Sunday, March 25, 2007

Snorkelling in Coral Cove

Jon and I woke up early Saturday morning to enjoy the beautiful beach that was at our doorstep. I had brought up my snorkel gear and Jon took it to go off the rocks by our campsite. He saw some small sharks, anemones & some great fish. It was impressive, but we had heard there were better spots in the area that he wanted to check out.


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So, we set off in search of a dive shop to pick up a snorkel set for Jon, so we could go splash around in Coral Cove for a bit before we had to head back home to Marcoola. But, Bundaberg decided to be closed; almost everything was shut because it was Sunday! Finally, after hours of hunting, we found a dive shop and Jon was able to get the bits he needed.

The owner was really nice and gave us tons of advice on where to go. So, we headed down to Coral Cove about 15 minutes outside of Bundaberg and hopped in the water off some rocks. It was absolutely spectacular. There were heaps of reef fish of all varieties, colors & patterns. There were quite a few really large schools of fish that we were swimming through ~ brilliant. The corals were every color in the rainbow! It was absolutely spectacular!!

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On the way back from our entry point, we found this area in the rocks where the waves rushed in through a small opening into a larger pool. The water swished around like a washing machine, so of course, against my better judgement, I decided to jump in and go for a spin. I checked with some of the local kids ~ but teenage boys and good safety advice usually don't go together. It was so much fun!!

As the sun started to set, (which is super early because here in rebel Queensland we don't do daylight savings time; we're too cool) we started to make our way home.
It was a WONDERFUL weekend; just what the doctor ordered, so to speak!

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A total aside, on the way home, we were listening to the radio and heard a news story that is too funny not to share! It was about these two schoolgirls in NZ who did a school science project that involved testing beverages for Vitamin C. Ribena is a well-known black currant juice over here that claims to have as much Vitamin C as XYZ number of oranges; apparently, it tastes like medicine, but for years and years people have been drinking it because they think it's good for them. The schoolgirls' tests uncovered that Ribena not only doesn't have the heaps of Vitamin C it claimed to have, but it doesn't contain Vitamin C at all. The girls took them to court and won! Too funny.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Heroes in a Halfshell - Turtle Power!

Jon and I set off on Saturday afternoon to drive about four hours north of our home to Mon Repos Conservation Area, one of the largest turtle rookeries the South Pacific. Loggerheads, flatback and green turtles all make yearly appearances to nest at Mon Repos.

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We arrived and set up our campsite at the Turtle Caravan Park right on the beach and set off down the trail to the information center where we met the ranger that would be taking us down to the turtle nesting area. The information center was a really interesting; you can learn everything you every wanted to know about sea turtles, their life cycles & what is threatening the species to explore while you are waiting for your turn to go down and see the nests.

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Since it was the last weekend of the season, there were heaps of people there; each of the four groups had 60 people! We were really excited that because we booked early in the week we got to go in the first group and the turtles starting doing their thing early in the evening, so we weren't kept waiting around for hours.

As we walked down the beach, we had to do so with our torches turned off and walk in a tight group. We had quite a few children in our group, so it was quite a feat! The turtles use the light from the horizon to navigate their way down the beach, so any artificial light can affect the natural process, so the conservationist at Mon Repos do their best to facilitate these tours with minimal impact on the hatchlings.

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When we finally arrived at the nest, the little guys were already bursting through the sand. We saw 95 turtles in all climb out of their little nest and they were placed in a small enclosure to avoid any of them getting lost or stepped on. All of the little ones were out of the nest within 10 minutes.

The hatchlings we saw were absolutely adorable. Words really can't describe what an amazing experience it all was. Right before we got ready to watch them make their run to the ocean, the rangers brought around one of the hatchlings for us to take a quick photo & feel their little flippers.

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Sadly, we were told that only 1 out of every 1,000 hatchlings will survive to maturity. The ones that do, however, will return to Mon Repos to lay their eggs because they are able to interpret their location from unique magnetic information that they sense from their hatching beach. Also, because the sand is darker than most beaches, the hatchlings will all tend to be female from Mon Repos because the temperature of the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings, which accounts for the high number of return females lying eggs.

After the nest was checked for any stragglers, we were asked to line up in two lines perpendicular to the water line, several of the children stood in the middle with their flashlights on the guide the baby turtles to the sea. The ranger let them out of their enclosure and they made their dash to the sea. It was an absolutely amazing sight! Finally, when the last wave washed the last one out to sea, we started off back to the info center.

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We were told that the little guys were going on a swimming frenzy to make their way out to the East Australian current, just like in Finding Nemo!

As, we were walking back we crossed paths with two more nests that were already hatched and had started making their way down the beach. Having those "encore performances" was such a great added bonus!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

The Kangaroo Flu

So, in hindsight, Jon and I both were not feeling well and we probably should have not gone down to the Koala Sanctuary, but we were so excited about it & we have so little time off together that we pushed through and went despite feeling kind of crummy.

Mark & Tracey had told us the night before about this Koala Sanctuary called Lone Pine that is located just south of Brisbane where you can cuddle a koala and handfeed kangaroos. You can check it out online @ http://www.koala.net,/ and in Swedish at www.koala.net/se.

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We were like little kids running around a zoo for the first time. The koalas were all just sort of doing what koalas do, sleeping in the trees. But they were so incredibly cute doing it! We went to an little informative seminar on the little guys and then rushed off to have our pictures taken with Gando, a very cheeky little koala. So cheeky, that he pooped in my hand! Lovely. But you couldn't get upset, because he was so damn cute.

The "official" photos are up on the web at:
http://www.koala.net/photo/1803034158en.htm (Jonathan)
http://www.koala.net/photo/1803034059en.htm (Siobhan)

After cleaning myself up a bit, we bought some kangaroo food and walked into this massive enclosure full of kangaroos. You would never see anything like this in the U.S. There is no attendant or any one facillitating anything, you just buy a bag of food and walk into a huge pen with heaps of all sorts of kangaroos & wallaby's. The only advice you are given is a sign that says, "Approach slow, Stay low, Feed with a flat hand."

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Jon was a little disappointed that they kept the Red Kanagroos seperated because he really wanted to take a photo with one, but I completely understand why when we saw they are over 2 meters tall standing up! He did fall in love with this one little pretty-faced wallaby joey that was amazing adorable & what a little personality.

After feeding the kanagroos, we went around looking at all of the different exhibits of the koalas. There are over 130 little buggers on the property, and all amazing adorable.

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Onto the bird section, they also do a lorikeet show, but we skipped that because we had them in our backyard in Nambour. The cockatoos were really neat; we had a great time "talking" to them; one of the sulfur crested cocktoos kept saying "Yabba Dabba Doo," whenever Jon spoke to him and would mimic all of Jon's movements, if he leaned left the bird would, etc. etc.

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They also have dingoes, fruit bats, wombats, echindas to name a few. It was a great day, the only thing we were upset about was Jon was really looking forward to seeing the Tasmanian Devil and he was "on holiday."

We ended up having to cut our trip a little short sadly, because we both just started to feel worse and worse as they day went on. In the carpark, we saw Lars & his girlfriend returning from their weekend trip to the turtle roockery just outside of Bundaberg, about 300 kms north of here. It's a bit of a hike, but they had such rave reviews about the experience that we are trying to organise something for this weekend while the baby loggerhead turtles are still being hatched!
Jon fell asleep on the couch straight-away and I was up all night with a fever & chills & general icky-ness. Jon wrote me a prescritpion for anti-biotics today and advised me to stay home from the office and just sleep. (Yes, he got his very first presriber's number a few weeks ago! It's a milestone!)

It's 30 degrees C here, pretty hot, and I have the air con off, I have one of Jon's big sweatshirts on, with fuzzy warm sweatpants & woolly socks. I hope these drugs start working soon!!!

You can see all of our photos on Webshots:



Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, the morning started off quite eventful! Jon went out for a morning surf up at Pt. Cainwright in Coolum. He came home telling me how it was a little choppy & rough and he got tossed around a bit. As he turned to the side a bit, I saw this big gash in his back dripping blood down his back. The fin of his board came down on top of him when he was knocked over.

After arguing over whether or not he needed stitches (Normally, I'd totally trust his opinion, but he couldn't really see the cut to see how deep it was) So, we went to see Dr. Lars, the Swiss doctor that lives downstairs. Under all the blood, it was just a nasty scratch, so we got lucky there.

Then, we had probably the most non-festive St. Patrick's Day that either Jon or myself have ever had. (I didn't hear bagpipes once & it was 90 degrees. Although, there were people in green falling over in the street, so, they've got part of the spirit, I guess?)




In the evening, we met two other Americans from Texas for drinks & dinner. We had such a great time. We went to this Turkish restaurant & had the most amazing meal. It was a family-style "feast," so we all got to try lots of everything. Yes, I know everyone who knows me is probably laughing at this idea, but I actually liked it. I even tried quail, which I didn't like, but I tried.

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The best part of the evening was the belly dancer came out and she danced around the restaurant for an hour or so. It was really a nice touch to the evening. We got a real kick out of the fact that she was quite possibly the whitest, white girl we had ever seen dancing in a Turkish restaurant, but she was so amazingly talented!



Sunday, March 11, 2007

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!!

Jon's B-day Cake

Last night to celebrate Jonathan's birthday we went to Ba Vigo in Cotton Tree. Oh my god, the food was to die for! It's a modern Spanish cuisine. Jon had a tapas olive platter, a tapas Duck pate, and a tapas scallops & chorizo. For his entree, he had the catch of the day, that was a magnificent snapper. I had a beef fillet, that was absolutely amazing. Like butt-ah, if you know what I mean!

This morning, Jonathan woke up to our dining area covered in balloons & streamers with his birthday gifts. I also made him the closest thing to Greg's Chocolate Layer Cake that I could muster.

Right now, he's relaxing on the couch in his new board shorts, reading his new video game strategy book munching on the candy bars I found from the UK & US at the Moolollybar in Mooloolaba. He's a very happy boy!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Seal Swim!

It's been awhile since we've been out exploring our new surroundings. Since Jon volunteered for an extra 2 shifts this weekend, I decided to go to Underwater World in Mooloolaba for the afternoon after doing some birthday shopping for a certain someone on the Esplanade.

Underwater World, Mooloolaba Beach

Jon surprised me by booking a "seal swim" for me where I actually got to get in their habitat tank and swim with them for a bit. There were a couple of seals in the tank with us; the biggest was Groucho who was MASSIVE. Thankfully, he kept his two ton self towards the bottom of the tank showing off for the people watching from the Underwater Viewing area. He was HUGE! Baby Oscar was adorable and very friendly. I even got to play tug of war with Bella & her rope toy the same way I do with my puppy, Bailey. However, Bella is much stronger than Bailey and gave me a couple tugs that sent me flying! It was such a great experience & I can't wait until Jon & I get to go play with the seals together!

Siobhan & Bella the Seal

Underwater World was an amazing place. They have this incredibly exhibit called "Monsters of the Deep" with specimens of all of the pelagic fish that look incredibly alien-like. They even have on display the only giant squid that was ever found in one piece. It's in block of ice almost 4 meters long and its tenticles are wrapped back over it's head to fit it in the ice. The eeriest part was this black & white eye that was a large as a dinner plate!

Cool Shiny Fish

Another really cool exhibit that they have is meant to teach people all about the mermaid's purses that they find on the beach. You've seen them, those little black pouches with stringy legs on all four corners. They are actually the enclosures for shark embryos until they reach gestation. The exhibit created a glass mermaid's purse that actually contained live, growing shark embryos that the facility is hand raising. It was absolutely amazing to see. The little guy was moving around and you could see his umbilical cord and sac bit that he was getting nourishment from. Absolutely wild.

Butterfly cod

Just for the kitsch factor, they have this "aquarium" inside a Honda SUV that is pretty cool. "A Fish Called Honda," it was named. It was just pretty neat to look at.
On the lowest level, there is a moving walkway that snakes through 80 meters of a tube running below the main aquarium, filled with sharks and fish of all varities. Now, I tend to visit aquariums where ever I travel to see all of the different displays, but this was by far one of the most magnificent "large tank displays" I have ever seen.

Leafy dragon

Overall, it was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to go back with Jon. I saw specimens of fish that I never knew existed and literally made my eyes pop out of my head. Some of them are so gorgeous, or just so different that it takes your breath away for a second. And best of all there were otters, which were super cool, but smell super bad.

It was really great to spend the afternoon just acting like a little kid again.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Our first visitors!

We had our first house guests for afternoon tea today! Ian and Jan came up to the Sunny Coast to bring us the parcels that arrived at their home that we shipped to ourselves from the States! It was a lovely afternoon catching up on all of their great adventures and getting some insights on life here from locals.

It has been so incredibly rainy here for the past few weeks; it was such a treat today when the sun finally came out. It's disturbing how much rain we have gotten while the rest of Queensland still remains in a terrible drought.






Brisbane & surrounding areas were just increased to some serious Level 5 restrictions. Basically, all outside watering is prohibited, except for 20 litres by bucket to wash your pets, garbage cans, & parts of your car. They anticipate Level 6 restrictions by September. It's scary the implications that these restrictions will have once they are put in place. The impact that it will have on daily life and "water dependent business" is unreal.



The higher level restrictions are anticipated for September that may limit households to 400 litres a day. That's not a lot. Apparently cutting your shower by 2 minutes saves 25 litres of water and our washer and dishwasher must heaps of litres. Thankfully, we do not live in the direct area of these water restrictions and haven't really felt any effects of the problems further Southeast Queensland.


However, the government has a new plan that will directly effect everyone living on the Sunny Coast that has everyone up in arms. So, they want to build this pipeline that will transport water from our full dams to the dams further south that are incredibly low. That all sounds fabulous, love thy neighbor and all that good stuff, but then they want to tax both the Sunny Coast residents & the Brissy residents to cover the costs of the pipeline & water transport. That just seems unfair, especially when the newscasts we approximating an extra $800 AUD in fees/taxes for this water pipeline. Scary.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

We Haven't Fallen Off The Face Of The Earth

Wow, it has been a really long time since I sat down to write to everyone. Things have been so incredibly busy (in a good way) that I guess we just got lost in our day-to-day lives.
After the first week, I finally got to spread my wings at work and I'm loving it. I'm going to leave it vague for obvious reasons, but everyone I'm working with and all of my clients have been amazing. I'm really enjoying the opportunity to interact with so many different people on a daily basis.

Jon has finally finished his string of nights; now, he is working in the CCU. It has been a great learning experience for him.

Unfortunately, we are on completely different schedules and rarely see each other, but that should be ending shortly.

All and all, things have finally come together. Yay!