Golden Beach, Queensland

February 11, 2015 The sail into Sydney yesterday was amazing. We disembarked the ship and were on the road in great time. The drive north took much longer than we had anticipated because of many construction zones and detours. We were up at 5:00 am and didn’t arrive at the resort until 11:00 pm. Getting accustomed to driving on the opposite side added to the stress of the drive. In addition, I had not realized there is a time change between Sydney and Brisbane. The really sad news is that once again, the the weather didn’t cooperate and not only was I not able to get my last two dives in to complete the certification, but I was also not able to dive the barrier reef at all. Because the drive was so grueling coming up and I knew the dives were not going to happen, we decided to take two days to return to Sydney. We spent today, detoxing and relaxing. The day included a walk on the beach (between showers) and lots of relaxing on our balcony overlooking the water. While I am deeply disappointed that the dive goal will not happen, I will look at it as an excuse that I must return to Australia again in the future. Our time here is definitely not enough to see the country. The journey continues to be such a gift that I must not let the dive frustration get in the way of a wonderful vacation.