Little Miss Muffet's January in Oz

January has been a quiet and busy month for Jaime and I. We are in between visitors and had most of the city to ourselves for the first half of the month due to January continuing to be a holiday month for the Aussies. Most stores and restaurants had signs that read "We will re-open 2nd Feb." This month long holiday seems to be the way to go...hint hint America, more holidays! ;)

Jaime was back to work mid-month, so one day I was out running some errands and wandering around town. I had this constant tickle down my right arm. I am forever shedding hair so I just thought it was a fallen hair stuck on my arm. I never saw it but each time I had the tickle I figured I brushed away a hair.  At the end of the day, I got on the tram home and then my shopping buddy appeared.  Somehow I had a teeny tiny little spider, smaller than an ant, hanging with me all day and again, somehow, he was just chillin on his silky thread, hanging off my shirt!? Luckily, this was no Huntsman spider (as seen in Sydney) so I just said hello and gently disconnected him from, well, me, and placed him on the tram window, now free to see the world. I attribute this event to the adventurous spirit of the little spider who chose me as his gateway to freedom and to the fact that due to our choice of lack of furniture in our temporary apartment my dresser/bureau is actually my suitcase sitting on the floor beneath the window in our bedroom.  As non-distressing as this situation was, I now thoroughly shake and then practically beat every piece of clothing I take out of my dresser. You just can't be too careful. :) 

Our first trip for the month was a tour to Wilson’s Promontory. We had a scoopon for a full day tour and booked it for an early Sunday morning. We drove about 2 hours south of Melbourne where we went on a three-hour (!) hike up the mountain. Once at the top, we took pictures of the views of the Bass Strait and enjoyed a mountain top lunch. We’ve been having so much rain lately that the walking path was very overgrown and we came down with leg and arm scratches that I like to call “roughin it”.  We then visited squeaky beach…it really squeaks!

Views from the top.

Jaime's cicada lunch

Old tree

 The cicadas were really loud and all over the place. During our 3 hour hike I had plenty of time to tell Jaime stories, one of which was about cicadas. I was in my sophomore year of high school in Nashville, TN. That year, as we approached summer, the big news everyone was talking about was "The cicadas are coming! The cicadas are coming!" I learned that cicadas live in the ground and every say 6 years they come up to breed and then I think they die and then the eggs hatch and the little 'wingless nymphs' burrow into the ground to live on tree sap and grow wings so that someday they can await their opportunity to come above ground and wreak havoc, etc. So this was the year of the cicadas. We were new to Nashville and cicada season so we weren't sure what to expect. But when they came, they came! There were millions and they were loud and clumsy. If you accidentally had your window open in your car when you stopped at a red light cicadas would dive bomb into your lap and you literally had to scoop them up and toss them back out the window. (Caitlin S. remembers this, we had some cicada car attacks together).  Once they came I realized that the once thought dramatic warning of "The cicadas are coming!" was actually appropriate.

The next few weeks were quiet, Jaime was busy at work and I was busy...ya know...doing stuff. We try to keep up with the happenings around the world and especially in the US. I called mumster one day and she had just started watching Obama give his address. So Jaime tried to find it online. At first we could only get the live feed for sound with no picture, so it was quite funny to see us sitting around his computer listening intently. It was like Obama fireside chats. I thought ah, this was what it was like back in the day...simplicity. Then we got live video too...errrrt...back into the present and future. Here in Australia you reminded often of the conveniences we have in the US. They have really similar technology, etc, but they are still just a little behind. For example, there is only one cable network for most of Victoria and all they play are re-runs of american tv or you pay extra for American movie channels, its pretty weak, and the free-to-air channels are not included because they refuse to share a satellite with the network. So, we have a cable box hooked up to our tv, and then we have a long black cord that connects to the tv and runs all the way from our sitting room into the bedroom to the only free-to-air outlet we have in the apartment. When guests come over we have to unplug the cord so they can shut their door. Another example is a credit card surcharge for everything! If you book a plane ticket online you might pay up to a 7% fee for each passenger if you use a credit card. These are mild examples, but you get the picture.
I am also a little out of touch with new music in the US. If anyone has any good recommendations send them my way!

And now...the stars of the January blog...

The best part of January was our weekend trip to Queenscliff. An hour south of Melbourne is a seaside resort town (I know, they are all seaside resort towns here in Oz) at the entrance of Port Philip Bay. We had a scoopon for a dolphin swim that I had purchased when we first moved here.  The dolphin day sounded awesome, swimming with dolphins, fur seals, and snorkeling in a small reef. Jaime mentioned that swimming with fur seals was a little sketchy considering that sharks eat seals. As excited as I was, I was actually really really nervous about the sharks. I figured that they do this twice a day, everyday, there must be no concern for sharks, right? Early in the am we got moving right away getting into our 5mm wetsuits (even in summer, the water was freezing) and fitting ourselves in flippers. We were lucky because our tour group was unusually small that day which made it intimate and fun. The boat was equipped with a  hammock type thing that attached to the side so you could sit over the water while we were boating. We learned that there are approximately 100 resident dolphins that live in the bay, they haven’t proven it yet, but scientist think they may actually be their “own” species of dolphin (not sure why).  The dolphins basically predict how the day is going to go. As we headed out to our snorkeling site, we were radioed that the dolphins were in a certain area and were especially playful. So we changed our route and headed to the dolphins. We were told that dolphins sense emotion and to be sure to look them in the eye if they come by and show that them that you are excited. When the dolphins were spotted, we threw on our snorkels and jumped in the water on the back or side of the boat. We held onto ropes in the water and our guides told us which way to look to see them. We saw a few swim by and check us out under the water which was really cool. I was all ready to wriggle with excitement but they didn’t come close enough. Instead they loved hanging at the bow of the boat. When we got out of the water for the next group to get in we moved for a little while so the dolphins could ride the waves, they loved it! This was as close as I have ever been to wild dolphins and it was awesome!!!

Our next stop was the Chinahut, where we jumped in the water, free swim, with the resident fur seals. I was so excited I forgot to ask about the sharks, but luckily Jaime asked our guide. Apparently there are only about 60 fur seals in the bay. They are described as the rejects of the population, due to their lack of qualifications for breeding. Because there are only 60 fur seals in the bay and 100s just around the corner in the ocean, they figure that the sharks don’t waste their time coming into the bay to feast. I was going to jump in that water with my new friends regardless, put me in a wetsuit and I am a happy fish, but I was really really relieved I didn’t have to think about the sharks. The fur seals were great, we weren’t allowed to touch them but we were allowed to be right next to them and some would even goof around with you if started swimming and doing tricks.

Jaime looking suave

Me, trying to look wetsuit suave

Hut where the fur seals live

Don't let them fall on your head!

Jaime snorkeling with his new friend

After the fur seals, we made our way to a little cove where we were to snorkel with the fish. I enjoy everything, but Jaime and I both agreed this reef was a little lacking compared to some we have seen so we swam ahead saw a few really cool fish and then climbed back into the boat to dry off on the hammock. While with the seals, one of our guides had gathered some sand crab and while we were in the water with the fish they had cooked them up onboard. So as Jaime and I laid out on the hammock, we were thrown fresh and delicious sand crabs to nibble on. What a life!  On the way back to port our guides showed us a few tricks and this is me attempting to ride the waves like a dolphin. (I’m telling ya, I hate cold water, but put me in a wetsuit and I am a fish!). We drank hot tea and ate snacks on the way back and waved to all the large ships that went by. (Isn't it funny how when youre out on the water, its so natural to wave to the people on the passing ships), and jumped off the top of the boat as the grand finale. The company is currently having a promotion for 50% a second dolphin swim trip. But we had such a perfect day with great weather, playful dolphins and seals, that our guides actually told us not to come back!

Sand crabs

What a day!

Passing container ship...it was massive! We waved to this one too. 

I love dolphin life!