NEW ZEALAND!

I made to Auckland New Zealand with just a small two and a half hour delay at customs. I had to relinquish my cockatoo feather. I was given the option to have the New Zealand Government hold it for me until my departure in three months. But I decided the $15 dollar a week holding fee was a bit steep. Besides I hope to see Belinda At Munmurra Park in October. I am confident she will help me locate another one then. I made arrangements to stay with Neil and John on their horse property. Neil picked me up from the airport. Luckily he was patient enough during my hold up in customs. We joked about it as we got to know each other on the drive out of town. He said that as he watched people coming out of the restricted zone he noticed fewer and fewer people. He was beginning to question whether or not he had the right day. Or even if I had made the flight. I on the other hand was worried he had already made the decision to leave. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see my name on a sign someone was holding at the airport. It was all I could to just shake hands and introduce myself. I felt like giving him a great big hug! Apparently there were 5 separate international flights that all arrived within an hour of each other. If you add that amount of congestion and one cockatoo feather you end up were I ended up...The Red Line-Customs. I guess I could have forgotten I was carrying it but that could have caused an issue if I was found out. My conscience took over and I disclosed it. Both New Zealand and Australia have strict guidelines in place to protect the indigenous flora and fauna.

Disease and invasive species are only kept at bay from the efforts at all entry points to each of the countries. I would rather have them incinerate one feather than to have been the cause of some catastrophe. Even if it meant going through The Red Line.

The two photo's on this post were taken by Claudio a fellow HelpXer. I post them with his permission.

Sydney, Australia - Full Circle

Back again. I do love Sydney. I have walked all over Sydney at all hours. Till sunrise a time or two. I have taken the bus, the train, a cab, and the ferry. Except for the occasional request for money or a cigarette, that is about as dangerous as I have witnessed. Of course please understand there is no plan here. I get bored . So I walk. I look for interesting things to take a picture of. Of course I am hunting a few Rainbows too. I listen to people on the street and see how many different languages I can decipher in one walk. My record so far is eight seemingly different languages. I people watch. I have always said that I enjoy doing this but I don't think I really every did it. Not at the level I have done it here. You have to truly stop, lean on a giant match stick, sit on a bus bench, just stop. And I don't mean just for few minutes. Stop for an hour. In a city this size people are moving, working, hustling and bustling. If you can find the time, it can be very entertaining.
I chose to step out of another comfort zone upon returning to Sydney. I stayed at my first Backpackers Hostile. Luckily for me it also caters as a host site. I had contacted Daniel at The Palms. He offered to exchange accommodation for 2-3 hours of work. I stayed for 5 days before having to leave for New Zealand. Of course I was a bit hesitant when upon my arrival the night manager had no idea I was coming. So he put me into a room that already had people a sleep in it. The room was dark but I was able to make out an empty bunk. An empty top bunk. Yikes! I didn't want to wake the strangers sleeping in the room by my rustling around. I dropped my bags and headed downstairs to the common area. STRESSED! I jumped on the internet and sent out a few " I made it Ok " emails. I researched some of the HelpX hosts that I could stay with once I arrived in New Zealand. It was sometime in the wee morning I found the strength to cross the fear barrier. I headed back upstairs and jumped into my bunk as gracefully as one can in a dark, unfamiliar place. The next morning I met Daniel and cleared up the mix up. Over the next 5 days my work included some wall repair in the main stair well. Plastering, sanding and priming. Cleaning the huge community fridge inside and out. I also had the experience of cleaning the kitchen walls from ceiling to stove top. Not the most glamorous of jobs; but it put a roof over my head and a place to store my gear. Although the other "Job" I was required to do was walk Bandit, while Daniel went surfing. Not really work by any means. Even with Bandit being a bit "stick obsessive." I was able to explore the various surf beaches and surrounding areas of Sydney. It is nice to have a local show you about. The first time I visited I didn't have that luxury. With Daniel and Bandit I was given the opportunity to go places I would probably would not have found by myself. My whole travel plan of, "Maybe I will turn left here," just doesn't get you as far as one would think. Let's face it, after enough lefts you end up making a circle. This works well in a strange place provided you are paying attention. I rarely find myself lost. At least not lost for long. Of course, I guess I have spent a life time of going in circles. The opportunity to catch a ride, and not have to make the decision to turn left, is a welcome one. Before leaving Sydney I had the pleasure of meeting up with Belinda from Munmurra Park, my first host and now good friend. She was in town visiting her daughter and grandchild. We made arrangements to have coffee and catch up. It was great to see her! Hopefully I will see her again in October. I must revisit Munmurra Park and check out the gardens in bloom. So we made the plans and if all goes well it will happen. For now I am New Zealand bound!

The White Cockatoo, The Play

Ok ,where do I start? I guess being the Professional Rainbow Hunter that I am, I will start with my most recent capture. Tony had taken me for a ride in the area. Upon leaving Rocky Point (a jetty suitable for boat launching),we took notice and photos of this Rainbow over the ocean. Somewhere out there is where Tony took me out on to the Great Barrier Reef, but that is later in this Journey. So be patient.

The area that I called home for about a month is smack dab in the middle of sugar cane fields, mountains, and rainforest. There are plenty of creeks and rivers that find there way to the ocean here, and the beaches range from sandy to muddy depending on the tides. The main river system in the area is The Daintree. A "World Heritage" site. This is where I saw my first Croc! Tony took me out on to the Daintree River one afternoon. It travels right through the Daintree Rainforest and various farm plots (cattle and sugarcane).We launched onto the river in search of the infamous "Salties." Tony pointed out that they actually don't live in saltwater. They just use the ocean to travel from river mouth to river mouth. Occasionally crocs are spotted out on the reef. I was told that this generally occurs when the smaller crocs are forced out of the rivers during mating season by the big crocs. I guess after spending a season(mating) or two fattening up on all the fish out there, eventually you become one of the big boys. They are quite ferocious just the same. At each entry to the water, either river or ocean, there are warnings posted, "DO NOT APPROACH WATERS EDGE! Crocodiles are known to inhabit these waters." these crocs are the man eating variety. Apparently the "freshies" are more like an American alligator in their temperament. Ether way, I chose to stay in the boat. Even launching and retrieving the boat I found myself a bit nervous. The water isn't exactly clear.

The Mosman River enters the ocean at Cooya Beach. This was my first bike ride into my surroundings. I think it was a few kilometers from The White Cockatoo. It definitely was a good work out, how ever far it was. Tony and Lenore have mountain bikes available for their guests. If no guest were using them, then one was at my disposal. I took advantage of this a few times, but not enough to really make an impact upon my increasing weight. Which by the way has started to alarm me. Well, "alarm" might be a little harsh. It has not become a big (no pun intended) enough issue to curb my appetite. OOPS! I digress, that would be a whole other story.

The Mosman River travels through the rainforest out of the mountains (that seem to hug the coast), through Mosman, and into the ocean at Cooya Beach. This track has created the Mosman Gorge. I took a hike through the area which has also been deemed a "World Heritage" site. It essentially is a walking path up in and around the Gorge, taking you through virgin rainforest. Here the water does run clear. Thankfully it's cold too. Too cold for crocodiles!

The whole time I was staying at The White Cockatoo the wind offshore was clicking at 20 to 30 knots and it seemed to rain a lot! You would think that this would be normal being in the "wet tropics." It's not, at least not in the month of June. Tony explained," This is our dry season. Things should be drying out, and I can't believe the wind has been so relentless." He tried blaming the weather on me. After three weeks I was starting to believe him myself. You see, the wind was keeping me from The Great Barrier Reef. Tony has a very nice and powerful boat. His offer to take me out there was on the table, provided the weather cooperated. But anything over 15 knots is just to rough to make the 45 minute journey to the protected waters of the outer reef. So we waited, and waited, and waited. After three weeks, my time was running out. I was going to have to leave for Sydney, in order to catch my flight to New Zealand in a couple more weeks. Tony and Lenore came to me one morning and struck a deal. If I guaranteed my stay until leaving for Sydney, they would book a charter trip for me on one of the newest, if not "the" newest vessels traveling to the reef. Well, just look at the grin on my face. Of course I said yes! I didn't have the fore thought to bring an underwater camera along so unfortunately the photo's from that experience are all stored in my head. Except for the one of Tom, Sarah, and Myself. Sarah's mom took the photo for me. If you look, you can make out the reef just below the surface in the second photo. This was a snorkel trip. I was amazed by all that I saw. So many fish, so many colors, so much coral! I even swam with a school of cuttle fish which was an amazing experience in it's self. On two separate occasions during my underwater adventure I swam with a sea turtle. The first one I named Barney, due to the barnacles on his shell. The second one I almost named Stubby, but then I noticed the flipper I thought was missing. So I guess I didn't really come up with a name for him. Hmmmm? You know, now that I think about, I don't even know if it was a him! Anyway, it was an incredible experience on a beautiful boat. We traveled to two different locations on the reef.

AAAAGH! But there is more to this story...

The following Sunday, the last weekend before moving on...

THE WEATHER FINALLY BROKE!!!!!!!

Yep, The Great Barrier Reef Part Two! With Captain Tony Fox.

Allen's private tour.

I will let the photos speak for themselves. Tony ever so graciously allowed me to use his underwater camera. I snapped well over 100 photos. (don't worry I won't post them all) I didn't see any turtles or cuttle fish this trip but I did see...

YES!!! I EVEN SWAM WITH A WHITE TIP REEF SHARK!

As I was in awe of this whole experience, I couldn't even have imagined that I would feel "No fear." The absolute beauty of the reef and of this shark was incredible. As soon as it came by me I immediately started to follow it. It was about 4 feet in length, or so it appeared underwater. Just amazing! I swam with it for about 15 minutes and than I thought, "Hmmmm, maybe this isn't the most intelligent behavior." So I let it swim on. Not that I could have or would have, prevented it. Thankfully my limited knowledge of sharks gave me comfort in knowing, "This was not the man eating variety." It was just as curious about me as I was of it. Once that curiosity was fulfilled, and better judgment set in, we went our separate ways. So between two reef trips the count stood at countless fish, a couple of sea turtles, a school of cuttle fish, hundreds of types of coral and the like, and a white tip reef shark. Oh, but the trip didn't end with the shark...

THE TRIP ENDED WITH DOLPHINS!

I was casually enjoying the ride back to shore, reflecting on the whole experience of the reef. When suddenly, off to my left side, I am eye to eye with a porpoise. Who is traveling, about 20 meters out,"completely" out of the water. BAM! Then another one, and another one! They were literally flying through the air!They were in a race to catch our bow wave. Stupidly, I had packed my camera away, making it a bit difficult to retrieve quickly. This pod was a good 20 members strong. By the time I had camera in hand and ready, They were already in sync with the boat. The moral of this story...

DO NOT PUT THE CAMERA AWAY UNTIL YOU HAVE REACHED SHORE!!!!

(or when the batteries die, which is what I did to Tony's camera out on the reef.)

I know this has been a huge post. Please keep in mind it covers almost a month to the day. There is one more bit I would like to share. My Fourth Of July. I say it like that because, as far as I could tell, I was the only American with in miles celebrating American style. Thanks to Tony and Lenore we had a good old American Barbecue complete with Sparklers! Oh, and a red white and blue duster. American flags aren't readily available; but it did the trick! Tony worked the Barbie, Lenore cooked the side dishes, I made the deviled eggs. It was great fun. What a wonderful night. It was chillier than I think I have ever spent on Fourth of July; but, hell, I was still in the tropics and that was close enough!

Good On Ya, Mates!