March 3, 2009 – We can’t believe we are nearing the end of our eastern hemisphere travels, but here we are, the second to last stop….The Philippines!, in which we have three weeks to explore a land with over 7000 islands!!!!
Our first night is spent at the only hotel in the Manila airport, the famous 1 star Manila Airport Hotel. We arrived at 6PM and are done and gone at 6 AM the next morning heading out to the Island of Cebu. Once we landed in Cebu (a one hour plane ride) we hired a driver to take us three hours to the most northern Part of Cebu Island, the town of Maya. In Maya, we hired a small pump boat to take us out to the remote island of Malapsacua.
While bargaining for our boat, we were fortunate to hook up with a fellow from San Diego, Jeff AKA "Lucky" (more on that later). Jeff ended up being a fabulous travelling companion and stayed with us for a few days of adventure. We all had the same itinerary. Dive and Enjoy and not waste too much time on the road (or in this instance in the water) We all wanted to go to Malapascua which is known as the only feeding station in the world for the famous Thresher Shark and we were all intent on this miraculous creature of the deep.
We arrived in Malpascua in time for happy hour, in which we all began drinking and getting happy. It was interesting watching the Philippine’s come on to Jeff. Since he was travelling solo, he was fair bait for the come on’s and it seems that culturally, getting a western guy is a good catch for the Philippine’s. In any event, we had an entertaining evening and went diving the next day. The reef was nice enough…we saw some specialties, but it was the next day that we were excited for.
We woke up at 5:00 AM so that we could be out on the boat at 5:15 and at the dive site in time to see the sharks feeding frenzy. On day number 1 we got to see one thresher about 50 feet away. We were very pleased with this and felt very fortunate for the experience. The rest of the day was one of sheer relaxation. Malapascua as I mentioned is a very small island. Electricity for the island comes from a generator and if you are lucky you can get a wireless Internet connection or even air con.
The reef was non-existent because of all of the damage brought on by past fishing with dynamite, so we took advantage of the most lazy day of our vacation, by reading, relaxing and just hanging out. That evening we went on a specialty dive that was so interesting. It was Jeff and us, and our dive master who were going to explore the Mandarin fish. The Mandarin has an interesting mating pattern which we were allowed to watch. The male, a 3 inch black fish with electric red, purple and yellow, would hook up side by side with a 1 inch female. The two would flitter up, the male would ejaculate (and this we would see) the two would separate, and the male would go back down for another female. I bet he kept busy all night long. There were a lot of females waiting in line.
The next day we repeated the ritual of going out to see the threshers. Michelle insisted we were here to see threshers and we were going to see threshers. She coined the phrase “this is a once in a life time opportunity” (but more about that phrase later too!)
Jeff did not join us on this dive, hence the beginning of his nickname “Lucky”. Ok, waking up at 5:00 AM and diving into the Sulu Sea is not our idea, maybe my idea, of having a nice fun vacation…. So there we go. We motor out about a couple of miles (1 hour by long boat), and do our 2nd dive to see the threshers. As we start our descend to our sea floor at 20 meters (60 ft.) we glance up and see a large manta ray gliding across above us eating today's breakfast. It was a 3 meters (9ft.) wide and maybe twice as long. It was a graceful moment, and at that point we could of called it a day. But oh no….. we are the 2nd group of divers setting up to see the shark, and as we get to the staging area, a 10ft. long 3 ft wide thresher appears. It starts swimming right around all of us ( total of 10 divers) at one point it swims away, only to be coming up behind us, where I am. I glance around and see it, my heart jumps, in my head I’m thinking “Why am I here?, What do I think I’m doing? Help!!!!!”.
As he heads for me, he makes a sharp left turn and swims away. The other divers are all looking at each other not believing what just happen. I’m ready to bail, I give the heart pound signal to Michelle, she’s all excited floating 2 feet off of the sea floor. I’m looking all over for our next visit. Everyone is still looking forward, but me, I’m doing a 360 degree look, and son of a gun, now there are 2 sharks and they start coming up behind us, and I’m still in the back of the group first to see them. I want to lie down and not breath, I want to become coral, and then the fish wouldn’t see me, but no, they come up on both sides, I’m in the middle, then they take another turn away. What’s going on, why they are doing this.
The dive master is in shock, everyone is looking at each other with amazement, and there’s Michelle, floating up acting like the sharks next meal. At this point the dive group says OK, enough, time to surface. Everyone is smiling, giving high 5’s, and I’m thinking if I’ll ever do something like this again. I reviewed my life, I remembered things like family, when I was young, on the beach where I should be, it’s incredible what goes through your mind when a significant emotional event like that happens.
We get top side and the dive master says, It’s his best dive ever…”. Since this happened, I have had thoughts, daydreams re-living the experience. I have a feeling, I’ll never forget it. We get back to shore and meet up with “Lucky” (Jeff) and we tell him what he missed. Not the best thing to do when you travel all this way, and miss a dive like that.
He was very disappointed, and I guess, I was not thinking, when I told him it was the dive master's best dive ever, he almost started to cry. He vowed never to skip another dive if he has the choice. After breakfast we pack up and take off for our next destination, we’re not sure where that will be, but I know it’ll have to top this.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
The Outback leaves a nice impression.....
(OK, OK, it is time to wave the white flag to all those that have commented on our blog) There are 2 people doing the writing, not just one. I document the facts and Michelle adds the descriptive commentary. When that is complete, she hands it back to me for the final edit. Thank you all for such nice comments. Feel free to comment at anytime. There is a section just for that on the site.
Also, we forgot to mention that during our visit to Tasmania, we learned all about Tasmanian Devils and Kangaroos. Upon leaving Port Arthur, we encountered a wilderness reserve that caters to the preservation of the Devils and th
e Kangaroos as well as other assorted birds. The Devils are rodents that are currently being extinguished by mouth cancer. The medical community is unable to find a cure at this time, which means the Tasmanian Devils are becoming extinct. These animals are responsible for eating up Australian road kill so their survival is important to maintaining the beauty of Australia. At the reserve, we walked through a huge petting park filled with kangaroos and wallabies’. This visit was a highlight to our trip. (Thanks Clint for reminding me of that experience!) Now back to the story of Sydney….
Feb. 26, 2009 - We sailed off across the harbor to city of Manly. Our friends Glenn, Donna and Noah said it was a must see. They were right! Manly sits at the mouth of Sydney Harbor. We bussed our way to the starting point of a 10 kilometer ( 6 miles)seaside walk that starts at the Spit Bridge (a really cool draw bridge) and ends up at Manly Beach. The path took us through beautiful beaches, local neighborhoods, Aboriginal burying grounds, and the bush coastline with calm surf and amazing harbor views. During the walk I saw a huge spider web and decided to get an up close picture. Michelle says, “Watch it!!!”, and then I see the largest spider ever right next to the web. I am not sure what kind of spider it was, but we captured it on film.
We saw tons of wildlife on this hike and 4 hours later successfully reached Manly Beach. We chowed down at a lovely fish restaurant and hung with the locals at a nearby pub till the ferry arrived to bring us back to Sydney. We told ourselves that if we would consider living in Sydney. Manly would be an ideal location for us to set up home base. It is kick back and beautiful, a tad busy, but not overwhelming. That night back, in Sydney, we went to a local pub with good live music inclusive of American Favorites such as Doobie Brothers, Van Morrison, and the Eagles. We hung there with 2 young Australians and a fellow just back from Iraq that spoke negatively about Americans, but enjoyed dancing with Michelle.
While in Sydney we explored their China Town, Fisherman’s wharf (The Fish Market with some of the freshest sushi ever!), we strolled around Darling Harbor, a romantic night spot and home of Real World Sydney (one of Raya and Michelle’s favorite shows) we swam the world renown surfer beach, Bondi (that’s pronounced Bond Dye), and snorkeled our way at Shelley Beach (there really is a beach with the same name as my wife!).
Michelle took on an inside tour of the beautiful opera house, an architectural delight. We tried to attend a show there but it was sold out. Better planning next time. As always…..it was sad to leave but adventure called and off we flew to the Philippines……
Also, we forgot to mention that during our visit to Tasmania, we learned all about Tasmanian Devils and Kangaroos. Upon leaving Port Arthur, we encountered a wilderness reserve that caters to the preservation of the Devils and th
e Kangaroos as well as other assorted birds. The Devils are rodents that are currently being extinguished by mouth cancer. The medical community is unable to find a cure at this time, which means the Tasmanian Devils are becoming extinct. These animals are responsible for eating up Australian road kill so their survival is important to maintaining the beauty of Australia. At the reserve, we walked through a huge petting park filled with kangaroos and wallabies’. This visit was a highlight to our trip. (Thanks Clint for reminding me of that experience!) Now back to the story of Sydney….Feb. 26, 2009 - We sailed off across the harbor to city of Manly. Our friends Glenn, Donna and Noah said it was a must see. They were right! Manly sits at the mouth of Sydney Harbor. We bussed our way to the starting point of a 10 kilometer ( 6 miles)seaside walk that starts at the Spit Bridge (a really cool draw bridge) and ends up at Manly Beach. The path took us through beautiful beaches, local neighborhoods, Aboriginal burying grounds, and the bush coastline with calm surf and amazing harbor views. During the walk I saw a huge spider web and decided to get an up close picture. Michelle says, “Watch it!!!”, and then I see the largest spider ever right next to the web. I am not sure what kind of spider it was, but we captured it on film.
We saw tons of wildlife on this hike and 4 hours later successfully reached Manly Beach. We chowed down at a lovely fish restaurant and hung with the locals at a nearby pub till the ferry arrived to bring us back to Sydney. We told ourselves that if we would consider living in Sydney. Manly would be an ideal location for us to set up home base. It is kick back and beautiful, a tad busy, but not overwhelming. That night back, in Sydney, we went to a local pub with good live music inclusive of American Favorites such as Doobie Brothers, Van Morrison, and the Eagles. We hung there with 2 young Australians and a fellow just back from Iraq that spoke negatively about Americans, but enjoyed dancing with Michelle.
While in Sydney we explored their China Town, Fisherman’s wharf (The Fish Market with some of the freshest sushi ever!), we strolled around Darling Harbor, a romantic night spot and home of Real World Sydney (one of Raya and Michelle’s favorite shows) we swam the world renown surfer beach, Bondi (that’s pronounced Bond Dye), and snorkeled our way at Shelley Beach (there really is a beach with the same name as my wife!).
Michelle took on an inside tour of the beautiful opera house, an architectural delight. We tried to attend a show there but it was sold out. Better planning next time. As always…..it was sad to leave but adventure called and off we flew to the Philippines……
Saturday, March 7, 2009
From Tazzie to Sydney mainland.......
Feb. 20, 2009 - We had our picnic lunch and took off for the town of Strahan (pronounced Strawn). This is a quaint harbor village on the most western shore of the Tasmanian Island. It is here that one can explore most of the World Heritage areas which comprise the Western part of Tasmania.
To become a world heritage site, an area must have only one of 10 listed requirements. Western Tasmania has 8 of the 10 requirements, and is the only place in the world that possesses so many. It is here we can explore the Huon Forest with trees over 4000 years old!!!! We also rode a train line which was developed in the 1800’s for transferring copper from the Queensland mines to the Strahan harbor for deliverance throughout the world. It was truly beautiful to go through the rain forest on the train and learn about the history of building the train line with convict labor.
The following day we did the Gordon River cruise up the river. This proved a bit slow for the two of us and we became antsy during this tour. When it was complete, we celebrated at the town pub and chatted with the locals to get the true Strahan character. Let me tell you, there are lots of ‘em here. This town does not have enough women and plenty of wealthy men so take note…….if you are looking for a wealthy date, Strahan might be worth considering. We drove back to Hobart to catch a morning plane to Sidney. That evening in Hobart, nature gave us a storm to remember with all of the special effects (lightening/ thunder/ rain), it was spectacular!!!.
Feb. 24, 2009 – Back to Sidney, Australia. We checked into our hotel and realized several things about it. It did not have the pool it promised, the neighborhood was the center of the gay/lesbian community It just happened to be the week of Gay/Lesbian mardi gras. Lots of x rated porno stores and book shops lined the neighborhood. We were NOT happy.
We got out of dodge real quick and checked into the Holiday Inn at the rocks. The hotel room overlooked Sydney Harbor, the largest harbor in the world. From our window, we were also able to gaze at the famous Sydney Bridge along with the opera house. We were centered in the oldest neighborhood of Sydney, The Rocks. It was here that prisoners were originally brought to Port Jackson (Sydney’s first name).
Several of the buildings remained from that period and the history was a visual delight. As we walked around the neighborhood, we decided to climb the pile-on to the top of a span on the Sydney Bridge. It was a breathtaking 360 degree view of the harbor. It is also possible to view the city from an even higher vantage point by doing the “Bridge Climb”. People can walk the entire span of the bridge utilizing the steel support beams for a mere $200.00. We felt we got a great bargain for our $4.50 investment.
The US dollar can buy more than the Australian dollar. ($1 USA = $00.66 AU), so we were very lucky to be in Australia at a time when the US dollar value was high. This is not always the case. We found some things very reasonable, but food and drinks were quite expensive. A diet coke was $3.50 Australian but more like $2.30US. We are happy to pay just $1 at home.
Circular Quay is the hub of the transportation options. It is here that you can catch ferries, buses and trains all over the sprawling city. On day two, we walked past the quay into the world renowned botanical gardens and on to the viewing of the Queen Mary, the world’s largest luxury liner, stationed in Sydney just for the day. We went to ooh and ahh at the sheer size of this luxurious cruise vessel. Now let's check out the surrounding areas of Sydney......
To become a world heritage site, an area must have only one of 10 listed requirements. Western Tasmania has 8 of the 10 requirements, and is the only place in the world that possesses so many. It is here we can explore the Huon Forest with trees over 4000 years old!!!! We also rode a train line which was developed in the 1800’s for transferring copper from the Queensland mines to the Strahan harbor for deliverance throughout the world. It was truly beautiful to go through the rain forest on the train and learn about the history of building the train line with convict labor.
The following day we did the Gordon River cruise up the river. This proved a bit slow for the two of us and we became antsy during this tour. When it was complete, we celebrated at the town pub and chatted with the locals to get the true Strahan character. Let me tell you, there are lots of ‘em here. This town does not have enough women and plenty of wealthy men so take note…….if you are looking for a wealthy date, Strahan might be worth considering. We drove back to Hobart to catch a morning plane to Sidney. That evening in Hobart, nature gave us a storm to remember with all of the special effects (lightening/ thunder/ rain), it was spectacular!!!.
Feb. 24, 2009 – Back to Sidney, Australia. We checked into our hotel and realized several things about it. It did not have the pool it promised, the neighborhood was the center of the gay/lesbian community It just happened to be the week of Gay/Lesbian mardi gras. Lots of x rated porno stores and book shops lined the neighborhood. We were NOT happy.
We got out of dodge real quick and checked into the Holiday Inn at the rocks. The hotel room overlooked Sydney Harbor, the largest harbor in the world. From our window, we were also able to gaze at the famous Sydney Bridge along with the opera house. We were centered in the oldest neighborhood of Sydney, The Rocks. It was here that prisoners were originally brought to Port Jackson (Sydney’s first name).
Several of the buildings remained from that period and the history was a visual delight. As we walked around the neighborhood, we decided to climb the pile-on to the top of a span on the Sydney Bridge. It was a breathtaking 360 degree view of the harbor. It is also possible to view the city from an even higher vantage point by doing the “Bridge Climb”. People can walk the entire span of the bridge utilizing the steel support beams for a mere $200.00. We felt we got a great bargain for our $4.50 investment.
The US dollar can buy more than the Australian dollar. ($1 USA = $00.66 AU), so we were very lucky to be in Australia at a time when the US dollar value was high. This is not always the case. We found some things very reasonable, but food and drinks were quite expensive. A diet coke was $3.50 Australian but more like $2.30US. We are happy to pay just $1 at home.
Circular Quay is the hub of the transportation options. It is here that you can catch ferries, buses and trains all over the sprawling city. On day two, we walked past the quay into the world renowned botanical gardens and on to the viewing of the Queen Mary, the world’s largest luxury liner, stationed in Sydney just for the day. We went to ooh and ahh at the sheer size of this luxurious cruise vessel. Now let's check out the surrounding areas of Sydney......
Travels thru Tasmania........
(To begin this new post, we are currently in the Philippine Islands where the Internet and telephone service can be non-existent. So we'll keep up the posts as much as we can and I'll continue to send out notices about new posts as they happen. There will be 2 new posts as of today. I've that doesn't work, please let me know.....Dave and Michelle)
Day 5 – We arrived in the city of Launceston. This is the 2nd largest city in Tasmania. Our hotel was right next to the end of the fresh water Esk River that meets up with the salty Tamar River. The place where we stayed is designed with pirates, castles, and moats in mind. Our balcony over saw all of this and gave us the feeling we were a part of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We trekked up the Cataract Gorge which is where the Esk River flows.
There are walkways on both sides of the gorge. We decided to do the harder one on the way up and the “no so hard” coming down. The river reminds me of our own Stanislaus River above the central valley in California. It was picturesque with large granite cliffs making a huge river gorge. While exploring the gorge, we found a piece of paradise.
Prior to our expedition, Michelle reminded me to bring a bathing suit. I think I read that there is swimming somewhere up the river she says. After about ½ a mile of walking, there it was…..a huge fresh water swimming area, made up by damming the river, and next to it was one of the largest swimming pools I’ve ever seen. All of this was absolutely FREE!!!! Let me tell you, when traveling to tourist locations, nothing is free. So Michelle dove into the river and I swam in the pool. It was a glorious day. That evening we found the beer, that I would say, is the best in Tasmania, Boughs Draught. It’s brewed right here in Launceston, and we love it! We met some locals, shared thoughts, stories, etc. and once again, got ready to hit the road, heading up to Cradle Mountain, which is a state park that lies west.
On our way we needed to stopped to check out King Solomon’s Cave. We got there at the last tour, around 3:30 pm and joined up with a couple of students from the UK. It was an amazing tour, with mineral crystals building themselves into large beautiful cones hanging from the top of the cave. It looked as if Hollywood had come in and designed it. The cave is located in a rain forest. The moisture seeps into the limestone through the sand stone tunnel walls and becomes crystallized after centuries of drip after drip. The colors and patterns were so intricate and impressive. We were in shock by the fossilized beauty surrounding us. From here we continued through the mountains.
We experienced our first Tasmanian rain fall and it hit hard at a bad time. We were driving in the mountains trying to find our hotel. Luckily we met a couple on the road who were also lost, but going to the same place as us. We ran decided to caravan up to our hotel, the Lemontyme Lodge.
Well...we found it. Here we were in the raw exotic west of Tasmania, anticipating a rustic place to sleep in the bush. We were blessed with the largest log cabin in the Southern Hemisphere built with the protected Huon Pine of Tasmania’s rain forest. Lemonthyme Lodge turned out to be a 5 star cabin retreat, complete with en suite Jacuzzi tubs, wet bars, a secluded back porch overlooking the rain forest and our very own fireplace to relax with. Dinner was prepared in 5 star glamour. Luckily we brought our own wine and beer and had a ball at this romantic setting.
It is here that one is allowed to feed the animals. We came face to face with hundreds of platypus’s (wallabee family) and fed them melons from the Lemontyme kitchen. This is a nightly educational festivity for the guests. Unfortunately we got to Lemontyme late and had to leave early to continue our Tasmanian loop so off we went the next morning to Cradle Mountain National Park.
The rock formations here reminded us of the towering Yosemite. We did our hike around Dove Lake which was a 7 Kilometer trek that took more than 2 hours. The lake was crystal clear and warm enough to swim in, though we didn’t. It was so nice to be in the wilderness to enjoy the untouched terrain all around us.
Day 5 – We arrived in the city of Launceston. This is the 2nd largest city in Tasmania. Our hotel was right next to the end of the fresh water Esk River that meets up with the salty Tamar River. The place where we stayed is designed with pirates, castles, and moats in mind. Our balcony over saw all of this and gave us the feeling we were a part of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We trekked up the Cataract Gorge which is where the Esk River flows.
There are walkways on both sides of the gorge. We decided to do the harder one on the way up and the “no so hard” coming down. The river reminds me of our own Stanislaus River above the central valley in California. It was picturesque with large granite cliffs making a huge river gorge. While exploring the gorge, we found a piece of paradise.
Prior to our expedition, Michelle reminded me to bring a bathing suit. I think I read that there is swimming somewhere up the river she says. After about ½ a mile of walking, there it was…..a huge fresh water swimming area, made up by damming the river, and next to it was one of the largest swimming pools I’ve ever seen. All of this was absolutely FREE!!!! Let me tell you, when traveling to tourist locations, nothing is free. So Michelle dove into the river and I swam in the pool. It was a glorious day. That evening we found the beer, that I would say, is the best in Tasmania, Boughs Draught. It’s brewed right here in Launceston, and we love it! We met some locals, shared thoughts, stories, etc. and once again, got ready to hit the road, heading up to Cradle Mountain, which is a state park that lies west.
On our way we needed to stopped to check out King Solomon’s Cave. We got there at the last tour, around 3:30 pm and joined up with a couple of students from the UK. It was an amazing tour, with mineral crystals building themselves into large beautiful cones hanging from the top of the cave. It looked as if Hollywood had come in and designed it. The cave is located in a rain forest. The moisture seeps into the limestone through the sand stone tunnel walls and becomes crystallized after centuries of drip after drip. The colors and patterns were so intricate and impressive. We were in shock by the fossilized beauty surrounding us. From here we continued through the mountains.
We experienced our first Tasmanian rain fall and it hit hard at a bad time. We were driving in the mountains trying to find our hotel. Luckily we met a couple on the road who were also lost, but going to the same place as us. We ran decided to caravan up to our hotel, the Lemontyme Lodge.
Well...we found it. Here we were in the raw exotic west of Tasmania, anticipating a rustic place to sleep in the bush. We were blessed with the largest log cabin in the Southern Hemisphere built with the protected Huon Pine of Tasmania’s rain forest. Lemonthyme Lodge turned out to be a 5 star cabin retreat, complete with en suite Jacuzzi tubs, wet bars, a secluded back porch overlooking the rain forest and our very own fireplace to relax with. Dinner was prepared in 5 star glamour. Luckily we brought our own wine and beer and had a ball at this romantic setting.
It is here that one is allowed to feed the animals. We came face to face with hundreds of platypus’s (wallabee family) and fed them melons from the Lemontyme kitchen. This is a nightly educational festivity for the guests. Unfortunately we got to Lemontyme late and had to leave early to continue our Tasmanian loop so off we went the next morning to Cradle Mountain National Park.
The rock formations here reminded us of the towering Yosemite. We did our hike around Dove Lake which was a 7 Kilometer trek that took more than 2 hours. The lake was crystal clear and warm enough to swim in, though we didn’t. It was so nice to be in the wilderness to enjoy the untouched terrain all around us.
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