Hello everyone! Just a quick note to say that I'm back in Austin safe and sound - there was very little interneting available in the Fiji Islands as I - as it turned out - was more or less on a deserted little island in the middle of the pacific. So call off the state department, there was never any indication of danger or unrest on the part of the Fiji Islands where the tourism takes place :) The islands, well they were amazing. I'll go into more detail and post more pictures soon.

Now this second reef (which we visited two consecutive days on the dive boat) was freaking amazing. All sorts of marine life here. We saw sea turtles, sting rays, unicorn fish, barracuddas, clown fish swimming in the anenome (sp), cuddlefish, and of course, white-tip reef sharks. Check out some of these photos!

Here we are swmming with a sea turtle (blow up the pic to see both of us there).

And here's the shark we 'hung out with' for awhile.

But really all that matters in the end is that there's a hot tub on the front of the boat, no?

So Ryan and I ended up on this sweet boat called the 'Reef Encounter' for 3 days and two nights in order to scuba dive the great barrier reef. The first chunk of reef we got to visit was Hastings Reef. Not really a hotspot for animal life, it still had some really good coral and some neat fish.

Like for instance this cool pic i took of a Lizardfish! Pretty neat, looks very repitilian, no?

And here I am picking up a sea cucumber. How does that joke with the sea cucumber go again?

Well here is the beautiful view from the swimming lagoon in Cairns. This city is a tourist mecca - and i don't see much else here besides tourist services! Every street corner has a souvenier shop or a bar or a dive shop or an internet cafe! Really, a pretty great town to laze around in for 3 days.

Here we are, partying it up. Turns out this was about the last drink I've had for awhile due to some stomach problems I've been having. (bummer) What a lousy time to find out you have acid reflux problems. Oh well, not getting tanked every night can only be good for one's health.

Perhaps my buddy Dustin said it best: 'if you cannot get leighed in Cairns, it is not gonna happen'. The spelling is key on that phrase. Here is Ryan's look after getting leighed in Cairns. Myself? I had to leigh myself. Go figure.

Our last official act in Bicheno was to try out scuba diving in the icy waters off the coast of Tassie. The water temp was 14 degrees Centrigrade, which is something like 58 deg Farenhieight... Really f'in cold. We wore 7mm wetsuits that really made it difficult to dive. Our first dive was a mess. But we were ok, and decided to try again - and we got to see some cool stuff.

Check out this cool white fish that has black stripes! Also seen but not photographed - Ryan spotted a seahorse and I spotted a puffer fish. Too hard to scuba dive and photo at the same time though :)

And check out this little creature called a 'sea dragon'. Looks a lot like a seahorse to me. It was really deeply purple with orange spots on it, though without a light on it the picture's color can be deceiving.

After the hike, we drove up north to go see the biggest waterfall in Tassie. That waterfall was St. Columbia falls (sorry Claudita, I really think its spelled like that in this case :P). Since it is summer here, the water volume was only 1/5th what it is in the winter time. Look at that photo and picture 5 times as much water coming down! Pretty impressive. After the waterfall, we had the chance encounter with the Pub in the Paddock. A strange little bar restaurant that is reknown for having a pig named Priscilla that drinks beer. I had some kangaroo patties for dinner there. Delicious!

We decided to do a 5 mile hike in Ferycinet Park nearby. Great decision! The weather was beautiful and the views - well take a look! I have a ton of photos, but i'll spare you the jealousy of seeing ryan and I hike barefoot on the beaches, bumping into the occasional kangaroo on the trail.

That's bish-en-no for the westerners. It's a little town on the east side of Tasmania. Not many services really, just a handful of restraunts, a kick ass backpackers hostel, and a dive shop. All the essentails really. Here's a pic of me surveying the coastal landscape while finding my first Australian geocache.

But really the best part about Bicheno was the incredibile scenery nearby! Check out this great view of a vineyard in the foreground and the Ferycinet Nat'l Park in the background. Yeah Bicheno!

Another really cool feature of Bicheno was the Penguin Night tours. So there are these little penguins called Fairy Penguins that come out of the ocean every night and waddle up onto shore to lay their eggs. We went on the tour, which entails of a group of 20 folks and a few flashlights wandering around the coastline. Turns out, there were freakin tons of penguins - wait until you see the video (will post that another day).

After leaving Richmond (driving on the wrong side of the road mind you) we drove up to the Bonorong Wildlife Park to get some nature up in this trip. We were not dissapointed. They had these free-roaming kangaroos and you are given a bag of 'roo food' along with the park entry pass. You can feed the roos and pet them and everything.

Check out those crazy emus! They're like giant ostritches if you've never heard of them before. Those things were getting a little too close for my comfort.

Of course a trip to Tasmania isn't complete without checking out the Tasmanian Devil. These little guys are packrats that don't hunt or kill anything - they just scoop up roadkill (which is quite plentiful on the island - ask Ryan about the Possum sometime...) Anyway, they really aren't that tempramental - but i did catch one baring its teeth at me here.

And of course, every aussie tourist needs a picture with one of those cuddly koala bears. I did learn one interseting fact about them though - they eat only eucalyptus leaves which are generally toxic to most animals. however, the koala adapted to digest these leaves, though really it consumes a lot of energy just to digest the little things. so the koalas developed smaller brains that work on less energy. they are not, in fact, high all the time; as some people along the way in life have lead me to believe.

After arriving to Hobart, Tasmania late in the afternoon, we ended up forming our plan. Rent a car nearby and go on a driving tour of the east coast of Australia's biggest chunk of preserved national park land. We started off with a nice lunch in Richmond...

Here's my definition of Melbourne - artistic, sytlish and lovely. I've never seen a city with such a colorful nighttime skyline and with such a bustling and exciting (though spread out) nightlife. There's a Texas-size casino here. There's a world class horse racing track. There's a waterfront. There's a maze of Chicago sized buildings and Seattle towers. Pretty much all you could ever want from a purely urban city.

The Melbourne Cup The australian kentucky derby. Suits. Dresses. Style. Money. Excitement. Racing. What a crazy freaking time, after I smuggled a carrier of Whiskey in the bottom of my hat (Ryan had luck smuggling a bottle in a subway sandwich loaf also) we got to get some horse racing in. I hit the first raced and cashed a quick win. Didn't hit any more after that, but still left the racetrack up A$100 (~$85 USD). Not too shabby. After that, it gets a little foggy. Here's my stream of memories:

Champaigne bottles everywhere, grandma got a kiss on the cheek, off to the quiet man bar after some streetside advice, a group of 8 crazies at the pub, Alyssa getting hit on by the IRA members, my 2 minutes of VIP at the outdoor section, meeting the Australian Brett and Marnie (same names, different personalities), Mystery meet Style, my arms covered with must-see australian travel destinations. Off to the dance club: the peacocking begins w/ the crazy sunglasses. Dancing. Scaring guys off of Alyssa, and finally topped off with a McOz sandwich from McDonalds at midnight. wow. simply wow.

And if that wasn't enough, after recovering from the hangover that lasted till 7pm the next day, I managed to scrape up another $100 of winnings at the nearby casino. Then, we made it to the Dracula's Cabaret Quite the experience really - hands down just a wild dinner theatre experience to say the least. Dustin, mad props to you buddy for recommending that place - it was worth every penny. When's the last time a vampire served you a drink with a bloody eyeball in it? Eye popping. Eye loved it.

Check out the Sydney Opera house and the Harbour Bridge!

Here we are arriving at the Sydney Airport!

Taking off for Australia from Austin - Ryan and I will be in the plane for awhile it seems. I'll arrive Saturday at noon (Australia time). Wish us a good flight!

New Photo Album BEING POSTED TO ACTIVELY

So I've decided to periodically add pictures to an album on jumphook as I travel and arrive at different internet cafes. Check out the album by clicking here.