Last weekend we made a trip to Wagga wagga. We went to the beach, a kids soccer game, some local watering holes, and the licorice factory in Junee on the way back. This t-shirt, available at the local information center sums it up…
promo t-shirt
The rest of the photos are here.
So the day after the conference finished, we flew up to Exmouth to search for whale sharks, sun, and a break from the Canberra winter. We found it.
Saturday we went out on a boat with 3 Islands Marine in the hope of swimming with a whale shark. The morning was spent with a nice dive on the Ningaloo reef. I got to test out my new Olympus 1030SW, supposedly waterproof but as yet untested (aside from a bit of testing with a water glass). Turned out it works beautifully, and takes really nice photos.
Ningaloo reef
We then moved on outside the reef to find big fish to swim with. The company uses planes to spot their fish, and had to call in a second one when they hadn’t found one by lunch time. On the way we saw some humpback whales on their way north.
While we were watching the whales, the whale shark call came, and we and the other boats raced down to the spot. There was only the one whale shark that day so we had to share with some other boats. We got several swims so I didn’t feel like we missed out at all.
Come swim time we dived in and split into two groups so the fish could swim between us. It dutifully did so and was extremely cool…
Whale shark
My camera worked nicely too, as you can see.
Having tired ourselves out, we headed back. We met some more humpbacks on the way, these ones much more playful, showing a bit of tail for us to photograph.
Humpback
An awesome day, and probably worth the $350 or so it cost us. The rest of the photos are here.
Last weekend Michelle and I cruised out of town for a break. We went to Jervis Bay via Kangaroo Valley and Fitzroy Falls. We froze in my tent, and had fish ‘n’ chips in Batemans Bay on the way back.
More photos here.
Over the weekend Michelle and I took a drive up to my uncle’s place for a visit. He lives near Kew which is about 7 hours drive north. We were treated to great food and wine, and had a good ol’ family time.
On the way up we stopped where the road crosses the Hawkesbury River, and saw lots of big spiders.
We went for a walk on the beach out from Laurieton, very nice in the evening…
and as we watched the sun set a few dolphins came into the bay as an added bonus!
The rest of the photos are here.
Yesterday I went for a drive up the Otago Peninsula with my dad. It’s very nice up there…
More photos when I get somewhere I can upload them in a finite time…
Not wanting to incriminate anyone here, but Jose, Chas, Shane, and myself took a little trip to the beach yesterday (a Friday). I wasn’t really well enough to be doing any work anyway, proven by my doing nothing but sleep on the beach and take a few photos all day.
I was bummed about being unwell, since the conditions looked beautiful.
At least the others made the most of the wonderful day… more photos here.
