Reef (Brisbane to Hamilton Island)

Kirsten's father took Pelagos for another outing to the Great Barrier Reef and we were invited for the Brisbane to Hamilton Island section. Kirsten spent 4 days shopping, re-packing, cooking and freezing a total of 1,200 meals!!

Kirsten on her early-morning watch during the over-night trip from Brisbane to the southern tip of the reef (Capricorn and Bunker Group). Note how calm the open ocean is!!

Our first snorkel off Lady Elliot Island. Manta rays and green turtles are a common sight in this area. 

A Wobbegong or carpet shark - how good is that camouflage!

Second stop in the lagoon of Lady Musgrave Island. One of my favourite spots in the world!

The island is a small coral cay covered in Pisonia forest with over 50 species of birds!

The most common bird on the island is the Black Noddy Tern - if you don't wear a hat you get covered in guano!

Sunset drinks on the back deck. This was the last time we encountered other boats until Hamilton Island.

Lady Musgrave Lagoon and the tiny island.

Garth on the look-out for Bomboras while cruising....

 

... and the tiny Leather Jacket he caught with a wine glass!

Most of the trip was spent moving through Swain Reefs and anchoring at good snorkelling spots. Due to the fantastic weather and very calm seas we managed to snorkel twice on most days!

It's a weird feeling to be standing on a reef in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing above the horizon!

 

How much fresher does seafood get? Excellent shot, Garth! This lobster was huge, very beautiful and very tasty! 

David filleting a Coral Trout.

I managed to catch a bird with my bare hands. Haha! And no, I wasn't drunk, just excited.

Here, some underwater shots:

One of the many Olive Sea Snakes we encountered....

... and the omni-present reef sharks.

Natasha was making a movie and wanted to film an animal invasion. We actually had to jump off and swim in these onesies!

Some of the crew: Patrick, Mary, John, Garth, Kirsten and Natasha.

 

Thanks John and Pelagos for a fantastic trip!! 

Switzerland to the Dolomites and back

This year we decided to ride from my parent's place to the Dolomites and back. We didn't have enough time to do the whole trip on bicycles and had to jump on a train for some sections. The purpose of the trip was not just to ride, but to meet friends and family along the way as well.

Our first stop along the Rhine - the cute town of "Stein am Rhein". 

One of many castles along the way. You can hire this one for parties!

Kirsten has a new bike computer. I'm not sure it knows the tracks that well, it wanted us to ride down that hiking trail!

Taken on a gorgeous day walk by our friends. Don't you think these Swiss cable cars are dogdy?

On a day ride from Klosters to the Vereina mountain hut.

Some of our favourite food: roesti, veal in mushroom cream sauce and a cider!

After a short trip on the train through the tunnel into the Engadine valley we cycled our first mountain pass of the trip: Fuorn Pass (as in "oven" used in ironworks in the area, now it's part of the one and only Swiss National Park!). Not my favourite mountain pass because the road is too straight, so the cars go way too fast - not nice when you're going very slowly!

First impression of the South Tyrol: lots of different kinds of smoked pork, but you can also buy salami made of deer, stag or wild boar.

How's this for a local pub??

Every tenth apple in Europe comes from here, the valley floor of the South Tyrol, also called the Alto Adige. The guidebook suggested to ride on top of the hills rather than along the Adige river....

...so we tried. They made us fit 2 bikes and 6 people into this tiny cable car! 

My parents met us in Bolzano for a 3 day round-trip to Cortina d'Ampezzo in their car. Cortina is at 1,224m altitude and the cable car takes you (in 3 stages) to Tofana di Mezzo at 3,244m !! And what a view - in the heart of the Dolomites!

Feeling a bit dizzy from the altitude, so I better sit down to enjoy the view!

My parents, looking fit and ready for adventure!

I took this shot without the cars, but Kirsten thought it was important to show that we were not the only ones! We had to pay for parking!

Just another impressive set of rocks in the Dolomites.

Back on the bicycles and eating large lunches!

We had to catch a train to make it to Milan on time to meet our Spanish friends. Just as well because it was 38 degrees every day! We really needed that abanico!

The Cathedral in Milan is very impressive - and impossible to get into one photograph.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of the world's oldest shopping malls.

From Milan we took the train back to Switzerland and went from 38 degrees to a deluge and 12 degrees! We spent the only rainy day on the whole trip in a train - by pure coincidence!

The next day: sunny and beautiful. So Kirsten decided it was time to do 2 mountain passes in one day (she didn't like the look of the accommodation half way).

So here's the first one....

...... then down we go, a quick lunch, and up the other side. Lucky the second pass was not as high!

One of the alpine lakes on the Grimsel Pass.

Towards the end of our trip we spent a few days with my sister in Interlaken. This is the view from her living room!

There must be too many bike riders in Switzerland! They are running out of space to store them at train stations and had to be inventive!