It's Been A Trip...But It's Almost Over...

Hey Gang.

I hope all is well.

We did our helicopter ride to the Great Barrier Reef, where we were transported to the ship on which we were to spend the night. They welcomed us aboard and told us about the ship's schedule which was pretty much: dive brief, then eat, then dive, repeated about six times throughout the day. Despite the rainy weather, we did manage to get four dives in. It was awesome!

We got to do two regular dives and one night dive. The next morning, our 6 am dive was cancelled due to weather (but I was up and ready...Lasagna was getting a bit sea sick and debating over whether or not she would do the morning dive)...But the weather cleared and we got to go out on a smaller boat and fall in frog man style. Again, awesome! All my Ralph Phillips type daydreams came true.

We're here in Melbourne at the moment...on the last leg of our trip. It's been a lot of fun and I'm not regretting giving up a kidney and lots of sperm to get here...

I have taken hundreds of pix, both digital and with a reusable underwater cam...Hopefully those turn out...I had almost forgotten about old fashioned film...The digital camera has spoiled us...Maybe I'll got through all the pix at a later date and organize them in some way...We'll see how that goes...

So in Hawaii, we drove by Dog's (The Bounty Hunter's) office, but to be honest the driver wasn't all that clear on where it was...So no pic of that...But our flight from Cairns to Sydney en route to Melbourne was cool for me. Lasagna wanted to go and brush her teeth when we landed at Sydney airport, so she left me at the seats near a window. I thought I'd power up my laptop and see if I could get online somehow...but if not, I was gonna look at some of our pix...I happened to look over at the passengers of a flight that had just arrived and I saw someone from behind who looked a lot to me like Mikey from one of my favourite shows, American Chopper. He was wearing a navy blue T-shirt, shorts and sandals. His pony tail looked a little longer, but he had that Mikey walk...Then a few more people came out and suddenly there was Paul Sr.!!! Lasagna was nowhere in sight and I had all my gear out...I put it down and moved in for a closer look. It was them! So I started to power off my laptop and had planned on carrying all the gear with me to get a pic of the O.C.C. boys...No Paul Jr. though...Anyway, as I was about to put everything away, Lasagna appeared and was approaching. I gave her the rundown and told her to hold tight with the gear and that I would be right back...I grabbed the camera and powered it on, as I prepared to sprint through the airport (and maybe to get tackled by an over-zealous security guard)...So as I turned the corner, Paul Sr. was waiting near the restroom area with his small entourage. (I think Mikey had to drop the kids off at the pool, maybe)...Anyway, I got some pix and they were pretty nice during our brief encounter, considering that they seemed a bit tired from travel...

Paul Sr.

Mikey!

Paul Sr. said they were filming in the area, but not building a bike...I mentioned that I look forward to the episode and other nerdy fan stuff and shook Mikey's hand (I hope he washed his hands, but I didn't really care)...And then Lasagna and I caught our flight to Melbourne.

We went on a city tour early the next morning that was to last 'til late into the night. My personal highlight was witnessing some dude getting arrested in the street...

It was a long day of touring and we got to see more kangaroos and wallabies and koalas...

But the night was to culminate with the viewing of the march of the penguins, if you will...

We were seated in concrete bleachers, waiting for night to fall so that the little penguins would come out of the sea and waddle to their nests. No photography or recording devices of any kind are allowed at this place, (but they have floodlights and loudspeakers and ignorant spectators who make all kinds of noise)...They're trying to keep the penguins free from human intervention...Weird...I guess they want tourists to spend more on pix and souvenirs...It's for a good cause, I guess...

I did manage to get a few pix of some of the early birds at the beach though...

Anyway, that's it for now...I just thought I'd post an update...I only managed to visit a few of my Blogger Pals, but I hope to check in with everybody...eventually...

Take care out there!

If I get ambitious (not likely) I may set up a photo Blog for some of the better pix I've taken...We'll see...

Your Pal,

Zambo.

G'DAY, MATES!

How ya goin'? Is what I would say if I lived around here...I still get a bit caught off guard with that one...And if you apolgize to anyone, they tend to say "You're alright, mate"...

Anyway, we flew to Cairns today. Yesterday we swam with sharks at a place called Ocean World in a city called Manly. Yup, Manly. A local sports guy was in the tank just before us and there was a lot of media attention. (I told the girl behind the counter that we're celebrities in Canada, and that I hoped the press would give us some privacy 'cause we're on vacation).

Shark from in tank.

I'm not gonna lie to you, it was pretty fuckin' cool! Lasagna doesn't like fish touching her under water, so she wore a hood and gloves. She was doing fine...until the end of our dive, when some type of ray began to smother her and she got a bit freaked out...We were told that they like the bubbles from divers, and will swim over them...Anyway, she no likey...

Ray from outside of tank.

But other than that, it was awesome. The turtles are actually more dangerous than the sharks. We were told to move out of their way if they seemed to be swimming towards us. At one point I got bonked on the head from behind...It was one of them ornery turtles.

Turtle from outside tank.

The day before yesterday we spent the whole day at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It was awesome too! Lots of my simian pals were there. Though they're 'in captivity', they have pretty nice lives, I think. They seemed happy and well-cared for. (I slipped them some escape plans though...just in case)...

Here are a few pix...I'll post more later, but we gotta get up bright and early for more adventure-type stuff...I feel a bit like Johnny Quest's dad, except I've got Lasagna...not that red-headed bearded dude, Race Bannon...

I guess most of you would want to see the following pix...Here's a pic of this little rascal taking it easy too...

...and these little guys can't be ignored around here, I guess...

I'll leave you with this image...

Remember, timing is everything!

Take care out there!

Your Pal,

Zambo.

Aloha, Bitches!

Hello Blogger Pals,

Just a few pix from Hawaii...

We swam with the dolphins!

We saw a few surfer dudes from the boat...Lasagna was getting a little bit queasy, but she didn't throw up...Two other folks did though...I felt sorry for them so I didn't take pix...(I'm getting soft in my old age, I guess)...here's some pix of the aforementioned surfer dudes...

We also saw a few whales, but I didn't get too many good pix (they're quicker than they look)...Fortunately there was a pro photographer who tags along on these tours and swims with us and I bought the CD of the day's adventures...We asked him to mail it in a few weeks...

Later that night we went out to dinner at the hotel restaurant...I took a pic of the menu if you're interested...

I had the Mahi Mahi sandwich (local fish). It was good. Subtle, almost like chicken...Lasagna had the Hawaiian Style Chicken Caesar...It looked pretty good too...

We washed them down with some tasty drinks...

These fellas played familiar tunes with a Hawaiian twist as we dined by the beach...It was pretty cool...

Next post will be Australia stuff...

Thanks for dropping by to visit and I'm sorry I haven't been too Bloggy lately...I can't promise I'll get to it, but I'll try...

Take care out there!

Your Pal,

Zambo.

P.S.

I'm listening to my pal Howard Stern online as Lasagna dreams of our further adventures. She's a tough little chick and she's all tuckered out right now. Cute. Stern's playing a clip of the time Green Day was in and swore up a storm in the song "Platypus (I Hate You)" ...(check out towards the end...It didn't air at the time)...So Anna Nicole Smith is dead, huh?...I really don't have anything else to say about that...and Howard Stern got engaged to long-time girlfriend, Beth O. (Not to be confused with one of the potential fathers of Anna Nicole's love child, and her lawyer/boyfriend, Howard K. Stern)...