November 24, 2025
On our last full day in Uepi, all six of us went for a snorkel at nearby reef called Dekudekuru. The reef has many protected, shallow & deep water pools, made within coral crevices, where the shifting earth or plate tectonics below, have risen over years. It was fun exploring all the nooks and crannies and seeing the way the sun shone through - it was a gorgeous day! These photo's from Kelly's show scene, since none of us have an underwater camera, yet!
Love the way light shines down and the view right at the water line was gorgeous! Saw Jungle on top and whole different world below!
Saying good bye is bitter sweet! We all had a great time and Uepi will always be special time for us all. (L to R) Bosco, Ed & Sue, Memo, Me & Jason ( son of Founder's, who grew up here and also runs business) and Ben ( who found & organized this trip for us all!)
Sailing into Sydney Harbor is one of those iconic moments that will stand out in my memories for this adventure! Sydney is one of a few natural harbors, worldwide, like San Francisco , known for its sparkling waters, landmark sights, spectacular events and hundreds of miles of shoreline.
We got up at 6:45am to get to National Park Forts Walk trail in the hope of seeing koalas . Prior walkers mark trails with tree branches pointing in the direction of their sighting and we were luck enough to see 3 markers in our first hour of hiking. It is so stinking hot and humid the success we had made it bearable. The koala population on the island started with 20 brought over in 1930, to escape fur hunters. Today, the island boast 800 to 1000, and they are so cute and drowsy. They need 20 hours of sleep a day! The early morning is when they are the most active.
Just off the coast of Townsville, Australia is a special little island (that used to be part of mainland, hundreds of thousands years ago). The island was formed by molten granite that was pushed to the earth's surface with volcanic force.Over time the volcanic overlay weathered away leaving an extraordinary landscape of rounded domes and boulders, many as big as a house and spectcularly perched. Over Seventy Percent of the center of the Island is a National Park. There is lots of wildlife here too - koalas, rock wallabies, snakes & birds.