the night so I decided to sleep in a bit. We chilled out for a bit, had a cup of coffee and discussed our plans for the day. She had to go collect samples from Middle Beach and Boat Harbour, while I was stuck in the shed filling tanks and hooking people up with all their gear.

Although I didn’t get a dive in today, I can’t complain one bit. The weather has been impeccable and I get to peer out onto the lagoon all day long. Today it was as smooth as glass and the summer sun warmed the air to a perfect temperature.

In the afternoon I helped Pete move the school teacher Mel’s stuff from her house to the plane; Friendly, one of the pilot’s on the island, was doing a run for her. We moved most of it in a little under an hour.

When I returned to the boatshed, it was utter chaos. I had to watch and fill 30 tanks, help people with their rentals, including lugging kayaks down to the water, settle people’s bill’s, and sell diving and tours to whoever came in. My head was spinning when I knocked off at 7 o’clock.

Of the two weeks I’ve been on the island, tonight’s sunset was by far the most spectacular; the whole sky turned a beautiful pink and orange, and the foreground island made deep silhouettes against the sinking star. I rode my bike down to Little island and rode back in the semi-darkness, dodging endemic woodhens as the crossed my path searching for food.

Later in the night I hit the Friday night party at the bowling club and ripped up the dance floor.

January 11th, 2007 - LHI

It was a crazy morning at the shed. We had three dives in four hours and I was in charge of prepping them all and making sure everyone had equipment, was transferred to Ned’s beach on time, and cleaning up. Because it was so busy, the morning went by so quickly. I filled a few tanks and Brian let me have the afternoon off because I had to come back in at night for our night snorkel and dive at North Bay to witness the annual coral spawning. A team of marine ecologists, including the Doctor who first discovered coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef, Peter Harrison, were predicting tonight would be the night when the corals send their sperm and eggs into the water.

I went for a ride and the afternoon and then passed out for a couple hours to prepare for the night.

After dinner I showed up at the shed and it was chaos once again; there were thirty people needing wetsuits and dive equipment, including lights and glow sticks. Surprisingly, we pulled it off pretty well. We arrived at North Bay around 8:30, got our gear on, and jumped in. I partnered up with Renae, the girl I had done my Rescue Diver skills last week.

It was my first night dive, and I must say, it was really relaxing. Many of the fish were asleep or hiding and different creatures were moving around in the darkness. We saw heaps of prawns, crabs and crayfish, a huge wrasse sleeping underneath a plate coral, worms, and a really nice lionfish that I almost didn’t see; Brian has been stung by one and he said it hurt for days, so I was lucky.

Nearing the end of our dive, we finally spotted what we had come to see: Coral spawning. Truly, it was a magical sight. The closest thing I could compare it to is snow; however, instead of falling down, the snow was floating up! When we shone our torches towards the coral, the spawn were attracted to the light and it looked like one of those glass shaker ornaments. Not many people in the world have the opportunity to see coral spawn in their lifetime, so it felt pretty special, especially at night underneath a trillion blinking stars.

January 10th, 2007 - LHI

Brian came by this morning and told me I could have the day off; it was still pretty windy on the eastern side of the island and there was only one dive going out today.

I could have easily gone back to bed but felt I should get up and be productive. I spent a few hours working on the website during the morning, and in the afternoon the weather turned and the sun came out. I went for a bike ride down to Blinky beach and found it was packed with people (for Lord Howe, 50 people on a beach is packed!). I went back home, ate some lunch, grabbed my surfboard and peddled back down to the beach.

By the time I returned to the beach the swell had gone down. I went for a paddle regardless, but in the end decided to leave the board on the beach and went body surfing on the wicked beach break. The water was a perfect turquoise blue, and the weather was dazzling. It was a great afternoon off, that’s for sure!

In the evening I met the Howea gang down at the boatshed for Ted’s going away party. There were about 25 of us putting back beers as the sunset over the ocean. We ordered pizza and had nibbles before heading off to the bowling club to party some more and check out some live comedy.

Before the comedy started there was a belly dancer and a band. Both were good, but it was definitely the comedian who stole the night. The comedian’s name was Brett Nichols and he was a professional comic from Sydney. He made me laugh so hard my belly hurt!

To finish off the night I watched shooting stars with one of the PHD students named Laura, who is studying corals on the island. I saw two stars blast across the sky and made a couple wishes.

January 9th, 2007 - LHI

The Howea Divers website is well on its way after today’s seven hour coding marathon. I had the day off from the dive shop, so I decided to be productive. I woke up at 9 o’clock and worked straight through until around 4 o’clock; I hardly budged from my seat except to make a cup of tea and go to the toilet. In the end, I managed to get most of my photoshop work done on the images I needed, finalized my CSS, and completed four full pages. Already, the site is looking good; real good.

After sitting down all day, I really needed to get some exercise. I biked down to Pinetrees to check in about a part-time job, and then continued on my daily ride to Little Island. You would think I would get bored of the same route day after day, but the truth is that it’s an absolutely stunning run and nearly impossible to get sick of.

Later in the evening I went over to Cory’s, one of the islanders that I worked with at Pinetrees during my last stint on the island. It was Jerlinda’s going away party, and I wanted to see her off properly. She was a really good friend of mine during the three months on the island, and we kept in contact via e-mail while I was on the mainland. She’s a super genuine person and her laugh is infectious; you can’t help but laugh along with her whenever she bursts into one of her fits. She’s such a great girl, and I’m sad to see her go.

January 8th, 2007 - LHI

I worked this morning but had the afternoon off. Indeed, business has been strange for the dive shop. Some days we are flat out with 15 divers, North Bay and snorkeling tours, while some days are pretty quiet.

For my afternoon off I worked on completing the editing and sizing of all the dive site images in photoshop that will be used for the website. It was tedious work, but I got most of it done, and felt good that I had got a start on things.

In the afternoon I went for my bike ride, and headed down to Ned’s in the evening for a BBQ. One of the school teachers was leaving and many of the islanders were celebrating her hard work. She had taught Noah, Pete Busteed’s son for two years, and apparently she did a really great job and the kids loved her.

At the BBQ I also had the opportunity to meet Mel, one of the new Howea staff. She is taking over for Dave who is leaving on Friday. She just finished her second degree, and is now a veterinarian. She’s taking a few months working for Howea before returning to the mainland to start her career.

January 8th, 2007 - LHI

I worked this morning but had the afternoon off. Indeed, business has been strange for the dive shop. Some days we are flat out with 15 divers, North Bay and snorkeling tours, while some days are pretty quiet.

For my afternoon off I worked on completing the editing and sizing of all the dive site images in photoshop that will be used for the website. It was tedious work, but I got most of it done, and felt good that I had got a start on things.

In the afternoon I went for my bike ride, and headed down to Ned’s in the evening for a BBQ. One of the school teachers was leaving and many of the islanders were celebrating her hard work. She had taught Noah, Pete Busteed’s son for two years, and apparently she did a really great job and the kids loved her.

At the BBQ I also had the opportunity to meet Mel, one of the new Howea staff. She is taking over for Dave who is leaving on Friday. She just finished her second degree, and is now a veterinarian. She’s taking a few months working for Howea before returning to the mainland to start her career.

January 7th, 2007 - LHI
Despite it being my day off, I woke up early and went down to the boatshed for a dive at 9 o’clock. Unfortunately, there was only one person looking to go for a dive, so the dive was cancelled. Instead, I went to Brian’s place and scanned all of the dive site diagrams he drew to include in the new website.

In the afternoon, I had a nap and headed back down to the lagoon to go on the snorkel tour with Pete. We went to four different sites including Erscott’s hole south and north, Comet’s hole and Hook reef. Erscott’s south is by far my favourite; the coral is so colourful and vibrant, and the fish life is truly exotic. On this occasion I spotted a huge puffer fish, a unicorn wrasse, a big reef shark, and some extremely friendly double-header wrasse. At Erscott’s north was great too, and there are some pretty impressive table corals and a big coral wall facing out towards the ocean. Comet’s was a little murky today because of the fresh water spring under the sand, but great nonetheless. There were plenty of sweetlips swimming about today, and thousands of different damselfish sputtering about near the surface. I was a little cold so I decided to stay on board the boat for Hook’s reef. I helped Pete drive the boat back at around 5 o’clock.

I was going to go fishing in the evening but on my way back I bumped into Damo who had just returned from the south part of the island with a good stock of fresh fish. We made plans to go out fishing together and he gave me a beautiful trevally for dinner. I went home straight away, filleted it, and threw it on the BBQ with some fresh potato chips; simply delicious!

I spent the night working on the images for the website, burning DVD’s and watched “The Last Samurai” on television, dipping into my Peter Carey compilation of short stories during commercial breaks. It would have been a night of uninterrupted relaxation had it not been for a huge huntsman spider that came crawling down the wall next to my bed; for those of you who are unfamiliar with the huntsman, it can grow bigger than an adult male hand and is as quick as a cockroach! I tried to capture and release this particular specimen, but to no avail. In the end, I had to kill it; there was no way I was going to sleep with that monster crawling around! Finally after a half hour and a variety of different weapons, (books, shoes and board shorts) the spider went swirling down the toilet.

January 6th, 2007 - LHI

Today I worked for the morning, and had the afternoon off. After a nice long nap, I hopped on my bike and drove down to the bowling club where I left my bike to go up to Middle beach. The walk brought back many memories, and not much has changed except for the fact that the terrain is much drier than in the winter.

I walked up and over the hill towards Middle beach, stopping to pet the two small bulls roaming within an electric fence. I went through a garden I found and picked a pumpkin, some potatoes, rock melon and honeydew melon; I took the liberty of taking a few items since the price of groceries on the island is almost triple the price of the mainland. I took a walk to the Clear Place before heading back home, dropping off my fresh produce, and heading back out again for some hardcore physical fitness. I jumped on my bike once again and peddled over the difficult hill by Capella lodge, and down the little island track at the very south end of the island. It was a good sweat, and I definitely earned my evening beer.

I took it easy in the evening, and started working on the new Howea Divers website, watched two movies: “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and the first “Back to the Future.”

January 5th, 2007 - LHI

Today I went for a dive at the Twin Caves on the north end of the island, around the back of Mount Eliza. I buddied up with twins from Canberra, Steve and Greg, who have been diving with us all week. While on the surface there were only two caves, underwater the caves split into three and went about 15 meters into the mountain. The maximum depth hit around 20 meters, although most of the time we were at a depth of about 13 meters.

The Twin Caves had plenty of really healthy hard and soft corals, sponges and sea grasses, but the fish life was minimal compared to other sites. We did have the pleasure of seeing a strangely coloured manta ray curled up in a little enclave, surrounded by a lionfish and coral-banded shrimp. We also bumped into a foot-long sea slug.

Later on I went to the golf club to meet up with some friends for a beer and a feed. Damo and Sean, two guys I worked with at Pinetrees were doing the catering, and the food was unreal. I sat around and chatted with the Howea crew and a few friends from Capella lodge before having an early Friday night.

January 4th, 2007 - LHI

This morning I helped Pete pack up and move some boxes for one of the Meteorologists who is moving back to the mainland.

I stuck around the shed in the afternoon, and strapped on some scuba gear to clean the bottom of one of the boats, read my book and went for a swim in the lagoon. Unfortunately, it was low tide and while I was swimming I put my finger down on an urchin; I spent an hour pulling out the spines. Since the first day, I have been nursing the bruises and wounds I suffered falling off my bike, in addition to a swollen knee from the dance floor on New Years, and now I had urchin spines in my finger; boy, was I in rough shape!

At night, I went to check my e-mail at Busty’s house, and had a visit to the Radio shack. More on the shack later, it’s a crazy place that needs a proper introduction!

January 3rd, 2007 - LHI

Another day at the office; it’s too bad that my office is a one mile long beach in the middle of the South Pacific. I wake up hating myself everyday (sarcasm).

The busy season is upon us and everyday is pretty flat-out with people looking to dive, do snorkeling tours, or head up to North Bay for the day. All day long there are people coming into the boatshed fitting wet suits, grabbing snorkel gear, or returning empty scuba tanks. Despite the chaos, it’s really hard to get stressed out; all you need to do is look out onto the lagoon and immediately the tension melts away.

I went on the second dive of the day and my buddy was a cool guy from Scotland. We went back to the Arch again, although this time there was heaps more to see. The crayfish were out in full-force and there seemed to be a hundred more sweetlips hanging around. Underneath the swim-through we say some Lionfish, lots of exotic nudibranches, and even a big moray swimming through one of the gutters. I’m getting better at conserving air and relaxing, which gives me more time to pay attention to the details.

Later in the night, the Howea crew met at the bowling club for a couple of beers. After a few pints we all headed back to Busty’s place for a couple more. It was totally unexpected, but Pete and Busty broke out a wicked card game called “Grass,” that they used to play as teenagers. Over 20 years old, the premise of the game is along the lines of dealing marijuana, trying to earn the most money, and stuffing up your competition. It was highly entertaining (excuse the pun…). In Canada, the game would be an absolute hit, no question! Needless to say, we were all pretty hazy when we decided to pack it in at midnight.

January 2nd, 2007 - LHI

I got up an hour early today to get everything ready for Brian and Dave’s trip out to Ball’s Pyramid, the best dive in the Lord Howe Island area according to Brian. I arrived at 8 am and got seven sets of gear ready and drove them down to the jetty where Brian was parked with Jack Shick’s boat; a loaner for the day. We loaded everything up by 9 o’clock and by quarter after they were on their way.

Ball’s Pyramid is the world’s largest oceanic volcanic rock stack, and heaps of rare and endemic animal life flock to it, both above and below the water. On land, an extremely rare stick insect called a phasmid, which was once thought to be extinct, roams the rocky soil and eats the sea ravaged tea trees. Under the water, thousands of fish including sharks, kingfish, trevally and spangled emperor feed, and the area is home to the endemic ballina angelfish. Although I had to stay behind today, it is certain that I will have my chance to dive the site within the three months that I’m here.

Instead, I hung out in the boat shed and dealt with customers for the morning while Todd and another islander named Ellis took a group diving around to a site called Malabar. In the afternoon, I went along with Todd to another dive site just outside the north passage and kept watch on the boat while he guided a family and finished teaching one of the boys the final skills for his Open Water Diver course. The wind had picked up and the swell was choppy; although I didn’t get sick, I was pretty nauseous after an hour at sea.

To finish off the day Pete got Todd and I to do the snorkel tour in the lagoon so that I could actually experience what I was selling to customers. It was an amazing afternoon, and although I skipped out on snorkeling Comet’s hole and Hook reef, I jumped in at Erscot’s hole, the healthiest and most vibrant site in the lagoon; on our way to the site, we had to hit the boat into neutral to avoid turning a big green turtle into fish food. At Erscot’s there is such a diversity of fish life that your head spins. On this occasion, I had the opportunity to see a school of double-headers, spangled emperors and a reef shark munching on an urchin, plus hundreds of endemic Lord Howe damselfish and an absolutely huge porcupine fish. Erscot’s is such a treat, and there is always something new to see regardless of how many times you snorkel the site.

January 1st, 2007 - LHI

A new beginning…I love New Years day because it is a time to reflect, but also a time to make goals and look forward. I’m so very lucky to be back at Lord Howe, especially completing my dive masters, but I still have much to accomplish. Today I slept in until 3:00 in the afternoon shaking off a hangover and contemplating my next moves, and my long term goals for this year. While I’d like to say I’ve got it all planned for the next year, I definitely keep in mind how fast things can change and ultimately, have to relax and take one day at a time; in my opinion, it’s the only way to truly embrace the present.

In the evening, I picked up my bike from Pete’s, went for a ride to Coby’s corner near the golf course, and read some more of the Rescue Diver Manual.

All in all, today was pretty uneventful, but relaxing; a much needed day of rejuvenation after a hard night of partying!

December 31st, 2006 - LHI

New Years Eve on Lord Howe Island turned out to be spectacular! I started my day at half past eight, assembling gear for the morning dive at the Arch, which is a dive spot just passed the reef breaks off of the lagoon. The site has big overhang (hence the name) where lots of big sweet lips hang out, in addition to crayfish, and sometimes, a giant black cod. I was seriously pumped today, since it was my first attempt at guiding divers around a site.

Once submerged, I took four divers around the arch and into some deeper fissures in the coral, just to the left and right of the arch. We saw the hundreds of sweet lips and other fish including some pretty impressive trumpet fish. The conditions were ideal, and all in all, the dive went fairly smooth, except for one diver losing their weight belt; luckily, she retrieved it.

The afternoon went pretty smooth, and I ended up looking after the shop and read some more of my Rescue Diver manual while I filled up tanks and maintained gear. At around 4:00, I finished up and cracked a beer to get an early start on the New Years festivities.

For New Years dinner, Pete invited the Howea crew up to his house for a BBQ. We had fresh steak, kingfish, salads, and Vicky, Pete’s wife, made some amazing coconut braised pumpkin. While we ate, there happened to be a German documentary on television featuring Lord Howe. It was called Lord Howe: Pacific Gem, and it was extremely well done.

We had more drinks, and around 9:00 Brian drove Todd and I down to Ned’s beach where a bunch of people were having a BBQ. We had some drinks there before we headed down to the big bonfire down near the jetty. At midnight, people lit fireworks and I watched from close by as Mista, an islander, and another guy lit a 20 foot stack of wood and palm leaves on fire. The thing went up straight away and cast an orange glow over the whole crowd. The heat coming off of it was absolutely intense!

From there we headed in the back of a ute to the dance at the bowling club. For Lord Howe, the place was absolutely packed! Everyone was drinking and having a blast. I rocked the dance floor until around 3:30: Closing time.

After stumbling down the road a bit, I was picked up by Pete who drove us, including a guy named Choc holding on with his bike, to Ned’s beach once again where we finished the night listening to music and staring at the stars. I finally walked home around 5:30 in the morning.

December 30, 2006 - LHI

After a good night’s sleep, I opened the dive shop at half past eight for Pete who had a 9 o’clock snorkeling trip. Yet again it was another beautiful, sunny day. I have to pinch myself to think that my office will be a boatshed overlooking the lagoon, Mount Lidgebird and Gower towering high in the background.

For the rest of the morning I helped people plan their dives and boat trips, rented out kayaks and snorkeling equipment, filled oxygen tanks, and setup dive gear. I arrived right at the peak of busy season, and it was definitely busy today; three dives at 9:30, 11 and 2 o’clock, with about 6-7 divers each session!

After lunch I geared up to go on the 2 o’clock dive at Comets Hole in the lagoon. Comets Hole is a really easy dive to navigate because of a large coral shelf that runs perpendicular to the beach, but offers some incredible marine life. The dive was a milestone for me since it was the first time I had the opportunity to guide people on a dive. I took three people, a mom, dad and son down to a maximum depth of about 7 meters and stayed under for 70 minutes; my longest dive yet.

During our time underwater, we saw so many amazing fish and interesting marine life. Some of the highlights were three big Stingrays (Dasyatidae), a Galapagos Reef Shark (Carcharinus galapagensis), a Mosiac Moray (Enchelycore lichenosa), Lizardfish (Synodus dermatogenys, jaculum), a Pennant Bannerfish (Heniochus chrysostomus) and heaps of different Anemonefish (Nemo!). It was an impressive dive and because of the long bottom time, we had plenty of time to take in the details of the reef.

I took it easy at night; watched a movie, went and visited some friends at Pinetrees, and began reading my Rescue Diver manual.

December 29th, 2006 - LHI

Today was trial by fire. It was a completely beautiful day, and the sun was shinning bright over the lagoon. It was also the busiest day of the season thus far, according to the Howea Divers staff.

Despite the craziness, I learned a lot today, and feel confident that I will do well. My office is and open shed looking out onto two beautiful mountains, a stunning blue lagoon, and coral reef. Truly, it’s really hard to explain in words how beautiful it really is. Even locals who have been here for years are still blown away by the view. Lord Howe is paradise, period.

Throughout my day, I helped out with rentals, organised dive gear, and went out on the boat for a boat dive at “No Name Island,” a small island near Roach Island off of Ned’s beach. Although I didn’t dive today, I had the opportunity to hang out and check out the view. On the way back from the dive site, we were lucky enough to see some flying fish. It was just like Mario Brothers!

For the rest of the evening we sat around on the lagoon, drank some beers, and watched the sunset. Being on the east coast for the last three months, I really missed watching the sun set over the ocean; I love watching the sun sink into the water and clouds light up like fire.

Unfortunately, on my way back to my flat after work I completely stacked it over the handle bars of my bike, cut my toe and finger pretty bad, and got a nice bruise on my hip. Here’s the setup: I had picked a fresh Papaya from a tree outside a house we were helping to move boxes to and from the airport for a government official earlier in the afternoon and was carrying it in one arm. When I shifted my weight to avoid dropping it, wheel turned and I hit the pavement hard. It was a bad one, and the funniest part was a guy who witnessed the crash. He came running over, freaking out! I’m sure from his perspective it must have looked pretty bad, but for me, it was just a flash of bright light.

Later that night, I made my way to the bowling club for a beer. I was so happy that I showed up since I bumped into heaps of old friends. I was actually quite surprised to see so many of the people who were here when I was working at Pinetrees were still around. Even better, there were heaps of new people I didn’t recognize. It’s going to be great getting to know them all this season.

December 28th, 2006 - Lord Howe Island

After three flights from Port Douglas, I finally arrived at Lord Howe. I was so tired after leaving Port Douglas, I slept for hours in the Cairns airport, and tried to shake a sore throat. Luckily, the airport had air conditioning, because outside it was pushing 33 degrees Celsius.

When I got to Brisbane, my cousin and uncle were waiting for me when I got off the plane. I went back to their place in Mitchelton, did some laundry, checked out some of my families’ pictures that they had taken on vacation to Canada and North Stradbrooke Island, and met up with Danielle Webb, one of my good friends that I had met months before. She’s a sweet girl, and hooked me up with chocolate, cookies and a book, “The Great War.” We stayed up all night talking and I had only an hour sleep before heading back to the Brisbane airport. Once again, I slept on the flight, and once I arrived in Sydney, had some food, and slept some more. I reckon Australians are pretty used to seeing backpackers passed out in the airport, and it wouldn’t be the same without us.

I caught a flight to Lord Howe just before noon, and landed around two in the afternoon. Gai, one of the islanders who I met on my previous trip, hooked me up with a ride and informed me that my accommodation would be at Somerset lodge, one of the closest resorts to the lagoon and Busty’s boatshed. I was stoked when I got to my flat; it was everything I needed, and I didn’t have to share it with anyone! Honestly, I’m pretty lucky to have scored this accommodation; at this time of year, it’s next to impossible to find something like the flat I’m now staying in.

After settling in, I took a bike ride and met up with some of my old friends, got some groceries, and headed to the boatshed for some beers with the gang. I met all of the people I was going to be working with, and we decided to get some pizzas from Humpty Mick’s café. This season, I will be working Brian, Pete, Todd and Dave; however, Dave will be leaving on the 12th to go back to the mainland and a woman name Mel will be joining us. The entire staff and their families met at eight had some fantastic food and drink. I was really tired and soon after the meal headed home for an early night.

I couldn’t be happier to be back on the island.

Port Douglas.

I can definitely say that I've settled into Port Douglas quite nicely. To be honest, anyone visiting Port Douglas is hard pressed not to; the people are friendly, the mountainous backdrop is stunning, and the beaches are postcard worthy.

Since I arrived at the beginning of November, I’ve been working and sleeping at Dougies (http://dougies.com.au), an amazing backpacker’s hostel and campground about a kilometer away from town and a gorgeous 4 mile beach. It's a serene tropical paradise, and is 20 minutes away from Mossman Gorge and the Daintree rainforest: The oldest rainforest in the world.

My plan for my stay in Port Douglas was initially to settle down for a month or so to save some money, so I got a second job at Watergate, an upscale cocktail bar and restaurant. The job is a lot of fun, and the atmosphere and product is something I am proud of; the menu boasts some amazing fusion and Asian-inspired cuisine, and all of the cocktails are made with fresh ingredients and plentiful amount of quality spirits. My favourite drink to make (and enjoy) is a watermelon mojito; it’s so refreshing and packs a powerful flavour punch!

Needless to say, the last month or so has been full of adventure, beach parties, road trips, and relaxation. I’ve met heaps of new friends from all over the world. For instance, in my room right now, there are three Germans, a Japanese, an Irish and an Indian. Talk about learning new cultures! Truly, the advantage of staying at Dougies is that most of the people staying here stay for a while, which is a nice change from the disposable two-day friendships you encounter at hostels up the east coast. At Dougies, it’s easy to get to know people since its a little community. Everyone eats in the communal kitchen, complete with a pool table and bar, or out on the picnic tables by the big screen and pool, protected by the shade of massive palm trees. The vibes are good and everyone is friendly and laid back.

Lately, my days at Dougies consists of waking up at 8 am, six days a week to sweep the property, do laundry, clean and maintain the kitchen. I generally finish up around 1 pm and have the afternoons off to do whatever I please, which generally means reading a book in a hammock, fishing, going for a swim at the beach or pool, working out at a local gym, and taking naps. Since it’s so bloody hot in tropical northern Queensland, I often hibernate in my air-conditioned room during midday when the sun is sweltering hot; and when I say hot, I mean a sticky, humid, sweaty hot! Often, taking a shower is pointless since the moment you step out of the bathroom you start sweating profusely, again! Honestly, I’m not complaining one bit; it sure beats long underwear and scraping ice from the windshield of my car.

Recently, Port Douglas was visited by a big-budget Hollywood production titled “Fools Gold.” The film stars Matthew McConnaughey, Donald Sutherland, and Kate Hudson, and wrapped in early December. I’ve gotta say, I’m not one to become star struck, but it was slightly daunting having a conversation with sexy Kate Hudson and making her mojitos, in addition to sliding down waterfalls at Mossman Gorge with Matthew McConnaughey. The production brought a lot of business into the town, and made it a very exciting time to be in Port Douglas. Despite the inevitable paparazzi, the locals and tourists alike made it very comfortable, and the stars and crew mingled, drank and danced at all the local haunts. I’m really looking forward to seeing the final product, since I will no doubt recognize many of the locations, and extras, in the movie.

I initially thought that I would be heading back to Brisbane for the holidays but have decided to stay here in town until the 26th. Truly, I have fallen in love with Port Douglas and its easy way of life. The place is lively when it wants to be, but still retains a sleepy charm. The beach is incredible, the weather sunny and warm, and the locals are friendly; what else can you ask for?! I’ve made many good friends at Dougies, and the staffs are all like family to me. I wake up every day with a smile on my face, so why not stick around?

Truly, I’m in a good place, and although I still have a couple more weeks left, I’m going to really miss Port Douglas when I leave. Until then, I’m going to pack as much craziness into the next two weeks as I possible can. Oh yeah, and I just got inked. I think it suits my life at the moment, and I hope to live by it as a credo for the rest of my days. It was painful, but worth it.

“Live the Life you Love”

“Love the Life you Live”

Nough said.

BUGBITTEN

Ryan and Brian’s Adventures in Australia
October 2006

After three entire months on Lord Howe Island, it was a strange feeling to be back on the mainland. The flight back to Brisbane filled me with an intense excitement, mainly because I knew I would soon be meeting one of my best friends in the entire world to go traveling up the east coast of Queensland. I couldn’t wait to see someone from home; someone who knew me, understood me, and appreciated the context of my life. I considered it a huge expression of friendship and faith, and knew that our adventures would be incredible.

Brisbane is an interesting city, and it was really nice to fly back into a familiar place. I crashed my aunt and uncles place for a few days and headed down the coast to meet Brian in Byron Bay. We had both agreed to meet at the Arts Factory, the campground and hostel I had originally stayed at on my first trip to the area in January. The Arts Factory is a super-cool hippy-friendly backpacker resort nestled just outside of the main streets in Byron; it’s a truly groovy and colourful place.

The afternoon I arrived I checked into the hostel and enquired about Brian but he had not yet arrived from Port Macquarie. I grabbed my surfboard and played in the ocean until the sunset.

Typical of any hostel experience, I had already become good friends with my roommates by the time Brian burst into the room like a supernova. We were all sitting around the room drinking boxed wine and telling jokes when the room suddenly went silent and Brian slid into the room, laughing and shaking with energy. It was one of the most exhilarating moments to finally see a good mate show up on the other side of the world. It was a very happy moment for both of us. We got right into what we do best in Australia: Drink!

For the next few days we settled in and caught up with each other. We played basketball and volleyball at the hostel, hiked the miles of beautiful beaches and climbed up to the lighthouse, and surfed the crystal clear breaks.

On our second day in Byron Bay we booked a tour to Nimbin, a small hippy village in the mountains about two hours away. We booked the tour with Jim’s Adventure Tours; which boasted a trip to Nimbin plus a stop at a nature reserve on the way back. The tour was incredible, and we met some amazing German girls on the bus. We picked up some ‘special’ cookies and a bag of the finest hydro and were in outer space by noon. We walked around in the hot sun for a few hours and then got back onto the bus to go to the nature reserve. Everyone was completely stoned and the laughed uncontrollably.

The best part of the trip was most certainly the nature reserve and walk. In the middle of nowhere, a hippy dude in his fourties had spent most of his life planting trees and other shrubs on his huge property. There were hundreds of different species of plants, including fruit trees that we could harvest including oranges and mulberries. He took us around on a pathway through the bush and named off some of his favourites. I asked him if he grew Salvia Divorinum and he said he did and proceeded to give me some insight on it for close to half an hour. The plant had obviously had made an impact on him.
In the evenings in Byron Brian and I headed out to a club called Funky Monkey’s and the Beach Hotel for some drinks. We also ate an amazing Pad Thai and feasted on fresh pies from the 24 hour bakery.

Brian and I departed Byron Bay on a high note, having surfed all afternoon and lounged in the sun. When we got back to my uncle’s house in Brisbane I introduced Brian to my uncle who had been out on the town drinking. We made a sweet meal and I took Brian to Friday’s Riverside where I had worked for three months. To my surprise, a lot of the people I had worked with were now gone and there were tons of new staff. Still, many familiar faces remained and we had a great time.

Saturday in Brisbane is a party. After walking around the downtown for the afternoon, including a wicked little market on southbank, we made a tasty barbeque and headed into town to meet up with a Brit we met in Byron named Ollie, and another friend Harris I had met during my first stay in Brisbane. We spent the entire night club-hopping and finally made it to my favourite club in Australia called the Family. We danced until the early hours of the morning with hundreds of Brisbane’s most beautiful people. It was a party to be remembered!

Having tackled Brisbane in style, Brian and I decided that our first stop on our way up north would be Noosa. We grabbed a train and a bus up the coast and arrived in the evening. After grabbing a box of the famous goon, we checked into Koala’s, the biggest and best party hostel in town. Although the hostel was big business and overly commercial, it was a very good time and we met heaps of people from all over the world including backpackers from Israel, Germany, Sweden, Britain, France, Ireland and Norway.

Our first day in Noosa Brian and I decided to hike around the National Park. We took the long way and then the coastal path around the point. The park was beautiful and was extremely pretty. We saw skinks and snakes all around the paths and took photos of the many beaches. The best surf breaks were at Tea Tree Bay, although they were quite crowded and small.

The next day we just chilled at the beach and walked around the town. Besides from surfing and relaxing, Noosa was quite expensive if you wanted to do any extra-curricular activities. We were quite content soaking in the sun and swimming in the beach breaks.

On the third night in Noosa, there was a really good live band. All of the people in our room and some other friends we had met sat around the picnic tables in the bar and indulged on the $7 happy hour jugs of beer. At one point in the night we had ten jugs on the table! We quickly made more friends and the beer disappeared. We danced the night away and made some good connections.

All in all, Noosa was a great time and worth the money. The surf could have been a little better and would have made the experience more enjoyable, but we made the best of it. The only complaint I had was all of the extra fees and deposits for everything. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t think that you should have to drop a deposit for sheets and cutlery. That’s just stupid and creates an atmosphere of distrust amongst the guests.

Our next stop on our adventure was to Hervey Bay to catch the ferry over to Fraser Island. Both Brian and I were really excited for this stop because we were joining together with a group of 11 people in a bad-ass 4X4 vehicle around the largest sand island in the world; supposedly from word of mouth, the Fraser trip is a highlight of many backpackers’ trips.

We arrived at Koala Hervey Bay, unpacked our gear and immediately met the rest of our group in the bar for our orientation. We watched a video about the dangers of traveling to Fraser Island, including consistent warnings concerning the wild dingoes roaming the forests, and the abundant tiger sharks and stingers present in the ocean on the east coast. We were then put into our groups and told to go grocery shopping for the next day; no wasting time!

After quickly meeting everyone in our group, Brian and I soon realized we had lucked out; our group was extremely excited for the trip and beamed with positive energy. There were Brits, Danish girls, a Swedish girl, a Kiwi, and Brian and I, the Canadians, to round out the international contingency. After grocery shopping and other preparations, we decided to have a low-key night and watched a movie with the group in one of the dorm rooms.

The next day we woke up at 5 am to prepare the truck with our supplies including cooking gear, utensils, tents, sleeping bags and plentiful amounts of beer and food. We sorted the paperwork and it was decided that I would be taking the first shift driving; I would be taking us to the ferry and onto the island to our first stop. I was a little daunted by the prospect of driving such a large truck but took the challenge on knowing that it would be extremely exhilarating.

Although the experiences we had on the island could be summarized and I could describe how intense it was, there really isn’t a way to describe the utter beauty and adrenaline rush associated with driving and enjoying such a rugged terrain with such amazing people. In retrospect, the weekend was an extremely invigorating experience that allowed me to grow and truly appreciate nature in its bold, primitive connections. Our first day on the island we stopped at a car park in the middle of a rainforest and hiked to the pristine Basin Lake which was situated about three kilometers inland. By the time we got to the lake we were hot and sweaty, tearing off our clothes and jumping into the crystal clear water in less than a blink of an eye.

Our next stop was at Lake Mackenzie, which is the lake most people associate with Fraser Island because of its sheer beauty and use in every promotional poster of the island; and for good reason. The water around the circumference of the lake for about 20 feet is a turquoise blue, and at the centre a dark blue. The combination of these two colours creates a jaunting contrast that is pleasant and inviting. We all planted ourselves on the soft sandy beach, sun baked, played Frisbee and soccer, and swam in the refreshing water.

After Lake Mackenzie we took a swim down Eli Creek, and then set up our camp along the main beach on the east coast. We found a perfect little site over a sand dune and the boys cooked everyone a massive barbeque; we had steaks, sausages, burgers, potatoes and salad. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the smell from the barbeque attracted a few wild dingoes to the site. They swarmed around us for the better part of the night and were bold enough to come right into the camp and stole our potatoes. Even though I was a little weary about the dogs, I truly relished finally seeing wild dingoes; you can’t truly say you have experienced true Australian bush life until you have been surrounded by a few hungry dingoes!

For our second day on the island we set up our camp further down the beach and parked the car for the day. We all decided to do the 20 kilometer hike to Indian Head and the Champagne pools, a collection of beautiful tide pools on the northern part of the island. The Swedish girl Caroline and I decided to push ourselves and jog the way there; the others walked. It was a crazy thing to do, especially in tropical heat, but we loved every minute of it. At Indian Head we snapped some amazing pictures, gazing out at the manta rays swimming below. We arrived at the tide pools in the early afternoon and cooled off in the pools as the waves crashed over the rocks. Unfortunately, Brian took a hard wave and was smashed into the rocks which slashed up his lower back.

It was a long and treacherous walk back, and suddenly we regretted not taking the truck. Luckily, two of the girls in our group took off a little early, got a ride back, and returned with the truck to pick us up. Sadly, we were almost back at camp by the time the found us. For the rest of the evening we ate a delicious pasta meal prepared by the ladies, played drinking games, and stared into the heavens; it was a crystal clear night and the amount of stars was mesmerizing. One of the girls brought sparklers and we all lit them and ran around the beach like madmen, howling at the moon. As one of the most memorable moments of the trip, we finished our night with a big group hug underneath the blanket of stars; everything was silent except for the light wind and waves crashing on the beach. It was an amazing, profound moment that Brian and I will remember for the rest of our lives.

For our last day, we spent much of our time driving back the distance we had traveled in two days. Our plans were to go to another swim spot called Lake Wabby, which boasted a huge sand dune, but we couldn’t go up the road that led to it from the beach. Instead, we decided to head back to Lake Mackenzie to sun bake and swim. It was a very relaxing day and we headed back to the ferry completely content and relaxed.

When we got back to the hostel we had some food and drinks together, exchanged contacts, and crashed early. Brian and I were going to take the night bus to 1770/Agnes Water, but decided to stay an extra night with our new friends and drank beers in the bar, played pool, and watched the slideshow from our trip on my laptop. It was a perfect ending to a great weekend.
Our bus left Hervey Bay at around two o’clock in the afternoon and we pulled into 1770/Agnes Water around half past six. We had booked a hostel called Cool Bananas and immediately upon entering the building we felt as if we were home. After a crazy few weeks of partying hard and going full-on, we were ready to sit back, relax, and rejuvenate our bodies and minds; Cool Bananas was the perfect place to do it. The main building was a giant lounge with couches and beanbag chairs, internet terminals, and reception. Outside there was a giant landscaped courtyard with picnic tables, a fire pit, hammocks, a clean kitchen, and other cozy social areas. The main dorms overlooked the picnic area, and housed approximately 80 guests. It was by far the best hostel I’ve been to so far on my travels.

After dropping off our gear and meeting up with our Brit mate Ollie, we headed up to the pub for an amazing feed and a free pitcher of beer for only $11.50; an absolute steal! We got back to the hostel and immediately started chatting with four Irish girls, a German dude, and a Canadian from Port Elgin. One thing led to another, and low and behold we were in the classic backpacker situation: Picnic tables and a box of goon. We soon migrated to a circle around the fire and eventually called it an early night.

The next day we went on a free tour of the area, stopping in the nearby 1770/Agnes Water where we had the opportunity to hang out on some of the most expensive land in Australia; one particular property, which was less than an acre, cost 2.2 million! Granted, the view was amazing, but way too overpriced considering the only structures on the property were a small shack and an old dirty outhouse; we joked with the tour guide since the toilet alone could be valued at a million dollars! For the rest of the day we took it easy at the beach and hostel, relaxing and enjoying the sun. At the supermarket, I noticed a flyer for a free meditation class and both Brian and I agreed it was a perfect way to spend the evening.

We showed up to the evening class with two other people from the hostel who we recruited to come. There were about 30 chairs surrounding a lone candle on a table in the middle of the room. We quickly introduced ourselves to Pascal, one of the hosts for the evening, as people began entering the room and sat down. Pascal was a French woman in her late fifties and definitely had a special energy about her; she was cheery and immediately memorized everyone’s name. Once everyone arrived, she had us choose from a deck of special cards that revealed aspects of our personalities. Each card had a title and both a light and dark attribute. She asked everyone to read their title and light attribute. Mine was ‘The Detective’ and discussed how I was in search of truth and had a endless admiration for the details; so true. She also that she had received an e-mail from some friends about a special cosmic light that was to be focused on earth that evening, and proceeded to take us into deep meditation, helping us visualize our energy chakras and focus on the healing energy of our minds. It was a very profound experience considering the number of people who had attended and were all focusing their minds and energy together at the same time. I personally felt as if I had left my body and was flying around the universe basked in light. There was an extreme feeling of contentment and happiness as she took us deeper and deeper into a meditative state.

For the rest of the session another man talked to us about unconditional love; not an unconditional love simply for another human being, but a true unconditional love for absolutely everything in the universe, both seen and unseen. He was very articulate and had us focus on what he called an ‘AH’ moment, which is a moment where we are completely happy and time seems to halt. I pinpointed my last truly philosophical ‘AH’ moment to have been on Lord Howe Island and I shared the moment with the group. Brian’s was a moment with his uncle watching fireworks together, while others discussed the birth of their child, giving their marriage vows, and staring at the stars. All in all, it was an extremely positive experience, and Brian and I both agreed that it had made a major impact on us.

After the session Brian and I had a discussion with Pascal and she mentioned that her husband was away on business and one of her pigs had escaped from the pen and she could not get it back in with the other female; she even showed us a big bruise on her leg where the vicious little animal had bumped her. We offered to catch the pig for her and she agreed to pick us up the next day and cook us lunch. Furthermore, she was the mother of a psychic technique using colours and tarot cards that enabled her to read our subconscious. Both Brian and I agreed that we wanted to have a reading. She mentioned that she charged $50 for the reading, but both Brian and I were keen to see her farm and have lunch with such a fascinating lady that we agreed.

Brian called her in the morning and she picked us up at 10:30. Pascal picked up some fresh fish, prawns and wine and we drove about a half an hour into the outback. The farm and her house were absolutely incredible. She had two pigs, two dogs, two donkeys, two peacocks, chickens, guinea fowl, sheep, and an energetic little Billy goat that took a liking to me; he followed me around everywhere I went. She took us around to her gardens, picked us out some vegetables and eggs for us to take home, and introduced us to her vicious pig. Undaunted, I climbed into the pen and chased the pig back into the smaller pen with a stick. To be honest, it was quite easy once the gate was opened, since the male was pretty desperate to get back into the pen with the female.

She then served us some homemade camembert with crackers, prawns with fresh herbs, and cooked a delectable fish curry. We sat around the table and had a pleasant conversation, and learned about her life and the tragic death of one of her sons in a car accident. It was very sad to hear but she seemed to have coped with the death in a positive way. She told us that she was once a journalist for the ABC but had changed careers to focus on what she described as her destiny.

I was the first one to have my reading. She explained her technique and had me choose 12 vials from a large selection of numbered coloured vials. We sat out in her comfortable lounge as she explained some very interesting aspects of my past, present and future based on my selections. She used the colours to correspond to tarot cards and explained the spiritual aspects of my life, as well as some future prophecies. It was very enlightening and invigorating to hear, despite the fact that there were some things she said that I didn’t particularly want to hear. Regardless, it was a very positive experience that made me think hard about my life and my future path.

While she completed Brian’s meeting I walked around her labyrinth that she had built using rocks; there was a bowl surrounded by crystals in the centre of the structure which held energized water. I continued around the yard for a while, thinking hard about the things she had said and played with the animals.

After Brian’s reading finished, she took us to her shed where she presented us with her book, published by Penguin, and some homemade bread. We thanked her for her genuine kindness and she drove us back to the hostel.

When Brian and I returned we discussed our afternoon and both agreed that it had been an utterly amazing afternoon. It was both fun and spiritual, and it allowed us to see a different part of the country off the beaten path and meet a new friend.

The next day we were changed; we couldn’t pinpoint it, but we were definitely different. Pascal had left her mark. We were determined to make the most of the day so we headed to the beach to be lazy in the sun and surf at the last safe, stinger-free beach in tropical Queensland. I grabbed a friend’s board and headed out around the point for a few hours and caught some good waves.

That night, we boarded an all-night bus to Airlie beach to go sailing on the Whitsundays. We had both come down with colds, and knew the ride was going to be horrible; it didn’t matter, because we knew that in less than 24 hours we would be sailing on crystal clear turquoise water.

We arrived sleepy-eyed in the morning, had a coffee, and booked a tour on the Pegasus, a beauty of a sailboat that offered a free dive! The ship left at four o’clock in the afternoon, so we spent the day at Magnums, a big and impersonal party hostel that had the smallest kitchen ever! We used the facilities, I.E. showered and used the toilet, put our bags in storage, and went to check in with the tour company at the marina. We walked through a beautiful man-made lagoon, and wandered around Airlie for the afternoon. Airlie is a gorgeous little town, and we had a good time wandering around in the sweltering heat.

At four we met our group and boarded the vessel. Our crew was all young, and the vibe from the group was great. We had an orientation and immediately set off for the islands.

The first sunset while sailing on the water was unreal. The sea breeze was warm and a salty mist blew into our faces as the captain raised the sail and we headed for our first destination in a secluded bay near Hook Island.

Just after sunset, our first meal aboard the Pegasus was cooked and served by a wicked-cool Irish girl Kira. The menu was steak, roasted veg, and apple pie and custard for dessert. Delicious.

Straight after the meal we hit right into the drinking games in the galley. Almost the entire boat squeezed around a massive table and played multiple drinking games with cards and other madness. Eventually, it got messy and we ended up writing dirty sayings on our forearms with permanent markers. Many of the crew put on capes and the party went on until about midnight when everyone crashed out hard. It had been a long one for Brian and I, and we were absolutely destroyed after an all night bus ride the previous night and then a good, solid drinking session.

We all woke up early the next day and shook off the hangover with a stiff instant coffee, some toast and cereal. Captain Pete navigated the ship into a nice calm bay on the opposite side of Whitehaven beach, one of the most beautiful and picturesque beaches in the Whitsunday islands. While everyone decided to take the free and easy ride in the dingy to the beach about 500 meters away, I jumped off the side of the ship and swam. I have to say, the swim was one of the most beautiful and refreshing swims of my life; the sea was warm, blue and inviting, and I couldn’t resist a little fitness after a hard night of drinking.

Once ashore, Brian and I headed up to the Whitehaven beach lookout, which was roughly a kilometer through rainforest and fragrant Eucalyptus trees. When we finally reached the lookout, we were taken aback with the sheer beauty of what we saw; it was endless paradise of silky sand and transparent blue water. We snapped a few pictures that could have easily been turned into postcards. The view was so good, that each time a new person arrived at the lookout, we could anticipate the initial gasp, followed immediately by a long, drawn-out “wow.” The water called us, and we left to swim in the shallow waters.

Down at the beach we slathered on sunscreen and put on our stinger suits to go for a swim. We wandered around in knee-deep water for a while and headed out to the end of a sand dune where we encountered a good sized shark. I pointed it out to Brian, and when I looked back after a millisecond, he was already bolting back to the beach. It was pretty funny, but I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive myself, despite the fact that I knew the sharks in the area were harmless. We headed back to the beach, tossed the Frisbee, and explored the rest of the beach. It was truly an unbelievable place, straight out of the pages of a novelty calendar you buy for relatives you have no idea what to buy for Christmas; an image of paradise.

Our next stop was about 50 kilometers away in a secluded bay where we strapped on our scuba gear and headed to another beach to go diving. The coral and sea life at this particular dive site was incredible; there were massive, healthy and colourful corals, heaps of fish, and the backdrop was serene. We couldn’t ask for a better dive, and it was free as part of the tour! After we completed our dive we lounged around on the beach for a good few hours soaking up the hot sun.

That night we anchored in a sheltered bay at the northern end of the Whitsunday islands. As the sun set, we tossed meat overboard to watch giant osprey swoop down and take it from the water. As the stars began to come out, more ospreys came onto the scene, and a dolphin poked its fin out of the water. It was a wonderful thing to behold.

Brian and I ate a delicious roast beef meal outside on the deck with a few other people and gazed up towards the heavens. I couldn’t think of a better place to chomp down on a piece of meat than on a boat in the Whitsundays! While we ate we sipped on some Canadian Club and colas, and once we finished we got on it hard. After a great day of diving and a full belly, everyone was ready for round two aboard the Pegasus.

Throughout the night we sat in the galley playing drinking games and telling dirty secrets about ourselves. It was pretty funny to listen to everyone’s sex stories, especially after a few glasses of truth serum. I was amazed to find out some of the weird places people have gone the distance. For instance, one girl got down in a grocery store!

Although the conversation was funny and interesting, it soon got boring and I headed out on deck to check out the scene. I met a really nice Dutch girl and sat with her for the night. She had a great personality and was extremely good conversationalist despite the fact that English wasn’t her strong suit. At one point in the night, we went to the bow to catch some peace and quiet and ended up bumping into the dive instructor and the Norwegian girl bunked up together. They were totally busted!

The next morning Brian and I awoke, ate breakfast and had a coffee to shake off the hangover, and straight away jumped into the water to go snorkeling. Although the boat was anchored about 200 meters away from shore, the water quickly became shallow and the visibility was crystal clear right to the bottom. We were both amazed at the amount of fish swimming in the water and the diversity of corals. Because the sun was shinning right onto the reef, the colours were brilliant. We practiced free diving to the bottom of the reef and chased giant Maori Wrasse, including a famous one named ‘Elvis.’ We got our fill swimming near a small sandy beach and crawled up on shore to dry off. The snorkeling took us to around midday, so once we got on board we set sail back to Airlie beach.

For the rest of the afternoon we ate food, had a few more drinks and listened to awesome tunes on the deck of the boat. The sun was so hot; I think all of us on board got a sun burn, despite triple-applying the sunscreen!

Once back at the Airlie marina, the crew of Pegasus, Pete, Jono, Kira, Brianni and James invited us to the beach to have a few drinks before we had to set off on a bus to Townsville. Brian and I knew we had a tough one ahead of us; because Brian started his Open Water Diver course early the next day at Magnetic Island, our only choice was to take an 8:30 bus that got us to Townsville at approximately 12:30 in the morning, which meant we were going to sleep in the bus station. Both Brian and I were both surprisingly excited about the idea. We gulped down a couple jugs of beer and played a couple games of pool with the Pegasus crew at Magnums and headed to the bus.

Interestingly, as we were grabbing our bags from the Magnums lockup, we met a Canadian girl traveling the coast; she had just finished a biology degree at Queens University and was taking a break before heading back to Canada to apply for med school. She had plans to go to Cambodia to film a documentary as part of a volunteer position helping people with clef pallet surgeries. Needless to say, we hit it off straight away, and given the chance, I am sure we could have become good friends. It’s such a shame when that happens and it seems to be happening more and more these days; you meet someone you really click with and you both continue on your different paths. I took her e-mail address and said I’d check in with her to see how her documentary is going.

We arrived in Townsville right on time. The bus dropped us off at the bus terminal which also happened to be the ferry terminal to Magnetic Island. We thought that was pretty convenient. I had shaken a cold I had picked up on the Pegasus but Brian was sick as a dog and was coughing up goblins. We initially tried to bunk up on a bench facing the water but the wind was strong and it was raining periodically, so we decided to take cover under a big newspaper trolley at the front of the building. Despite the fact that we were curled up in the corner on the hard pavement, I slept like a kitten; Brian on the other hand, who was sleeping on the outside, told me that he had to fend off a round of hoodlums asking for cigarettes, and other creepy night-crawlers.

After a slight delay, we boarded the ferry to Magnetic Island at around 6:30 in the morning. We disembarked on the beautiful and rugged island and caught a bus to Maggie’s, the hostel that was included in our dive packages; the hostel is located in Horseshoe bay on the north-east part of the island. We checked in and crashed hard, although poor Brian had to cut his nap short to go start his diving class. Unfortunately, the weather was predicted to be bad for the first three days on Magnetic, meaning that I couldn’t do my Advanced Open Water until Friday. I was a little disappointed, but considered it an opportunity to explore the island and relax. Furthermore, Brian finished his Open Water on Thursday and decided to take the Advanced Open Water with me so that he could dive the world famous Yongala wreck, said to be the third best wreck dive in the world and the best dive in the southern hemisphere.

When I awoke the sun was beginning to smolder. I splashed on a heap of lotion and went out to explore. My initial impression of Magnetic Island was that its terrain is similar to northern Ontario, except that it’s tropical and has koalas jumping around the eucalyptus trees. I walked along the paths down to the secluded beaches on the eastern part of the island, sweating profusely in the tropical heat. I dipped my feet in the water and worked my way up onto a high cliff; the climb was treacherous, especially in flip flops. When I got to the summit of one cliff, I noticed a big osprey nest with two birds in it and one flying above, searching for food. I made my way closer and met a Dutch guy taking pictures of the nest. His name was Ramco and he was thirty years old traveling around Australia by himself for the second time. He was a very adventurous individual and had much to say; apparently he had taken a survival course for a few months in the Yukon. We spent the day wondering around together telling stories of our travels.

Magnetic Island, and Maggie’s in particular, was refreshingly quiet and low-key. There weren’t many people at the hostel or any major parties going on while we were there. We met heaps of really cool people, including some stellar German dudes and people we had previously encountered down south, but we weren’t there to party. The reason we decided to go to Magnetic Island in the first place, was to dive.

While Brian was back in school completing his Open Water course, I continued to take long hikes around the island. The scenery on Magnetic Island is unbelievable, and consistent with the magic we encountered down south in the Whitsundays. While on my walks I saw many sea birds, skinks, and a variety of fragrant and colourful flowers, including the largest orchid I’ve every laid my eyes on.
As part of my package I received two free dives that I decided to take on the Thursday with Brian and the rest of his crew, including a bunch of crazy Germans. All together, there were eight of us diving including our instructor, an Italian girl named Catarina. Although we had an awesome time together as a group, the diving in the morning at Alma bay was absolute crap due to the recent high winds which resulted in extremely low visibility. It was so bad that we had to hold a rope or each others hands to keep track of each other. I saw one fish the entire 40 minute dive.

The second dive was the Miltke wreck in Geoffrey bay. Although the visibility was a little better, it was still dreadful, and the diving was a real challenge. I went diving with a dive intern named Jimbo and another couple, and we had to ascend to the surface twice because we got lost and couldn’t find one another. Fortunately, because I got lost I found the wreck and was treated to a spectacular array of fish and a coral-encrusted hull of an ancient German cargo ship.

Our nights on Magnetic Island were generally pretty quiet. We would eat our free meal, often buying a second one to supplement our intake, go for a walk down the beach, watch a bit of television, read our PADI books, and talk with the other travelers. Thursday night was an exception. The locals were having a party for a guy and a girl who were leaving to go cycle around the world; they had been on the island for three months and were heading off to Vietnam to continue their cycling adventures. There were about 30 people gathered in the park, drinking and hanging out. One of the locals brought out four bongo drums, so needless to say, I was in heaven. We jammed for the better part of an hour.

The next day Brian and I started our Advanced Open Water diver course. Our first three advanced skills we learned were peak performance buoyancy, navigation and naturalist; however, the visibility was still pretty poor around the island, so observing and recording the little fishes was extremely difficult.

Our second day of the course was the Yongala wreck dive we had been so anxiously anticipating. The Yongala wreck is considered by many the third best wreck dive in the world, and many say it is the best dive in the southern hemisphere. The Yongala sank in 1911 and all 122 passengers on board perished when the ship encountered a cyclone. No one really knows what exactly happened to the ship, since none of the life boats of preservers were deployed. It remained undiscovered until the 1950’s, and remains fairly intact due to strict laws governing maritime wrecks in Australian waters. The Yongala is a ghost ship that has had a hundred years of coral growth, and is home to hundreds of species of marine creatures. We were pumped.

The boat ride out to the wreck took two and a half hours. Brian and I both took a seasickness pill to make sure that we were all good, despite the fact that I don’t generally get seasick. When we arrived to the dive site, a sea turtle and a sea snake were swimming side by side on the surface; it was a great sign. We were briefed on the wreck, safety procedures, and geared up for the dive. On the two dives for the day, we had to accomplish the deep water dive and wreck dive as part of our advanced course. The first dive was the deep water dive.

When we got in the water, the current was extremely strong, and we had to grab onto a safety line to avoid being swept away. Once everyone in our course got into the water, we descended the line together. On our way down the moor line, thousands of fish scuttled about. There were schools of colourful tropical fish being chased around by schools of barracuda, trevally, cod, huge Maori wrasse and groper, stingrays, sharks, turtles, snakes and heaps of beautiful corals lining the entirety of the wreck. We settled on the bottom and completed some simple tests to ensure that we weren’t ‘narco,’ a term that describes the intoxicating effect of too much residual nitrogen in the blood that occurs at deeper depths. Since we were still less than 30 meters, all of us were fine, and didn’t experience any of the symptoms. To be honest, I was a little disappointed; I wanted to feel the free natural drunkenness! The first dive was only 20 minutes because we used our air quickly due to strong currents and the deeper depths. Despite the short bottom time, we were exhilarated with what we saw. The wreck was completely amazing! There was so much to see down there that when we finally ascended, we couldn’t wait to get back down in the water to check it out some more.

We ate a small lunch on the boat and quickly geared up for our second dive. I’d have to say that the second dive at the Yongala was much more rewarding because we spent the entire dive swimming along the wreck opposed to doing skills on the bottom. Also, we stayed at a reasonable depth and used much less air. I was extremely surprised at the amount of coral growing on the steel hull; the entire deck was thick with colourful soft and hard corals, and there were hundreds of thousands of fish swimming in and out of the cabins and cargo holds. To sum up, the entire experience was breathtaking, and cannot truly be described by words or pictures; it was that stunning! I have no doubt in my mind that I will dive the site again someday.

We got back from the dive and went for some drinks with the rest of the divers and our dive instructor. Both Brian and I were elated and truly happy with our decision to stop at Magnetic Island.

The next day we had to fix up our PADI certifications and we also had the option to do some free dives that Brian had accumulated by taking two courses, but we decided to get on a bus and go straight to Cairns. Brian’s time in Australia was running out, and we still had much to see including Cape Tribulation, the Daintree rainforest, and the Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas.

We got to Cairns in the evening, checked into the International hostel on the Esplanade, and made our way down to the pub for a free meal that was included with a night’s stay at the hostel. After the meal we wandered aimlessly around Cairns, and eventually found the Koala hostel. Along the way we came across a big mango tree with hundreds of giant bats flying around eating fruit from the tree. It was a pretty spectacular sight to see. When we arrived at Koala it was happy hour, so we grabbed a couple $7 jugs of beer and parked ourselves at a picnic table. It wasn’t long before we bumped into some familiar faces. Two Swedish girls that we met in Magnetic Island came walking past us with a pizza in their hands; how could we resist?

After chilling out with the two girls for a bit we decided to leave and have an early night; they decided to go and phone home to tell their folks that they were staying for longer than expected. Furthermore, one of the girls was calling her boyfriend to break it off. Brian and I stuck around for the drama and headed back to the room.
Once we got back to the dorm, we decided it was still a little early to be calling it a night and decided to smoke the last of our Nimbin stash. We rolled our last one up and took a stroll down by the lagoon. The lights on the pier and over the water were mesmerizing. A lot of people have put Cairns down for being a terrible place to visit; however, I found it quite enticing and beautiful. Granted, it was a little too touristy, but at least it was blatant.

We both got up early in the morning and went for a wake-up swim in the man-made lagoon across from the dorm. It was a very refreshing dip, aside from the camera happy Japanese tourists snapping hundreds of photos and laughing like schoolgirls.

The Dougies shuttle bus to Port Douglas arrived to pick us up before lunchtime. Just before we left, I grabbed a cappuccino and a muffin from the McDonald’s at the corner of the Esplanade. To my shock and surprise, while I was waiting in line, glanced at the front page; the news story was about a 17 year old teenager who had been bashed to death the night before in front of the very store I was standing in. It was a very creepy experience to be in the store with everything running so normally after such an atrocious act of violence the previous day. Even in Australia, with its hot sunshine and perfect beaches, bad things often happen.

The drive up to Port Douglas from Cairns was spectacular. Our driver, Ronan, stopped at a perfect lookout along the highway and we watched a free-glider take jump of the cliff into a hot thermal. It was funny to watch the guy take off since he was apprehensive due to the lack wind. In the end, he risked it and his parachute caught the draft. We filled up on cordial and made our way to Dougies.

If I had to describe Port Douglas in one word, it would be “hot.” We stepped out of the Dougies van and into a humid oven. It was so hot that we immediately dripped sweat. We checked in, put our stuff into our air conditioned room, and went for a walkabout of the hostel/campground.

Dougies is one of the better hostels in Australia. It is family owned, has a pool, bar, lounge area, big kitchen, internet terminals, a large campground, clean bathrooms, lush tropical landscaping, satellite television, and plenty of hammocks; hammocks are a main selling feature of any hostel. The people at the hostel were all welcoming and it had a great vibe the moment we stepped through the door. I would say it was very similar to Cool Bananas in Agnes Water/1770.

After our orientation we went and talked to the reception and Rowan about our diving, renting a car, and some fishing rods for the evening; Brian and I were anxious to reel in the big one and had been talking about it for the last week, and Dougies happened to rent rods for $5 a day including tackle. It was an absolute steal. Within half an hour of arriving, Brian and I had secured three dives on the outer reefs with a company called Calypso, booked a car to go up to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree rainforest, and were invited on a fishing adventure with Rowan, his best mate Darryl, and his father. We were both thrilled to have the perfect ending to our adventure ahead of us, and even more thrilled that we were going fishing with the locals. We offered to grab the beer and met Rowan in the evening.

Before we could cast our line into the river for fish, we needed bait. We headed to a small lake in Port Douglas next to some absolutely stunning homes and used nets to catch small bait fish and prawns; we put them in a bucket with a bubbler to keep them alive. It was a pretty dodgy situation since there are signs indicating that there are crocodiles swimming around in the lakes and rivers, and we could have been easily gobbled up by a nasty one. Although it is rare to see crocs in the particular area we were collecting bait and fishing, they have been known to come into the areas periodically, and we had to be weary. I snapped some pretty cool shots of Brian and Norman bent over the water with the croc sign in the foreground, and a beautiful couple of shots of Rowan and Darryl tossing their bait nets into the water. Once we had enough bait we packed up and headed back down by the hostel to fish off of the jetty.

The night was extremely calm and the sun was just setting as we baited up our lines, cracked a beer, and cast into the river. Brian and I exchanged looks of satisfaction and toasted to friendship. I think we both knew in our hearts that this particular occasion was only the first of many fishing excursions. We fished for a good couple of hours, and although no one caught anything, we had an extremely memorable and relaxing time with some new friends, a couple of beers, and a serene backdrop of a pristine river and mangrove forest.

Back at the hostel, we continued to relax, using our down-time to the maximum. We lay around in hammocks, swam and played volleyball in the pool, prepared luxurious meals, and sipped goon with fellow backpackers around the picnic tables.

Our first full day in Port Douglas was spent aboard a boat with the outer reef tour company Calypso. We were picked up early in the morning and brought to the marina where we met the crew and went over the itinerary for the day. Brian and I paid for all three dives offered, and there was only one other man out of group of about 50 doing all three; the rest would snorkel around the boat while we explored the depths of the outer reefs.

It took us about an hour and a half to get to the outer reefs; although we didn’t stop, we went passed the reefs where the Aussie hero Steve Irwin met his fate at the end of a stingray barb.

Our first stop was at the Agincourt reef. We were briefed by our dive master Matt and geared up with some really good equipment. We jumped in and were immediately met by a huge Maori wrasse who absolutely loves roast beef. Matt gave us all a handful of meat and we spent a few minutes dangling meat in the water so that the fish would come and snatch it from our hands. It was really cool to actually run our hands over such a large fish; the texture of its scales was really smooth and somewhat slimy. For the rest of the dive Matt took us all around the reef to explore for exotic creatures including rare nudibranches, sharks, and huge areas of anemone and angelfish. The range of soft and hard corals was amazing, and since both Brian and I had recent practice on our breathing, we stayed down for much longer than some of our previous dives.

The next two dives took us to two similar dive sites about a half hour north of Agincourt. From the boat we could see the breaks over the reef and were close to a drop off of about 1000 feet despite the shallow waters on the reef. At both sites we explored unique terrain full of vibrant coral and marine life. There were plenty of interesting fish, and we even got a chance to see a black tip shark swimming around!

Once back on board after a busy day of diving, Brian and I discussed how ecstatic we were with our diving accomplishments over the last month; we had dove the famous Yongala wreck, obtained our advanced certification, and explored three of the outer reefs off Port Douglas. Diving had become a passion for both of us, and we discussed visiting other wrecks and completing other adventure dives together in the future. It’s pretty safe to say that we are both hooked on diving, and will probably do something crazy like ice diving in Canada. Who knows where we’ll go next!

The next day we hung around Port Douglas, explored the town and soaked up the sun at the beautiful four mile beach. The good news is that the town had put up a stinger net so that you could safely go swimming at one part of the beach year round. The bad news was, the water wasn’t refreshing at all; the water was so warm that there was barely a difference between the air temperature and the water temperature! For the rest of the night we hung out with fellow travelers; Brian got connected on the net and I met a really stellar Aussie girl from Melbourne.

For Brian’s second last day in Australia we rented a car and drove up into the Daintree rainforest, the oldest rainforest in the world, and north to Cape Tribulation. To get into the Daintree you have to cross the Daintree River by barge. It cost $16 dollars return; initially it seemed a little steep to me, but in retrospect it was a small price to pay to get to se some of the most beautiful forest and beaches in Australia.

Our first stop of the day was Alexadria lookout which overlooked the entire Cairns and Port Douglas area, as well as the mouth of the crocodile infested Daintree River. Since it was still the morning when we arrived, the mountains were covered in cloud and the view was hindered by a dense fog overtop of the canopy. Regardless, the air was refreshing and fragrant, and the mouth of the Daintree was still visible despite the fog.

Our second stop on our day trip was straight up to Cape Tribulation. Cape Tribulation is a beautiful beach in the very heart of the lush Daintree. The scenery surrounding the beach is lush and green, and the water warm and clear; however, you can’t swim because of the deadly box jellyfish inhabiting the waters from the end of October until May. It was such a tease since we were both boiling and wanted nothing more than to rip off our clothes and jump in. Even still, we waded through up to our knees, although the thought of billions of stinging cells from a box jellyfish burning me to death prevented us from going all the way in. We walked a brief way through the forest at the Cape for a spectacular view and saw a couple of huge goannas lazily sleeping in the sun.

After scoping out Cape Tribulation we hiked along a two kilometer boardwalk through a diverse range of ecosystems such as mangrove forest, rainforest, and swamps. The walks were well maintained and provided information on some of the flora and fauna living in the unique habitats, including intricacies their, ancient, delicate and mutually beneficial coexistence. It was a great opportunity for us to breathe deeply and completely immerse ourselves in the powerful energy of the Daintree.

We worked up a healthy appetite walking around Cape Tribulation and other parts of the Daintree that we decided to quench our thirst and empty tummies with a delicious pie and an ice cold Coca Cola. We explored a swimming hole at a river just around the corner from the shop but decided to wait until we got to Mossman gorge to go for a swim.

Before we got to Mossman gorge headed up to the Daintree village and completed another boardwalk further south. It was quite surprising to find that Daintree village wasn’t all that special; a mere street with a few pubs and tourist shops that sold trips up the Daintree and arts and crafts. However, the second boardwalk was much different than the first walk we had been on earlier in the day, and was excellent. For instance, there were more creeks along the second boardwalk, and the changes in forest were more distinct than that of the walk fifteen minutes north. At one point, we couldn’t help but laugh; the roots of the mangroves stuck out of the mud and looked like erect penises sticking out of the ground. We took pictures.

The last stop of the day was at Mossman gorge, which was back across the river and closer to Port Douglas, although still part of the Daintree. After walking the two kilometer hike through the gorge, Brian and I both decided it was our favourite spot of the day. Everything was covered in a green moss and the trees were absolutely huge. There was a freshwater river running alongside of the hiking track and it was crocodile-free so you could go for a swim in the rapids. Being the adventurous types that we are, we decided to explore a side path leading away from the main track and were rewarded with the most insanely gorgeous little swimming hole and chill-out area in the middle of the jungle. A small stream led to a fresh pool that we bathed in. We took pictures on a log that had fallen over the waterfall and stuck around for a while taking in the scene. It was seriously straight out of a Tarzan movie!

We finished the walk, making haste because of the setting sun; we still wanted to go for a swim at the large swimming hole near the parking lot and only had an hour or so of light left in the day. We made it to the river in time and jumped into the cold water. It was really refreshing to actually swim in water that isn’t over 25 degrees! The river was fairly shallow, with fish swimming though the rapids. We splashed around for a bit and got our fill before jumping back into our rental car soaking wet and headed back to Port Douglas, absolutely exhausted.

Brian’s last day in Australia was low-key and relaxing; an opportunity for us both to reflect on our experiences so far, and to plan for the future. We rented bikes and peddled around Port Douglas, including up some pretty big hills that overlook four mile beach. I’d have to say Port Douglas is amazing for many things, but most of all it is amazing for the fact that it remains stunning regardless of where you are in town. From the top of the hill, the perspective was breathtaking; I could tell that Brian was absorbing every last moment, and enjoying it to the fullest. Although he has much to look forward to in Calgary, including a girlfriend and a new job, I could sense that he was going to miss Australia.

We continued down the hill and onto the beach, riding to the end of the beach for exercise. Along the way we found a dead shark near the shore; it was only a small black-tip. Before heading back to the hostel to grab some beers and go watch the sunset, we sat in the shade and cracked open some fresh coconut. Honestly, I’ve never tried to tear open a ripe coconut without a power tool, so it was quite an accomplishment to finally get it open with my bear hands. I saved mine for later once I got the husk off but Brian cracked his open and we drank the juice and devoured the flesh. It was one of the tastiest coconuts I have ever eaten.

Once again the sun was setting faster than we anticipated, so we hurried back to buy some beers and head back to the beach to watch the sunset. Along the way back we went to the grocery store and picked up some items for a killer barbeque, including almost a kilo of fresh prawns from a little seafood store; we were going to cook Brian’s final meal in Oz, and we were determined to do it right.

We got back to the beach just in time and took some really nice pictures of us with four mile beach, pink clouds and palm trees in the background. As we sat on a piece of driftwood sipping beers, the tide came in to our feet and we had an amazing conversation that ranged from recapping our trip to discussing our ultimate plans for the future, human nature, business and friendship. At that moment, sitting on the beach with Brian while the sunset over the horizon, that I truly understood the nature of our friendship. We would from that moment on be friends until the day we died, and I articulated that aspect to him. We both knew that we would have many more adventures in the future, although, we both knew that this was a one time deal. We probably wouldn’t have the time or opportunity to go on an adventure like the one we had just been on ever again. Nevertheless, it was really reassuring to talk about families, career, and the fact that our children would one day play and grow up together. In the end, we would both grow old, having shared incredible adventures and nobody but the two of us could even begin to contemplate the gravity of the experiences; we could show pictures and tell stories, but the unspoken moments of utter bliss and understanding are just to hard to explain through pictures or even words. We gave each other a look of complete satisfaction and held our beers to the heavens, thanking God and the entire complex of choices and decision that led us to the present beauty before us.

Brian left on the shuttle to Cairns at three in the morning to catch a flight to Sydney, and then to Calgary to commence his new life. I was planned to stay in Port Douglas for a while and give it a go in the tropical heat. He woke me up before he left and we gave each other huge hug; we had arrived at the end of our adventure and would be forever changed.