Monday, November 30, 2009

Stuck in Heaven










Well, my dad always said that lobster is the food of the Gods...well if that's true, than I must be in Heaven!








Mick and I are now near Mount Gambier, South Australia, the rock lobster capital of the world! Mick grew up here, and has fished and dived these waters many a time, so needless to say, he is a master at catching crays (or lobsters as we know them!) and abalone...something I hadn't tried yet! Yummmm. They taste something like a cross between calamari and clams. They're basically big snails that suction on to the rocks (you have to dive for them). The inside of their shells are famed for their mother of pearl which many of you may be familiar with.








I hate to rub it in, but I simply must! The past 4 nights we have had Snapper, Abalone, Lobster, Lobster and tonight we are having Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon and then tomorrow night...you guessed it, Lobster! You wouldn't believe the size of some of these sea buggers! We did something really fun yesterday... we took a boat out to a rock wall and stuck a pole in the water with fishing line tied on the end baited with fish and netted crays hanging on to the bait! We got pretty good at it too! Pulled in 3 two pounders! Once again...I'm in heaven!








Besides gorging on seafood, we have had a very impressive week. Since my last post, we have slowly traveled down the Great Ocean Road which for anyone who's ever been here will agree looks a heck of a lot like the Big Sur Coastline with some very impressive rock formations, Koalas, world class surf, and coastal rain forest! Sooo beautiful! We saw tons of Koalas really close up which Mick tells me is pretty rare. He's only ever seen 2 in the wild previous to this trip, so I think we got pretty lucky! They are just the cutest darn things!








The beaches here in Australia have to be absolutely the most beautiful ones in the world. The rugged coastline provides a picturesque view in every direction, and because the country is so underpopulated, there is hardly ever another soul sharing the beach with you! We've spent a lot of time of the beach soaking in the sights and sounds of the powerful ocean, and we have, time and time again been blessed with an abundance of seafood. It's funny how when you need food it somehow comes to you. It really helps you to understand how the Aboriginal people here survived for so many thousands of years with virtually nothing. We've been very lucky thus far, and hope our luck continues!








We've been staying with one of Mick's best friends for the last 4 days. It's been really cool to see him with his friends that he grew up with. It's funny to hear stories about him growing up and to get a feel for what his childhood and teenage years must have been like. It's always interesting to step into someone else's world for a while. It really allows you to feel what they would have felt. This place is special to Mick too since it is where he learned how to surf and fish, his two favorite past times. I'm lucky that I get to see it all first hand.








Well, that's it for this one. Hope you enjoyed the photos and you all had a fabulous Turkey Day!




Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Fish, fish, and more fish...and mussells too!




Here is a"fish faces" photo for my "FishFacebook" And there's Mick with his Groper!









Well, as you can tell by my title and the above photos, we've been doing one heck of a lot of fishing! Twice and some times 3 times a day! Mick's a master crab and worm catcher, so we always have plenty of bait! We were at a spot a few days ago that Mick "recons" was one of the best rock fisihing spots he's ever been to. As a result, we've pulled in everything from tropical reef fish to Grouper to Snapper! 5 snapper to be exact! Oh, and a few dozen mussells straight off the rocks! We are almost to the border of Victoria, which will be a new Australian state for me, so I'm pretty excited. We are thinking that we'll head back up to the Gold Coast for Xmas and New Years to be with Mick's family and friends which I am happy about. You all know how I am with the holidays!

I think I came up with a good name for Wanda's her blog tell me what you think: "Wanda, Where are Ewe?". Here's the latest in her Thanksgiving Turkey costume! Gobble gobble!
Hope all is well in America! No proper Thanksgiving celebration here, but Mick's gonna try to get some Lobsters! YUM! I'll be thankful for that! Oh, and I'm thankful for my boyfriend who forces me to eat healthy and loose weight! No sweets and only 1 bag of Doritos so far makes a difference!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Wanda and Frank...

Where's Wooly Wanda?
Oysters by candelight anyone? Romantic eh? Caught 'em ourselves too!

Well, it's been almost a week since I left the northern hemmisphere, and boy has it been fun so far! From Sydney, Mick picked me up and we headed inland to the Blue Mountains where we caught up with a friend that we met in Java, Indonesia. After that, we made a bee-line for the coast and have found some beautiful camp spots along the way.
Australia's South Coast (the area south of Sydney) has some of the most beautiful coastline in Australia. There are hundreds of miles of coastline that is virtually untouched, which means the fishing is amazing! Rock fishing in natural untouched habitats is some of the most exciting fishing around. We've only caught 2 feeds of fish so far including a beautiful purpley blue Leatherjacket and 4 or 5 small Whiting. Not so bad to start.
The Van is going great so far, we are thinking that we'll name him Frank after Sinatra (old blue eyes!) since he is a beautiful color blue. What a treat it is to travel in luxury with a sink, fridge, stove and bed! You can't imagine what a difference it makes to travel comfortably and be able to pull up and camp anywhere you want! Life is good so far! Next we're off to Victoria, the next state south and home to Melbourne. We'll follow the coast and continue fishing and surfing all the way to South Oz. Things get a bit more remote the further south we go, so I may not always be able to update, but will do as often as possible.
A new addition to my blog is the beautiful Wolly Wanda. I'm starting a new page soon called Where's Wooly Wanda. For now, just enjoy the pics! Thanks Rick and Pat for the gift!