Komodo Island

If you ever want to see the mother of all lizards, check out Komodo Island in Indonesia.   The Komodo Dragon can grow up to 11 feet long and weigh up to 300 pounds.  The female lays up to 30 eggs but only about 3 survive as mom and dad like to eat their young.  When not eating the kids, they munch on deer, water buffalo and whatever else they can find.  The locals only mentioned one human death – back in the 40’s.  I didn’t hang around long enough to become the second victim.

Not the prettiest backside.

Dragon food hanging out on the beach.

The guides use a stick that's forked at one end to keep the dragons at bay.  Doesn’t seem like much protection to me but, I guess it works.  I've given up on the rest of the photos as the internet in slow-mode tonight.  Tomorrow we arrive in Bali for a 3-day stay. 

Exiting Australia

We’re just leaving the waters of Australia, so it must be time for an update.  Places visited since Sydney have been Brisbane, Hamilton Island (Great Barrier Reef), and Darwin.  Thursday Island was to have been included but high surf made tendering impossible.   

In Brisbane I did an excursion that included off-roading up in the mountains above the Gold Coast, a hike to a waterfall on Tamborine mountain and an interesting visit to a glow worm cave. Sorry, no photos of those cool little critters so I gave you a different one. 

 

 

Next up was snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef.  It was OK, but a far cry from what I always expected (and not as good as New Caledonia).  I think that you need to do this in a longer trip – one where you can have time to go to more distant sections of the reef.

 

 

 

As I mentioned, we were not able to tender in at Thursday Island (joke was that we were trying to get there on a Tuesday, so naturally it was a no-go).   So instead of photos of this small island, here are some of nature’s local colors starting with some of the water colors in the Thursday Island area.  Makes me want to jump in right off my balcony!

 

Then, I woke to this very orange morning sky today. 

 In Darwin I had planned to go to Litchfield National Park, but I’d heard that flooding in the area had made the trip less than desirable, so I did the hop-on/off bus instead.   Pretty area, but not one that I would ever consider living in.  No, not because of the crazy high heat and humidity.  The thing for me was that for a city almost surrounded by pretty waters, you can’t go swimming in it.  If the ocean crocs don’t get you then the deadly jelly fish certainly will.  They even have monuments to these creatures. Nope, not the place for me! 

This government building is known as The Wedding Cake. Why?  Because it’s white, it’s square and it’s filled with fruits, nuts, and booze.

 

We're heading now towards Indonesia, starting with Komodo Island on Saturday then Bali on Sunday. I'm looking forward to being back in Asia!

 



 

Sydney and the Blue Mountains

We had two days in Sydney.  One day I spent roaming the city with friends where we enjoyed the botanical gardens, museums and some shopping in the area known as The Rocks. The second day I did an excursion out to the Blue Mountains with a stop at a wildlife park along the way.

I tried for some different views of the opera house and bridge from what I posted last year.

 

We saw quite a few Asian couples doing wedding shoots in what appeared to be rented gowns (some pinned together in the back).  Must be ‘a thing’ to do.

 

A street musician playing the didgeridoo.

 

The Blue Mountains and the rock formation known as The Three Sisters.

 

 

A few shots from the wildlife park...

 

 

Tomorrow we stop in Brisbane, followed by Hamilton Island and the Great Barrier Reef.  I’ve been told not to have great expectations for the snorkeling on the reef as the location that we go to is the most frequented location and therefore the most destroyed.  Apparently you need to go much further out to see the truly pristine areas.  I’ll go anyway and hope for the best.  

 

Last of the South Pacific Islands

We have visited the last three South Pacific islands and are now apparently skirting a couple of typhoons as we make our way to Sydney.  We’ve had fabulous weather with only spot showers on occasion. 

Mystery Island, Vanuatu is a small uninhabited island.  Locals from surrounding islands have the island set up to offer various services so I took the opportunity to go for a ride on a homemade outrigger.  The sailor/owner told me that it took him 3 months and 5 days to dig out the log for the canoe section.  Our ship’s incredible crew set up a bar on the beach and were even delivering drinks to people in the water.  It was a fun day. 

 

 

 

The next up was Mare Island, New Caledonia and another pretty beach day.

 

The last island was Noumea, New Caledonia where I went on a fabulous snorkeling trip with the best fish and corals so far.  A couple of highlights were being in the middle of a school of small barracudas and swimming with sea turtles.  

 

 

 

 

Fiji Islands

The past two days have been in Fiji where I spent most of the time on beaches and snorkeling.  I know that it’s cold and snowy at home, so I feel a bit guilty (just a bit) as I post these photos.  I’m likely to bore you with snorkeling photos but it’s such fun!  The first stop was on the island of Yasawa-I-Rara where the movie The Blue Lagoon was filmed.  I think that the movie was a bust, but location certainly wasn’t.  I didn’t go over to the caves that apparently were shown in the movie, and chose to spend my time in the incredibly clear, warm water at this pretty beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s port was Lautoka on the island of Viti Levu.  I went to a very small island for the day and, you guessed it, did lots of snorkeling.

 

 

 

 Apparently these guys don’t sting, but I tried to keep clear anyway.  

 

 

These blue starfish were everywhere.

 

 

We have three more islands before getting to Sydney.  Oh boy, more snorkeling coming up!