Holiday in Australia
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I met Gail in January 1973 on Glen Beach. We had a brief (but remarkably far-reaching) relationship and I never understood why she dumped me! Then she married, had kids, emigrated to Australia, and I lost contact. Until her mother, Noreen (who always liked me, I might add), wrote to me in 1994 and told me Gail was getting divorced and coming back to visit. And that was the beginning of our renewed friendship which has lasted until this day.
In February 2001 Gail, now in Sydney, asked me if I'd fancy taking a holiday with her in Oz, and so it was that in April I found myself in the suburb of Warriewood, up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Since Gail was still working, I spent my first week sight-seeing around Sydney and going to the beach.
Then we packed the car and headed north to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast where we stayed with friends of Gail for a day. Fabulous body-surfing in crystal-clear 25 degree water with at least one lifesaver per swimmer!
We continued up the coast through Brisbane and on to Noosa Heads, a beautiful little surfers' paradise, where we spent Anzac Day.
Back on the road we headed south for Byron Bay, detouring through Nimbin for a glimpse of ancient hippie life. Our first accomodation in Byron Bay was overun by man-eating mosquitoes so we moved to a lovely apartment right on the beach. The weather was glorious and I hired a surfboard and had a go at surfing again, after some 35 years, not very successfully I have to say! Sundowners at the Beach Hotel, owned by Paul "Crocodile Dundee" Hogan.
The highlight of our entire trip was going snorkelling off a tiny island (actually Julian Rock) a few km's off the coast. We were part of a scuba diving trip, but since neither Gail nor I were scuba divers, we just snorkelled. And what a dive it was! Manta rays and Wobbiegong sharks, all in crystal-clear warm water. Absolutely stunning! Although Wobbiegongs are hardly aggressive, it was still the first time I had been close to a real shark and it was something of a revelation that it hadn't tried to attack me.
Back in Sydney, Gail had set me up with a few job interviews, one of which landed me an offer. But things were pretty good back home and I wasn't sure I wanted to move to Australia.