18.-21.10.2008 - Townsville & Magnetic Island, Queensland

The wreck of Yongala off the coast near Townsville is supposedly the best dive in the world - I wouldn't know, as the prevailing 30 knot wind made diving absolutely impossible for several days in a row...instead, spent the weekend hiking in Townsville and on the lovely, if croc-infested, tropical paradise of Magnetic Island.

16.10.2008 Thursday - Indooroopilly Megaplex, Brisbane

According to the advertisement, Gold Class Cinema is "the most romantic place in town." It doesn't exactly live up to those expectations, but the motorised lounge chairs are nice and the sparkly well chilled, so it's as good place as any to redeem my magnificent competition price (a movie theatre gift card). Burn After Reading is entertaining enough - I sort of lost hope in Coen brothers' comedial talent at the time of O Brother, Where Art Thou, which was just bad slapstick, but clearly they can still compose lovable Fargoesque stuff as well. And watching Brad Pitt's performance is almost as pleasant a surprise as seeing Tom Cruise in Magnolia.

5.10.2008 Sunday - HMAS Brisbane, Sunshine Coast

HMAS Brisbane is an old missile destroyer that was deliberately sunk into the Pacific Ocean in 2005 off the coast near Mooloolaba to create an artificial wreck dive site. The fish life wasn't quite as impressive as at some other local sites, but the wreck itself certainly was, in its 133 metres of spookiness.

You need to make a short boat ride to access the wreck, and the dive interval was spent in the shelter of Mudjimba Island. On the way back to the shore, we encountered a pod of humpback whale calves having the time of their lives, leaping high above the water. The mothers were more suspicious about the boat and mostly stayed underwater while we were nearby, but as soon as we left, we could see at least one of the moms join the tail slapping fiesta.