Great Barrier Reef...

Dive leaders inspecting equipment upon return from the dive...
Click link below to see more photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffreythib/ReefDiving?authkey=2VipaMcmSJY&feat=directlink


Eden, Tal and me


Michaelmas Cay, The Great Barrier Reef, AU

Cairns: population of 122,000, is surprisingly easy to navigate on foot. The streets are aligned in perpendicular order and there are several principal avenues making it easy to get ones bearings.

What is not easy (and in fact risky for a US citizen) is becoming habituated to the 'left sided' traffic pattern. By habit, I’m accustomed looking to the left and then to the right for oncoming cars before crossing a street… Let’s just say I’m working diligently to change that habit (before it changes me!)

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Internet access at the hostel is limited to a couple of computers in the office reception area. There is no wireless service. This morning I went to the local Tandy Shop (Radio Shack) to purchase a small USB memory stick with which to transfer photos for this blog from my notebook to the office computer. When the sales clerk returned my change, I replied, “Thanks, Mate.”
Exiting the store I thought, “Did I just say, Mate?!?”

On my return to Travellers Oasis, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a fresh-baked loaf of 12-grain bread; a small jar of jam; a small bunch of seedless grapes; and a jar of…, yes, a jar of… Vegemite!
Exiting the store I thought, “Did I just buy Vegemite?!?”

[Vegemite (by Kraft), a salty, dark-colored, concentrated yeast extract is extremely high in Vitamin B. It’s similar to nutritional yeast only in paste form. I will use it to add flavor… (taste being a relative sense…) and salt to brown rice and polenta.]