Monthly Archives: May 2015
Australia
Warning: If in the next paragraphs we may sound like some ungrateful and blaze snobs, we probably are. Also, best diving here!
It’s hard to be squeezed between New Zealand and Tahiti. I mean, how can you compete with glaciers on volcanoes on one side and postcard beaches on the other. Still Australia gave us some nice moments which I will summarise below.
We landed in Cairns where we spent a couple of days just walking around the beach and the city
We did 6 dives (see our dive post here) and then we moved on to Townsville and Magnetic Island. A nice aquarium (with Mantis Shrimps), and a pretty green island.
From there we did two more dives at Yongala (amazing, we were surrounded by thousands of fish) and then on to Airlie Beach. The highlight of our stay there was a cruise to Whitsundays and Whithaven beach, a gorgeous white sand beach on one of the islands. Mihut, you would have loved it there 😉
From there on to Hervey Bay with a short stop in Town of 1770, another small sea…err.. village with a funky name. It is apparently known for those trees with their roots out.
Hervey Bay was a nice surprise. First, sea birds galore and enjoying the company of more or less succesful fisherman:
Then, a day on Fraser Island, the largest sand Island in the world. Really impressive with its 75 mile beach (which doubles as a highway with police patrols), ship wreck, rain forest and crystal clear lake:
From there we drove to Brisbane with a stop at the interesting Australia Zoo where we finally ticked of our Australian list koalas and kangaroos. Cristina especially enjoyed the snake exhibit;)
Cruising Australia
We’re now lazily driving down Australia East coast. We got lazy with posts too si here’s a small update from Australia Zoo, yesterday.
Conducem lenes pe coastabde Estba Australiei si ne-am lenevit si cu posturile. Pana la ceva mai consistent, un mic update de ieri de la Australia Zoo.
Karamea/Oparara
De ce tot public poze cu Noua Zeelanda desi acum suntem in Australia? Pentru ca e geniala! Â si pentru ca dintre toate tarile pe care le-am vazut pana acum, aici chiar ne-ar placea sa ne mutam daca am pleca din Franta,atat e de frumoasa. Si una din partile absolut geniale ale NZ este coasta de vest a insulei de sud, incarcata pana la refuz de paduri ( si coasta, munti, peisaje,etc). Dar nu orice paduri, paduri tropicale temperate. In romana nici nu avem cuvant separat pentru ‘rainforest’, le numim pe toate paduri tropicale. Astea sunt temperate, ninge in Noua Zeelanda iarna si ele nu patesc nimic (doar se captusesc bine cu nori si umezeala si nu ingheata).
De ce sunt asa de geniale? Pentru ca mustesc de viata si vegetatie, orice mm de suprafata este folosit de o noua plantutza, tot ce moare este folosit ca ingrasamant, apa este maro de atatea frunze in descompunere si incarcata de bunatati, au straturi si straturi in functie de cata lumina au nevoie si sunt o nebunie de verdeata plina de umezeala si de energie. Se pare ca cineva le-a numit “un nou continent”, tot descopera specii si noi plante in padurile astea anormal de incarcate. Sunt super tari, e mare mea descoperire (asta si lumea subacvativa), pe vacanta asta. Sunt absolut geniale dar trebuie sa veniti sa va plimbati ca sa ma credeti.
J’adore la Nouvelle Zelande, la NZ est géniale, tellement géniale qu’on pourrait venir habiter ici si jamais on quitte la France. La je vous mets des photos d’une foret temperee humide,une foret parmis des centaines de la cote ouest de l’ile du sud de la NZ. J’adore ces forets, elles sont remplies de vie, de verdure, de vegetation, d’humidité, d’oiseaux, d’insectes. L’eau ressemble a la biere brune tellement elle est remplie de feuilles mortes en decomposition. Et tout ca dans un pays qui protege ses forets et les transforme en parcs nationaux. Ils ont tout compris les NZ! J’ai du rendre fou Mihai avec mes forets mais dites moi, ne sont elles pas les plus belles?
Dunedin
In Dunedin am ajuns inainte de Christchurch, un orasel cu aer si arhitectura de Scotia dar cu aceeasi biodiversitate si animale protejate ca peste tot in Noua Zeelanda. In peninsula din fata, Otago, au singura colonie in care ajuta la reprodus o specie de albatrosi numita “royal albatros”, o pasare de 10 kg si de 3 m cand isi deschide aripile. Au inceput acum multi ani cu o pasare si acum au cateva sute care se intorc mereu in acelasi loc sa-si reintalneasca partenerul si sa creasca pui. In afara de albatrosi au o groaza de alte pasari, lei de mare, nelipsitele foci si pinguini cu ochii galbeni rari si pe cale de disparitie.
Este linistitor si placut sa te plimbi pe plajele goale si sa intalnesti animalele marine lenese la soare in mediul lor natural, fara ingradiri sau gradini zoologice. Poti sa te bucuri in liniste ca mai sunt locuri unde animalele sunt protejate si lasate in pace, unde omul n-a invadat chiar totul “asa cum i se cuvine”.
On est arrivé à Dunedin avant d’aller à Christchurch, derniere ville de notre voyage en Nouvelle Zelande. Dunedin est une petite ville sur la cote est, avec un petit air ecossais (pas pour rien) avec des plages desertes remplies de lions de mer, phoques, penguins en voie de disparition et d’oiseaux. Parmis les oiseaux, l’albatros royal, 10 kg, 3 m une fois qu’il ouvre ses ailes. Ici a Dunedin c’est la seule colonie d’albatros royal au monde ou les gens aident l’espece a se reproduire et survivre. Ils ont commencé avec un oiseau il y a des dizaines d’années, maintenant il y a des centaines d’oiseaux qui reviennent au meme endroit pour avoir leur propres petits bebes. Trop cool la Nouvelle Zelande.
The reef
Trecand in viteza pe langa plantatii de trestie de zahar ochii ni se opresc pe o lighioana moarta la margine de drum: un mare si cenusiu sarpe. Bine ati venit in Australia. La 100 de km trecem pe langa un cangur mort.
As we zip past sugar cane plantations we see roadkill on the side of the motorway. It’s a large, grey snake. Welcome to Australia. 100km past we pass a dead, large kangoroo.
Si daca tot vorbim despre animalele prietenoasa ale Australiei, iata inca unul pe care l-am vazut acum 2 zile.
And speaking of Australia’s friendly animals, here’s one more that we saw 2 days ago.
Filmul e dintr-una din primele scufundari in Marea Bariera de Corali. Rechinul ala prietenos era undeva la 15m de noi. Si mai interesanta a fost seara cand am facut o scufundare de noapte. Marea era foarte agitata si asteptand sa incepem sa luam adancime mi-am indreptat lanterna spre fundul marii. Am inghtat cand am vazut o silueta grabita dedesubt; semana cu el:
This was from one of our first dives in the Great Barier Reef. That friendly shark was maybe 15 meters away. Things got even better in the evening when we did a night dive. The sea was very rough and while we were waiting to get lower I turned my torchlight toward the bottom of the sea. I saw a darting figure underneath, something resembling this:
In restul scufundari am mai vazut 2 sau 3 rechini apropiindu-se nervosi de noi si apoi schimband brusc directia. Pentru mine a fost o experienta extraordinara. Rechinii nu erau periculosi dar sa vad un predator de dimensiunile astea venind cu viteza spre mine si apoi virand brusc spre alta directie e ceva pe ce nu voi uit curand. In plus, dupa scufundare, am putut admira inca 5 sau 6 rechini vanand in jurul barcii.
During the rest of the dive we saw 2 or 3 more sharks hunting, getting close to us and nervously going away. For me it was a terrific experience. These sharks are not dangerous but the sight of this huge predator coming full speed towards me and suddenly veering away is something I won’t forget for a long time. On top of this, after the dive, we saw 5 or 6 sharks just circling the boat and hunting around it. Just awesome.
In afara de rechini am explorat reciful, am vazut tot felul de animale acvatice si ne-am bucurat de Frank:
Besides sharks we explored the corals, saw some marine life and enjoyed the company of Frank the local Maori Groper:
Vizibilitatea a fost proasta, marea era agitata dar ne-am bucurat de cele 6 scufundari. Speram la mai multe pe masura ce continuam spre sud. Extrem de trist este ca reciful moare si se vede.
Visibility was poor, the see was rough but we enjoyed our 6 dives. Hoping to do more and see more as we head south. Extremly sad is that it is obvious the reef is dying.
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