I went in with Rick and Liz to the centre of Sydney then after a quick coffee and sandwich Rick kindly gave me a ride to the airport. There, I managed to send the surface …
Continue reading81. North to Queensland
82. Taking the Plunge – Open Water Certification
I woke on 30th March still not having totally decided what to do. There were 3 choices: head north to Cairns (I had heard good things about Cairns), or head for nearby Magnetic Island (also …
Continue reading83. The Great Barrier Reef
Mark, the instructor, made us get up at the crack of dawn for our final pool training day (3rd April) – by 6:45 am we were at the dive centre. We were given some training …
Continue reading84. Magnetic Island
In the morning (6th April) I had been intending to go early to investigate the Omnimax cinema, the only one in the southern hemisphere, but was delayed when I got talking to a French girl …
Continue reading85. West into the Outback
After an early breakfast with Jo and Kate (from the Magnetic Island crowd) I went downstairs and found from where the the Greyhound bus for Mount Isa would soon be leaving . My right ear …
Continue reading86. The Approach to Uluru
An early start, and a quick helping of pie from Jo, got me to the bus terminal in time to get on to the Greyhound bus bound for Uluru (Ayers Rock). At the wheel was …
Continue reading87. Climbing Uluru – Ayers Rock
Buster’s bus was waiting at 7 am to take us all to the foot of Uluru. We looked up at it – the summit is 348 metres (1142 feet) above the level of the surrounding …
Continue reading88. Opal Mining in Coober Pedy
After the record breaking descent of Uluru, I slept rather well, but woke with sore legs. After breakfast on 13th April, Anneliese and I went on an opal mine tour. The first mine was in …
Continue reading89. Kalgoorlie Gold Mine
When I woke up on the bus on 15th April, we were still speeding across exactly the same flat reddish arid plains that we had been for far too long to remember. The only thing …
Continue reading90. Scuba Diving off Perth
As usual when reaching a city on my Poste Restante list, my first task on 17th April was to head to the main post office in Perth, to see if there was any mail. This …
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