| 26th Nov 2005 Terry went off for a dive in the morning - this time off the boat rather than off the beach. I stayed on the beach again - getting a little bored now! So in the afternoon I went out on the boat for Terry's 2nd dive today. The plan was to snorkel and see Terry below me, but when I jumped in and took a gulp of air I swallowed half the ocean because there wasn't a bung in the snorkel!!! I therefore sat in the boat talking to the driver - he's lived on the island all his life! There were hundreds of jelly fish floating by and Terry had to come p through them, but apparently the don't sting! 27th Nov 2005 We both spent the morning in a hammock reading because it was a bit cloudy - but the sun came out eventually and although we were in the shade we managed to get burnt! So I went back up he beach to sit in the sun and Terry went snorkelling. So relaxing here and everyone really friendly - time is flying by. 28th Nov 2005 Terry went for a morning dive and saw 5 sharks!!! Apart from that it was just the usual - not much variation when you're on an island!!! 29th Nov 2005 Three dives for Terry today...... and one for me!!! In the afternoon I did an intro dive off the beach - so basically I had an instructor doing everything for me - I just had to swim and kick! Stayed down for an hour - was great and saw loads of fish, star fish, coral etc... Terry did a night dive too and said the foss fluorecence was great.Then after dinner we had cava with some of the staff - it's their national 'drink' - a ground up root mixed with cold water - doesn't taste nice at all!! You have to clap twice and then down it and then clap three times!!! Weird! 30th Nov 2005 Last day on the island. Terry did one more dive before we said a sad farewell to everyone and caught te boat back to the main land and the minibus back to Nadi. We booked into the same hotel as Will (who we'd met on the island - Bas Vegas Boy!!), and sat by the pool for the afternoon. Had dinner together and then Terry & Will watched a film while I packed and got our stuff sorted! 1st Dec 2005 Left Fiji and arrived in Sydney on time, but then spent ages getting through passport control and customs and getting to the domestic terminal - thought we might miss our flight to Melbourne, which we'd booked as a surprise for the family! But we made it!! Arrived at Toni & Paul's and they didn't even open the door for us - they'd guessed we'd turn up!! Was good to see them though and after a shy half an hour Zach was running round the garden with Terry and he can say our names! Ma & Pa Brewster turned up about 10pm and were pleased to see everyone too - stayed up catching up! 2nd Dec 2005 - 18th Dec 2005 Spent time with the family, gate crashing on their trip up the East Coast in a campervan. Most of the time was spent in the van travelling, but the stops we made were good. Saw the Blue Mountains, but they weren't as scenic as we'd expected them to be. Visited the Wombeyan Caves with some amazing stalagmites and stalactites. We then stopped briefly at Bondi Beach in Sydney, where Terry and Paul made a huge sand castle fort, and sculpted a mermaid and giant turtle - not letting Zach play with any of his toys! As we then left Sydney we drove over the Harbour Bridge and caught a glimpse of the Opera House. Had an afternoon on the Gold Coast near Brisbane while the others went to Sea World - huge long golden beach and we watched some kite surfers and Terry started asking questions - he really wants to try it! As we drove away from Brisbane we were being chased by an electric storm - amazing lightening! Finally reached The Town of 1770, at the Southern most point of the Great Barrier Reef. Spent an afternoon on the beach by our campsite - temperatures soaring up to 37 degrees. We all went on a day trip out to Fitzroy Reef - the water in the lagoon was crystal clear and a beautiful colour. Terry did two dives, Paul did an introductory one and the rest of us snorkelled. The water was as warm as in Fiji so it was easy to stay in for hours on end! We had lunch on the glass bottom boat watching the fish swimming by. I snorkelled above Terry and he blew bubbles up at me! The day went really quickly but was enjoyed by everyone! On the journey back down we stopped at Australia Zoo - saw kangaroos, koalas, wombats, dingoes, snakes, otters, birds etc... but no sign of Steve Irwin! Watched a show with snakes, tigers, birds and crocodiles too. Terry loved it, but not really my cup of tea - prefer to see them in the wild and we have seen most things now - just that morning I had got up early and sat watching a peacock trying to impress a peahen!!! Stopped at Lakes Entrance for a couple of days - supposed to be a top tourist spot in Oz, but none of us were that impressed - bit like Southend but with not so much to do!!! Nice to be out of the va though. The boys did a deep sea fishing trip, catching Red Snappers, Barracudas, Leather Jacks, Cod, Stone Fish and more - bought loads back to cook too!!! Heavens opened in the afternoon, so we played in the games room while the boys slept as they'd got up at 5.45am. Then back to Melbourne. |