The great barrier to enjoyment of anything is unmet expectations, and the thing about expectations is they need to be managed. The day we were to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef started out like this.

And when we arrived at Green Island for the first bit of snorkeling before catching another ferry out to the reef, the rain had stopped, but the chop was still high and the water clarity was terrible. We first went to a less popular beach where Brittany and Andy had snorkeled in the past, but no luck, so off to the busier beach and saw a few beauties like this.

I took this photo at the Sydney Aquarium, since I didn’t have an underwater camera, but the ones we saw really were this extraordinary shade of blue. Then we caught the ferry out to the reef proper.

I had brought most of my own gear, but it turned out my ancient snorkel chose that day to fail. I was sucking in a bit of seawater with each breath and it seemed to be getting worse, which is not conducive to a stress-free appreciation of nature. I swam back to the platform, dragged myself up and out of the water, took off my fins, and went in search of a snorkel to borrow from the provided gear. Then reversed the whole process and finally was breathing freely and seeing glorious color and absolutely enormous fish.

I bobbed about with a hundred or so others inside the buoyed confines of our section of the reef until lunch, by which time the sun had come out. We dried off and warmed up on the upper deck, then went down into the little sub for a tour, choosing the wrong side for seeing most of the cool stuff–oops–but a few people let me cram in and I saw enough.

By the time we caught the ferry back, the day looked like this.

We ended the day laughing together in a place with a similar array of color…

So the day wasn’t perfect. So what? Am I glad I went? Absolutely! It was time with family seeing one of the great natural wonders of the world. Thanks, Brittany, for organizing it!

Wishing you a 2025 filled with adventure, fully enjoyed!

Last time I noticed the post showed up in its entirety in the email, but formatted terribly, with the print and the photos too small, and the captions of the photos weirdly off to the side. If it happens again, be sure to click on the title of the post or the WordPress icon or where it says, “Read on Blog.” I promise it’s way better on the actual site. Thanks, as always, for reading these posts!

Now back to Australia:

Once I saw the view from the apartment and we had our first stroll through town, I knew Cairns would not disappoint. We had booked the Great Barrier Reef for Thursday, so on Wednesday we went to the gorgeous, tropical Cairns Botanic Gardens. For this Colorado-dweller, it was almost surreal to park the car and walk right into the jungle. There were intriguing paths forking off in various directions, wood walkways over boggy areas, little bridges over tiny streams, solid stone steps set into slopes. Loved it all. . .. . . even though we had to share it with spiders. . .Most of it was enormous, like houseplants on steroids.My mind went to Gulliver in Brobdingnag. We saw no giants, fortunately, just giant ferns and palms and towering paperbark trees. This arty bench will give you an idea of scale.There’s something about feeling small in the world, wherever one travels, that seems appropriately humbling. Perfect reminder while taking in the beauty of nature.Savoring beauty, whenever and wherever possible, is always a good idea. So I’m praying for you today a chance to appreciate the wonders of nature, preferably to be out in it, filling your lungs with clean, pure, outside air, something I can easily forget to do. But if you can’t today, I hope these pix gave you at least a bit of vicarious refreshment.

This Thanksgiving week, I’m thankful for all these delights, for time with my dear ones, and for you (if you made it this far), even if we haven’t met yet.

It’s a long two-day drive from Alice Springs to Cairns, so we spent the night in Mount Isa, then hit the road at dawn.

Andy is always on high alert at dawn and dusk, since that’s when the roos are likely to be on the road. I was just enjoying the glorious morning light until it was bright enough for me to get a decent photo of termite mounds. These in the distance were seen while speeding along the day before …

Zoom in (or wait for the next shot), but I love this blue and green. I couldn’t get closer, because you do NOT walk through tall grass in Australia–too many dangerous critters. We were waiting to see some close to the road. And voilà!

Some are enormous, way bigger than these, and some are even dressed in t-shirts or other garb. I guess you find your fun where you can.

Our route took us along part of the Dinosaur Triangle, so we took a break at Kronosaurus Korner in Richmond. Brittany was enthralled and paid the hefty entrance fee for the museum. I peeked through the glass door, shopped for gift t-shirts, then headed outside to the restrooms, labeled “preHIStoric” and “preHERStoric” with a T-rex on a sign that read, “COULDN’T WASH HANDS … NOW EXTINCT.”

After Richmond, we could have gone to Townsville, then north up the coast, but opted instead for the green, hilly, twisty route through Atherton. Gorgeous.

For the last bit before Cairns, we were in jungle and stop-and-go traffic. Storms had washed out half the road at places, so we had to alternate with westbound traffic. Finally we were clear but behind a SUPER-slow, crazy-cautious driver who would not pull over even when he had the opportunity. GHAAAAA! It was already dark by the time we made it into Cairns.

We found our lodging, barely cleared the max-height bar in the underground garage, and lugged our gear upstairs to a spacious apartment with a broad, ocean-view deck. Then next door for fish tacos and a stroll around town. AHHHHH!

We woke to this …

Perfect setting for my last stop with Brittany and Andy.

Praying for all of us: patience when things don’t go our way, and many, many glowing dawns and sparkling evenings. More AHHHH than GHAAAA.

Grace and peace to you, as always.

 

 

After our night at Uluru, we made a super-quick early-morning stop at Kata Tjuta (more huge, impressive red rock), where this was my favorite shot. 😉

Then we were headed back to Alice Springs for a couple more days. On the way, we saw this. Outback Roadside Decor

Abandoned cars — in various states of disrepair — are a standard feature of roads in the Outback. I made Andy stop. I loved the blue against the red Uluru dirt. Most are less picturesque. Pro tip: do NOT leave your car unattended in the Outback. Not for long, anyway!

By Friday afternoon, we were back in Alice and I survived my third CrossFit session with Brittany, her coworkers and friends. I was actually starting to feel kind of empowered. Woo-hoo!

Saturday, we packed up for two LONG days driving to Cairns, Andy at the wheel as usual. We managed to fit in dinner at Brittany and Andy’s friends’ place, where we weren’t the only ones having dinner:

This couple rescues orphaned kangaroos and other wildlife until they are eventually able to head back out on their own. I’m the one holding the other end of the bottle. What an experience — I couldn’t stop smiling.

Early Sunday morning we were on the road again, headed north, then east…and more east…to get to the coast and Cairns to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. It’s almost as far as driving from Denver to DC. But no worries. It was beautiful.

This place is called Karlu Karlu or Devils Marbles:

Even the burned areas had their own beauty:

Mostly, there was a lot of green and sometimes water, even on the road. There was so much rain in early 2024, the Todd River “regatta” was canceled because there was actual water in the river. Google or click here for more on the Henley on Todd Regatta, “Flintstone-style boat races” on the dry riverbed.

And then suddenly–okay, not suddenly at all–we were in Queensland.

Fuel and other necessities are few and far between. You pretty much take advantage of any roadhouse. We stopped in Camooweal long enough to get this shot:

Kind of a cool Wild West vibe for my farewell to the Outback.

One more shot from the Alice Springs bird show earlier in the week:

Wishing you beauty and interesting companions along your route, wherever you’re headed!