We found Nemo

I have heaps to tell about my travels over the last few days, and I am sure to forget about something. After Melbourne, I flew to Hobart which is a city in (on?) the island state of Tasmania. You truly need about two weeks to experience Tasmania. I saw what I could in the few days that I was there. The weather was agreeable. Still cold there, oh, and we had that whole tsunami warning while I was there. (Nothing happened, people.) There was a fairly amusing comic in the local paper: first picture - a person is standing on the shore with the PA announcement screaming over him "Tsunami, tsunami! Don't panic!", second picture - same person on the same shore as a tiny sploosh of a wave hits the shore, third and last picture - same person on the same shore as the PA announces "don't laugh, either". Tasmania is a mountainous region surrounded by water. The bridge is elegant and pretty in the night with the lights on the side. I did not see a Tasmanian devil, unless you count the pictures. I did have time for a bushwalk, so that was lovely. Mount Wellington and Mount Nelson are the two main mountains by Hobart. We did go to the top of Mt. Wellington, but it was shrouded in clouds. There was a bit of snow, and the most amazing ice formation on the plants at the top of the mountain. Those were absolutely stunning; I don't often see icicles on plants, and these plants just seem made to allow for fantastic ice shapes. My time there was too, too short, but I had to move along. Another place that I would gladly revisit.

My next stop was Sydney. A high school friend lives there, and it was fantastic to catch up with her (good times, Melissa S). We were working out when we had last seen one another, and we're thinking it was HS graduation. The next day, Melissa M arrived, so it was a mini HS reunion. Really great time in Sydney to see some of the sights with good, long-time friends. The weather was brilliant, and it was nice to not have to wear my hiking shoes (yea for sandals). We wandered around Circular Quay - the harbor is massive, and the Opera House is iconic for a reason. We stumbled upon a Sunday fest at Circular Quay - the Aroma Fest for our perusal of all things coffee, tea, spice, and chocolate. It was packed with people, and quite fun to wander around and do a little sampling. On Monday, we took the ferry to Manly, and wandered the beach there. I think I would love to have snorkeling so accessible.

Today was a dive day :) Oh, yeah! Bloody brilliant is all I have to say! We had three dives throughout the day and saw heaps and heaps of fish. The reef sharks seem to be all over the place. I will admit a few of the other divers were a bit irritating because they were rushing over to the sharks to see them, but that just disturbs the wildlife. They also didn't seem to be paying a whole lot of attention to their surroundings because they'd carelessly touch parts of the coral, and more than once got too close to me, including a fin to the head - not pleasant. However, barring those small irritations - they were three great dives. From the big to the small, it was all amazing to see. From these tiny little wormlike, colorful creatures, to the humpback. Yep, a humpback whale, seen underwater. Really, can't describe the wonder, and I only saw a glimpse as it swam by us. We did see a green turtle which was just swimming along and then stopped for a snack. A clown fish, as well as a few other fish that live in the anemones. I could watch those for hours as they dart in and out of the anemone. What else did we see - lion fish, scorpion fish, some rays, I like the parrot fish and the trumpet fish. Loads of little, vibrantly colorful ones that swim in schools. The giant clams are pretty amazing as well. I like watching how the clams or parts of the coral move, open and close, it's all just amazing. I feel like I need to find several adjectives for amazing and stunning. So much of what I have seen on this trip can be described that way.

It's hard to believe that in a little over a week, I will be back in the U.S., if not quite back to Chicago. It has been a fabulous trip, and we still have the North Island to tour :)

---

---