Coastal Coin

Hi there! After strenuous self-restraint and rigorous budgeting, we decided now was a good time to give up on that and splurge on some super cool experiences! We deserve it. Vacationing is hard.

Splurge # 1: Diving in Byron Bay

Following our reptilian scare, we decided the only safe place to hide was underwater (don't tell Katie there are sea snakes), so we drove as quickly as Olga would allow on the winding mountain road to the seaside town of Byron Bay. Byron Bay is by far the most touristy place that we've been yet, but for good reason! The town is beautiful with cute shops lining the edge of the stunning beach, tasty brunch places at every corner, and about a trillion surfboards. We wandered into a dive shop and booked their next dive, a prompt 7:15 AM the next morning! There was some wind coming in that evening, and building in the morning, so they weren't sure if our dive or any of the subsequent dives were going to actually go, but we crossed our fingers and went to bed nice and early to get a goodnight's sleep.

With no cancellation email in the inbox, and a farmer's market noisily setting up in our home/ parking lot, we headed into town, ready for a dive! We got to the shop, got our gear ready, got briefed, and then loaded our stuff into the boat... but the boat was on a trailer and, in fact, not in water... A quick bus ride brought us to a packed parking lot at a surf beach, and we wondered if perhaps we booked the wrong sport.

But sure enough, the skipper launched the boat right into the water between all of the people! In Byron Bay, there seems to be a unique relationship between divers and surfers... Once the divers hop into the boat, the skipper has to time our movement with the waves and has to avoid the hundred surfers in the water. The surfers all seem more concerned with catching a wave than catching some hypalon or fibreglass. Honking the horn appears to have no effect, not even a turned head. But our skipper did a great job and got us through the surf into the bigger waves to Julian Rocks without issue, and all without spilling the coffee he was casually holding the whole time.

The windy weather made the water a bit murky and surgy, but it was SO NICE to get back underwater! When we got to the dive site, we were greeted by some eagle rays mingling on the surface, and underwater, we got to see a couple of leopard/zebra sharks, tons of wobbegongs, a massive loggerhead turtle, and some of the cutest little box fish ever!

Our dive group consisted of Jess, our dive guide who doubles as a wicked potter/painter, two photographers with pretty terrible buoyancy control and a Lyle. All around a pretty entertaining dive, and Katie even bought a super cool mug from Jess!

After the dive, all of our equipment was very wet and, shockingly, Olga's laundry room is not quite big enough to dry that much gear, so we temporarily took over a park to dry everything out and promptly booked our next activity!

Slurge # 2: Tangalooma Island Resort

The next activity came as a recommendation from Katie's grandparents and made for such a nice, relaxing day!

From the email from Grandma & Grandpa, we knew that Tangalooma Island Resort is 1) featured in the Globe & Mail, 2) a 75-minute ferry from Brisbane, 3) a resort that only locals know about, and 4) has wild dolphins that come in for a feeding. All of these things seem right up our alley; the only thing not up our alley was the price tag for a room, so we promptly booked our day passes and ferry tickets, and we were on our way!

We had a very productive ferry ride, catching up with our friends in our book club, then with our friends in our movie club! Successfully socialized, we got to the pristine beach, crystal clear turquoise water, and picturesque palm trees.

We were very excited about the snorkelling at the resort, as there are 15 sunken ships just off the beach with tons of reef life. For those of you who are curious, no, 15 ships didn't just happen to sink in such a location that makes for a very effective tourism scheme, but they were sunk by the Queensland government between 1963 and the 1980s to provide a break for small boats to anchor. The wrecks also provide a bit of protection for the snorkellers, too, as there is a wicked current ripping through. We managed to make it there and back, only off course by a km or so and tried to practice our underwater photography skills, which aren't very good at the time being. We did feel pretty good about ourselves and our swimming abilities for not needing to be pulled by a jet ski to make it out of the current alive.

Relaxing after the swim, we hung out on the beach for a bit while James tried to rip out a street sign via hammock take down, then it was back to the resort for lunch! The rest of the afternoon was time for relaxing, whether it be poolside, beachside or ice cream store-side.

Slurge # 3: Australia Zoo & Wildlife Hospital

With our bank accounts dwindling, we decided on one final splurge. A desperate attempt to meet Robert Irwin.

The Australia Zoo was very cool to see! It was a very well-organized and laid-out zoo. Our only complaint would be that they did not provide very clear instructions on how to pet the koalas. Without this information, Katie may have permanently scared a poor koala. Just look at her, those eyes look like she's been through something that only years of therapy could fix.

We did successfully pet kangaroos without any indication of any trauma, but the joey in the kangaroo's pouch was rolling around quite a bit.

We got to see other Australian classics like echidnas, quokkas, wombats, Tasmanian devils, dingoes, and cassowaries! We also booked the tour of the Wildlife Hospital, which was really cool to see the rescue efforts being done to rehabilitate injured wildlife. We saw a possum in surgery, a loggerhead and a green sea turtle being recovered in pools, and koalas learning to climb trees again after car or chlamydia implications.

Other animal sightings of note include Forrest, the tallest giraffe in the world (not sure if this is verified information, or even how they got the tape measure up so high), meerkats, a tiger, a red panda, and, of course, the main attraction, the crocs!

We got to see the croc show, featuring Bluey, the 12-foot saltwater crocodile that was apparently acting a little off today, causing the croc team to be a bit apprehensive. The show reinforced our fear of the water and swimming in Northern Queensland (i.e. croc territory), so this is really a full circle blog post! Officially scared of land-based and water-based reptilians! Is anywhere free of scary reptilians??