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Post by chech on Oct 31, 2015 20:18:02 GMT
And it was the only day that I saw a cat on this whole expedition! LOL That food poisoning (I'm guessing that was what it was) really did a number. Never ate a thing yesterday and the flight from Fiji to Sydney was absolutely packed with kids! Good thing is all the noise took my mind off my tummy....LOL...I've never been on such a noisy plane before. Ready for a nice quiet 15 hour flight to Vancouver now.
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Post by chech on Nov 6, 2015 23:43:00 GMT
Tale should start appearing within days. It took me the last two days just to put all my photos together in one place. I'll be downloading them to flickr as I put the tale together.
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Post by chech on Nov 14, 2015 18:19:55 GMT
Okay....the Travel Days are up here. I expect to be able to put a day up each day. I'll put the individual links here and when I'm done, I'll add the main link to the first post. (Clicking on the Table of Contents or Main Page won't take you to anything new. That gets assembled at the end). Enjoy.
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Post by chech on Nov 15, 2015 13:32:24 GMT
Day One is up. And let me know if you see a typo or a sentence that doesn't make sense.
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Post by chech on Nov 16, 2015 13:15:22 GMT
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Post by chech on Nov 17, 2015 13:23:19 GMT
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Post by purvis on Nov 17, 2015 17:22:17 GMT
Chech: Enjoying your Australian tour tale. I must say you are courageous as I doubt that many of us on this site would even consider climbing up the bridge. Looking forward to the rest of your tour tale. Purvis
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Post by Tulips on Nov 18, 2015 10:45:48 GMT
Loved reading about day 3. The bridge climb is on my list, but it is pricey.
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Post by chech on Nov 18, 2015 13:26:00 GMT
Everything in Australia is pricey! I estimate that I spent $1400 on optionals (including Bridge Climb) but I did a number of things on my own or while on the optionals and spent at least another $1000 on them. It was nice to have a slush fund! The Bridge Climb definitely isn't for everyone, Purvis. It was funny to be on some of the later tours and talking about it and I can't tell you how many times I'd hear a wife say no way and the husband go "I gotta do that!"....and vice versa. I think more woman wanted to do it than men. And it's more for the experience than the views since you still get magnificent views from the Pylon or from just walking on the pedestrian lane. Day Four is up now.
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Post by plane2catch on Nov 18, 2015 17:54:48 GMT
Thanks for sharing the barking owl. How funny.
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Post by tassiedevil on Nov 18, 2015 23:29:33 GMT
Just finished reading up to day 5 (have to admit I did skip over any part that was talking about history). I found it very interesting that you mention Boney M on day 3 as I went to a Boney M concert at your hotel in Hobart the night before you arrived. I knew you would enjoy the bridge climb, it is one of my highlights of Sydney (Sydney isn't one of my favourite cities so don't regularly visit, so am glad I managed to do it even though I did it in January in the middle of the day, HOT). One thing I might dispute, on day 5, is the lack of online check-in on Jetstar. As a regular Jetstar flier (most recently as last Sunday) I know that online check-in opens 48 hours before the scheduled departure and closes 1 hour before. Maybe you didn't have your booking reference number?
I will save a full comment until you post day 14, but will say don't complain about terminal 1 (the small part that you had to use) in Melbourne, the brand new terminal 4 is horrendous. Would much rather be back using terminal 1, which I tolerated as I knew it was temporary while they were planning and building a new terminal.
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Post by chech on Nov 19, 2015 0:28:41 GMT
Ah...so the new terminal opened! LOL I can't imagine something worse than the chaos of that little add-on gate area. It was suffocating! I had my booking reference for Jetstar and checked in for all my other flights but it wouldn't let me check-in online for the two Jetstar flights. Maybe it had to do with my fare type. I also wasn't able to select my seats for those two flights but could for the Qantas and Qantaslink flights.
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Post by chech on Nov 19, 2015 2:17:10 GMT
P.S. I'll note the Jetstar thing in the tale when I get back at it tomorrow.
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Post by chech on Nov 19, 2015 11:44:47 GMT
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Post by Tulips on Nov 19, 2015 17:25:55 GMT
Did you rent the camera?
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Post by chech on Nov 19, 2015 18:41:58 GMT
Yup. I had two underwater film cameras with me but I saved them until Fiji. This way I can compare the quality when I finally sit down and look at them closely.
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Post by Tulips on Nov 19, 2015 22:09:47 GMT
What did you rent? A Gopro? The dive shop in the Galapagos that we used rented GoPros.
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Post by chech on Nov 19, 2015 22:35:07 GMT
No GoPros. Neither the shop, the ship or the ship in Fiji had any GoPros. They all rented waterproof point and shoots with the a waterproof casing around it. The only problem I had with it was seinge the screen through the casing. The film cameras I used in Fiji sat nicely on top of my snorkel and I could see through the viewfinder.
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Post by bet on Nov 20, 2015 6:38:39 GMT
Good reading Chech, I think it will be my only way of seeing Australia
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Post by bet on Nov 20, 2015 6:48:08 GMT
What did you rent? A Gopro? The dive shop in the Galapagos that we used rented GoPros. Tulips, do you plan on writing a tale on your Galapagos trip? I'd love to read about it, Galapagos is on my short list
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Post by Tulips on Nov 20, 2015 10:38:19 GMT
What did you rent? A Gopro? The dive shop in the Galapagos that we used rented GoPros. Tulips, do you plan on writing a tale on your Galapagos trip? I'd love to read about it, Galapagos is on my short list Yes. I am working on it now. I plan to post the link to where it is when I am finished.
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Post by tiffany on Nov 20, 2015 12:47:17 GMT
Now that I’m done writing my tour tale, I’m looking forward to reading this one. I hope to make it to Australia some day!
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Post by tiffany on Nov 20, 2015 12:49:09 GMT
Tulips, do you plan on writing a tale on your Galapagos trip? I'd love to read about it, Galapagos is on my short list Yes. I am working on it now. I plan to post the link to where it is when I am finished. I can’t wait to read it either. I’d love to go to the Galapagos some day, and I’m thinking of adding the Galapagos to my trip to Peru when I go there. This is still a few years away though. So many places to go, not enough time or money to go to all of them!
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Post by chech on Nov 20, 2015 13:17:03 GMT
I'm saving your Greek tale till I'm done here. Day Six - The Great Barrier Reef Extravaganza is up.
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Post by plane2catch on Nov 20, 2015 19:34:39 GMT
Hey Chech, did you get to see any giant clams? That's what I remember about my dive. I still have the video and love watching that darn clam open and close. It's been years since I dove but I love the sport. I use to dive a lot in the 1980's off of the California coast near the Channel Islands. It was fun to see all the kelp under the sea. Also fun in the water with the sea lions. Did you get certified in Canada before you left? You should have been able to control your buoyancy with the inflatable vest by adjusting the amount of air it holds. Perhaps they should have put more weights on you. I use to dive around 80 ft. down in CA but think I was only about 45 ft. down when I dove the great barrier reef. Feel like I'm getting to old for the sport now but oh the memories are great.
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Post by chech on Nov 20, 2015 21:55:39 GMT
Yes! I saw one in Fiji and I took several pics. Not a single one came out except one that was blurred. I was bummed! I'm not certified and I know that insurance wouldn't cover me if something happened (it's considered adventure travel) but I trusted Australian regulations to ensure it was done properly and they assured me no one has ever had an issue. I found their procedures quite good and since I'm so comfortable in the water, I had no issues. I did it again in Fiji and the instructor there was impressed...she told me I should get certified. I know someone local who does do certifications and I'm considering doing that. The buoyancy issue wasn't with the tank and vest...just the basic wet suit. In Fiji, I could dive down a metre or so in just my bathing suit. In Cairns, I couldn't get very far under without a lot of effort. Eighty feet! Wow. The six to eight metres we went down isn't much more than 20-25 feet. Wonder how my ears would like going down triple that! LOL I'm hoping I'm not too old for it at 50. My friend who does the certification is in his mid 50s. Around here, the diving is in very cold water as well....but I'd love to certify and go down to the Caribbean from time to time.
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Post by plane2catch on Nov 21, 2015 0:35:27 GMT
Yeah you know the old saying, "your're only as old as you fell" well, unfortunately I feel it as I don't have quite the adventurous spirit I once had. When your down at the 80 ft. level you have to make sure you don't ascend too fast and I remember always being greatful that I surfaced.
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Post by chech on Nov 21, 2015 12:02:58 GMT
Yeah...My only thought is that if there's a problem, I'm not that far from the surface. The Zoo Day Seven is up.
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Post by plane2catch on Nov 21, 2015 14:14:36 GMT
Love the Owl in flight and Platypus bird pics. I really find this bird to be so unique. Just awesome!! I remember seeing a beautiful bird on Safari in Zimbabwe. (Hope I spelled that correctly) That particular bird was composed of 19 separate vibrant colors. I had never seen anything like it in my life. Same with your pic of this Platypus bird. Chech, enjoying your tale but would like a little more detail such as where the heck your flight is headed to in your last post? You must be getting tired of writing these Travel tales. They are so enjoyable for those of us at home to read. I am also anxiously awaiting Tulips Tale of the Galapagos' Islands.
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Post by Tulips on Nov 21, 2015 14:25:18 GMT
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