www.davesisland.com

Hi Everyone!

Back into the tropics, this time in north eastern Australia at the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef - Cairns.

Arrived here in the small hours of the morning on the 9th May, tired and happy to have a bed waiting for me at the lovely little hostel that is Tropic Days, a truly great place and where I have spent the remainder of my time (on land). First impressions of Cairns, it has to be said, were not that great…its a bit, for a better word, trashy, but maybe thats just because I was in Melbourne which is far and away anything but trashy. However, its the ideal place to book tours and dives which are very competitively priced. Which is exactly what I did…I booked myself onto a 5-day liveaboard dive trip with Taka Dives, a company with a good reputation and an exciting schedule which takes you right out into the most unspoilt sections of the reef. I was not dissappointed, 14 dives later and back on dry land I look back at one of the best trips i’ve been on since coming to Australia. Great staff, a good crew of people, amazing food and incredible diving experiences made for a trip of a lifetime. The highlight of which has to be the shark feed…i’ll say no more, just look for yourselves, and yes I am the one taking the video!

Shark Feed!

Not only that but I was also lucky enough to see (and this time video) a Manta Ray, at least 2m in width with some speed to him too!

Along Came A Manta…

All of this coupled with stunning corals, fish of all shapes, sizes and colours and superb water clarity and visibility resulted in perfect dives. I have to admit that before I came to the GBR my expectations were low, many travelers I had met had not been impressed but I know now that you have to see things for yourself and not always rely on other people’s opinions and I’m glad I had the chance to look for myself. It was excellent.

Anyways thats what I’ve been up to and after 5 days of diving I am knackered, yet satisfied. I’m just gonna chill out around the hostel pool for the next couple of days and then make my way south to Ayr and Townsville.

Hope you all enjoy the pics from the dive, i’m happy with them, they came out really well! Check them out…

- Great Barrier Reef -

TTFN
x

UPDATE: Check out the photo’s I’ve uploaded from our trip:

- Melbourne And Around -
- Campervan Road-Trip Around Victoria -

Its taken me ages so they don’t all have comments yet, I’ll try and update them in a few more days. ENJOY!

Hi all!

Yeah I know, i’m a big let down with this site sometimes, after all its been over 2 months since my last post…maybe closer to 3!! *blush*

However, the reasons behind this are all positive. I have been having such a good time I haven’t had the chance to sit down at a computer and write any of it down!

Just to bring you all up to speed…
I left Sydney, and my good friends Tom, Craig, and Dom, for pastures new down in Melbourne with my girlfriend Kat. Since then we have been having a good old time taking in the sights both in Melbourne and around Victoria - which has to be, second to WA, my favourite Aussie state, rolling hills, forests and mountains combined with un-swimmable (too cold in Autumn) but beautiful beaches. Melbourne has been my favourite city so far, it is vibrant and full of arty-farty types as well as the cool cats, such a mixture of people who all seem very happy here.
We have been living in a suburb called South Yarra in a little house with our housemates Bec and Roger (see below), and its been great.

Roger!

Admittedly we haven’t spent all that much time there as, about a week after we arrived, we decided to get a campervan (courtesy of Apollo) and tour Victoria, taking in some popular (The Great Ocean Road, Philip Island - and the wonder that is the ‘Penguin Parade’, The Grampians) as well as lesser-know (The Great Alpine Road, Yarra Ranges, Gippsland) sights…all of which were just brilliant, I would particularly recommend the Great Alpine Road as it is not too widely known and in my opinion has a lot more to offer than the Great Ocean Road, Mt. Buffalo National Park was stunning. I was also lucky enough to celebrate my 25th Birthday during the road-trip in the picturesque town of Marysville, well worth a visit if anyone ever gets the chance

The Great Ocean Road

Its not all been travelling about though, whilst we were in Melbourne we took the opportunity to spectate on the great sport of AFL (Aussie Rules - Australian Football League) at the largest stadium in Australia, the MCG (The Melbourne Cricket Ground, “The Home Of Footy”, or the ‘G’ as it is fondly known, Aussies love to abbreviate even the shortest of words). We witnessed an epic battle between Richmond ‘Tigers’ and Collingwood ‘Magpies’ which was a see-saw affair with the Tigers taking most of the points from the first two quaters…but, after much ‘barracking’, shouting such phrases as “C’mon you Tiges” or “Go the Pies”, the match ended with Collingwood ( the team I was backing ) clawing back an emphatic victory.
AFL is a very complicated game to an outsider, basically because the rules don’t appear (to the untrained eye) to be applied very consistently, …not to mention the fact that at any time the pitch can be invaded by ‘trainers’ who come on in yellow tabbards and give advice to the players - probably such enlightening words as “hit him hard”, “bash his face” or “run Forest!”. However, given all of this its a very entertaining game to watch live as the atmosphere is amazing and the fights that erupt on the pitch, unchallenged by the officials, are first class (a prerequisite of a ‘rules player is to be built like a brick poo house…and be in possession of a mullet hair-do). This, all matched with 4 chances to get to the bar (one for the start of each quater) and a meat pie makes for a very enjoyable evening. And before you all ask there is no way I’m going to try and explain the rules - all I can tell you is that its played on a cricket pitch with a bouncy rugby ball and is referred to by those who reside in New South Wales as “Ariel Ping-Pong”.

Me, Kat, Bec and Nic at the game

And there has been lots more going on which I can’t remember so you’ll have to take a look at my photo album in a few days for the pics from the past month.

So, to the here and now then. My time in Melbourne, and with Kat, as come to a close…for now. I am flying up to Cairns on the 8th May to start my tour of the East Coast before my Visa runs out at the end of June. Plans include; visiting the Cape York Peninsula, diving the Great Barrier Reef and the wreck of the SS Yongala, completing a RYA competent crew sailing course around the Whitsunday Islands, 4WD adventures around Fraser Island, Brisbane, and possibly the Gold Coast if I have time.

It seems strange to think that I only have just over a month left in Oz but i’m going to make the most of it.

So, TTFN, I will be uploading pics tomorrow or the day after and will post again with links to these when they are done. All the best!

x

P.S. All you Facebook addicts, add me if you haven’t already,
dave_searle “AT” hotmail.com