Next Chapter: TDC

Signed up yesterday for TDC, Training Dive Con, on the boat I volunteered on. Starting my work tomorrow, and probably will go nonstop for about 46 days! Working in the shop, at the pool, on the day boat, and on the liveaboard!!! I go out on the Kangaroo Explorer tomorrow for my first 5 days of work. This is going to be interesting. Up at 530, finish about 9 or 10. This way I don't have to look for a job, because that sucks. Probably moving in to the BrewCan, which is a popular spot for the people working on the boat. Hopefully ultra cheap. This will pretty much sort out a large portion of my time left in Australia, and I will be a professional scuba man. Girls find that attractive. Here's to the next two months.

... as a side note: I apologize to all who expect me to call them who I do not. Don't feel bad because I don't call anyone. I don't exist. Nobody gets special treatment. And also-- I have been real bad at taking pictures recently... but I just stumbled upon a 4gb SD card someone left behind in the hostel. Score one for tyler booooya!

Yarr matey I got me sea legs.

Just got back from the boat last night. Was great. Washed a sh*tton of dishes, but I managed 3 dives every day. Saw a lot of way cool things, and definitely improved my diving skills. I am tossing around doing it again here in a week or so. It's a good deal. I will see what I can do about the photos. Met a bunch of cool people on the way, and I am heading to Mission Beach later today with Gail, one of the hosties on the boat. Coolio

BONUS

So I managed to snag another blog, a bit easier to load photos up. Here is the address:

www.offexploring.com/tystright

should work. I will continue to update this one with text and such, but for photos you will need to check the other blog. I will put some more photos up as time permits. Coolio.

Cairns

Okay... still in Cairns. Still hanging out with Daniel, Tobias and Fabsen (the germans). I am pretty much out of things to do here in Cairns, and I have started looking for work. Unsuccessfully I might add. Still having a good time, but trying not to spend money. Tax returns here in the next few weeks. Should be a nice little bonus for me. I am now a certified open water scuba diver to 18 meters (50ft). Scuba diving is amazing. I enjoyed it so much I signed up as a volunteer on this boat I was on. Friday morning I leave to the boat, and will live aboard for just over a week!!! Washing dishes, cleaning, lookout, and whatever they need basically. Free food, accommodation, and roughly three dives a day!! Basically going to be one of the best weeks here in Oz. Bungy jumping is also as fun as I expected it to be. Managed to get 10 jumps in one day, and it was a RIOT! The rush is pretty amazing. Skyped with the fam last week, saw baby O take a few steps, make some excellent gibberish noises, and waved to me when he went to bed. Super excited to see him in a few months. I promise I will upload photos soon, but I may do it on a different blog. If that happens I will let you know. This blog uploads photos too slowly for me. Time to go slack line at the lagoon.

sorry errboday

havent been very diligent on the blog updating, and for that i apologize. i am typing this out on my german buddys computer and the keys are a bit messed up. reese and i are split up now, last i heard he was in sydney but thats it. i am now in cairns, where its roughly 85 degrees or so. not bad for the middle of winter haha! stopped for a few days to visit my estonian compadres in bowen, and saw a bunch of cool waterfalls on the way up. there was a possum in bowen we played with. it was coo. travelling alone is a different experience for sure. i am signing up for scuba dive certification later today and also a bungie jump or ten next week ! it is going to be baaad ass. i will see if i can upload some photos now. still having a blast, still have a little money left, and still planning on finding a job soon. pls. peace. doh. no photos this time. its a little hard uploading everything when its all written in german sry again

Airlie Beach

Been driving a lot the last few days. Stayed last night in Rockhampton, and now in Airlie Beach. To be honest... I cannot really find the beach. There were AMAZING pictures of this place, and it turns out the pictures are from the 'lagoon' which is a natural looking swimming pool. I am still sufferring from some sort of bug I got a few days back, but hope tomorrow will be better. I might be having a karma attack from enjoying Trav's shot of the "brown trout." We thought we might be staying here for a while, but it really isnt that spectacular. Looking around for work, not finding a lot, but getting very close to Cairns now!!!! SCUBA DIVING SOON! There is also a bungie jump in Cairns I will probably do. So sweet. The camera is working alright, but the quality of the photos is hit or miss. Hopefully I can get some more up soon. Hope everyone is well.

Gold Coast

Got a new camera, but not enough time to upload photos. We have been hanging around the Gold Coast for the last few days and plan on heading further north tomorrow! We hit a nice campground and did a few cool hikes to waterfalls and such. We really have only been in VIEW of the coast until tonight, but to be honest it's not that spectacular. Just a city spanning the coast for a while. I expected a cool surfing spot (since part of it is called Surfer's Paradise) and just a lot of laid back guys in campervans surfing on a giant beach. It is pretty much the opposite. A giant city spreading north/south on the coast. I got some really cool views of some parrots, cookaberras, and we saw some mini-possums the other night. Funny critters. After Byron we also did a day hike up Mt. Warning. Check that online-- very cool. Unfortunately we did it on a day that was totally cloudy, so when we got to the top we saw white. White instead of a 360 panoramic that would have probably been the best view I've had in the last six months. And I will have been here 1/2 year in 4 days I believe. Where's the time gone?