Our Update

Time has been flying by and I haven't been keeping up with this blog as I should. Dave has had a few days work fishing on a couple different local boats. He has caught his first Black Marlin, which was a little fella, but still an exciting catch on light tackle. The game fish season is approaching and he should get really busy over the next month. I have completed two 7-day shifts at my new job on Spirit of Freedom as a hostess. The job is cleaning, serving meals, tending to guests needs, and keeping the guests happy. The job is such a great opportunity and it has been very satisfying. Dives are allowed on the job, so that means I am getting to see the Great Barrier Reef and increasing my number of dives. The crew is awesome, so work is really fun, enjoyable, and rewarding. Both Dave and I get along great with the crew I work with, and we enjoy hanging out on my week off.
     We have taken a couple of small road trips over the last few weeks. Considering Dave will be getting busy with work, we have tried to do as much exploring as we can afford before he is full on fishing. We went north to Cooktown, where we fished for GT's and went croc spotting. We also went about an hour south to a couple of local parks. We have seen some fabulous places within a small radius around Cairns. Australia is such a big country, it overwhelms us to think of the many, many places we have yet to see. We are just starting to scratch the surface of this beautiful place, and that makes us both excited for the months to come.

Jill's first week of work: Coral Sea

Fitzroy Island

OnTuesday July 23rd Dave had to go to Fitzroy Island for his instructor class. Jill was invited along to play the role of student. The island is about a 45 minute ferry ride from Cairns and has a resort, along with day tripper amenities. We arrived in the morning, set up our dive gear, and got rolling. The little bits of reef are right off of the beach in relatively shallow water. After going through skills and training, we went on a short dive over a few coral heads, which proved to be a spectacular lil dive. Literally in 5 minutes we saw a lion fish, a sea turtle, a clown fish, and a purple starfish, all in about 12 feet of water. Wonderful! After our short dive, we had lunch, then the guys went back at it. They had more training to do, so Jill snorkeled around, then relaxed on the beach. We caught the ferry back in the late afternoon and concluded our trip. It was a really nice day trip and we would love to go back to the island for an overnight.

Open Water Jill and Dive Master Dave

Over the past 2 1/2 weeks Dave has been working on his Dive Master certification. Lots of classroom time and 2 trips out to the reef for 3 days at a time has gotten Dave 1 more step up the ladder. Jill spent 2 days in the classroom and 3 days at the reef to get her Open Water certification. It's been something on her mind for the past few years, but a bit of fear and procrastination has stood in the way. Since Dave was learning to teach, why not jump in and learn to dive with him helping out. Basically Dave was an assistant to the dive instructor, practicing some teaching techniques and demonstrating skills. He has also been building on the Rescue Diver skills by practicing more search and recovery techniques, along with onboard operation skills. We left on the boat on Wednesday July 10th to head out to the reef. The weather was crap, with winds blowing around 25 knots, which made for a rough ride out. Most of the 32 passengers spent the trip vomiting, while the other few stayed put holding on, as not to be thrown across the boat. Once we got to the reef, the boat didn't rock quite as much, since we were somewhat protected, but the wind was still howling. Jill did 2 training dives on the first day, while Dave did 4 dives. The second day Jill did 2 training dives, which then meant officially certified. In the afternoon we dove together for a fun dive. That evening Jill could have done the night dive, but didn't have any interest. On the third day, we had 3 more dives. Dave had to finsih up a few skills, then dove with Jill. All three days, while windy and choppy, were great dives. On the second day, we saw a huge green turtle about 4 feet long sitting on the bottom. Jill sat right down next to him on the sandy bottom for several minutes. We also saw a stingray and a lionfish, along with tons of other marine life. The abundance of fish is mind blowing. It is awesome. The visibility wasn't that great, only about 35 feet, but once you got close to something it was amazing. Of course a clearer sky and more settled waters would be better, but I guess that gives me something to look forward to for the next time. We really had a great trip together and met lots of people from all different places. The next step for Dave is Dive Instructor, which is underway now.

Back in Black Three Kings 2013

Hartley's Crocodile Adventures

On Thursday June 27th we rented a car and went out touring. We first went to Outback Opal Mine Store and learned about opal mining in Australia and looked at the beautiful stones they had for sale. Our next stop was Hartley's Crocodile Adventures which is not only a crocodile farm&park, but also home to some other animals. We walked around and saw loads of crocs, most of which were pretty motionless. The first pen we got to, Dave thought they were fake because they were so still. Then we took a tour of the farm, where they raise crocodiles for profit and saw the year old babies. The most valuable part is the skin and then the secondary parts are the meat. They use all the meat from their farm in their on-site restaurant, which we ate a crocodile burger at. All of the skins from this particular farm are sold to Louis Vuitton. We also saw a snake show and a crocodile attack show. During the attack show we saw the famous crocodile roll and the head shake to tear their victims apart. We went on a short 30 minute boat ride around the lagoon, where our guide fed the crocodiles from a wooden pole. It was really cool to see them jump out of the water to get the meat off the stick. They really do move quick and jump high to attack and eat. We also got to see koalas and the Australian Cassowary, which is the largest bird here standing at 6 1/2 feet tall and weighing about 100 pounds. There were also lizards, turtles, snakes, birds, etc. Our favorite part was most definitely the kangaroos and wallabies. We were walking to get to the wallaby feeding at a certain time, and while following the path we arrived at a gate. The gate was closed, but not locked with a "push" sign on it. Then there was a second gate also. Over the fence we could see all these cute wallabies and kangaroos. There was no one else around and we weren't sure wether we were suppose to go through or not. After all the gate wasted locked and it said push, but we couldn't fathom the thought that anyone would be aloud to go into the pen with these animals. I mean could you imagine that at Jacksonville or Atlanta Zoo? We debated the topic for about 5 minutes, then went through the gate. After about 10 minutes of being alone, a park ranger came in with the food. We got to feed them right out of our hands and pet them all as much as we wanted. It was really cool. We loved the little guys. It was certainly the highlight of our day.
After the crocodile park, we drove up to Port Douglas, a small resort town north of Cairns. We walked around town for a bit, then had a yummy meal at one of the local restaurants. It was a lovely day for exploring.

Rescue Diver Dave

Last week Dave completed his PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course, and this week he has completed his Rescue Diver Course. He has gotten to do 22 dives on the Great Barrier Reef and has loved every one. He is really enjoying upgrading his dive certifications. The Great Barrier is like nothing you've ever seen before. There is no comparison at all to the reef in the Florida Keys. They are like night and day to each other. It is beautiful and unbelievable!

Barron Falls

This past week we have been continuing on the job hunt. We have both applied for numerous jobs and Dave has been working hard to get his name out in the fishing community. We have settled into our apartment and are enjoying the area. Our apartment complex is located right next to the Cairns Botanical Gardens which has loads of trails and paths to explore. We have been trying to get out and walk or bike the area as often as we can for both exercise and knowledge of the area.
The day we moved into our apartment we went out exploring in the rental car we had gotten for the day. After shopping for linens  , groceries, cleaning supplies, bathroom necessities, etc., we didn't have a ton of time left in the day, but we figured we should make the most of having a car. We drove about 30 minutes to the small town of Kuranda. Its a neat little tourist town that a train from Cairns runs to. Also a sky rail from just north of Cairns goes up the mountains into Kuranda. We didn't do either of those, but we did go to Barron Falls. This waterfall is super tall but doesn't have a ton of water running over it since its the dry season. It will be cool to go back in the wet season and see the falls gushing with water. The river apparently rises an incredible amount and the width of the falls widens. We'll have to make a trip back in a few months!

Cairns Apartment

This week we have been exploring Cairns and getting to know the area. We bought bikes and have been peddling all over town. We have looked at several apartments this week, and finally decided on one. We signed a lease on Friday. We move in on Sunday for 5 months! It is a one bedroom apartment at "The Lakes" in Cairns North. It is about a 15 minute bike ride to the city center, but an enjoyable one. Because we are pretty much directly north of the main city area near the water, we can use the Esplanade the whole way into town. The Esplanade is about a 5 mile stretch of park along the waters edge ranging from 50 yards wide to a couple hundred yards wide. All along the grassy Esplanade are bike trails, walking paths, playgrounds, bbq areas, fitness stations, a children's water park, a huge public pool, skate park, beach volleyball courts, tennis courts, and anything else you could imagine. It has all been really well designed and is landscaped beautifully. So from our new apartment, we cross over two blocks east to the esplanade and head south into the heart of town. Of course there is plenty in the area that we are in as well, but the main shops, marina, and attractions are in the center of town. So far we are really liking the area. It is much bigger than the town we lived in, in New Zealand. Cairns has a little over 150,000 people including the suburbs, which will be a nice change for a little while. We do love small towns, but sometimes its nice to have good shopping, big grocery stores, and a nice selection of restaurants. The next couple of days we will be getting ready to move into our apartment and get settled.

Leaving T.I.

Today we are leaving Thursday Island to go to Cairns, Australia on the mainland, where we will spend the next 5 months. We will be quickly getting an apartment and jobs. This past 2 weeks on T.I. has been so wonderful. It is such a beautiful remote place. Since our camping trip last weekend, Dave and Jason headed out fishing on the boat a couple times and we also fished from the wharf on Horn Island and a wharf here on T.I. Yesterday was our last day, and it couldn't have been more perfect. We took Jason's boat over to Prince of Whales Island and found an amazing beach to spend the day at. On our way over we stopped at a Japanese Pearl farm on Friday Island to have a look around. Kazu Pearl Farm is a large producer of pearls here in Australia. We wanted to have lunch and do a tour, but they were fully booked, so we opted to shop a little in their store. It was such a neat spot all alone and secluded on it's own island. They had some really nice jewelry and nice Mother of Pearl Shells, along with other pieces. On Prince of Whales Island we enjoyed ourselves playing on the beach, swimming, fishing, grilling lunch, shell hunting, and relaxing. The water was clear and shallow, and the perfect temperature too! We found a small river and the guys did a little fishing and netting. We headed back in the afternoon and ended a truly perfect day.

Loyalty Beach Camping

Over the weekend, Jason, Vee, Dave, and Jill took Jason's boat on a weekend camping trip to the mainland. We left on Friday morning, and made the 27 mile crossing in just over an hour. We got to the Loyalty Beach campground, checked-in, and set up camp. Our camp site was right on the edge of the beach with beautiful views over the Torres Straits. Each couple had a small two-man tent under the trees. We didn't bring along any luxury items like air mattresses, but we did bring a small grill and a hot plate for cooking. Once we set up camp, we jumped back on the boat and headed over to Cape York, the most northern point on Australia's mainland. We had a nice ride over in the sunshine and anchored up on the rocks for a bit while we explored. There is a sign there that marks the spot, but it isn't very frequently visited. It is nothing like the crowds of people who visit the southernmost point in the USA in Key West. There was no one else around, and we took our time enjoying the location. The boys spent a little time fishing while the girls picked a nice spot in some shallow water to lay down and relax. We left Cape York and headed back, stopping along the way to visit some beaches. Jason was successful in catching 3 mud crabs, which we took back to camp, and they were not a hit with us. We also stopped to explore a river where it met the sea. It was such a neat spot and really pretty too. On Saturday the weather was not as nice, with some wind, but we went out on the boat to see what we could get into. We tried to go up the Jardine river, which is suppose to have lots of Crocs, but the shallow sandbars wouldn't allow us to pass. We tried another river and had the same problem. With wind and rain causing us problems, we headed back in the afternoon. We had to fight the abundance of sandbars and try and maneuver our way around them to get back to camp. The sandbars went on for miles and miles and seemed to change right in front of our eyes. We finally got back to camp and spent the rest of the day ashore. After dinner at our tents, we went to the campground eatery and had a few drinks while we watched the sunset. We had a fun night and even ate local green ants, which were tart, but not to bad (they're edible and apparently a good source of survival if your lost in the bush). On Sunday morning, we woke up and packed up camp. We took off on the boat to head back, but didn't rush. We island hopped for a few hours before getting back to Thursday Island.

  

Good Catch!

On Thursday May 23rd we went out fishing again with Jason. We had a very good day with quite a few fish. We trolled for awhile around white rocks, which are huge boulders in the ocean covered in white bird poo. Jill caught her first GT weighing 22 pounds. We also caught about 6 or 7 queen fish. We kept 4 and gave them to friends of Jason's. Dave and Jason snorkeled in a nice reef spot on the way home and got 1 good size cray. Then our last stop on the way back to the boat ramp landed Dave his 50 pound GT. With not much time left, he threw a popper only a handful of times and hooked up right next to the boat. It was a fantastic catch and a perfect end to our day fishing.

Our First Aussie Catch

We are loving the weather here in the Torres Straights. It is very similar to Florida, with high temperatures and high humidity. The water is nice and warm and the sun is nice and bright! Monday May 20th we went for a fish from land on Thursday Island. Dave caught his first few fish, 2 of a species that we don't know, and 2 coral trout (pictured). They were all pretty small, but were just fine as a start to his Australian fishing. Jill sat out on the jetty rocks as Dave fished, keeping an eye out for crocodiles. Thankfully none were in the area, so we didn't have any worries.
On Wednesday we went out fishing on Jason's boat. We started off popping on top water, which means you are casting a wooden bait and quickly reeling it in to make it pop/jump across the top of the water, like a bait fish would look if he were swimming. Amazingly Dave hooked up a GT (Giant Trevally) on his third pop of his first cast. Considering this is the species we were targeting, and it was Dave's first time trying for this fish, it was really impressive to catch one so quickly. After popping for awhile, we went out to a bouy to jig for GT. This is dropping a lead/metal bait to the bottom and reeling it up at a quick pace with stop and go action. Jill caught her first fish in Australia jigging from the bottom up and hooked a Golden Trevally. It was a nice size and an accomplishment for her. Dave caught a few more fish for the day, and Jason caught a few as well. These were all released back into the water. We are very pleased with the start to our Australian fishing!!

We made it to Australia!

Sunday was a long day of traveling, but well worth the journey. We woke at 4:00am in our hotel to get going to the airport. Our 6 hour flight left New Zealand at 7:00am. We collected our luggage in Cairns, went through customs, checked in with the domestic terminal, and boarded our 2nd fight. We flew a short 1 1/2 hours to Horn Island, just north of Australia's mainland. We then took a bus from the airport to the harbor, where we got onto a ferry. We took the ferry along with our 5 suitcases, rod case, and backpacks to Thursday Island where our friend Jason Kidd picked us up. It was great to see Jason after a year apart. We met him originally in New Zealand, but he moved away to Australia in early 2012. We settled into his apartment where he lives with his girlfriend Vee, and had a nice bar-b-que dinner. We went up to a hilltop on the island to watch our first Australian sunset. It was a beautiful night after a long 18 hour day.

Great Fly Fishing

 On Friday Dave went out fly fishing with Jason from Trout Beck Fishing Lodge in the Whanganui River. They had a successful day fishing together in the chilly weather. Dave got 3 fish and Jason got 5. All 8 fish were between 6 and 9 pounds, which is an awesome catch in the river. After a nice day on the river, they headed home, and quickly found themselves pulled over with a flat tire. Seems like a simple problem, but.... not only did it start raining on them, they couldn't seem to get the tire off. From being on the truck so long the tire had seized itself on. After putting in lots of effort, they unloaded the 4-wheeler and drove down the road to get a post from a nearby farm. They were able to beat the tire off the rim with the force of the post and complete the change in the cold wind and rain. Jill stayed back at the lodge to relax and prepare for the next leg of the journey. Saturday Dave tried a bit of fly fishing, but the torrential rain from Friday night made the river and lake stirred up and murky. So, we packed up the car and headed to Auckland to check into a hotel near the airport. Our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7am, so we will be up bright and early to get to the airport at 5. Tomorrow will be a long day of traveling with 2 flights and a ferry ride to our destination. We are stoked!!! We'll check in from Australia next.

Our 100th Post!

It's been a couple weeks since the last post, and it's also been our last couple weeks in New Zealand. Dave had a few more days of fishing on Back in Black and Jill ran the mother's day 8k with her friend Laine. We packed everything up and left the Bay of Islands on Tuesday May 14th. We drove down to Mount Monganui, southeast of Auckland, and stayed wih our friend Andre. We went out fishing on his boat on Wednesday. The first half of the day we were targeting swordfish, but had no luck, and the second half of the day we went for Bluenose. It was a fun day out even though we only got 1 Bluenose (which we ate for dinner), and 1 Rays Bream (which we threw back). On Thursday we drove down to Turangi to Trout Beck Fishing Lodge to see Tracy and Jason. We will spend 2 nights here, then 1 night in Auckland before we fly out Sunday morning to Australia. Our 3 months here have flown by. We are excited to get to Australia and experience a new place and see new things!

King of The Coast Competition

Friday April 26th Dave set up camp with Marty at North Cape for the King of The Coast Fishing Competition, which was a fundraiser for one of the local schools. They land-based fished Saturday and Sunday mostly for snapper, but also a bit for kingfish. The weigh-in was Sunday afternoon in Whangaroa Harbour. After driving north, taking the dingy an hour and a half to the North Cape, then hiking for a couple hours to their spot, then all back again, they were pretty worn out. Jill met them just after weigh in, and they didn't seem overly positive. They had a great time, but they didn't think they had caught a big enough fish. There was an auction of everyone's donated fish to the public for the benefit of the school. Then it was awards time. Lots of raffle prizes were given out to all the participants, then prizes were given to different fishing category winners. Marty won the biggest snapper and Dave won average snapper, which meant they each received $1000.00. WOW!!! Those were the only 2 cash prizes, and our guys won them both. What a great weekend fishing, and a well deserved prize after all their hard work and effort.

Cape Reinga

April 20th was Dave's birthday so we had a cookout party at our friends house. We had a really great time and enjoyed being with friends. After a couple day's recuperation from Dave's Birthday celebrations, we decided to go see Cape Reinga on April 23rd. We drove up north, which takes about 3 hours and made only a couple pit stops. The first was to see the remnants of the Kauri gum diggers. It was  a quick stop, but it gave us a chance to stretch our legs and learn a little history too. Basically the gum (sap) was collected and used for varnishes and had great value, so it was extracted from the ground. We enjoyed our drive north in the nice sunny weather, and stopped to see 90 mile beach on the west coast. It's a beautiful wide flat beach that permits road traffic. Back on the road, we continued on to Cape Reinga. While most people think it is the most northern point in New Zealand, it actually is not. North Cape, just slightly farther north but not accessible by the public, is the true most northern point. However Cape Reinga fills in as the most northern point since it is a welcoming spot for visitors. The lighthouse and coast are certainly amazing, but the real beauty lies within the beliefs around the cape. The Maori believe the spirits of the dead travel to the cape on their journey to the afterlife. There is an 800 year old tree clinging to the side of a rocky peak whose roots are used as stairs by the spirits to descend into the water and continue on to the underworld. It was a beautiful place and a joy to visit. The park and grounds are all kept very nice and there is plenty of information and history.

Tutukaka Coast

On Wednesday April 17th, we went down to the Tutukaka coast to explore. This is a pristine area on the east coast, about an hour and a half south of us. We first went on the Whangamumu Bay - Ngunguru Estuary Walkway. The only problem was, I don't think we ever actually found the walkway. The description online stated you should go around low tide as it is a coastal walk and some areas are only accessible at low tide. Well we went close to low tide and looked in many areas for the start of the track. We eventually just followed the rocks around the beach and had a really enjoyable hour climbing from one rocky outcrop to the next. We don't know what the right way was, but we liked our way. After our rocky adventure we continued on the road to the Tutukaka Headland Lighthouse Walkway. This spot was so amazingly beautiful. The water was gorgeous, the land was amazing, there was no one around, and it was a challenge to get to. We had to walk down a steep set of 180 steps to cross over a rocky spot connecting the mainland to a little (but very tall) island where the lighthouse and lookout were. It was a steep climb up the island trail, but once we were to the top it was worth it. It was such a nice lookout over the Pacific ocean and the Tutukaka Coast. The lighthouse at the top was small, but served an important purpose. It was all run on solar energy which is great to see. We sat and enjoyed for awhile before heading back down. We weren't in a rush knowing we had to hike back up all those steps and a hill on the other side. We made it back to the car and hit the road. We drove up the coast and stopped at a great surf spot, Woolleys Bay, and watched the action for a few minutes. The waves were big and clean and the surfers were certainly enjoying themselves. Tutukaka Coast was a great day and one of the more peaceful, desolate day trips we've gone on.

Parengarenga Harbour Fishing

On Friday we drove north to meet our friend/guide Marty at his house in Houhora for an overnight land-based fishing trip. We loaded everything up in his van and hit the road with his boat in tow. We went to Parengarenga Harbour, out onto Maori land. We had to stop on the way to pay $20 for a key to open the gate for access to the land. We were out on a flat open peninsula, with a beautiful view of harbour, ocean, sand dunes, and farmlands. Once we were there we unloaded and put the boat into the water. We headed out to catch snapper for dinner. We drove the boat across the harbour and onto a beach, scaring off some wild horses on the land. The beach we were on had remnants from the mining days. Years ago in this area they mined some type of mineral used to make asbestos. It was mined and loaded onto barges, then sent out of the harbor. There was an old barge rusting away on the beach and some old parts of buildings. It was pretty interesting to think that years ago there would have been loads of people working in this area and now it is a deserted beach that the environment is slowly converting back to the way it was. The waves and weather are slowly breaking up the barge, as the wind and sand work together to cover everything. We caught dinner and headed back to camp. We set up a makeshift tent using a tarp. We pulled it off the top of the van like a lean-to and used a fishing net to hold it up off the ground. While it was a bit ghetto, we used what we had! We cooked up our fish for dinner and set up our beds under the tarp. We sat around our fire for a bit and ate, then Marty played harmonica for awhile. It was a very peaceful place to be and a clear sky allowed us to see all the stars above. The next morning we woke up and got ready to head out

fishing. We took the boat across the harbour again, but this time headed out into the ocean. Once we were through the break we stopped at a rocky point to fish. We unloaded our fishing supplies and got to it. Even though Dave was fighting the waves crashing into him over the rocks, he still managed to catch a great 30 pound kingfish. We stayed in that spot about 45 minutes, then headed out since the tide was coming in and the swell was a bit hard to fight. Our next spot was way back into the harbour in a calm spot on a rocky beach. We caught some bait and started our fishing. There we caught a John Dory for our first time ever. Even though it was only a few pounds, it was a great size for the species, and exciting for us. Dave also caught a 40 pound kingfish in this spot, which put up a good fight. We ate lunch and packed up after several hours. We then stopped at a shell bank to spend a few minutes casting along the edge to see if anything was around. Even though there was no bite there, it was a pretty cool spot. It was like a sand bar sticking out of the water at low tide, but rather than sand, the entire 100 yard long, 5 foot wide bank was solid shells. Next we headed over to another beautiful beach and fished the rest of the day. We didn't get any more kingfish but we did catch a couple snapper in that spot. We headed in just before dark and packed up. After a very full day of land based fishing, we were ready to head home. We had such a great time. It's always nice to catch fish, but its even better to see more spectacular places in New Zealand.