Sam showing off his underwater moves.
Some shallow-water pictures from an afternoon dive on Flynn Reef. The wildlife includes damselfish, giant clams, clownfish and all sorts of crazy corals.
View from our window: Aboard Scubapro III, moored on Milln Reef, off the coast of Australia. 9:30 am, 05 January 2014.
Yep, that’s us scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Here are some pictures from Milln Reef on day one. Note the reef shark there at the bottom.
Our lovely airbnb hosts took us north of Cairns to Trinity Beach for a beach barbie. Delicious garlic shrimp with salad and chips from the takeaway. No swimming on this beach, though — too much risk of stingers. On our way back, we stopped off to see the nighttime view out over Cairns.
View from our window: Edge Hill, Cairns, Australia. 9:00 am, 03 January 2014.
Crossing the Tasman Sea from Auckland’s rocky shores to Cairns’s rainforest-clad mountains and fertile valleys. The Great Barrier Reef fills the ocean in all directions as the plane descends.
Flight thirteen. We could have spent the whole trip in just New Zealand and Australia, there is so much to see.
View from our window: Mangere, Auckland, New Zealand. 6:35 am, 02 January 2014.
On our last day in New Zealand, we drove down the west coast towards Auckland, stopping at Hokianga Harbour, and in the Waipoua Kauri Forest to see Tane Mahuta (the largest kauri tree alive) and the Four Sisters. This country really is stupidly beautiful and photogenic.