Diving Downtown Austin

    We were running a 3 mile loop around Lady Bird Lake with all the other random Austin joggers on a beautiful December morning.  As we crossed a foot bridge just below Barton Springs Drive I couldn't help but notice the clear water below.  Pam informed me it was Barton springs flowing into the lake and I thought "gotta get into that".  A recurrent dream I have is that I am traveling somewhere and happen upon clear water that calls to me in such a way that I spend the rest of the dream trying to get to it...only to wake up before I get in.  So, next trip to Austin I put my snorkeling gear and wetsuit in the trunk and after looking over google maps went to explore the possibilities.  Tips from the relatives were taken and I parked as close as I could in Zilker Park.  Cousin Missy and her son Carl met me and watched from shore.  There happened to be a no swimming sign, so they served as look outs as well.  It turned out to be a pretty magical place to dive; even in winter; even in Texas.  The water is a constant 75 degrees.  Not bad with a wetsuit. The depth gets only to about 9 feet, but there is lots to see.

 Check out this short video I took: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqXnMgbF7IU

Either a type of Cooter turtle or Mississippi Map Turtle  There are lots of turtle species!

 

Lots of bass and perch (you might notice the tail of this one)

Lots of plant life like Saggitaria make a great environment for all the animal life here.

Videos from Truk and Palau

Finally!  The short videos I tried to post on the last blog would not load, so I uploaded them to YouTube and now you can see them by simply clicking on these links.  All videos were shot with a Canon G7 and available light.  If the video doesn't open by clicking, then copy and paste it to your browser.
                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8eimQBwHAs&feature=youtu.be

This video will show you some of the sharks we saw on every dive.  Blue Corner is a reef that often has strong current flowing over it.  Sharks like to hang out here to enjoy the water flowing over their gills--sort of a breathing treatment.  We had reef hooks that allowed us to be suspended in the current without swimming and watch the sharks.  The thought occurred to me that we were sort of like sausage on a stick, but the sharks paid little attention to us.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCK3Lti8Jgg

While diving on a Japanese sunken ship in Truk Lagoon I came accross this sea cucumber that had some pretty fancy feet!  This video captures his walking --pretty unusual.

Giant Manta Rays

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKDaT9Xp4Dc&feature=youtu.be  We carefully swam behind some coral heads to spy on the Manta Rays that would come to this cleaning station where small fish would pick off parasites from skin and gills.  The Mantas did not seem to be bothered by us.  About 12' accross, the gentle giants are graceful and impressive.  The second minute of this give the best view as the manta circles directly over us.  The small fish that comes up to the camera lens is a damsel that was trying to intimidate me.  If they were bigger we would be in danger because they will attack anything that comes too close to their home ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Pxo0kSjuE&feature=youtu.be

For lunch we stopped on an island that had a long strip of sand running out from it.  I walked out on it to shoot a 360 degree view of what we were seeing--pretty much a paradise.  Then I waded out and took the camera just under the surface so you could see and I stumbled upon two starfish.  In the final seconds you will see me smiling like a very happy man--and I can tell you I was pretty happy to be there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iUTsRSsooQ&feature=youtu.be

Jellyfish Lake is unique and found only on this one island in Palau.  They were very soft to feel against you skin.  A great trip that deepened my love for the sea.

Palau, Sharks and Manta Rays!!

The starfish here come in many forms and it seems there are countless small islands with beaches.

After a week in Truk we flew back to Guam and then to Palau, an island nation much more developed than Truk.  The Necco dive operation is first class with excellent  boats and dive shop.   Our dive guides are Fabio (Italian) and Jenny (English) who are very professional.  The flora, the temps, the water and the many islands that make up Palau are beautiful in every way.  Rolling off the boat into liquid jewel blue water you immediately see breathtaking reefs with multitudes of coral growth and fish of every kind.  First thing, we saw a school of about 35 small sharks and knew this would be exciting diving.  Sharks are seen on every dive and pay little attention to us except to keep their distance when we try to get close.  We are taken to a spot to hopefully see giant manta rays and we are not disappointed! At one time there were 5 circling around us! I have not been successful at loading my videos to this blog, but you can see the very reefs, blue holes, and jelly fish lake   we dove by watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGgQT2tnjI and   (there are 3 videos)            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_zTnuwncZU  This manta is the same one I believe we saw, and we swam with the sharks just as this diver does:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlfS4Unnx1w  Even dove off the same fast boats.  The schools of fish were a normal site on every dive.

                                                      Anemones were large and plentiful

White tip, black tip, and gray reef sharks were on every dive, but I could not get them interested in biting me, so I call them chicken sharks :)

Wow--Truk Lagoon Micronesia

This is what you might see snorkeling around Funomo Island

 After traveling 27 hours we landed in Truk, State of Chuuk, Micronesia and once we make the very rough road to Blue Island Resort it begins to be magic.  Everything here is beautiful, including the locals.  The diving is amazingly different for us--12 Abilenians with dive experience from mostly the Caribbean.  Four divers have been my scuba students years ago; 4 are scuba instructors; 2 are doctors and 3 are nurses. Truk Lagoon was the center of Japan's naval strength in WWII when American airstikes over two days sent 60+ ships to the bottom and crippled their ability to supply the Pacific war.  We have dived on 10 ship wrecks in 5 days and seen both history and the sea's ability to

soft corals are abundant

Private island of Funamo where we had lunch one day

I found Nemo

Turtle with remora

Many relics are left on the ships

Bergen, Fiord, and Glacier



YWAMers Sarah (Norwegian) who is Laken's roomate, Dina (Norwegian) a good friend, and Martha (also Norwegian) another good friend who is leaving to go to nursing school.

Laken made arrangements for us to take a 6 hour train to Bergen, a city of 300k on the west coast.  It is a charming place with lots of water in fiords and many very nice homes.  In fact, I keep looking for one that is not so nice, but it seems everyone has maintained their home extremely well.  My thrifty daughter has booked us into a downtown hostile.  It is more of a youth scene, but any age is welcome and this is a very nice hostile with pretty new looking decor in an historic setting.  For those of you who have not tried a hostile it is not for everyone.  The positives is you will meet other travelers and learn things about the location you might miss.  Everyone I have met in three hostiles I have stayed in have been very nice and eager to be helpful if needed.  The negatives are that you sleep in a room with 4 to 12  other people, some who may snore, and some will leave early or get in late.  Everyone is generally as quiet as possible but you are awakened frequently--the trick is to mutter to yourself "I'm only out $16 tonight" or in the case of Norway "I'm only out $40 tonight".  Once you learn the ropes of hostile living, it is a nice addition to your travel options and talents.  I had travelers in my room from Australia, Denmark, Japan, etc.  Laken had four girls one night and eight (full) the next.  In Rome I was in a room with men and women, so you never know what your arrangement might be. 



My room at the hostile.  There are 8 beds. There are also 8 locking closets.

We spent our full day on a boat--a really nice one--speeding up Norway's larget fiord to a town named Fiordland where we were taken by bus to the glacier museum and then to the glacier itself.  We got back to Bergen at 8pm and were invited to come to the home of the family that Laken spent last Christmas with.  They were great to meet and Magnus and his son Roger took me out in their boat to fish--I caught my first mackeral at 11pm on the longest day of the year in Norway.  We got back to the hostile at midnight, but it seemed like early evening.  I slipped into my bunk (probably woke everyone, but hey, that is the way it works).  Our train back to the base stopped in Oslo where we were told that the station was under major construction and we would be taken to another train outside of town. While waiting in a line for the bus a news team interviewed Laken about the inconvenience.  The bus ride gave us a glimpse of downtown Oslo which seems to be all under construction.  I would like to see it in a couple of years because it was cutting edge, artsy architecture that will be impressive when finished.  That night some of Laken's friends told her they saw us on the 6 o'clock news.  We are in the opening shot-- http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tv2.no%2Fnyheter%2Finnenriks%2Ffull-stopp-for-jernbanen-gjennom-oslo-3817417.html&h=wAQExW1TwAQGVLd6kP1bzlt5sWS8ZuBe1IDXj5PK2Q-IxeQ&enc=AZOSK-_J3Wt_z9xLuHXAZaKkB9hfsjS6RGwmWCZo0dkaZq13stUTpKViu7OicYNZEkf-2lxBJCrlWKkgA6V8JFfY

A little taste of Norway news--not that different from ours.




Bergen as seen from a street on the hillside. An historical and hip place to visit.  And yes, they have McDonalds--where you can get a burger and fries for around $16 (that;s a special)

I chose this dish with a long name, that was hash.  It was tasty and warm at $20,  drink not included.



Wind blown but liking the Nordic day, even with a little rain.

This group of 12 scandinavian teens were headed to a camp up near the glacier.  They had all the equipment needed for traversing the glacier ice.  What an adventure.



The twin hull ferry that took us uip the fiord 140 kilometers at 34 knots (I checked with my gps) This boat could accelerate as fast as any ski boat .  It was also very maneuverable.



One of many views as we headed toward Fiordland.



The tail end of the glacier, where melting ice was pouring water into this lake.

Magnus and Roger took me out to a good fishing spot while the rest of the family and Laken built a fire on shore, a tradition to mark the longest day of the year.  This was about 11pm.  I caught my first fiord fish, a mackarel.  We caught two in just a few minutes.

5K Norway

Laken on her bike about to ride to the house she is living in.

This morning I am invited to sit in a staff meeting involving about 30 people who work here as missionaries and work together as well as tend their own mission and host all kinds of visitors. They took care of business, then worshipped and prayed over some who were leaving to work with other mission groups. It is common for someone to be here for 2 years or so and then leave because of a project, much like early Christian preachers and missionaries. I wouldn’t enjoy getting so close to people and then saying goodbye, but Laken takes it in stride and still feels close to her many friends in Germany after working there for two years. There are people from South Korea here for a special study and there is about to be a family camp. Also a group of Mission Builders from the US are here working on a building. I met one from Montana carrying a chainsaw as I was wheeling my project, Laken’s bike, into the mechanical barn where tractors and cars are repaired. Her bike was given to her in Germany and it is in need of help, so we are getting new tires and I will fix the shifter and repaint the frame. Late in the day I will run one of the 5k routes they have shown me and I can run it at 9 or 10 pm and it seems early still—crazy.  I got to bed about 12am (still light out, but less), the air is crisp, and I curl up under the 4" duvet (sp?) to be cozy, but this down comforter (Europeans sleep under just that) is so hot I can't handle it. Since it is all there is I try a multitude of positions of sorta under and sorta out, but I am either cold or hot. Somehow I sleep until 4am when I awaken to blinding sunshine burning a hole in my retina through the curtains. It is like waking up in a tanning bed without the goggles. Desperate now, I put the "toaster" comforter over the window and grab a towel for a cover. Better, but I give up sleeping. Something has got to change--I am not adapting well to the land of the midnight sun!

Running was fun except I stopped every 100 yards or so to take a picture.
With dark rich soil, lots of rain, and 20 hours of sun the crops here are on steroids.

I think you can only run this route until your are 60.

And who can have barns like this?!

Ha

I have run by mny farm houses like this ...

And like this....

The fields of flowers are only surpassed by fields of wheat.



 

Pretty happy to finish running before 11pm.

"Welkommen Til Norge!" (Welcome To Norway)

11pm over Oslo (doesn't get much darker than this)

Home only one week, then after 11 hours of flying (and 11 hours of layovers), my plane began its descent at 11pm approaching Oslo. That's when I got my first glimpse of mysterious lakes surrounded by lush green, all in twilight. My jet lagged mind is crowded with thoughts of Nordic gods, vikings, and trolls. It never gets dark, and this twilight only lasts from 11pm-3am when it slowly turns back to daylight. Laken picked me up, and we appropriately got to the YWAM base in Ottestad in the early hours of Father's Day. This ministry hub includes a working farm as well as ministry offices, training classrooms, a missionary-run kindergarten and secondary school, and charming cottages where the staff live. Wow, this is lush green like I have never seen it. It's Colorado weather without the altitude. Flowers abound. Laken and I attended her church in Hamar, a city of 30,000 and it was a great service---it really brought home just how omnipitent God is. At supper I met about 20 of the other staff here--young people from Russia, Eritrea (north of Ethiopa), Finland, Australia, Ukraine, Holland, Denmark and other foreigners :). Laken is planning some excursions for us this next week, so I should have some interesting things to show you. I am really liking Norway.

The Lutheran Free Church in Hamar

View from the main bldg. with Lake Mjosa (Myusa if you can say that! I had to be coached))

Missionaries everywhere

My room

Guest house, my door is open.

YWAM kindergarten 6 mos-6 yrs (Christian and open to the public)

Laken's chalkboard handiwork at the campus cafe.

Diving With Sea Turtles

Lonely Planet: The Stan Edition

      I feel like a Lonely Planet traveler and you have subscribed --because you happen to know me. Today I made a boat dive, which means I used scuba and spent $82 with Studio Blue for two dives off their boat including the gear I needed, and two tanks.  They are an excellent operation, had 5 skilful personnel on the boat to help and guide us.  There were 6 divers, 4 of us advanced, and 2 just learning.  We picked up the two girl students from a downtown Japanese hostile (who knew?) on the way to the marina.  It is a major part of a good travel experience to meet interesting people that are outside your box.  These young girls had come from Japan separately and alone--one is going to Cuba next and the other is going to Venezuela (wow).  The husband and wife and son that I dove with were both doctors (could be useful) from Arizona.  

     We were dropped on a reef named Columbia  that was on the far south end of the island. The deep water and steady current on that side has produced some of the largest coral formations in the world.  You actually swim through grottoes and large caves formed out of coral.  Huge barrel sponges are everywhere.  At 100' you see down to 200'.  Pretty impressive. We came across 4 large turtles on one dive. A good sign. Also found a sleeping nurse shark (didn't wake it).  I was impressed with how environmentally aware the professionals seem to be here.  A divemaster named Vanessa buddied with me and made a handy model for some photos.  A large gray snapper followed us most of the dive, not sure why.  My very small camera housing worked well at 100', but below 40' many colors of the spectrum are muted and a strong light and external flash would really make a difference. The camera is a bargain--an underwater flash and movie light won't be.  

      Yesterday I randomly met a 19 year old girl (actually her dog ran up and met me) from New Jersey who moved here by herself to expand her horizons after high school.  She said she found an apartment for less than $200 a month and got a job at a store on the main coastal avenue down town. There is no minimum wage in Mexico, so the pay is not great.  She reminded me of Laken.  I keep meeting youngsters that are braver than I ever was and it makes me feel a little clingy that I miss my friends and familiar surroundings in only a few days.  She told me about a local man and wife that come to the back of the square every day at 1:30 with a little white covered kiosk mounted on a moped that sell wonderful tacos for less than a dollar.  I stopped by after the dive and sure enough they were there and fixed a plate for me with 3 tacos with good home made extras for two dollars.  Even covered the plate with foil for me to carry and keep warm.  It was very good and so far I have avoided restaurants where you may spend $30 a person and maybe not be so satisfied.  I love this place!   I made a video in which you can see how gentle the turtle was.