Welcome to the Neighbourhood!

Here are some photos that I've taken around the neighbourhood! 

The first photo is actually downtown, but the second is the view from the end of our street. It is hard to make out, but where the lamp post is in the distance on the right hand side  is the start of the beach! The next are views of our place: the Thai restaurant underneath and the coffee shop, "Crumpet" (where I am right now!) 

In the next picture I have a flower in my hair. The tree it comes from is really unique and the flower itself is a member of the jasmine family and smells dreamy! I pick up flowers that have fallen whenever I walk by and place them around my house. Everything is very happy here - even the eggs!

Kurtis and I have taken up Backgammon and have spent many an evening playing it, or at the beach on the weekend. We have a score book and so far I'm winning! Before that is a picture of the public school here in Coogee, which I hope to be teaching at soon!

Next is the pool, or "bath" as they call it, at the end of Coogee beach. As you can see it is filled with ocean water, but is good for swimming laps if you don't want to compete with the waves. 

I went on a little walk around the ocean walkway and found that every park I came to was covered with awnings. This is great for little ones at play, as they can run around in the shade. The next few photos are of the "Women's Baths". They are as they sound: in-ocean pools for women and children only. The day that I went by was pretty stormy and no one was swimming (good thing!). In fact, there was barely anyone there, but a little cat having a snooze to the sound of the wind and waves.

I took some pictures of the waves and the different rock formations that have been windblown and sea-swept for hundreds of years to create spectacular cliffs and ridges. 

As I followed the path around and out of our bay area, I came across a boardwalk. It was a beautiful area, and very diverse. A freshwater stream can be seen, bringing water to a wetland, right there on the edge of the ocean! The wetland is home to frogs, bull rushes and other water plants, and the endangered white-faced heron. The archway of trees was completely magical: I felt like Dorothy in, "The Wizard of Oz" and half expected the trees to start talking to me as they swayed together, creaking in the ocean breeze.

As I mentioned, the area is very diverse and not far from the wetland I found cacti growing! The tree with the fuzzy balls on it that look like they could be little creatures is very common here, but I am not sure what it is called.

The fruit market is the next picture, and this is actually downtown. It is about 4 times the size of what I captured here, and is a great place for cheap, fresh produce! I really like going there when I get the chance.

Lastly, a view from the beach. There are no surfers on this wave, but if you give me a little while, I hope to be riding waves just like these!

Remember, if you would like to write to me, please post comments as "Anonymous" and then sign your name. Otherwise feel free to email me at: gahone@gmail.com, and then I can write you back specifically!

P.S. Hello to JSM! I miss you... I hope you are enjoying my pictures and stories. :)

A Whole New World

Our Saturday began early as we packed up our scuba gear, had a healthy breakfast and a quick coffee, and jumped in a taxi bound for Abyss Dive Centre. When we got there we got the items we do not own, including scuba tanks, weight belts and full body wetsuits. I don't think you will ever meet an unfriendly group of scuba divers, and the group we headed out with was no exception! If you scuba dive, you have an instant group of friends just waiting for you all over the world! Kurtis and I loaded up our gear in the dive master's car, hopped in a car with our new friend Andrew, and away we went to Botany Bay!

The dive site is in a cove around an island called, Bare Island. The weather was pretty grey and rainy, but the water temperature was about 20°C, and with our 5mm/7mm semi-dry wetsuits, it was the perfect temperature for very comfortable dives. Our first dive was 21 minutes long, and the second one was 37 minutes long, both at a depth of about 15 metres.

Considering the fact that our first real dive was back in Canada (Banff!) in October, in drysuits with a 6°C high, seeing nothing but silt and preserved tree stumps, this was an awe-inspiring experience! On the first dive when we submerged the visibility was very poor. Right away I was searching for my dive buddy, which was Kurtis, and our dive master Kirsty (her buddy was Andrew). While they were only about a few metres away, I could not see them through the murky water. That was a scary moment! However, we all found each other at the bottom and as Kirsty led us deeper towards the reef the visibility increased and we entered into an entirely new and busy world!

There were schools of fish everywhere - some big fish, and some small. Colourful coral, seaweed and sponges lined our path, as we peered under ledges and into crevices to see what could be hiding inside. Kirsty had an underwater flashlight, and this helped us see into the dark spaces. We had our underwater camera with us, trying it out for the first time. Our pictures do no justice to the colours, textures and movement of the underwater world, but they are proof of our adventure!

We managed to see quite a few interesting creatures throughout our two dives, including a giant blue grouper fish, some octopus, many varieties of fish (though I do not know all of their names yet) both big and small, cuttlefish, sea urchins, barnacles, crayfish, sea slugs (amazing colours and patterns, like white with black polka dots and one that was purple with orange swirls on it!), moray eels, sea stars, sea worms, and of course all of the corals, sponges and plant life.

The grouper fish reminded me of a puppy. He followed us around and at one point he swam right up to me and let me pet him! He felt very smooth and was about the size of my torso. As I was informed later, he was not necessarily being friendly, but had an ulterior motive: he was looking for free handouts of food! Divers will often feed the groupers, but as Kirsty explained, this is not good for the fish, as it causes them to become lazy and expect their dinner to be given to them, rather than to hunt for it themselves. It was pretty neat how comfortable he was with us though!

The cuttlefish were also very cool. We actually saw 2 of them sitting together, but we almost mistook them for rocks, as cuttlefish take on the exact appearance of whatever they are near, or whatever they want to be, emulating both colour and texture. We startled them and as they sprang up from the sand, they turned the colour of sand to try to trick us, thinking we were predators! Then Kirsty shone her light on the cuttlefish and because of the light wavelengths, the cuttlefish turned pink trying to disguise themselves as the beam of light! Very cool to see.

The octopus tried it's best to look like a rock, but we could see it swirling it's tentacles around and focusing one of it's big eyes on us: keeping an eye on what we were doing! The moray eel was also in hiding, but we found him under a ledge peering out. Eels look very menacing because their mouths are always open, as if they are threatening or about to attack, but this is actually how they breathe. Even knowing this did not make me want to get too close! In one of the pictures you can just barely make out the eel peeking his head out.

All in all, we had a great day of diving! Two beautiful dives, new friends, and new discoveries! We are already planning on going diving next weekend! :)