UPDATE: Photos Here
After ten long weeks of work I headed up to the Ningaloo Reef with Tanya (a fellow teacher). We stopped for the night in Carnavon to visit with her mom and then went up to Exmouth the next day. As it was a 900 km journey the stop was welcome. Our first day in Exmouth we went to a small beach called Bundegi and did a snorkel. Although the conditions weren't ideal it was just what we needed after driving so far.
The next day I went on the whale shark tour and Tanya went out on a dive boat to the Murion Islands. There were 18 people on my tour. We headed around to the west side of the cape and took a boat to the outside of the reef. We saw some dolphins on the way. There we had a snorkel. It wasn't spectacular but I saw a couple of turtles.
The whale shark spotter plan went up and we headed south to snorkel with the whale sharks. Each boat can only stay with the whale shark for 90 minutes and swimmers can only be in the water for 60 minutes. The company that I went with (Ningaloo Reef Dreaming) uses its own spotter plane so we were not going to have to share any shark sightings with other boats. There are also rules about where you can be in relations to the whale shark. You need to be 3 m from the shark on the sides and 4m from the shark around the tail. You are not allowed to be in front of the shark.
The plane did not immediately find a whale shark so we had a bit of a swim and later another snorkel. Then right as we sat down to lunch the spotter plane found two whale sharks for us. The first group finished eating and geared up. When we were near the area the whale shark had been seen one of the guides jumped in and located the shark. He swam along side and then the other swimmers jumped in. They were supposed to immediately look for the shark and then swim to the side of the shark (as opposed to the front of the shark). In the excitement they forgot.
Our group got their chance in a bit. It was really exciting. I got quite a few photos. The groups swapped back and forth. On my second swim I was getting a bit tired. I then realised that it was only me, the guide and the shark. The rest of the people couldn't keep up. When I got back to the boat the skipper and the deckie were really impressed. In their words "Girl you can swim". It was a great experience. I got another two swims. It was really great.
The only down side of the day was that somehow I lost my sunglasses. The crew said that we swam with the shark all up for 51 minutes. The average swim time of the other tour operators in 2007 was 6 minutes. For the operator that I went with the average swim time in 2007 was 48 minutes so we had a great swim. The whale shark wasn't huge. It was 3.5m. The big ones in the area run around 10-12 m. The largest one seen is 18m.
Tanya had a good day diving. She did three dives and was quite pleased.
The next day we drove into Ningaloo Reef Marine Park and snorkeled at a couple of places. The best was Turquoise Bay. We saw a few dolphins as we walked down the beach. I did two snorkels there. There were heaps of fish. On the first snorkel I also saw a reef shark. On the second snorkel I found a turtle that let me swim with it for about 15-20 minutes. It went up for air twice, swam gracefully around and ate a bit of something from the sea floor. It was really great. Unfortunately, my camera quit working.
Later we went back to Exmouth and I read by the pool for the rest of the day. Later I found that I had really sunburned my back and bottom. It was very, very painful.
The next day we drove down to Coral Bay. Tanya and I did a nice snorkel there. The corals there are so great - a great variety of color, size and shape. My favorite is the lavender coral. Due to my sunburn I spent the rest of the day in the shade. Tanya did a ATV tour and had a super time.
Just before sunset I spread some of my mom's ashes in the bay. She very much enjoyed her visit to Coral Bay several years ago. Amazingly my camera came to life just to take a photo of the area I put the ashes. I am not sure if that was heavenly intervention or fate.
Today we drove back. It took about 8 hours so I am a bit done in.
I tried to get the photos off my camera. I think it is only the display that is broken. However, I couldn't get them. I am going to try to use a card reader to get them directly from the memory card. I will post them if I can.
All in all it was a really great trip.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Do these types of things happen to others?
Plans to return to the US
Last week I went checked into the frequent flier site to try and book a flight back to the US in December. I waited a bit too long and the only one available was after Christmas so I looked around for other options. I found a round the world fare that looked interesting but it didn't work out. I then found a fare with Thai Airways that was okay. The travel agent said that I only needed to put down a deposit but that I needed to pay for the flight within 30 days. I actually had two reservations - one on Dec 19 and one on Dec 23. (My last day of work is Dec 18). The Dec 19 one seemed a bit of a push but I thought that maybe I could swing it. I wanted to check out a bit more as far as shipping my stuff back.
Then on Tuesday (six days later) I get an email saying that I had one day to pay (and decide on which day to travel). That was a bit of a shock. I ended up buying the ticket. I didn't think I could find a better fare. I am taking the Dec 23rd flight. I will arrive in the US on Dec 24 at 7pm. I will book a flight to PHX on Southwest. Unfortunately, I can't yet get that ticket because Southwest doesn't book that far ahead.
Last week I went checked into the frequent flier site to try and book a flight back to the US in December. I waited a bit too long and the only one available was after Christmas so I looked around for other options. I found a round the world fare that looked interesting but it didn't work out. I then found a fare with Thai Airways that was okay. The travel agent said that I only needed to put down a deposit but that I needed to pay for the flight within 30 days. I actually had two reservations - one on Dec 19 and one on Dec 23. (My last day of work is Dec 18). The Dec 19 one seemed a bit of a push but I thought that maybe I could swing it. I wanted to check out a bit more as far as shipping my stuff back.
Then on Tuesday (six days later) I get an email saying that I had one day to pay (and decide on which day to travel). That was a bit of a shock. I ended up buying the ticket. I didn't think I could find a better fare. I am taking the Dec 23rd flight. I will arrive in the US on Dec 24 at 7pm. I will book a flight to PHX on Southwest. Unfortunately, I can't yet get that ticket because Southwest doesn't book that far ahead.
Dog Rescue
I got another dog rescue dog - a small Jack Russell named Molly. However, I got home on Thursday and she was gone. I just couldn't figure it out. Then I realized that part of my back fence was pushed in separating it from another section. Both dogs must have escaped through there. I am not sure how the fence was broken - perhaps it was the wind or the neighbors.
Work Clothing disaster
Generally I ride my bike to the gym before school and shower and change at work. Friday I didn't pack my work skirt by accident and spent a hour trying to round up the school car. I was walking around in my small and smelly workout clothes. No one seemed to know where the car was and when it would be back at school. In the end I borrowed a car and went home and changed. Not the best start to the day.
More Positive Note
One more week of work and then I have two weeks vacation. I am heading up to Exmouth for several days in the first week. I hope to see the whale sharks.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Sydney Found
Holidays
This week was a short week at school due to Easter. Here in Australia Good Friday is a holiday. There are also two more days off called Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday. Not everyone has Tuesday off but teachers and students do. I think that one of the reasons I am getting out so much later this year (Dec 19) is that we have these days off during the term. Usually they fall during the two weeks I have off at the end of the first term.
Sydney
An Australian warship named the Sydney and 645 crew members were lost in WWII in the ocean north of here. There is a big memorial here. Until this week the final resting place of the Sydney was unknown. This week the Australian ship and the German ship that sank it were found near Shark Bay.
Aussie Rules Football
After being asked to set up an online tipping (betting) competition for the football season, I found that someone else at school had set one up. In the end the other teacher agreed to handle the money side and use the comp that I set up. Somehow I have ended up in this competition. I know even less about AFL than US football if that is possible. My results so far are 2/5 correct. I don't think I will be making much money on this.
St Paddy's Day
Last Sunday a warm up for St Paddy's Day was advertised so a friend and I decided to go to the Freo to see what was happening. We asked at the bar and the had no idea of what was going on despite the advertisement. We had a few drinks but nothing much seemed to be happening. Monday we had Parent Night at school. As I have no students I thought it would be pretty boring but instead I worked with a few teachers on using a virtual body web site. Later a couple of teachers and I went out for a drink. They had the loudest fiddlers ever there. I left after a beer as I had to be up early the next day.
Computer Problems
This week was plagued by ongoing computer issues at school. It is pretty much out of my hands but I still bear a bit of the teachers' unhappiness when they plan lessons on the computers and they just don't work.
Geraldton Dog Rescue(GDR)
A few weeks ago I signed up to be a volunteer for GDR. It entails housing a dog after they have been at the pound the maximum time. You house them until a new home is found. This week I received a call asking if I could take in Nikki - a small chihuahua. You can see a few photos of her here. She is kind of strange to me because she is so small - smaller than a large cat. She has a hurt shoulder so she can't walk or play. She has big expressive eyes. Brody, my nephew, says that he picks dogs he likes based on their eyes. I bet he would have liked this one. Unfortunately, he probably would have blown up like a balloon because of his allergies. Well, Nikki lived with me two days and then escaped. I am not sure how. She must have squeezed through the fence. The GDR people said not to worry. It happens all the time. That is how the dogs end up in the pound in the first place. Sometimes after they escape someone finds them and then keeps them or calls the pound or GDR. A worst case scenario is that she could get hit by a car. I hope she is well.
This week was a short week at school due to Easter. Here in Australia Good Friday is a holiday. There are also two more days off called Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday. Not everyone has Tuesday off but teachers and students do. I think that one of the reasons I am getting out so much later this year (Dec 19) is that we have these days off during the term. Usually they fall during the two weeks I have off at the end of the first term.
Sydney
An Australian warship named the Sydney and 645 crew members were lost in WWII in the ocean north of here. There is a big memorial here. Until this week the final resting place of the Sydney was unknown. This week the Australian ship and the German ship that sank it were found near Shark Bay.
Aussie Rules Football
After being asked to set up an online tipping (betting) competition for the football season, I found that someone else at school had set one up. In the end the other teacher agreed to handle the money side and use the comp that I set up. Somehow I have ended up in this competition. I know even less about AFL than US football if that is possible. My results so far are 2/5 correct. I don't think I will be making much money on this.
St Paddy's Day
Last Sunday a warm up for St Paddy's Day was advertised so a friend and I decided to go to the Freo to see what was happening. We asked at the bar and the had no idea of what was going on despite the advertisement. We had a few drinks but nothing much seemed to be happening. Monday we had Parent Night at school. As I have no students I thought it would be pretty boring but instead I worked with a few teachers on using a virtual body web site. Later a couple of teachers and I went out for a drink. They had the loudest fiddlers ever there. I left after a beer as I had to be up early the next day.
Computer Problems
This week was plagued by ongoing computer issues at school. It is pretty much out of my hands but I still bear a bit of the teachers' unhappiness when they plan lessons on the computers and they just don't work.
Geraldton Dog Rescue(GDR)
A few weeks ago I signed up to be a volunteer for GDR. It entails housing a dog after they have been at the pound the maximum time. You house them until a new home is found. This week I received a call asking if I could take in Nikki - a small chihuahua. You can see a few photos of her here. She is kind of strange to me because she is so small - smaller than a large cat. She has a hurt shoulder so she can't walk or play. She has big expressive eyes. Brody, my nephew, says that he picks dogs he likes based on their eyes. I bet he would have liked this one. Unfortunately, he probably would have blown up like a balloon because of his allergies. Well, Nikki lived with me two days and then escaped. I am not sure how. She must have squeezed through the fence. The GDR people said not to worry. It happens all the time. That is how the dogs end up in the pound in the first place. Sometimes after they escape someone finds them and then keeps them or calls the pound or GDR. A worst case scenario is that she could get hit by a car. I hope she is well.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Local Find
Local mystery as to what happened to two ships in WWII seems about to be solved. http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=145&ContentID=63113
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A week that could have been better
It is amazing that at work I can have so many positive interactions with staff. One staff member that I worked with this week was just ecstatic about the outcomes we achieved for her students. She even showed the work to the principal. On the other hand I have staff who appear to feel that I have nothing to do all day. I find this ironic as I sit here at work on a Sunday resolving a few issues. All in all I do find this job rewarding. I am trying to be more thick skinned and ignore the negative people. It is easier said than done.
The big thing that happened at work this week was the crippling of our admin server on Friday. The upside of this was that students were hardly impacted. The downside was that staff had issues logging on, logging off and were unable to save anything. It was a frustrating day in that it wasn't a problem generated by school but rather by the central control / support of the school. It wasn't fixed until 4pm.
The weather continutes to be pretty nice - warm but not hot. Working out at the gym is not the sweat soaked nightmare that it was.
Yesterday I watched a couple of water polo finals. One of my staff was playing and coaching. The were generally exciting games and I was a bunch of people that I hadn't seen in ages.
This week is a short week at work because Australia has so many holidays. For Easter we have Good Friday, Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday off work. I am planning on sticking around in town but who knows? That means there are two short work weeks and two regular work weeks and then two weeks of holidays. I am thinking of heading up to the Ningaloo Reef if I can get a ride.
The big thing that happened at work this week was the crippling of our admin server on Friday. The upside of this was that students were hardly impacted. The downside was that staff had issues logging on, logging off and were unable to save anything. It was a frustrating day in that it wasn't a problem generated by school but rather by the central control / support of the school. It wasn't fixed until 4pm.
The weather continutes to be pretty nice - warm but not hot. Working out at the gym is not the sweat soaked nightmare that it was.
Yesterday I watched a couple of water polo finals. One of my staff was playing and coaching. The were generally exciting games and I was a bunch of people that I hadn't seen in ages.
This week is a short week at work because Australia has so many holidays. For Easter we have Good Friday, Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday off work. I am planning on sticking around in town but who knows? That means there are two short work weeks and two regular work weeks and then two weeks of holidays. I am thinking of heading up to the Ningaloo Reef if I can get a ride.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Coup and Carnival
Attempted Coup or Timewaster?
After basically begging this poor guy to be president of our staff association after the prior year president said "NO more" another teacher stood up and said that we need to follow the constitution and the democratic process. This took up about 15 minutes of an after school meeting. The outcome was that no one wanted to be president and as far as I was concerned we were lucky to get a president at all.
Swim Carnival
Speaking of time wasters this week we had the swim carnival. The entire school goes to the pool (of course only a third show up) and we have a swimming competition. As I had many things to do - timing swim races was not exactly what I wanted to be doing. The school is divided in the five groups. My group (also called a house) is Chapman. The best bit of the day was the teacher relay. Our house competed again the other houses and won. I didn't swim but cheered madly on the side. The other good bit was drinks with the other teachers after school.
Weather
The weather has not been too bad lately. It has been kind of humid but not as hot and it has been cooling off during the night.
Cycle Instead
Monday starts a one month competition of using a bicycle as alternative transport. I have organised a team from work. There are around eight people on it. We are named the School Spokes.
Reading
I just finished a book called Critical Conditions by Stephen White and am starting Kathy Reichs's Bones to Ashes today.
Nike Plus
I bought the Nike plus attachment for my iPod. I am not sure how much I will use it with the Cycle instead competition starting. I have to ride my bike as much as possible. I have used it a bit and like how it works and records the distances that I walk.
After basically begging this poor guy to be president of our staff association after the prior year president said "NO more" another teacher stood up and said that we need to follow the constitution and the democratic process. This took up about 15 minutes of an after school meeting. The outcome was that no one wanted to be president and as far as I was concerned we were lucky to get a president at all.
Swim Carnival
Speaking of time wasters this week we had the swim carnival. The entire school goes to the pool (of course only a third show up) and we have a swimming competition. As I had many things to do - timing swim races was not exactly what I wanted to be doing. The school is divided in the five groups. My group (also called a house) is Chapman. The best bit of the day was the teacher relay. Our house competed again the other houses and won. I didn't swim but cheered madly on the side. The other good bit was drinks with the other teachers after school.
Weather
The weather has not been too bad lately. It has been kind of humid but not as hot and it has been cooling off during the night.
Cycle Instead
Monday starts a one month competition of using a bicycle as alternative transport. I have organised a team from work. There are around eight people on it. We are named the School Spokes.
Reading
I just finished a book called Critical Conditions by Stephen White and am starting Kathy Reichs's Bones to Ashes today.
Nike Plus
I bought the Nike plus attachment for my iPod. I am not sure how much I will use it with the Cycle instead competition starting. I have to ride my bike as much as possible. I have used it a bit and like how it works and records the distances that I walk.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Life back in Australia
This last week was HOT, HOT, HOT. From last Sunday through Thursday the daily high was between 98 and 103 and it wasn't cooling off at night. My house (and the school) heated up like a kiln. There is no a/c in either place. I was spraying down the brick wall inside and outside my bedroom to try and reduce the heat a little because the brick just holds onto that heat. Luckily the temp dropped a little by the end of the week.
My gym is not air conditioned and working out has been like taking a sauna while exercising - very wet.
Despite the heat work has been pretty good. I am working with several teachers in integrating various technology strategies in their classrooms. The downside is that the technical issues are still occurring and our process for dealing with them needs refinement.
I was checking up on some electrical and cabling work to be done in one of the classrooms and one of the teachers showed me a photo of an osprey that was hanging out on his car. He got so close to take the photo that I was worried about the bird. Then I read in Friday's local paper that two osprey that had been rehabilitated were released. I guess it was one of them. It doesn't bode well for them if they are not displaying normal wild animal behaviors.
My bike finally seems to be fixed. It was in the shop for over a week due to a problem with the spokes. Apparently most of the bikes sold in 2006 has bad spokes. It was finally fixed under warranty. I then had to take it back for adjustment because the tire was rubbing on the brakes. All seems well now so I have two forms of transport available - my feet or the bike.
You would think that I would be used to the different traffic patterns here by now but on Thursday I rode my bike over to a friend's house for a birthday drink. I only had two light beers but on the way out I heard her yelling "get on the right side of the road" which was, of course, the left side of the road. I was riding along on the right. It was a small side street and there was no traffic.
Friday night I went to the outdoor cinema (a projection screen set up in an ampitheatre) to see the original Hairspray. Several of my friends went and one brought colored hairspray for us to get in the feel of the movie. It was a good time. I am keen to see the newer version which I understand is a musical.
I just finished Michael Crichton's novel Prey about nanotechnology. I am now reading The Unquiet by John Connolly. I recommend both.
My gym is not air conditioned and working out has been like taking a sauna while exercising - very wet.
Despite the heat work has been pretty good. I am working with several teachers in integrating various technology strategies in their classrooms. The downside is that the technical issues are still occurring and our process for dealing with them needs refinement.
I was checking up on some electrical and cabling work to be done in one of the classrooms and one of the teachers showed me a photo of an osprey that was hanging out on his car. He got so close to take the photo that I was worried about the bird. Then I read in Friday's local paper that two osprey that had been rehabilitated were released. I guess it was one of them. It doesn't bode well for them if they are not displaying normal wild animal behaviors.
My bike finally seems to be fixed. It was in the shop for over a week due to a problem with the spokes. Apparently most of the bikes sold in 2006 has bad spokes. It was finally fixed under warranty. I then had to take it back for adjustment because the tire was rubbing on the brakes. All seems well now so I have two forms of transport available - my feet or the bike.
You would think that I would be used to the different traffic patterns here by now but on Thursday I rode my bike over to a friend's house for a birthday drink. I only had two light beers but on the way out I heard her yelling "get on the right side of the road" which was, of course, the left side of the road. I was riding along on the right. It was a small side street and there was no traffic.
Friday night I went to the outdoor cinema (a projection screen set up in an ampitheatre) to see the original Hairspray. Several of my friends went and one brought colored hairspray for us to get in the feel of the movie. It was a good time. I am keen to see the newer version which I understand is a musical.
I just finished Michael Crichton's novel Prey about nanotechnology. I am now reading The Unquiet by John Connolly. I recommend both.
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