I saw Nemo today. I swam with the fish, and it was good. Lucked out on the tour today and even did a bit of scuba diving down where all the good stuff is. The real reason we came to Cairns was to swim around in the Great Barrier Reef, and we chose a great day to do it.

Much like Sydney, this neck of the woods has been covered in clouds for weeks, and yesterday was their first good day they have had in ages. Today was even better. Perfect conditions to pop onto a boat and drive out to the coral.

The reefs are very impressive. The coral, protected from the direct waves of the Pacific, is alive and thriving. There are scores of different types that wave beautifully back and forth in the tide. In and around this are a bounty of colorful fish. I think I even saw a cute little, about three feet long, reef shark at the end of the day. Don't quote me on that, however.

Scuba is really the way to go. It feels just like you are snorkeling, except you don't have to worry about water going into your blowhole. Just breath calmly, pop your ears frequently, and basically you are good to go. That and keep your guide nearby. I could swim right up to everything, so I could look into the meter wide century old clam, swim right up and close for a picture of a couple of Nemos. Many other beautiful, colorful fish that words do not do justice.

I bought a disposable waterproof camera, so soon I will have some pictures of the reef for you to look at. Tomorrow, I figure that we are going to spend some time at a beach, then we are off on a late flight to Melbourne.

Melbourne, where it is wet, cold and shitty. Why is it that the cool towns are always in such dreadful climates?

Posted by Colin J Allen at 3:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I saw a few crocodiles today. Not too bad, I say. Today, we took a tour into the rain forest, checked out the flora and fauna of the area. Mostly flora, but when it comes to animals that can kill you, I like to keep the close encounters to a minimum.

The big ol' beasts are not that dangerous, really, as long as you keep your hands and feet in the boat. As far as actual people killed, the bee kills more people per year. True, true, yet nevertheless anaphylactic shock is just not as gruesome a huge lizard biting you, dragging you into the river till you drown, then munch upon as lunch followed up by an afternoon of sunbathing.

Times up here at the lab, folks. See fish tomorrow.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 6:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another rainy day in Sydney. Just like any other day, apart from the fact that I have no place to call my own. That changes things a bit. It takes a while to get used to being a transient. We get on a plane to fly up to Cairns later tonight. Off to see the Great Barrier Reef. You know the one they had in Finding Neno? It looks just like that, but real. My goal is it see it before global warming wipes it away.

After a few days there, we are going to go down to Melbourne, and check out the other big city. See for myself which one is better. There is a Sydney-Melbourne rivalry over here, and I wanted to check to see what the actual differences are. Just like other 'my city is better' debates, such as Dallas vs Houston, Glasgow vs Edinburg or NYC vs LA, it is one of those discussions you can quickly get yourself in trouble if you slip up on your diplomacy. It's never been fun to get myself out of one of my why I hate L.A. diatribes.

It will be colder down in Melbourne, and then it will be all warmer after that. Some time in Sydney, then it's off to Arizona, via Fiji, then New York. Can't wait to move those boxes. Ugh.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 1:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is official now, I have no home. Turned in the keys today, and Christy and I are currently staying at a friend's house in Sydney. As I type this, they are noting the many typos that she has found in my blog. Readers take note, references to Christ should be considered a rather embarrassing misspelling of my girlfriend, not the Lord 's earthy manifestation. Be worried when I start writing about that.

It is odd to have no keys. It is somewhat liberating, but a bit terrifying as well. Everything I have now is sitting in a dark box, either here or in the States. To think that it will all see the light of day in a new place, a new home, well that's a bit unfathomable. Scarry that I have to find a place for everything. Ah, moving.

I am getting tired, so I am going to wrap this up. May I see you all soon.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This will be the last post from this house. I have to back the computer up, and wrap up all the loose ends before tomorrow, when we are officially out of the house. We will be bouncing around for a while, and I'll be sure to leave posts about my trip back home.

I was thinking today of the things that I will be happy to see again when I get back into the States. Coffee brought this to mind today. I have given it a long try, but espresso-based drinks are not for me. Sure, the long black—a shot of espresso mixed with hot water—has its place, but for me, when I order coffee I want to chose the size of my drink.

Coffee and water need to have more time to meet and get to know one another, and slapping some water on top of an espresso is an awkward greeting. Maybe I should open my mind and start downing shots of espresso, but part of the joy of coffee is savoring its goodness over time. I will take the bottomless cup, please.

Anyhow, there are other things that I am excited to get back to. Family, friends, a tight community, a newspaper worthy of the Subway fold and all that other typical New York City stuff. And I keep forgetting that it is not winter up there. Happy to have two summers this year. Better than two winters.

Travel starts tomorrow. Places to go. More to come.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I will not have an address in Australia come Monday. We turn in our keys, and then we are off to see a bit of the country, a long flight over the Pacific, with a stay-over in Fiji, landing first in Arizona, where Christy will get to meet my folks for a few days while we hang out at the new house and the Grand Canyon, then ending back in New York, where we start that never fun process of finding a place to live. Got all that?

Since my last post Christ has been amazingly busy finishing up art school and I have been amazingly busy finishing up web projects. Of note, Prescott Pines Inn has gone through a complete makeover. I also lent a hand in the remake of Smart Dog School which also went live this week. As far as seeing Christy's work, that's on the schedule of sites I will be making very soon. Both of us have essentially been working as much as we could before the Monday deadline arrives. Now that it looms very soon, it's all packing.

The people in the apartment above us must have torn out the carpet this last month. The construction was annoying, and now that it is all done, the results are even worse. I can hear the laugh-track on their television, and if I listen closely, I can make out what they are talking about above me. This is all new, by the way, before the construction it was blissfully silent upstairs. It is a good time to be turning in the keys.

It is now time to pack up the kitchen.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 11:58 PM | Permalink

Yes PJ!, It Is A Crazy Place

I am writing about books again. I need to stop doing this, but this time its a must. My good friend PJ! asked me recently if I had been to Gould's Bookstore over in Hopetown. He mentioned to me that they have so many books that they don't even know what they all are. There is an entire storage floor, inaccessible to the public, that is just filled with boxes floor to ceiling that they haven't bothered looking at simply because they don't have the space to put them anywhere.

I had not, but now I have.

Imagine a bookstore that is so full of books that there are waist-high piles of books in front of every shelf. Even for me, a skinny guy, it was hard for me to get around the place, spelunking through these narrow caves of knowledge. There was so much there I felt obliged to help them clear out their stock. I found some great stuff, and as I have not given you a video in a while, I'll show you my great finds:

If any of you are interested in the later covers from The Lost Jewels of Nabooti, and what the title has been is changed to, Brian remains my source of this random tidbit of information.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 12:00 AM | Permalink