Tour Leader’s Blog

Today, Valentine’s day, we visited the Great Barrier Reef and Green Island. It was a wonderful day, we enjoyed the sunshine in a glass bottom boat from which we could view fish and coral. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef in the world and has the world’s highest marine life diversity, with over 450 type of corals, 1,500 types of fish and 4,000 types of mollusks. All these species are protected by law.

After arriving on Green Island, our group walked on the sand, swam, snorkeled and enjoyed this marvelous area of God’s creation. Ron and Marcia Haarer were walking along the shore and saw a “Fish Boil” or feeding frenzy. This when a large school of fish are swimming together while feeding. They observed a shark swim through the fish boil and the fish jumped out of the water. Other tour members went and watched this fascinating scene as the shark would rest on the coral and then feed again and the fish would fly out of the water. God’s creation and the food chain cycle were a joy to observe.

To top off the day we had a delicious Balinese meal followed by a birthday cake for Marcia. We say goodbye to Australia tomorrow and hello to New Zealand.

~ Wilmer Martin

Yesterday, traveling from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock, we offered a prize to the first person who spotted a wild camel. Geoff, our driver guide, told us 300,000 wild camel roam the out back. They are very dangerous and their numbers grow every year. Bull camels are deadly beasts that man should respect, as it can kill you instantly. These are odd looking creatures, they look like they were developed by a committee. Shirley Ratzlaff (witnessed by Bob Miller) won the prize. The temperature was 39 Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) so we drank a lot of water and made sure to use umbrellas and sun screen.

At our dinner buffet we had a choice of a variety of meats including kangaroo, camel, lamb and more traditional meats. Tomorrow we are off to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.

~ Wilmer Martin

Beechworth, Australia.

Last evening we all enjoyed watching the “Penguin Parade,” as the fairy penguins came into their rockery at Phillip island. A delightful experience with all the sights, smells and sounds.

Today Marlene Beck won the prize for the first sighting of a kangaroo in the wild with Ken Quenzer serving as witness. Bob and Sue Miller were dropped off in Dandenong to visit a friend and do a plant tour.

Today’s special event was an Aussie barbeque at Lazy Harry’s in Beechworth. Lazy Harry told us that TM is the only group invited to his home for a BBQ, normally he meets and performs at a hotel. Nola, one of the helpers, said she always enjoys our groups. “They are such kind and respectful people. I got tears in my eyes when you sang the doxolgy before your prayer. It brought back a lot of memories.”

~ Wilmer Martin

Today we visited Half Moon Island where we enjoyed thousands of chinstrap penguins. This is our fourth and final port of call and shore excursion. The captain told us were lucky since this is the first cruise this season for Half Moon. Yesterday from the deck, 38 humpback whales, 5 Orca killer whales, 2 Minke whales, 2 Weddell seals and 4 Elephant seals were spotted. I was so pleased to see two close enough to see the huge back fin wave and another one jump out of the water. Jane Oswald reported that she has seen 30 different Antarctic birds to date. LeRoy Troyer said, and all tour members agreed, “God’s creation in the cold climate is magnificent and hard to fathom.”

~ Wilmer Martin

Our Antarctica tour is in Paradise Harbor. We visited the Chilean Antarctic weather station island and were greeted by 1000’s of very photogenic penguins. Paradise Harbour has the correct name. The many picturesque icebergs glistened under the sunshine and clear blue sky. We have been so blessed with beautiful weather. This morning at an early breakfast Myrna and Bob Johnson saw a humpback whale, even the huge back fin. We hope the rest of us will have the privilege this afternoon as we begin our journey northward. We are as far south as we will go on this tour - 63 kilometres or 40 miles from the Antarctic Circle.

~ Wilmer Martin