Lord Howe Island

Andrew and I visited Lord Howe Island, for the first time (hopefully not the last), in early October. What a wonderful little slice of paradise. We walked, climbed, ate, drank, watched birds, snorkelled and learned about the island and its history. There are approximately seven restaurants on the island, which may be why travel agents recommend a seven-night stay! We were supposed to stay for seven nights but ended up with an unscheduled 24 hours in Sydney at the start of the trip as it was too windy on the island for the plane to fly. Never mind. We found things to do in Sydney and thoroughly enjoyed our six nights on Lord Howe Island. I won't waffle on, but here are some pics:

A gorgeous and peaceful getaway.

Whales and manta rays and turtles ... oh my!

Last week we visited Lady Elliot Island, in the Great Barrier Reef, for (ahem) the fourth time. It's a wonderfully relaxing place where you can snorkel both in a shallow and accessible lagoon at high tide, and in deeper water if you catch a boat. This was the second time we'd been in winter ... it's a good time to go, as it's nice to escape Canberra's chill, and because the humpback whales and manta rays are migrating so if you're lucky you get to see them. A few pics:

Sunrise

Red-tailed tropicbird and chick

The (old) lighthouse

Abandoned crab shell

Plant nursery

Battery storage for the solar power produced onsite

Pandanus trees

Sunset

Oh, and I went snorkelling seven times in four days! Three times in the lagoon and four times on boat trips. I saw numerous rays (including five mantas) and sharks, glimpsed whales from afar, and gazed upon many smaller critters. It's such a privilege to be able to swim alongside sea creatures.

Family and fish in Fiji

We've spent the past week in Fiji, at a resort on the Coral Coast. My sister is celebrating a milestone birthday this month and kindly invited Andrew and me to join her family here!

While it's not the usual type of establishment we'd stay at (we're not exactly party animals), it's been lovely to catch up with my sister, brother-in-law and two teenage nieces. Plus some extra extended family members and friends.

The other highlight of the trip has been the snorkelling. Oh. My. Goodness. Multiple times per day, we've been able to walk out of our bure (cottage), straight into the Pacific Ocean, and swim a short distance to meet all manner of fabulous fish. I'm very grateful to my friend Rachel for lending me her snorkel and mask. They've had a lot of outings.

Being nerds, we've also taken advantage of some of the activities, educational and otherwise, offered by the resort. A guided walk around the tropical gardens, a trek up a nearby mountain, an information session on coconuts and a curry cooking class.

I won't waffle on, but here are some pics from the trip ...

View of the Coral Coast from the top of the

(smallish) mountain we climbed

Most days I queued up to order a personalised omelette

for breakfast. With plenty of chilli! I watched the

routine and am determined to recreate them at home

Caramel mousse ...

We were delighted to have an outdoor shower at our

bure. We were also delighted we weren't

showering at the time a tree blew into it!

Fijian feast: snapper, root vegetables,

spinach and a coconut gravy

Curry cooking class ;-)

It was our first trip to Fiji (though we've been other places in the Pacific: New Caledonia and Vanuatu and, of course, New Zealand) and I confess we didn't soak up the local culture as vigorously as we usually would. The week has been all about family and relaxation. And fish. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to plunge into the ocean for one last fish-ogling session before the shuttle bus takes us to the airport!

Travels to Balibo and Baucau

While our Timor tour began and ended in Dili, the nation's capital, the group also travelled to Balibo (near the Indonesian border in the west) and Baucau (to the east of Dili). While neither place is, theoretically, very far from Dili the roads range from bumpy to precarious so it takes a long time to get from A to B.

In Balibo the group visited 'Australia House', associated with five Australian journalists who were killed in 1975 in the lead up to the Indonesian invasion. The house is now a community facility and small museum.

We stayed at the elegant Balibo Fort Hotel:

It was interesting to see traditional dwellings, subsistence agriculture and all manner of free-ranging critters:

A couple of days after returning from Balibo we set off in the opposite direction. On the way to Bacuau we went snorkelling at K41 (pragmatically named as it is 41 km from Dili). It was magnificent. It was wonderful to get to meet the reef fishes of Timor, as well as the people ;-)

In Baucau, which is Timor-Leste's second-largest city, we admired relics from the Portuguese colonial era (the town reminded me of Melaka, Malaysia) and stayed at Pousada de Baucau, another elegant building reminiscent of times gone by.

Next post ... Timorese food. Well, obviously ;-)

Hello again, Lady Elliot Island

Andrew and I like fish. Not so much to eat, but to look at and swim with. Recently we made our third visit to Lady Elliot Island and it was spectacular! Our previous visits, in February 2013 and March 2014, were in late summer/early autumn, and this time we specifically chose to go in mid-winter to coincide with manta ray migration season. We were not disappointed. There were SOOOO many mantas ... and humpback whales! While many people snorkel with cameras we don't, so I can't show photos of the marine critters we saw. But here are a few other pics from the holiday in case anyone is interested ...

Tantalising view of the island from the window of a tiny plane

Buffet brekkie ...

... and the Buff-banded rail (a.k.a. the buffet bandit)

Chateau de hermit crabs

The Red-tailed tropicbird snoozes under a tree

Lunch ... Reuben sandwich

Sunrise ...

... and sunset

Cheers!

I'm a more adventurous snorkeller than Andrew, so although we snorkelled together in the (shallow) lagoon each morning, I went out on boat trips each day while he stayed behind and enjoyed more land-based pursuits. On my first 'snorkel safari' trip we saw about sixty manta rays, and on the second ... two humpback whales cruised past while our group was exploring the deep water. A truly amazing experience. I hope we'll go back again someday.