If you give a grown man a sword....

So Bri's birthday weekend began fairly normally. At his request we had homemade falafel and naan...yes, we're so risqué as to combine Israeli and Indian food....but hey, we live in a country where eating chicken feet is normal!

Yes, he's eating tomatoes!

Now somehow these six months have gone by without me telling you about an important piece of decor left behind in our apartment: we are the proud (temporary) owners of a samurai sword. And Brian's been itching to try it out. Hence the birthday watermelon. Who knew a $2 gift could bring such joy?

Spoiled, yes. One cake for home, one for an impromptu BBQ

The "grown-up" version of a first day at school photo...all excited to head out the door!

Yeah, I flinched when the watermelon and sword came flying at me....

So even a dull sword can slash through a watermelon. The birthday boy was happy.

Queensland

After diving the Great Barrier Reef we headed north to Port Douglas for four days. A darling, but perhaps a bit too touristy, town on the beach. One highlight was a drive north through the Daintree Rainforest to Cape Tribulation--the furthest north you are allowed to drive without 4WD.

We take a cute ferry across the Daintree River and what does Brian take a pictures of?

Rickety old bridge...further up the road it narrowed to 1 lane because the other half SLID DOWN THE CLIFF!

Daintree Rainforest

Awesome hollow tree that wrapped around and choked out the host tree

 

Loved these palms....about 6 foot diameter fronds!

End of the road--Cape Tribulation

Signs posted said "beware of crocodiles in mangroves." So naturally, lets go right in.

Later on we took a trip to the Cairns Tropical Zoo.

Cassowarie...which we were able to identify thanks to this sign:

Wombat

$16 photo. Absolutely worth it!

Great Barrier Reef

Here are some, okay, a ton of pictures from the liveaboard trip we took on the Great Barrier Reef. I could have stayed forever. Now, unlike Brian, I can't look at coral and know it's acropora or cladiella or sarcophyton, but I do know I've never seen coral in such quantities and variety. I'd also never seen soft coral or anemones before on a dive--watching the reef move and dance in the surge was just mesmerizing. The reef seemed to go on forever and ever. There were fantastic mazes to explore in just 5-20 feet right next to sheer cliffs, and tunnels and atolls and...You get the idea!

Cairns marina...felt like we were in Hawaii it was so lush!

View of the reef from our 'hotel'

Pink Clownfish

Yellowtail fusiliers

Unicorn tangs

Interrupting naptime

How many PJ cardinal fish can you count hiding in the coral?

How many people can a nearly 5' clam feed?

Stingray

Star pufferfish at a cleaning station

Golden spadefish--these were everywhere

Male and female purple anthias.

White tip reef sharks--saw tons of these guys

Coral Grouper

He's tiny, but the juvenile dragon wrasse is pretty crazy looking! Click on photo to enlarge

More pink clownfish. The anemone was beautiful!

Hubba bubba Sweet Lips!

One of my favorite fish from the trip--6 Banded Angelfish

Moorish Idol

Lionfish

Buffalo Parrotfish. This was one of the best moments of the trip--we were in about 10' of water on a sandy bottom surrounded by coral when a herd, literally a HERD, of about 20 of these came charging over the coral and swarmed around us in a feeding frenzy. They use their heads to break the coral and are in desperate need of a trip to the dentist.

We ran into them again on a later dive.

Not bad for an underwater self portrait....though Bri could work on his smeyes ;-)

Doesn't the surface of the water look fantastic?!

Back on land--next stop Port Douglas