You know you’re somewhere totally different when…
The roadkill is the size of a deer but has a long tail and jumps.
There are more things that can kill/hurt you than anywhere else in the world.
The sun, beaches, beer, and surfers define a culture.
Yes... I’d finally made it to Australia!

My sister Shirley flew out to Australia to meet me for two weeks of fun and sun and sisterly bonding time, and I was so happy to have her as a partner-in-crime as we toured Oz. Our first adventure was the Great Barrier Reef. We were in for quite a cool experience on board Taka II – it would be all diving all the time during our 4-day liveaboard trip. Twenty-seven divers and a happy crew set out on a Tuesday night – we’d motor up the reef all night and then dive all the way back to Cairns. What better way to see as much as we could of the 2500 km of reef than to dive on it 4 times a day?! It was like being at camp again with cool camp counselors, bunks, communal meals, and new friends. And, the diving was just spectacular! It was as if the fish life and coral were on steroids. The sheer numbers of different kinds of fish that were down there was awesome – sharks, turtles, snakes, Nemos, cod fish, giant clams, just to name a few. We were swimming in the coolest aquarium in the world! The fun people, sun deck and ocean views made for great downtime when we weren’t in the water - nothing to do but hang out and enjoy the sun and conversation. Night dives were an interesting experience. It was eerie, verging on scary, as I descended into darkness with my flashlight, looking for sleeping turtles, green eyes (sharks) or red eyes (shrimp). One green light/eye is OK (shark is swimming by you), two green lights/eyes is a little bit worse (shark is coming towards you). Some people love night dives, but I can't say that I'm one of them. Cold, dark and you can't really see what's out there. No thanks, sharks were freaky enough in the daylight!

The Lonergans are famous in Australia. I’m glad I didn’t know why they were famous until after our last day of diving. Shirley and I somehow got brave enough to go out and navigate on our own – “Keep the reef on your right, turn around at 100-bar, and have the reef on your left to get back.” Easy enough, right? I guess I failed to factor in the power of the tides/current, poor visibility, and the fact that all the reef looks the same to me. Suddenly I looked around, couldn’t recognize anything, couldn’t see any other divers, and there was no more coral reef. Uh oh. I was running out of air so there was nothing left for us to do but go up. We surfaced and... the dive boat was MILES and MILES away. UGH! I knew it’d be OK as long as they could see us, but it was going to be one hell of a tough swim back in the waves and against the current. We braved the waves and started kicking towards the boat. It sucked! Another set of divers surfaced and I was so relieved. It's a lot less embarrassing when you're not the only ones that lose your way and end up not where you want to be! A dinghy eventually appeared and Joey, our trusty divemaster, threw us a line. “Regs in, masks on, hold on.” We were to be towed in like fish off the back of a boat. Slightly painful (bumping into other tanks and divers), lots of bubbles/wake, and a lot of hard work to hold on, but we were just happy to have been saved.

As for the Lonergans, apparently this couple had been out diving and didn’t come up when/where they were supposed to. The dive boat left without them and it wasn’t until almost 3 days later that anyone realized they were missing and what had happened. I get the heebie-jeebies just imagining coming up to the surface to find that you were in the middle of the ocean, and totally stranded and alone. Now I know why our crew was so tyrannical about making sure everyone signed in after their dives!

Shirley and I rented a car one day and went exploring on our own. We went looking for the Millaa Millaa Falls, a famous much-photographed waterfall in the Atherton Tablelands. The billabong (swimming hole) at the base of the falls was just inviting us in for a swim. Even in the rain, it was just too perfect an I’m-on-vacation-in-Australia moment to pass up! Spontaneous, cool and refreshing. Shirley and I swam around in a peaceful zen-like state, while the Japanese tourists on passing buses took pictures. And then... I screamed. Something had just taken a taste of me, and I had no idea what it was – you couldn’t see anything in the dark water. I swam frantically to the shore and stumbled out. Blood was dripping down my leg. In a land where there are millions of things that can kill/hurt you, I was in the middle of nowhere and had just got bitten by who knows what. Panic set it. Did it hurt? Could I breathe? Was it swelling up? Was I passing out? Was I numb? Was I going to die? I couldn’t tell! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. My imagination was running in overdrive and I was freaked out. After all that I’d been through and all that was left to do, this was NOT the way I wanted to go!

But, now we all know how the story ends. Shirley and I headed straight for the nearest town. The closest thing to a hospital was the local grocery store/gas station/hamburger joint/newsstand. The waitress/cook/clerk/owner said she didn’t think there were any killer animals in their local swimming hole - just yappy turtles or blood-sucking leeches - and a wave of relief instantly flooded over me. I tried to con myself into thinking that it was a turtle or a fish that attacked my leg, but the 2 fang marks/puncture holes in a straight line on my calf almost ensures that it was a snake. It’s funny to think back now, especially since my scar looks more like a paper cut than anything else. But, it’ll be a good story to tell my grandkids one day…

The next day we hopped on a little 8-seater plane and flew over a large length of the reef to Lizard Island, a secluded island in the middle of the reef. Our pilot/guide Greg took us through a mangrove swamp, pausing to peek at the flying foxes (fruit bats) hanging in the trees and to taste green ants (yes I ate a live ant, and yes it was tasty (kind of citrus-y)) to Watson’s Bay. Every beach I see from now on will pale in comparison – crystal clear blue water, sugary sand, gentle breezes, deserted beach. The snorkeling was better than some of the diving we had done, with brilliant and absolutely abundant fish life and coral. We spent the day lazing around in the hot sun, swimming with the fish, following turtles and sharks, and paddling around in the ocean. If I didn't know it already, this is what getting away from it all is all about!

A 3-hour plane ride and a 6-hour bus ride later (Australia is a really big country!), we were on Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. A 4X4 bus took us around the island to coastal beaches, fresh water lakes, sand dunes, a shipwreck and rainforests. It’s the place to be if you like sand between your toes... and everywhere else! We didn’t see any dingoes (infamous on Fraser) and got rained on most of the time, but we enjoyed our Aussie guide Mick, walking on the beach, and the neat people who were on our tour. Plus, it was fun to relive the last time my sister and I shared a tent in a state park in Michigan, which was at least 20 years ago!

Before I knew it, another 2 weeks had flown by and Shirley was sunburned and on her way home to San Francisco and I was on a plane for Sydney, my last stop in the South Pacific. Happily, I spent most of my time in Sydney just wandering around without a purpose - just what I needed after all the activity and running around of the last few months. It was great! The city was all that I imagined the postcard of it to be - surfers and boardshorts, beaches, sun, beer, and the Opera House. Such a beautiful place - riding around on the buses and ferries was all the sightseeing I needed to do. Sydney epitomizes the definition of summer and summer was definitely in full swing; Bondi Beach was Baywatch. After five sunny beachy days, many miles of walking, and lots of buses and ferry rides, I was on a plane again, headed for home.

How could 3 months have already gone by?!

P.S. Bill Bryson's book about Australia "In A Sunburned Country" was such a great read! I highly recommend it for some fun and entertaining insight and stories about Oz. Totally makes you want to go and see it for yourself!