Royal National Park

Because it costs maybe $10 in tolls to go north, I keep going south. Today I went to the Royal National Park near Sydney and snorkeled and clambered on fallen sandstone. I got pretty creeped out while snorkeling because the visibility wasn't good and I kept thinking I saw a shark. Actually it took me about 10 minutes standing there with my snorkel in my mouth before I even got in, and I only stayed in for 5 minutes, opting to walk back to my stuff. The cold is bad and adds to a feeling of panic not knowing what just watched you drop in for lunch.
So I got out and talked to a spear fisher in the lot who told me that there have been recent Great White shark sightings at the inlet to the bay I was in. Instincts should be followed when underwater.
Then I rode through the south end of the park which was a blast because it's really hilly and verdant so the roads are like twisty tunnels.
I met a couple of German guys who just got out of compulsory military service over there and were touring Australia in a Toyota camper van. One seemed to be into getting a bike and heading up north with me; I've been looking for someone to do that with.
Then I took the long way home and found some 4x4 trails in the bush. It was fun getting back into dirt, and it surprised me how much traction I had with pure street tires. I really got into it and was getting air and having a great time but it was getting dark and the last thing I wanted was to sleep in the dirt in my jacket, funnel-webs or no.
This week there are 3 job fairs (Tue Wed Thur) so maybe not so much adventuring. Going to those makes me feel pretty old now, which is another reason I don't like them. They are not an adventure. The other reason is that there is virtually no benefit to face time with the people there - they don't do interviews - they don't even take resumes.

South Coast

Yesterday I ran down the south coast about 60 km. I'm doing test runs on the bike and so far its ok. The seat is really uncomfy so I tried strapping a pillow on, and that worked for about 10 minutes. I'll try a befier pillow today. I keep getting higher and higher off the ground though. This bike has over 10 inches of travel front and rear and I got to try it out on dirt yesterday. It was fantastic. That's the reason I got this bike - pure versatility. And I don't have a kid yet.

Canoelands

There is so much greenspace around Sydney. I went up to a park in the Canoelands yesterday and had a blast just walking. I stayed too long walking too far just for sheer interest in all the new things. There were giant ants and Emu tracks and all the vegetation was new to me. I heard an Emu next to the trail, a steady bipedal crunching in the fallen Eucalyptus bark.

Sydney

We're settling in to our new apartment now which has a cool address:

40 The Ave, Randwick, NSW.

I bought a new bike -
It's only 400cc but makes over 40 hp and weighs just 300 lb. My ninja by comparison weighed over 500 lb and made 109 hp. This thing really stomps.

Ninja p/w = 0.21 hp / lb.
DRZ p/w = 0.13.

Ninja wins but it was old and decrepit.

More to come on Sydney.

For starters...

So this is what I brought to Australia. Two helmets, and some scuba gear. Right now I wish I had more pants.





I did a lot of Diving in Fiji (9 dives). It was truly amazing. Like a giant bathtub with rainbow fish all over the place. They call it the soft coral capitol of diving but the hard corals are way better in my op.

On the first dive, it was in "view pictures" mode so I didn't get any shots.

On the second dive, it worked ok, but I was just getting the hang of it so most of the pictures stink.

On the third dive, the battery died.

On the fourth, the camera refused to take any pictures whatsoever. It was dead. More like the living dead bc it still turns on. So I have to send it in for warranty. For the record it is a Sealife DC800.

So the few shots I managed to take are here.

We stayed at a place called Dolphin Bay Divers, which was fantastic. We had our own little hut thing ("Bure"). The water was about 20' from our doorstep, which helped with sleeping through coconuts falling in the night. Coconuts kill more tourists than sharks in Fiji.






















We tried to climb a mountain and failed. It was just too hot.
More Fiji pics are here.

The gods were angered.

For those of you who are betting on my timely demise, take this a proof that I am still alive.