Honeymoon Stop 6--Port Douglas, Great Barrier Reef

Ready to scuba!

After snow and rain in New Zealand and lots of rain in Sydney, we were looking forward to returning to a tropical climate at the Great Barrier Reef. Warm weather wasn't our only motive; we were hoping to become certified as Open Water Divers, the first level for PADI certification. We completed the e-learning portion of our course while we were in Sydney, so our training course was just three days. Three very long days.

From Sydney, we took a three-hour flight to Cairns and then a one-hour shuttle to the Sheraton Port Douglas, our home for the six days and nights we were at the Great Barrier Reef.

We spent the first day of training in the outdoor pool at the Sheraton in water with a temperature of 23 degrees Celsius or about 73 degrees Fahrenheit. This doesn't sound cold and under ordinary circumstances--swimming some laps or spending an hour frolicking in the water--it's not. But when you spend more than six hours in the water performing scuba skills, like getting accustomed to using a regulator, taking your mask on and off, taking your scuba equipment on and off, practicing buoyancy, etc., 73 degrees starts to feel cold; our core temperatures were so low, everyone in the pool was shivering uncontrollably.

Getting into scuba gear was difficult at first

Z soaking in some sun

Our scuba class consisted of five students including us. Our German instructor made sure we had our skills down cold. By the end of the first day, we were freezing and exhausted and I was second-guessing my decision to take a scuba course. Z didn't enjoy our first day either, but because he had taken a discovery scuba dive years ago, he knew what we were working toward. An unsolicited tip: If you're contemplating scuba certification, take a discovery or introductory dive. This way you know if you like it and you'll know what to look forward to once you complete your scuba certification.

The next two days of the course in the ocean got progressively better. Not only were we (a little) warmer in the ocean, but we also got to see some coral, fishes and other ocean wildlife. By the end of the third day, we did a fun dive in the ocean, reached 17 meters or 56ish feet and began to understand why scuba divers love diving.

E jumping off the boat

Practicing buoyancy in the ocean

Some of the coral we saw on our dives

"Nemos" at the Great Barrier Reef

Despite our exhaustion every day after our scuba course, most evenings we took the town shuttle into Port Douglas to eat dinner because the two restaurants at the hotel were overpriced and the food was just o.k. The food was still overpriced in town, but at least we ate some good Thai and Italian food and some tasty fresh seafood. A couple of nights we indulged on local gelato with flavors like panna cotta and toasted coconut.

After we finished our scuba course and were successfully Open Water certified, we had two days to kill in Port Douglas. The first day after our course completion, another couple in our course, Ingrid and Ashley, invited us to go boating and fishing with them on a river in Port Douglas. Our fishing expedition didn't yield any seafood we could eat, but we caught and saw some interesting wildlife, including a small (about 2 meters or 6 feet) crocodile on the bank of the river.

Croc waiting for the next animal that makes a misstep

Reeling in a mud crab

Catching mud crabs the "proper" way

On our last day in Port Douglas, we rented bikes--"push bikes" as they are called in Australia--from our hotel and took a ride to a nearby nature park where we spent a few hours feeding kangaroos and wallabies and trying to stay clear of domineering ducks and swans. Because of the liability of a bunch of wild animals running around, a park like this would never exist in the U.S. We enjoyed our time at the park even more knowing this was a rare opportunity to play with the animals.

Trying to get over my fear of birds...

Salt water croc and his girlfriend

Feeding a super-sweet baby kangaroo who came to play

Z and the wallaby

The wallabies liked to hold hands as they ate

Port Douglas is tropical and lush and the beach is beautiful, but after a few days the town begins to feel like the small town it is and our Visa card was exhausted from the over-priced everything. We made a brief stop in Sydney before we left the developed, English-speaking world and boarded a flight to Vietnam...

Honeymoon Stop 5--Sydney, Australia

Sydney Opera House

Our weather curse followed us into Sydney! We were hoping for sun and blue skies Down Under, but were greeted by clouds and intermittent downpours during the five days we spent in Sydney. Despite the precipitation, the weather was warm enough to spend time outside and explore the city and its hip neighborhoods. We saw the botanical gardens, took a quick trip across the Sydney Harbour to visit Manly and the world-famous surfing beach on its shores, and spent some time in the southern suburbs with our friends Reed and Lisa. By the end of the trip, we had fallen in love with city and could see ourselves living there, if it weren't so expensive and far from everyone we love.

On the Fast Ferry to Manly

Surfers riding the waves in Manly

Z from the highest point we hiked to in Manly

Sydney skyline from the Sydney Botanical Gardens

A quaint touch--birdcages hanging over an alley near our hotel

In front of St. Mary's Church

Sydney is known for its Asian food, which Z and I love and eat at least a couple of times per week. We wasted no time finding a sushi lunch. As you can see from the photo below, in many restaurants it's common for the individual sushi plates to come by on a track. You select the plates you want and pay by the plate at the end of the meal. The sushi quality was mediocre at best, but our lunch experience was fun.

Sushi lunch

Sushi plates on tracks in the background

Z checking out the black rice sushi

The next day, we stopped by a fast food sushi spot that offered rolls with black rice. We did a little research and it turns out black rice is more nutritious than brown rice, rich in antioxidants and protein.  In addition, black rice (turns purple when cooked) tastes much better than brown rice - win/win. We'll look for it when we get back to the U.S.

Like many big cities, Sydney is also known for its fine dining. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Cafe Sydney overlooking the Sydney Harbour thanks to our friends Mike and Kirsten, who treated us for our wedding. We dined on delicacies including "bugs", goose liver and duck fat.

Celebrating in Sydney

First course of our meal at Cafe Sydney

Our centrally-located hotel, The Westin Sydney, meant we could easily walk to many sites we wanted to visit. One of the first things we did when we arrived in Sydney was visit and take a tour of the Sydney Opera House. The iconic design of the Opera House makes the Sydney skyline easily identifiable from other world-class cities. We learned on our tour that this innovative building almost wasn't constructed. Other judges for the opera house design competition had discarded Jorn Utzon's design, but an American judge reviewed the submissions and rescued Utzon's drawings from the discard pile.

Unfortunately for us, performances at the opera house were in a bit of a lull while we were in Sydney. I wasn't blown away by the tour and for the cost ($35 Australian per person), I can't say that I'd do it again. At least the tour was an opportunity to experience the site.

Outside of the Sydney Opera House

Inside the concert hall at the Sydney Opera House

Opera House at night

In an earlier post I mentioned that this is a trip of new experiences. That includes positive and not-so-positive experiences. Whale watching was a positive experience. Seeing whales less than 10 feet from our boat (we caught it a little late in the pic) was humbling and amazing and almost worth the seasickness that came from being on the boat. About an hour into our three-hour boat trip, we were ready to turn back and be back on dry land.

Look closely and you can see a whale!

Despite the suffering, our whale watching boat trip was good training for the next stop on our trip--scuba certification at the Great Barrier Reef!

Honeymoon Stop 4--New Zealand

Within a few hours of arriving in New Zealand, we had already found a statue honoring sheep

Our visit to New Zealand was horribly timed. Part of it was our fault; the weather at the beginning of winter is unlikely to be great anywhere, save the tropics. But based on our research, we weren't anticipating the South Island would be as cold and snowy as it was. Unfortunately for us, our visit corresponded with an usually strong and early winter storm system.

Trying to stay warm in Queenstown

We made the best of our time in Queenstown by hanging out in coffee shops, drinking good coffee and eating good food, playing games, watching movies and trying to hunt down free wifi. I can see where Queenstown and the surrounding area is lovely. Unfortunately, with temperatures hovering around zero degrees Celsius, we weren't able to experience much of the beauty.

Queenstown from the harbor

After a few days of freezing in Queenstown, we were looking forward to warmer weather in Auckland on the North Island. Unfortunately, the precipitation in Queenstown followed us to Auckland. Much of our time there was rainy, so we tried to make the best of it by trying new restaurants and getting out when we could.

We savored delicious Turkish and Malaysian food. We choked down some awful Japanese food and ate a decent Italian meal, too. And of course we drank our fair share of coffee. To entertain ourselves, we caught a bizarre play--"The Pitchfork Disney"--at Theatre Q in downtown Auckland.

Ginger bar from one of our coffee breaks. Ginger is a very popular flavor in New Zealand and Australia.

The day after we arrived in Auckland, we took a harbor ferry over to Devonport, a quaint town on the harbor. We spent a couple of our walking around town and hiking up Mount Victoria for a great view of Auckland and the harbor.

Departing for Devonport

Z on the ferry to Devonport

Auckland from the boat

The next day, we took another hike to Mount Eden, a few kilometers inland from the harbor. We picked up coffee and breakfast at a cute cafe before walking through town to catch a spectacular view from the top of Mount Eden.

Cool bird we met on our Mount Eden hike

From the top of Mount Eden

One of our last sights before departing for Sydney