So, as I've already mentioned, we went to Stradbroke Island over the weekend. We left Friday night after work and came back on Sunday. We stayed in this adorable 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, just a few minutes walk from the beach and it only cost $200 for the whole weekend!! Steve found it online and it was a little old lady who rented it. We paid her by leaving the money on the counter top when we left! She called Steve at work and told him that she was worried we wouldn't be able to find the house and asked him if she could send him a map. She of course didn't have email, so Steve gave her a mailing address. A hand drawn map turns up in the mail a few days later. How cute is that?? I love it! You have to take the ferry to "Straddie", as the Aussies call it, but really it isn't very far from Brisbane. Probably about a half hour drive to the ferry from the city. The ferry takes about 40 minutes.
We had a busy weekend, which we kicked off first thing Saturday morning with a 6 am. dive. Well that's what time we had to be at the dive shop, but the guys working there were pretty laid back and didn't hurry to get things underway! We liked this sign that was hanging on the fence there!
Getting our gear set up. This is the first dive since my class that I actually had to do it myself. Usually, it's all ready for you. I like doing it though...feels more hands on.
The sun was just waking up. We were tired but looking forward to a couple of dives!
On the beach where we boarded the boat and went to our dive destination (Shag Rock).
That's the boat and the tractor that pulls it. It was a bumpy ride out! You really had to hold on!! The day before a boat had actually tipped and a boat (not sure if it was the same on or different) lost 2 divers! I think they were ok though, although getting details out of the dive guys was like pulling teeth!
On the boat, between dives. We did 2 dives. The first one was total crap. My first crappy dive. I didn't have enough weights on and found it pretty much impossible to stay at the bottom, especially since we weren't that deep anyway (about 13 metres). So, I ended up coming up after only just 18 minutes. Bummer. I was pretty frustrated but am glad that I did the second dive. I used more weights and Steve and I got to go exploring on our own, not with a group and I loved it! We saw lots of amazing fish and sea creatures. Very cool. Glad I ended it on a positive dive.
Rej and Clo.
Super scuba Steve.
These are a few pictures from around the "town". There isn't much of a town! Straddie is mostly beaches and we learned pretty quickly that the next time we go, we'll pack all our food for the weekend, as there isn't much in restaurants or stores! The above pic is the surf shop, where I had to put through some guy's visa card payment because the guy working there didn't know how to do it!
Since there are beaches everywhere, a lot of people just take their 4WD and camp on the beach. So, obviously, the police vehicles need to be able to go on the beaches, as well.
It's absolutely beautiful there and we had the best weather!
Saturday afternoon, we went on a hike that took us to a lake called "Blue Lake". My first time swimming in an Australian lake!
The girls on the sandy hike. Man, my legs were sore the next day, from walking on sand for so long!
We saw lots of critters on our walk...
For a blue lake, it really wasn't that blue. Reminded me of a lake at home. There was a lake down the road called "Brown Lake"...can't imagine what that have been like, if this is blue lake!
They did have a swing though, which reminded me of "the rope" in Chelsea. This one wasn't nearly as much fun though and getting it was quite a challenge!
This is a tree trunk...I thought it was very cool!
Frangipanis.
Saturday night dinner at pretty much the only place in town that was open!
A very intense game of Jenga! Steve looks like he's floating!
We spent Sunday relaxing at the beach, before heading back on the ferry for home. I think everyone was pretty pooped (well, I know I was!) but it was a good weekend! Steve and I definitely want to go back...maybe next time we'll go camping. We're hoping to buy our camping stuff this week! The store where they have nice camping gear is having 30% off everything and we've been saving our money to get some stuff. I can't wait to start camping again!
So, as I've already mentioned, we went to Stradbroke Island over the weekend. We left Friday night after work and came back on Sunday. We stayed in this adorable 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, just a few minutes walk from the beach and it only cost $200 for the whole weekend!! Steve found it online and it was a little old lady who rented it. We paid her by leaving the money on the counter top when we left! She called Steve at work and told him that she was worried we wouldn't be able to find the house and asked him if she could send him a map. She of course didn't have email, so Steve gave her a mailing address. A hand drawn map turns up in the mail a few days later. How cute is that?? I love it! You have to take the ferry to "Straddie", as the Aussies call it, but really it isn't very far from Brisbane. Probably about a half hour drive to the ferry from the city. The ferry takes about 40 minutes.
We had a busy weekend, which we kicked off first thing Saturday morning with a 6 am. dive. Well that's what time we had to be at the dive shop, but the guys working there were pretty laid back and didn't hurry to get things underway! We liked this sign that was hanging on the fence there!
Getting our gear set up. This is the first dive since my class that I actually had to do it myself. Usually, it's all ready for you. I like doing it though...feels more hands on.
The sun was just waking up. We were tired but looking forward to a couple of dives!
On the beach where we boarded the boat and went to our dive destination (Shag Rock).
That's the boat and the tractor that pulls it. It was a bumpy ride out! You really had to hold on!! The day before a boat had actually tipped and a boat (not sure if it was the same on or different) lost 2 divers! I think they were ok though, although getting details out of the dive guys was like pulling teeth!
On the boat, between dives. We did 2 dives. The first one was total crap. My first crappy dive. I didn't have enough weights on and found it pretty much impossible to stay at the bottom, especially since we weren't that deep anyway (about 13 metres). So, I ended up coming up after only just 18 minutes. Bummer. I was pretty frustrated but am glad that I did the second dive. I used more weights and Steve and I got to go exploring on our own, not with a group and I loved it! We saw lots of amazing fish and sea creatures. Very cool. Glad I ended it on a positive dive.
Rej and Clo.
Super scuba Steve.
These are a few pictures from around the "town". There isn't much of a town! Straddie is mostly beaches and we learned pretty quickly that the next time we go, we'll pack all our food for the weekend, as there isn't much in restaurants or stores! The above pic is the surf shop, where I had to put through some guy's visa card payment because the guy working there didn't know how to do it!
Since there are beaches everywhere, a lot of people just take their 4WD and camp on the beach. So, obviously, the police vehicles need to be able to go on the beaches, as well.
It's absolutely beautiful there and we had the best weather!
Saturday afternoon, we went on a hike that took us to a lake called "Blue Lake". My first time swimming in an Australian lake!
The girls on the sandy hike. Man, my legs were sore the next day, from walking on sand for so long!
We saw lots of critters on our walk...
For a blue lake, it really wasn't that blue. Reminded me of a lake at home. There was a lake down the road called "Brown Lake"...can't imagine what that have been like, if this is blue lake!
They did have a swing though, which reminded me of "the rope" in Chelsea. This one wasn't nearly as much fun though and getting it was quite a challenge!
This is a tree trunk...I thought it was very cool!
Frangipanis.
Saturday night dinner at pretty much the only place in town that was open!
A very intense game of Jenga! Steve looks like he's floating!
We spent Sunday relaxing at the beach, before heading back on the ferry for home. I think everyone was pretty pooped (well, I know I was!) but it was a good weekend! Steve and I definitely want to go back...maybe next time we'll go camping. We're hoping to buy our camping stuff this week! The store where they have nice camping gear is having 30% off everything and we've been saving our money to get some stuff. I can't wait to start camping again!
1 comment:
always good times down under huh? love it! My fav is that picture about fish crap! That's great! Glad you got some good diving in!
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