WOW! Am I ever making ground. Only 3 months worth of posts and I'll be all caught up, again! It is really nice to review the past few months as I am blogging. It really makes me feel that we are truely blessed to be here and to experience the beauty and the adventures that this part of the world holds.
Well, here comes May 2009. We had a couple of highlights this month. One was my birthday present to Bryan. Yes, I know that his birthday is March 30, 1960. (which by the way March 30th 2010 will make him the big 50 ) But don't tell him I mentioned it. The month of March and April Bryan was out of town quite a bit so I had to wait until May to give him my present. We went for a drive to Manly Beach, Friday May 1 2009, where I told him we were going for coffee, a walk on the beach and then lunch. We walked to Manly Aquarium and went to the front counter and I told the girl who we were. She then responded by saying, 'Oh you are here for the shark dive'. That was one surprise. The other one was that I was going with Bryan. (I surprised myself as well).
We had a blast! Or I should say Bryan did anyway. I was scared spitless! It was really neat and now that it is over, I would do it again in a heartbeat. The ocean life that we saw were just awesome. There were several different kinds of fish, a manta ray as big as a queen size mattress, and of course several different kinds of sharks. The grey nurse shark was the biggest of all. The largest grey nurse shark was 12 feet long. Huge! The sharks would come within inches of you just to see who was visiting. The sharks were fed the morning before we got there. Good thing!
Left: Me hanging on to Bryan's hand with al my might. Note, the shark coming in from behind.
Right: Bryan and I holding our hands up to tell the instructor that we're OK!
This is a picture of two of the grey nurse sharks. Mean looking creatures aren't they? We only purchased these three pictures and the video. They were a bit expensive. The video is pretty long so it is not possible to upload it, sorry. The sharks are very sleek animals. Wonderful to watch as they glide through the water with such ease.
Coonabarabran Bike Run - May 16 & 17 2009
On the third weekend in May we hooked up with the Ullyses Blue Mountains Chapter for a bike run to Coonabarabran, NSW. It was about a 6.5 hour drive one way. We took one way on the way there and a different way back.
Left: Our first pitt stop. Some of the bikes on the trip. Our bike is the 1st bike on the left side of the picture.
Right: A view of the road with the mountains in the background.
Another pitt stop was that of an observatory centre near Coonabarabran. It is named the "Star Gazing" capital of Australia. The stars you can see from here are phenomenal. We, unfortunately were there before it was dark and it was cloudy out as well.
The view from the top of the observatory.
A group photo taken in front of the hotel where we stayed. Bryan is in there somewhere!
Well, that finishes the month of May. Next on the list is June and our first wedding anniversay. Keep checking for the next post. I'll get caught up yet!!
Take care everyone.
All our love,
Bryan & Maureen
