We woke up at 6:30, and were greeted by a gorgeous sunrise over the reef. The first dive was scheduled at 7:15, so after quickly getting dressed in our bathing suits we were out on the deck getting suited up. As we were getting ready the boat moved to a new dive site on the same reef. Once the boat was in position we did our standard buddy checks then jumped into the cool water.
Continue Reading »This was the first day on the scuba liveaboard! We were up early, it was still dark outside when the alarm went off at 5:15. A quick peek outside showed that it was lightly raining, but we weren’t too worried about the weather as it was forecast to clear up later in the morning. We got dressed, packed up and checked out about 45 minutes later. It was still dark and wet while we waited for our transportation to the dive shop to appear.
Continue Reading »Today was an early morning! Our flight from Sydney to Cairns, on Tigerair, was scheduled to depart at 7:15, and even though the flight was domestic we wanted to be at the airport 90 minutes ahead of the flight. This meant an early start! We woke up at 4:15, quickly showered, packed and checked out of the hotel; we were walking back to the Museum subway station stop just before 5:00.
Continue Reading »We had a good sleep and woke up as if we hadn’t flown halfway around the world less than a day before. We woke up at roughly 7:30, and then had a bit of a leisurely morning. This was going to be our only quiet morning for several days, so we made the most of it. We got up, got ready for the day, and went down to have breakfast at the hotel.
Continue Reading »Once we had cleared Australian customs our first day in Sydney could begin! We made our way to the subway station that is attached to the international terminal, as we wanted to take the train into the city. The New South Wales region has a combined transit system with a single card for fares, named Opal. This card allows you to load money onto it, and then tap it as you get on or off your mode of transport to charge for your trip.
Continue Reading »Our trip to Australia began around lunchtime on Saturday, May 18, 2019. We had scheduled a pickup with United Taxi at 12:15, and the driver arrived at our house several minutes early. We had finished packing the night before, so we were ready and waiting to go. We got into the cab and had an uneventful drive to Pearson. The first leg of our trip was on Air Canada, so the cab dropped us off at the Terminal 1 US area and we proceeded to the US check-in counter.
Continue Reading »Our trip to South Africa gave us the opportunity to see a number of different parts of the country - bustling Cape Town, the rugged coast of the Cape of Good Hope, the verdant and natural Hluhluwe region, the incredible Kruger National Park, and dramatic Johannesburg. This was the first bus tour that Todd and I had taken, and it definitely had its advantages and disadvantages. The tour was organized by Gate 1 Travel, and they did a great job.
Continue Reading »The last day of our trip began in the air. Our trip home had a layover in Paris; and because we had taken off from Johannesburg in the evening our flight to Paris was about half over when the clock struck midnight. We watched a bit of TV prior to being served dinner on the flight, then both Todd and I spent most of the remainder of the flight trying to sleep.
Continue Reading »We spent the last full day of our trip to South Africa on our own. We slept in, had a lazy breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and enjoyed the freedom of not being on a schedule. The first leg of our flight home was scheduled to depart Johannesburg at 18:50, giving us a half day to do whatever we wanted. We were allowed to check out late from the hotel; the time coinciding with our shuttle’s scheduled departure for the airport - 2:30 PM.
Continue Reading »The ninth day of the tour was the last one with scheduled activities. We had a relatively late 7:00 wake-up call, ate breakfast in the hotel and were back on the bus at 8:30. Belinda had given up her role as guide for the day, and instead a local guide from Johannesburg joined us. The itinerary for the day had us visiting a number of points of interest around Johannesburg, and the local guide was going to provide us with some local history and knowledge as we drove from point to point.
Continue Reading »