Today is Connor's 14th birthday and we had a GREAT Day. We took a large catamaran for an hour ride out to the Great Barrier Reef and a small island off a coral cay. The scenery was just beautiful-- like out of the picture books-- blue sky, beautiful blue and green water and pristine white sand on the beaches.
We spent the day snorkling at the reef. We saw so many brightly colored fish-- parrot fish, butterfly fish, and angel fish-- and those were only the ones we recognized. We also saw giant sea turtles and Giant Clams that were three feet across. We felt like we were swimming in Mark's fish tank-- although Connor adds "with better fish!!". He thinks Uncle Mark needs to get working on that!!
At one point Caitlin, Connor and I were actually swimming with a Giant Sea Turtle for about 15 minutes or so. Sean and Connor saw two huge fish. If we were in the Carribean Sean would have said one of them was a barracuda- not sure what is that large over here.
Shannon did great-- you would never know that she had just fractured her arm a little less than a month ago. I think the turtles were her favorite. We were all sad to leave the reef but had a fun sail back to Port Douglas complete with a live guitarist singing Australian folk songs.
All in all a great birthday for Connor and one I know he will remember. We are heading off to his birthday dinner at Mango Jam-- his favoriite restaraunt we have eaten at this week. I am sure we will crash early after our day of snorkling.
We hope to bring some of our Aussie lingo back with us-- our favorites-- "mate", "no worries" and "no drama." We suspect these may work their way in the Singapore Murray vernacular. Tomorrow our great Australian Adventure comes to an end as we fly back to Singapore. We are thankful for our fabulous three weeks Down Under.
We are sending lots of positive healing thoughts to Nancy who had hip replacement surgery this week. I am going to attempt to continue these e-mail updates once we return to Singapore although on a less frequent(maybe every few weeks) basis.
Thanks to all who have responded to our e-mails over the three weeks. It really helped bring a bit of family to us here in Australia. It made spending the holidays away from you all a little bit easier although we all missed seeing everyone. Signing off from Down Under. Deb, Sean, Caitlin, Connor and Shannon
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
'Roo post
We are having a great time in Port Douglas at the Great Barrier Reef. We spent one whole day enjoying the resort and its many lagoons. Today, we went to The Rainforest Habitat, a wildlife sanctuary. The habitat let's you wander through three unique environments that houses more than 180 species from the surrounding rainforest, wetlands and grasslands. The Habitat is in partnership with the Wet Tropics Management Authority for the purpose of rainforest conservation and education. It houses rare and threatened species in their natural habitat.
We got there early in the morning to have "Breakfast with the Birds." It was an experience to eat with the beautifully colored birds all around but did get a bit tricky while you ate-- feeling as if you have to dodge a few as they flew directly overhead. We then went to the reptile area to see a python feeding. We were assured they are basically not harmful to humans.
Next was the Koala area complete with a "Koala experience" where the kids were able to get up close to the Koalas. Next, we went to the grasslands where there were kangaroos, wallabies, pelicans, and tons of interesting birds all roaming about in their natural habitat. We saw lots of different kinds of kangaroos--from the large red kangaroos to the Eastern Grey kangaroos to the petite Parma kangaroos to the Lumholtz tree kangaroos (which actually look like a monkey with a kangaroo tail). We spent several hours feeding and petting the kangaroos. It is unbelievable how soft and gentle these animals are. We spent almost an hour watching a mom and joey (baby) kangaroo. After some time the kids were actually able to feed both the mom and the baby in her pouch. Sean and I are amazed how taken Connor is with the kangaroos-- he says he wants a pet kangaroo!! I wonder if somehow Connor's gentle nature connects with the gentleness of the kangaroo.
We also saw a saltwater crocodile that was 12 feet long and then saw probably ten or more Fresh Water Crocodiles. We saw up close several Emus and the Southern Cassowary which is not a pretty looking bird but is one of the more unusual things I have ever seen. It is an endangered species that is considered a keystone species meaning that its loss would likely lead to long term changes in plant communities within the rainforest. The Cassowary had a footprint from the middle talon to the back that was 12 inches long-- for you non bird lovers that means they have very big feet.
We saw more species of birds than we could count-- all so brightly colored with such beautiful and distinctive calls. Cathie and Mike would have been in their glory here. Later in the afternoon, we took a river cruise on the Lady Douglas Paddleboat.
This took us through the Mangrove Channels of Port Douglas to look for wild corcodiles and bird life. We were able to see several types of ospreys, herons and got to see a few more sea eagles. We also spotted a young male crocodile who followed the boat for some time. We then got to see an amazing animal interaction between the crocodile and a sea eagle. They came to a absolute standoff over a dead fish in the mud on the side of the river. The crocodile kept inching toward the fish while the sea eagle kept hopping down closer flapping its wings to appear as large as possible to the crocodile. The two then just stood eye to eye about ten feet apart staring each other down. Finally the sea eagle swooped in and won the fish leaving the crocodile to slide back down the muddy river side into the inlet. The proprietors of the boat said they had never seen anything like this.
We think we captured some good shots on film and promised to send some of the photos to John and Jenny if they turn out. The whole thing felt like it was something in a National Geographic TV special instead of something we were witnessed in real life.
We finished the day with a terrific dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Then it was back to the hotel-- we were exhausted. Shannon was thrilled to get to the room and put on her comfy "towel slippers" what she now calls the terry cloth slippers the resort provides to its guests. Tomorrow is Connor's birthday and our last day in Australia. We are taking a boat ride out to see the Great Barrier Reef. More to come. Deb, Sean, Cailtlin, Connor and Shannon.
We got there early in the morning to have "Breakfast with the Birds." It was an experience to eat with the beautifully colored birds all around but did get a bit tricky while you ate-- feeling as if you have to dodge a few as they flew directly overhead. We then went to the reptile area to see a python feeding. We were assured they are basically not harmful to humans.
Next was the Koala area complete with a "Koala experience" where the kids were able to get up close to the Koalas. Next, we went to the grasslands where there were kangaroos, wallabies, pelicans, and tons of interesting birds all roaming about in their natural habitat. We saw lots of different kinds of kangaroos--from the large red kangaroos to the Eastern Grey kangaroos to the petite Parma kangaroos to the Lumholtz tree kangaroos (which actually look like a monkey with a kangaroo tail). We spent several hours feeding and petting the kangaroos. It is unbelievable how soft and gentle these animals are. We spent almost an hour watching a mom and joey (baby) kangaroo. After some time the kids were actually able to feed both the mom and the baby in her pouch. Sean and I are amazed how taken Connor is with the kangaroos-- he says he wants a pet kangaroo!! I wonder if somehow Connor's gentle nature connects with the gentleness of the kangaroo.
We also saw a saltwater crocodile that was 12 feet long and then saw probably ten or more Fresh Water Crocodiles. We saw up close several Emus and the Southern Cassowary which is not a pretty looking bird but is one of the more unusual things I have ever seen. It is an endangered species that is considered a keystone species meaning that its loss would likely lead to long term changes in plant communities within the rainforest. The Cassowary had a footprint from the middle talon to the back that was 12 inches long-- for you non bird lovers that means they have very big feet.
We saw more species of birds than we could count-- all so brightly colored with such beautiful and distinctive calls. Cathie and Mike would have been in their glory here. Later in the afternoon, we took a river cruise on the Lady Douglas Paddleboat.
This took us through the Mangrove Channels of Port Douglas to look for wild corcodiles and bird life. We were able to see several types of ospreys, herons and got to see a few more sea eagles. We also spotted a young male crocodile who followed the boat for some time. We then got to see an amazing animal interaction between the crocodile and a sea eagle. They came to a absolute standoff over a dead fish in the mud on the side of the river. The crocodile kept inching toward the fish while the sea eagle kept hopping down closer flapping its wings to appear as large as possible to the crocodile. The two then just stood eye to eye about ten feet apart staring each other down. Finally the sea eagle swooped in and won the fish leaving the crocodile to slide back down the muddy river side into the inlet. The proprietors of the boat said they had never seen anything like this.
We think we captured some good shots on film and promised to send some of the photos to John and Jenny if they turn out. The whole thing felt like it was something in a National Geographic TV special instead of something we were witnessed in real life.
We finished the day with a terrific dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Then it was back to the hotel-- we were exhausted. Shannon was thrilled to get to the room and put on her comfy "towel slippers" what she now calls the terry cloth slippers the resort provides to its guests. Tomorrow is Connor's birthday and our last day in Australia. We are taking a boat ride out to see the Great Barrier Reef. More to come. Deb, Sean, Cailtlin, Connor and Shannon.
Happy Oz New Year
It is just past midnight here in Australia. We are having a great time at a New Year's Eve party in Port Douglas on the Great Barrier Reef just north of Cairns, Australia. We are celebrating at a party in the lobby of the Mirage Resort. Feels a bit odd not to see the. Ball drop in Times Square, which won't happen for another 15 hours or so. The key New Year's icon here is the fireworks over Sydney Harbor. Earlier this evening we had a great dinner at Paddy's Irish Pub in Port Douglas then back to the resort for the party-- complete with live band. We had fun singing and dancing. Shortly after we got to the party, our "Little Miss Social" started talking with some kids across the dance floor. Come to find out Shannon was talking to a third grade buddy of hers from the Singapore American School (SAS). Dominic and his family seem very nice-- they also have a seventh grader although Connor and he had not yet crossed paths. It is funny to be so far away and in a more remote Australian town (most people stay right in and around Cairns) and run across people from SAS. The same thing hapened in Phuket over Thanksgiving only many times over as we met probably 10 families from SAS there. While we are having a great time, we won't last long as we had to get up very early this morning to fly from Surfer's Paradise to Cairns-- then drove about an hour north to Port Douglas. On the flight in, we got a good view of the Great Barrier Reef. It is so vast and stretches for miles and miles. Tomorrow, on New Year's Day, we are planning to rest up at the resort. It is gorgeous with about ten lagoons and two enormous pools-- one fresh water and one salt water. We are planning a few excursions out to see the reef before we head back to Singapore. We feel like our Aussie adventure has covered a lot of ground until the country map reminds us we have only seen a small sliver of Australia. Like the US, it is a huge country. That said, we are thrilled with the peek this trip is providing. Happy New Year to all. We're praying the new year will bring peace to the world and health & happiness to all. Deb, Sean, Caitlin, Connor and Shannon.
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