Gold Coast fishing

It’s winter and fishing time. We’re off to go and catch some snapper, Jew fish, king fish and anything else that’ll bite. I was a bit over enthusiastic dressing in only shorts and thongs as the first 2 hours I am truly freezing my tits off. The fishing is good, we catch a lot of keepers. And then it happens, one of us has got something big. The rod bends deeply, the owner is fighting for every inch of line, when all of the sudden he is almost pulled into the water. It takes 10 seconds for my mate to find back his feet and reel in what was supposed to be a monster. But... only the head comes up, the rest has been eaten by a monster shark.

I catch the largest fish of the day: a nice shark. We see plenty of Whales and a dolphin enjoys jumping on the waves of our wake.

My mate loses his hat on the way back. Check the picture: hat, no-hat.

Port Douglas Boating

Today we’ve rented a boat and Kieran takes a liking to the captain’s seat. We’ve got huge steaks, salad, fishing rods and the weather is stunning. Fortunately we encounter some friendly locals willing to give us their bug spray as the sand flies are relentless, there’ll be no relief from the heat as the waters are infested with crocs. We catch a couple of fish, see some sunken boats from the hurricane that came through here earlier this year and enjoy the quiet nature.

Cairns Diving

Yep, we’re in Cairns again. A nice spot to go to go in the winter. We decide to go diving with a local operator claiming they have a unique Whale swimming license. The whale story proves to be a scam as one of the senior master divers who has been working with the operator for 2 years confirms that he hasn’t swum with any of them...

But, the diving is spectacular and as the saying goes: the best place to be is under the sea.

Beautiful day on the water

It had been a few years since I last stood on water-skis and let me tell you, I need to get back in shape. A few short moments of skiing pleasure had to be paid with 3 days of deep muscle-pains.

Don a colleague and friend of mine took us out on this boat (a V8 Malibu!) to visit the beautiful Gold Coast. What a beautiful day!

Wish I could Ski some dolphins though.

San Diego (CA)

Despite my sincerest efforts not to have to travel so much lately, the opposite seems to be happening. On the 1^st of May:

• From 00:30 till 06:30 from Darwin to Brisbane
• Then from 09:30 till 23:30 to Los Angeles
• Then from 02:30 till 06:30 from Los Angeles to San Diego (where it is 11:00 the previous day).

A total time of 30 hours of travel, only to arrive the same day at 11:00 AM? Funny that ey? Basically I’ve just done the impossible and created myself a 43 hour day. See that picture of me? yep, that is exactly how I felt... completely shagged.

San Diego is at a stone’s throw from the Mexican Border and we are celebrating Cinquo de Mayo here. Nice place! Nice People! Nice Colleagues. All in all, well worth the mind-numbing flights.

As cuddly as a running chainsaw

A Salty is a real mean bastard and I don’t use the word lightly... They will not die easily (several shots to the head won’t do it), they have over 3600kgs of biting power (to put that in perspective: you and I have about 20kgs), they’re sneaky and stealthy, patient, smart, lightning fast and really freaking large. It is as cuddly as a running chainsaw and generally has a despicable temper... as I said: a real mean bastard.

Common and moderately intelligent people tend to keep a safe distance between themselves and a Salty. Emma on the other hand prefers to get close and personal: tease them, make ‘m jump, scare away the fish they are trying to catch and swim with one... This one, being the 3^rd largest Crocodile in captivity in the world.... A real mean bastard.

Oooo, welcome to Australia

A compilation of 3 years in oZ. My present to my Wifey.
(Best enjoyed with sound)

Top end of Down-under

Darwin is like nothing on earth. If a cyclone doesn't blow your house to the other side of the bay, or a crocodile doesn't chose to stay in your private pool, or the hot and wet season doesn’t drive you completely and utterly out of your mind, or the box jelly fish doesn't sting you, then you’ve had a good year.

I managed to convince my bank to extend Credit Card limit and with good reason. Darwin is freaking expensive! Some of the day tours are well within the realm of exorbitant. We chose to view the famous Jim Jim falls from a plane as the roads are still closed in this season. (Catch 22 really: once the roads open, Jim Jim falls will not be as mighty as when you can't get there)

So, why go here (or live here) at all? Good question. I guess you’ll have to fly down here to find out. I’ll show you a couple of reasons.

1. The nature is still really wild here.
2. The Saltwater Crocs are something to behold.
3. Kakadu and Arnhem Land are mind bogglingly huge and most of it is untouched.
4. The people have this rugged funny sense of humour.
5. The fishing is in a class of its own.

New Caledonia

This week I’m in New Caledonia for work. The only flight available was on a Saturday, so I had to spend a Weekend, all alone, on a tropical island. First of all, the food is absolutely beautiful, the weather is fantastic and I have a 5 star hotel. Looks like a good start to a good week.

I decide to go diving with the local operator. We dive at the Amedee Island. It is a marine reserve filled with fish. I see my very first Eagle Rays flashing by. They are very fast and always seem to be playful. A school of grey sharks are interested in us a come in for a closer look, they size us up and decide not to have a go at us.

And then, it happens: a giant Manta ray, about 5 meters is hovering just above the sea floor. There is a very strong current so I have to hold on to the rocks. I make as little bubbles as possible and slowly claw closer to the enormous animal. I have to breathe and the bubbles scare it away. With 2 strong flicks of it wings is whooshes off, but! It makes a giant full circle and I can see it’s going to come back exactly where it was... I quickly take a few deep breaths; hold my breath while clawing to the exact location where it was earlier... aaand there it is, just above me about 50 cms. Like a giant blanket! The other divers look at me, slightly worried, slightly jealous. I extend my arm and touch it. It feels like the inside of your cheek, but you can feel clearly the strong muscles just below the skin. I now have to breathe again, and I expect it to fly away, but it doesn’t.

Cambodia

We make our way up to Phnom Penh over the Mekong by fast boat. After having eaten noodles every day for a while, we decide to indulge and go to the best restaurant in town. Emma has certainly planned this trip to perfection. After the bus ride from hell, where we were overtaking a car, that was overtaking a truck, that was overtaking motorcycle, that was overtaking a cyclist that was overtaking a cow (no shit!), we arrive in Siem Reap.
We’ve met a couple who lived in Siem Reap for a year and they recommended us Yut as the best guide in town. Yut made us visit what he believes are the 4 most interesting temples around Siem Reap.
I guess we feel what a million people before us felt: this is pretty amazing stuff. Some of the temples are over 1000 years old. The level of detail of the carvings is stunning. Our guide lets us climb where ever we want, the site isn’t sealed off and you can go everywhere your courage will allow you. 
Emma gets to fly over the region in an ULM and spots temples and the (not) floating villages.

Vietnam 2

After beautiful Hoi Ahn Ho Chi Min city, or Saigon as the locals still prefer to call it. Emma has a friend here from her Barbados days and decides to have a serious wine session. I decide to leave them drinking and jump on a Moped-taxi. Zipping through dense Saigon traffic at night having drunk a few beers is good fun and somewhat surreal, especially when my driver decides to do a U-Turn and go against traffic for a while. The next night we sleep somewhere on the banks of the Mekong at some bloke’s house. (home stay). Then, one evening sitting at the table we are suddenly raided by 20 students, they want to understand the tourists as they are studying Tourist Consumer Behaviour. Their tactic is to get us talking by feeding us rice wine and beers. We talk for many hours but Emma is still paying for her big night in HCM city with a headache and goes to bed early.

Vietnam 1

To maximize our time and squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of this trip, we take the night train to Sapa in a very luxurious, private sleeper. Upon arrival, we go straight to the local market and see, chickens, ducks, vegetables, clothes and unfortunate living fish being chopped in half. The rice fields are stunning (the main reason we came here). Our guide, Miss May, knows the best places to eat and drink with the locals and shows us how the local people live their lives.

After a quick night trip south we go to Halong Bay where we sleep on the boat and visit the Caves and go squid fishing. I give Karaoke in Vietnamese a go and everyone has a good laugh at me.

Hanoi Madness

Hanoi traffic is not something I was prepared for, Egypt is bad, Turkey is bad, Hanoi is in a class of its own. Couple of things I’ve seen/lived through:

1. 40 km/h on a moped is not very fast; 40 km/h on a moped going the wrong way with incoming traffic is very fast.
2. 6 people in a car is many; 6 people on a motor bike is ... many.
3. Crossing a 6 lane road in Brisbane is doable; crossing a 6 lane road in Hanoi is unfeasible.
4. In Hanoi 3 moped drivers can carry what will take 2 trucks in Australia.
5. Sleeping in a car is easy, sleeping on a moped is... apparently easy.
6. 20 cm between cars at 60 km/h is close, in Hanoi they can fit a moped in there (with 3 people on it)

Crossing the road is done as follows: You take a deep breath and walk at a constant pace. The stream of vehicles will flow around you, like a stream around a rock. The trick is to stay relaxed and trust the vehicles to miss you. Best not to look to the incoming traffic.

Off we go!

Our trip is going to be fast paced trek through Vietnam and Cambodia. The plan is to see the major sights and go native in about 15 days. Travel methods: Car, Plane, Train, Tuk Tuk, Boat, Fast Boat, Motor bike, foot and ULM.

Looks like a challenging trip? You betcha...

KL, Hanoi, Sapa, Danang, Hoi An, HCM city, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, KL and Home

Blue Marlin Club.

As soon as we're all on board the captain guns it to the deep, about 1.5 hours out on the ocean. This is where the illusive Blue Marlin roams.

The 150$ lures trail 10 to 40 meters behind the boat. The reason for them being so close is that a fish will be attracted by the noise of the motor, will have a look and then hopefully have a go at one of the lures.

And now we wait, it is 07:30, so time for a beer. At 7:35 a giant body throws itself at one of the lures, misses; has another go, misses again and then... hits mine!

Before I get the chance to sit and strap in, it's taken about 400 meters of line. I put the brakes on and feel the full force of 250 pounds of pissed off marlin.

Reeling in the massive animal is hard work. My arm gives after 10 mins and I need help. David is all too happy and helps me out.

It's a magnificent Blue Marlin, about 250 pounds. We have to let it go quickly or it will die.

Still shaking with adrenaline, I grab a cigar to celebrate and before it's smoked: ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz... Emma's line goes off! Emma has a good look at the monster jumping and tail-walking and decides to let Nigel reel this one in... it's about 300 pounds! We catch a Tuna and a good sized Mahi-Mahi as well, we keep 'm for the Barbie.

Awesome!

Flow Rider

They've come up with a new toy. Basically a jet pump blasting water up a ramp at 50 kph. The cool thing is that you can actually ride it like it's a never ending wave. 

Since I do have some prior surfing/wakeboarding experience, it turns out to be quite easy.

1,000 dollar steak

As most species in this universe are well aware off: the very best steaks are found on the planet earth, in Rockhampton, the Great Western Hotel to be exact. The exception -of course- is the 'Bos Taurus'-species, which against common sense breeds prolifically and thus provides a steady supply of perpendicularly cuts of muscle fibre we know as steaks.

The steaks taste very much like fish don't and are a lot more delicious than you might think, even if you start from a position of thinking that they're pretty delicious to start with. I checked it quite thoroughly and am quite sure of this statement. Proof, I guess, is that we flew 800 kms north just to get one.

The restaurant holds a rodeo ground, the lifework of an overzealous taxonomist with at least 15 bull-heads hanging from the walls and a giant grill. The owner came up with the concept basically to annoy vegetarians, who's evolutionary state -in his view- is stuck between a pressure cooker and carrot munching rabbits.

After such a fantastic meal, there is nothing left to do but celebrate summer in Queensland and have a daytrip to the Keppel Islands.