Yosemite

It looked like a short drive into the Yosemite Valley from Fresno.  California 41 was a freeway when we set out but by the time we got up into the mountains it became a gravel road as there was 25 miles of road construction.  In the back of my mind I knew there would be a curve that ended with a breathtaking view and so it was.  We were still about 2,500 feet above the valley floor and driving eastward when the vista opened up before us.  I swerved off the highway onto a pull out and parked.  We jumped out and joined the several hundred people who were gawking at the same thing.

The snows had continued well into June so all of the many waterfalls were still very full and powerful.  Bridalveil Falls was directly in view and it didn’t take us too long to continue down the mountain to the canyon floor and reach the falls.  The boys had a great time climbing over the boulders to get a better view.  Miranda wasn’t too happy about Max jumping from boulder to boulder but he must have been a mountain goat in a past life for we instantly designated him the trailblazer for all our hikes.

Back in the car we continued to Curry Village where we were staying for the next two nights.  It was impossible to get reservations (last February!) for the various lodges – everything was sold out, so we settled on Curry Village, a group of about 250 closely spaced wood-framed canvas tents with 1 double and 2 single beds, 1 overhead lamp, and an external food storage locker to keep the bears out.  Bathroom facilities were shared and about 100 feet away.

Luck was with us as our tent was secluded and rather private.  This didn’t mean that it was quiet however.   Tents don’t seem to keep out much noise at all.  We settled in and went out for a walk.  As we were leaving we met our only neighbors and the husband was just returning from a hike to the top of Half Dome.  It’s a 12 hour hike with an elevation of about 5,000 feet, the last 2,000 of which is pulling yourself up the rock with a cable attached to stakes drilled into the granite.  Miranda and I had done something like that at Ayers Rock 10 years ago but it was not nearly as strenuous. 

We walked across a lovely wildflower filled meadow heading toward the Ahwanee Lodge but we never made it as Miranda’s constant thought of bears forced us back to the dining hall for dinner.  The camp was filled with all sorts of peculiar noises that evening, none of which turned out to be foraging animals, rather Chinese grandparents arguing or teenagers teasing, nevertheless, it was fun to imagine a large family of hungry bears loping around our tent in search of comestible lucre.  

Sequoia NP and Fresno

Several posts about Sequoia National Park and the lovely pool in Fresno are lost.  Hopefully I'll find them someday!

November 2009 Trip to Orange County and Beijing

On the Great Wall

In November 2009 we took a trip to Orange County for 4 days and on to Beijing for another week.  I was in OC conducting Giselle for ABT and Miranda and the boys flew out to meet me.  Our main interest in OC was going to Legoland which we did on Friday stopping first at the beach at San Juan Capistrano.  We got to Legoland just before the gates opened and were among the first 50 people into the park.  We had been there 2 years before so had some idea of what we wanted to do.   It was a perfect day, 70° and sunny and we made the most of it going on all the rides and adventures.

After the matinee on Sunday, we still had a few hours to kill before getting on the buses for LAX, so Riley, Max and I went for a swim and Jacuzzi at the OC hotel.  One of the reasons we decided to bring the boys to China was because the Regent Hotel in Beijing had a very beautiful and warm pool, Jacuzzi and health club.  We knew that we’d be able to do one thing a day – Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc. – then we’d be able to go back to the hotel and jump in the pool.  So the pool in OC was just a warm up for us

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The company buses for LAX left at 9:30pm in order for us to catch a 12:40am flight to Beijing.  Max fell asleep on the bus almost right away but Riley stayed up.  When we got to the airport we had some difficulty waking Max up but he managed to make it through security then curled up and went back to sleep.  We carried him onto the plane and buckled him in without him waking again.

 

The flight left on time and we immediately got our choice of chicken rice or beef rice!  Riley went to sleep pretty soon after take-off and so did I.  Miranda stayed up to look after us.  The flight attendants woke us about 2 hours out of Beijing with another choice, chicken noodles or beef noodles!

 

Four inches of new snow had fallen in Beijing overnight and they were still clearing the airport around 5:30am when we were supposed to land so we landed in Tianjin instead.  We sat on the tarmac for an hour before taking off again and completing our trip.  Immigration and customs were easy.  All of the hoopla about taking our temperature and quarantine was unfounded.  The buses were ready to take us into town.  It was a slow trip because of the snow but both Riley and Max slept for another 1½ hours!

After switching rooms a few times we finally got a double room with a beautiful view of Beijing.  We could just make out the Forbidden City from our window.  We got unpacked and went out to Wangfujing St., a walking/shopping street a few blocks from our hotel and had a look around.  We diverted off to several alleys where we found merchants cooking beetle larvae and scorpions on a skewer.  We all found that rather disgusting though it’s still a topic of conversation.  We also saw several guys pounding chicken meat with huge wooden mallets into a large flat pancake.  Bits of it were flying everywhere!  We made our way back to the hotel after picking up a few necessities (no scorpions, please!) and before going to bed, the boys and I went to the pool.  It was the start of a twice daily routine.

Max was up first the next morning, as usual, about 5am and he watched a video while I worked on the computer and the other two slept.  About 7am we were back in the pool.  A breakfast buffet was included with the room so we all stuffed ourselves.  Max and Riley had cereal and waffles every day.  Miranda had a ballerina breakfast while I had noodles, dumplings, vegetables, bacon, sausage (beef and pork), ham, baked beans, salmon with capers, an omelet, a waffle or pancakes, croissants, and juices.  So I guess to be fair, it was only I who stuffed myself!

We jumped in a taxi which were cheap and plentiful and went to the Temple of Heaven in the south of Beijing.  It was still a little cold, right around freezing, but there was no wind so it wasn’t unpleasant to be outside.  We passed through the ever larger gates until coming to the final massive round temple.  The way through is down a long and very wide pathway.  We looked around for Maxie one time and saw him hand in hand with a Chinese woman walking the other way.  This was the beginning of the Chinese’s adoration of Max.  The woman just wanted a photo taken with him (at least we hope so) but even after retrieving him, he was accosted another dozen times that day by Chinese wanting their photo taken with him.

There were piles of snow everywhere so the boys had a great time throwing snowballs at each other.  We went back to the hotel because there was a planned bus trip for the company to the Great Wall.  I had some anxiety about the trip as they weren’t sure there would be enough room on the bus for the 4 of us but there was after all – just.  Max slept the entire way up there (about an hour).  Our guide, Michael, was very funny and entertaining for most of the trip telling us about the history of the Wall.

At the Wall, after taking a large group photo, we set out to “conquer the wall” as Mao said.  We were at Badaling where Miranda and I had been 10 years ago when the Australian Ballet went to Beijing, and we knew that to the left it was very steep with many uneven stairs, so we took the way to the right.  That was much easier though there were still plenty of stairs.

 

The surrounding hills were covered with leafless trees and everything was covered in snow.  It made for beautiful lighting with an interesting chiaroscuro background for all of the photos we took.  The color of people’s faces and coats were highlighted against the background.  Max was again accosted by the Chinese hounding him for a photo!  He was like a little rock star.  I think that ultimately it was good for his little ego which usually takes a back seat to Riley’s.

Both boys had a fantastic time.  They charged up the Wall and looked at every little thing.  Riley would often stop and point out to Max how the Wall went over the hills off into the distance.  It was heartwarming.  There were some slippery spots but no one fell, thank goodness.  When we got back to the bus there were more snowball fights, this time with some of the dancers.

 

On the way home we passed by the Blue Cube and the Birdsnest that were built for the 2008 Olympics.  It was dark by then but they were both brilliantly illumined.  After a simple dinner and another swim the boys fell asleep, but Miranda and I were still very excited about the day’s adventures and stayed up for several more hours talking.

Thursday was quite a different day.  We swam in the early morning then I had to attend an orchestra rehearsal to prepare for my two shows later that weekend.  I had just been in China with the San Francisco Ballet 6 weeks before and knew what to expect from a Chinese orchestra.   It was snowing again on Thursday and very pretty all over Beijing but traffic was a little slow.  After the rehearsal, Ormsby Wilkins, the other conductor, Ron Oakland, the concertmaster who came with us, and I went to the National Grand Theatre for the dress rehearsal of the rep program which opened our run.

The theater is nicknamed The Egg because it is an enormous ovoid shaped structure under which is housed 3 different theaters, Opera House, Concert Hall and Drama Theater.  The Opera House is in the center and is the largest.  The Egg is surrounded by water – the building looks like a giant egg floating in water – and all entrances are via glass passageways under the water.  It’s quite striking and architecturally highly contrasting what’s across the street – the 15^th century Forbidden City and the 1950s Soviet-style buildings of Mao’s Mausoleum and the Great Hall of the People.

Our driver took us down a tunnel and through a rabbit warren until we arrived at a loading dock, which took us right onto the stage.   However, not entering the theater through the stage door threw me.  Usually it’s quite easy to negotiate a theater because of the common shape of the building, a rectangular box with one end raised to house the fly-space. The stage door is almost always by the raised end of the building.  But these theaters are all under one giant dome so it was impossible to get my bearings.  As I found out later, I wasn’t the only one who was lost and frustrated with getting around the theater.

Miranda and I had planned on meeting at the stage entrance at 1:30pm.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t a definable stage entrance.  I phoned her at the hotel and asked her to take the company shuttle and I’d meet her where it lets off – not that I knew where that was!  I was already late for my rehearsal so I asked several people where the rehearsal room was the got several sets of directions.  I started wandering down this maze of corridors all protected by military-style uniformed, highly attentive guards.  I couldn’t ask them where the room was because I don’t speak Mandarin.  There were no signs in English, only guarded corridor after guarded corridor.  I walked and walked as if in a nightmare where you can’t ever get to where you need to go.  Finally, after about 10 minutes, I found the room.  Luckily, I was rehearsing with Angel and Paloma who are both lovely and were completely stress free.  I was totally freaked out and vented to the pianist (she vented back in sympathy) about the confusing theater.  I expect it looked like we were having a big fight but in reality we were both releasing our anxiety.

After the rehearsal I had to find the company manager’s office to get a security pass for no one was allowed in the theater without one.  Since I came in through the loading dock I never got one.  It took another 10 frustrating minutes to find their office and when I did they looked even more stressed than I did!  While I was there an interpreter came in to say that there was no one on the 1:15 bus from the hotel, and that he was going to send the driver home.  This was the bus that Miranda and the boys were supposed to take.  (add more anxiety)  I got a pass – not mine as they couldn’t find it – and went up to the stage to call the hotel. There was no answer. (even more anxiety)  So did Miranda miss the shuttle and was taking a taxi?  Where was she going to enter this enormous building?  How was she going to get in?  Were the guards going to shoo her away?  (more stress).  My calling her and texting her didn’t go through.  I checked the door where the shuttle lets off but there was nothing there.   I checked the South entrance but there was no one there.  (more anxiety)  I walked back to the stage and lo and behold they were just walking in off the shuttle.  The interpreter had been mistaken.

We watched part of the dress rehearsal from the audience.  Max fell asleep in my arms.  Ron was playing the Ravel Violin Sonata from the pit and I was trying to give him some comments (his D-string was buzzing) from my seat trying not to wake Max (more stress).  Riley meanwhile was getting a fever and so we took a taxi back to the hotel and got him into bed.  My anxiety finally hit a pitch and I let fly.  Riley started to cry, Miranda got angry, and Maxie curled up in a ball and went to sleep!  It was a tough day all-round.

Friday morning Riley was still feverish.  Maxie and I went to the pool and got food for Miranda and her patient from the ample breakfast buffet.  I think Max had 3 waffles that morning plus a bowl of cheerios.  Miranda thought it would be a good idea to take a “day off” and stay in the room and get Riley well.  She's very smart.  I had to go to the dress rehearsal for Don Quixote which opened Saturday Matinee.   There was no room on the bus back to the hotel so Ormsby, Ron and I went to look for a taxi.  It’s only a $3 ride to the hotel.  However, there were no taxis so we crammed into a little three-wheeled pedicab style taxi.  We must have looked ridiculous.  But we only went a few blocks until we came to some other pedicabs.  I got into an open-air one by myself and went back to the hotel.  My driver wanted $50US for the trip; right, like I just fell off the turnip truck.  I gave him $5, said “shay-shay” (thank you) and walked off into a crowd of people.  Max and I went for a swim then we all made another early night of it.

Unfortunately, something didn’t agree with Miranda because about midnight she was running to the bathroom sick to her stomach.  Poor girl – she had a very tough and restless night.  Saturday morning she was a little better but still feeling ill.  Riley was better but a little slow.  We had only 2 days left and still had many things to see and to top it off the outside temperature had fallen and it was now 18°F (-13°C) outside and very windy.

 

One of the things we wanted to do was to go to the Toy Market.  This was across from the Temple of Heaven and just behind the Pearl Market and most importantly, inside.   Miranda was in no shape to do anything so after a little coaxing, Riley, Max and I got into a taxi and went to the Toy Market.  There were 4 floors of toys, some fun, some junky.  Riley did a little practicing with bargaining.  He seemed to be quite natural at it.  The taxi driver had taught us to say “Ty-gway-la, boo-ya” which means, “Oh, that’s too expensive”.  Riley used that to great effect.  Though he said that he didn’t like it that they giggled when he spoke Chinese!  We got our toys for about 15¢ on the dollar and probably still paid too much!

We made a quick stop in the Pearl Market which was next door to get a few things for our poor sick mom who was back at the hotel recuperating.  I had to go to the opening at the theater so the boys rested and played in the room that afternoon.  There wasn’t much time between the matinee and evening shows and to make matters worse the bus driver taking us to and fro decided to give us a tour of Beijing instead of driving straight to the hotel after the matinee.  (I did get to see some of the old city wall and several huge gates that I’d never seen before.)  So Ron and I threw down some food and went back for the evening show.

I had mentioned to Ron that despite the fact that Ormsby had told the orchestra during the rehearsals that I was going to conduct some of the performances, they would all react with shock when I would walk out on Saturday night.  Sure enough, they were all talking and gesturing with surprise when I came out.  The expression “lost in translation” was used many times while we were in China.   But the performance was a great success and the orchestra seemed to enjoy it.

Sunday morning was our last to spend sightseeing.  So even though it was windy and freezing cold outside, we bundled up and went to Tian’anmen Square and to the Forbidden City.   We rushed everywhere because of the temperature which was too bad as it’s such a lovely spot filled with many beautiful sights and vistas.  After our visit we jumped into a taxi and went to the Silk Market where Miranda and the boys all were outfitted with new jackets and vests.  Riley again did some hard bargaining.  It was a very successful morning.

I had the matinee that day and when I got back to the hotel both boys were ready to go to the pool.  The next morning we swam again at 6am and we were joined by a dozen dancers who had stayed up all night after the evening show and were finishing their party at the pool.  The boys had a ball playing with them.  After breakfast we all clambered aboard the buses to the massive Beijing airport.  The flight back was a fast 14 hours, and we arrived a little early, so with the time change, we landed at exactly the same time we left Beijing, i.e., we left Beijing at 1pm Monday and we arrived at JFK at 1pm on Monday!

 

We had a fabulous trip but we were all very happy to walk in the door of our lovely little apartment on the Westside.

Trip to Dallas – Jana’s Wedding – November 22, 2008

We flew to Dallas on Thursday morning, November 20^th.  The flight was fine no real hang-ups however Riley lost a lower front tooth just as we were about to take off.   That was exciting.  We picked up our car and drove back to the terminal to pick up Mona who had come in with Sue, John, and Dan from Charlotte.  We had plenty of room in our car for everyone and made a quick trip to Denton first stopping in the neighboring county to buy a bottle of Scotch because Denton County is “dry”. 

We found the Holiday Inn and unpacked then went over to Kathy and Pat’s for a barbecue dinner.  Pat had a mesquite fire lit in portable fire place in his driveway which burned through the weekend.  Everyone’s clothes reeked of mesquite smoke, which was not all that bad.  The dinner was a typical Pat and Kathy feast and everyone ate more than their fill.   Frank, Connie, Jordan and Connor, and Joe, Lisa, Makenzie, Mason, Jake, and Patricia were there as well.  Riley was very involved in a football game in the back yard where Makenzie gave him a pretty good sized bruise on his cheek

Friday:    The next morning most of the kids got into the pool for a little play as all of the other Barker/Sims clan showed up.  Kyle, Rusty, Conley, Avery, Brinna, Jenny, Rick, Olivia, M, plus Rudy, Dolly, Petra, Kevin and Samantha (and they brought Alex).  At 11:30 there was a Bridesmate’s luncheon that Mona hosted.  It was at a restaurant in downtown Denton called Hannah’s.  I think there were about 30 ladies in attendance.  (Downtown on the square was an 1896 Romanesque Revival Courthouse with many architectural features similar to the Del Monte)  The afternoon was taken up mainly by visiting before we all regrouped for a “rehearsal dinner” at a converted roller rink catered by Dickie’s Barbecue.  The brisket and ribs were fantastic.  There was a big open area for the little kids to play in and they did.  We all got to the hotel about 10pm.

Saturday:   The next morning we planned to meet at the pool at 9am and just about all the kids were there.  At about 11 we got ready to go to the wedding which was in a church in Lewisville, TX about 20 minutes away.  The church was an “in the round” sanctuary and the bridal party marched in around the edge of the sanctuary before settling in their seats.  The priest was from down east and shouted several times at the readers that they should cut that reading or go to another one.  It was entertaining.  The pianist/singer performed Broadway/Disney Gospel music which was so monotonous that every song sounded exactly like the last.   Apparently, Kathy later said when she asked him about the music he replied that he didn’t talk to “proxies”.  The processional which was pretty long to accommodate all of the filing in was chorus after chorus of Jesu Joy.  There must have been 20 choruses!   Every time the pianist did something weird (which was pretty often) Jess would turn around and give me the eye!

After the wedding there were lots of photos and then we went back to the hotel for the reception.  There were many toasts and lots of very good food.  Miranda got caught up in a beer drinking game where she was turned upside-down and had to guzzle beer from the keg.  She was not amused.  The festivities continued in the hotel bar till late.

Sunday morning many people started to leave.  It was sad to say goodbye.  Kathy and Pat had an after wedding brunch (naturally) and the remaining folk gathered there.   The kids who were left played more soccer and football.

Monday morning Joe brought over his kids and we swam for a while.  Sue, Mona and I went to the Denton Square to have some lunch.  I took some photos of the courthouse and we went back to the hotel and picked up the boys and went to a big park by Kathy’s house where the kids played   Kathy and Pat meanwhile were cooking a fantastic thanksgiving dinner for Sue, Joe, Mona and us.   It was delicious to say the least.  We all ate too much and flopped into bed about 10pm. 

Tuesday morning we loaded up the cars (John and Miranda!) and drove off to the airport for our return to New York.

Proposal Story 25 October, 2000

I'm engaged to Miranda Coney. Let me set the scene.

The Australian Ballet opened in Perth last night with a performance of the Merry Widow with Miranda in the title role. I had planned to propose to Miranda after the opening night performances in Perth for about 6 weeks. She has family in Perth, she was the Widow, it all seemed to fit. I had told my plans to no one except Ross Stretton, Artistic Director of Australian Ballet, who incidentally slyly engineered some of the technical parts. Extreme secrecy had to be maintained because there are no secrets in this company!

Just before the performance Ross and I spoke to the stage manager to alert her that she needed to make an announcement over the PA just before the final curtain to get the audience's attention and that she had to fit me with a body microphone because I was going to “make a presentation”;. Then we swore her to secrecy for the next 2 1/2 hours.

After the performance finished (which, by the way, was quite good) the bows followed as usual-- corps, soloists, principals, all forward and back, the Widow (Miranda) gets the conductor, all bow, curtain down, bows for principals in front of the curtain (at which time I went off stage and got the body mic fixed), curtain up, all (except conductor) down and back. This is usually when the curtain falls for the last time for the evening. However, tonight, with the curtain still up and the audience still applauding, the stage manager spoke over the PA and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, may we have your attention”.

The audience became quiet immediately and I walked out onto the stage, faced the audience, and spoke to them (the body mic worked, thank goodness) saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Charles Barker, Music Director of the Australian Ballet. I have a question to ask tonight's Widow.” At which point I turned and walked a few steps toward Miranda, went down onto one knee, held out an engagement ring to her and said, “Miranda Coney, will you be my wife?”

Miranda had no idea that this was about to happen and the look on her face was priceless. She was quite overcome and came to me, nodded yes, took the ring and gave me a hug and kiss. At the same moment the stage and audience erupted with a deafening ovation, a type of which I had never heard before. Men were yelling their bravos and women were shouting through their tears -- especially the ballerinas on stage. An usher brought Miranda some red long stem roses I had gotten for her, more applause, then the curtain came down. It was quite a scene. I couldn't have hoped for a better scenario. Everything went my way.

The next morning the press began to phone at 9:30am. We gave interviews and had photos taken until about 2pm. We are both still pretty high from the evening. It was fun and perhaps most important, it was successful! The amount of media coverage after the fact was surprising. We did dozens of newspaper and radio interviews including the BBC from London. I guess people like happy endings.

Whitsunday Isles Trip -- July 2000

Sunday, July 16. We had switched rooms in Brisbane from a dark cold room to a great room that had sun all day long so for the last 4 days I had been sitting on the balcony of our room soaking up the rays. Sunday afternoon we headed off to a birthday party for one of the ballerinas (Justine Summers) at a "retreat" up in the bush southwest of Brisbane. It was an interesting lodge that reminded me of Montreat a little -- except Australian!

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday July 17-19. Monday morning we went back to the airport and flew up to Hamilton Island and then took a Jetcat to Club Crocodile on Long Island. The Whitsunday Islands are very effected by tides. I would guess that the tides are about 12-15 feet. It's not the Bay of Fundy but still every 6 hours all of the beautiful beaches becomes gigantic and rather unattractive soggy sandbars. I could see that from the airplane flying up but it didn't really sink in until we got to the resort and the tide was all the way out. The resort itself was fine, a little geared to young people but there was a broad range of people staying here. The food is lacking in flavor and diversity somewhat but ok. Miranda attributes it to the fact that we are very spoiled with where we usually stay and the food we usually eat! She's probably right!

The weather has been really fantastic. For a week before we left Brisbane it's been fabulous. It's a little cool at night but after about 10am it warms up to 65-75. The water is about 70 degrees.

We took the first two days to settle in, tried not to do to much. This morning (Wed) I went for a very expensive water ski but it was worth it as I haven't really skied in years! Long Island is a National Park so everything that is not the resort is bush land filled with kangaroos, wallabies, billy-goats, red-necked black turkeys and other interesting creatures. Miranda and I have taken several long walks (4-8 miles) on the paths through the park. The views off to the other islands through the trees are spectacular.

Thursday July 20. We took yet another jetcat to South Molle Island to pick up a few more passengers then headed out toward the Great Barrier Reef. The trip was about 90 minutes at about 30 miles an hours, so about 40 miles out to sea. The ocean was incredibly placid. The only waves were the ones that the boat was making. There weren’t even any ripples from wind. It was like the Lake of the Ozarks early in the morning. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the ocean so calm. Along the way we saw several humpback whales breaching. They were quite far off so we didn’t get a good look. We got to the area of the Reef (Heidi’s Reef, it’s called) were there was a permanent platform set up. The boat docked and all got into little glass-bottomed submarines for a quick tour. The fish and colors of coral were unbelievable. And there were so many different varieties. We got back to the station and got on our snorkel gear and eased into the water which was only about 68 degrees so not warm! We did a little snorkeling but got cold and headed back in for lunch. Afterwards we braved the sea once again and for some reason it was warmer – there were “warm spots” and “cold spots” – so we were able to swim for about an hour. The sea was so calm and had been for several weeks that the visibility was about 50 feet. We swam along an underwater bluff where the most beautiful coral grows. So to the left was the reef built-up to just below sea level and to the right was a cliff sometimes descending into blackness. All over the cliff face were giant clams, borrowing clams, stag, brain, fan, and about a 1000 other types of coral – all different colors some fixed and some waving in the current. Fish of every imaginable shape, size and color were everywhere.

They called everyone back to the station and got us organized for the trip back. On the way back more humpback whales were cavorting at the surface of the calm sea and we went right by them – amazing – flukes, dorsal fins and tails up out of the water all about 100 feet away. They were young so not massive but still impressive. Friday July 21. The resort office was eager to sell a 1, 2 or 3 island tour. We settled on a 2 Island tour which included Hook Island with an underwater observatory and Whitsunday Island and the fabulous silicon sand of Whitehaven beach. Hook Island is in the shape of a pitch fork and really should be called Trident island. There is a narrow passage between Hook and Whitsunday Island through which whales often pass. We didn’t see any this day but we were assured they did pass just before we got there. The whole area is national park land. There was a little underwater observatory which put you at floor level of the “fringe” reef. They feed some fish off the dock (not sunperch!) some of which were about 100 pounds and all were rainbow-colored. We decided not to snorkel as it was still early and a little cool. So we sat by the little pool and soaked up some sun. It was rather fun because the pool at the resort is completely shaded all day long (great design!) consequently devoid of guests. (The hot tub here, as with hot tubs at every Whitsunday resort are all “waiting on a part coming from out of the country.”) Next the boat headed to Whitsunday Island which was only across the little strait but we were headed down-island a little to where the beach was. It was well worth it. The sand was pure white and soft. And as it was pure silicon it wasn’t hot. We stayed there for about 90 minutes before we headed back. Both Miranda and I thought we could have just taken a boat directly to the beautiful beach, been dropped off and picked up about 4pm. The water was a little cool but the sun was so warm that it didn’t really matter.

Saturday, July 22. We decided to do nothing today just hang around the resort and sit in the sun. However we did have a helicopter ride around the islands that was part of our package. That was fun. Neither of us had been in a helicopter. We went up about 1000 feet and around several of the islands and back. Then we did a little wind surfing and canoeing and after that took a picnic lunch to a deserted beach for several hours. Well, we thought it was deserted until a man and his two sons in a fishing boat pulled up and beached not 20 feet from us. This particular beach was about a mile long so they were a little close for us. I waited a few minutes to see what they were going to do but when they got their fishing lines out and started to cast I walked down to the water and jumped in and swam vigorously for a few minutes. Miranda, who was laughing from her spot on the beach, said that the fishermen were looking over at me with amazement. They packed up and left soon afterwards. We had champagne (Crocodile Tears”) in the evening looking at the sunset from our balcony.

Sunday, July 23. Today we truly did nothing save a short walk around the north end of the Island and Monday the same. Monday afternoon we caught a boat to Hamilton Island and the first plane out to Melbourne.