I joined the anglers in the evenings on the upper deck for happy hour and listened to their stories of the day's fishing. It was really fun to see how animated these otherwise reserved gentlemen could become when describing their heroic efforts and/or humbling defeats vs. their fishy adversaries. I remember thinking, "how cool that G does something that brings so much genuine happiness to so many people." 

Most days G and I mainly stayed aboard the mothership while the anglers and guides were out in the skiffs chasing fish. This was wonderfully relaxing for me to the point that time became quite meaningless very quickly. We did some fishing off the big boat some days and from skiffs a couple of times, as well. It had been many years since I had fished, so I felt pretty spazzy at the beginning. I was also not accustomed to the serious reels and gear these guys use, as I had mostly used little Zebco reels, et. al. for lake fishing targeting the mighty Bullhead or Crappie or Bluegill. (all dinky fish comparatively) It was wonderful and I quickly found myself getting in to the invigorating challenge of me vs. fish again. Loved it!

After a couple of days, several of the guys were going snorkeling around midday and invited me along, which of course I did without hesitation, as that had been one of my "to do's" on this trip. I knew from what I had read and seen, including G's own photos, that the underwater scenes here would probably be spectacular, only to find that they were way more spectacular than any photos. The colors, alone were just mind blowing, and the abundance of fascinating stuff in each square meter of reef was simply boggling.  I could have floated there for many hours just looking at this constantly moving other world below. 

On another of these idyllic days, we were anchored near Dugong Island, which is the stuff of "deserted island" legend. Dugong is tiny and just stunningly beautiful, perched in the crystal clear waters around the Reef and surprisingly full of flip-flops and sandals and thongs of every description washed ashore from Asia and Indonesia and Africa and who knows where else! There are also various plastic doohickeys and other floatable refuse there, but the footwear was definitely most predominant. G & I walked around the island on the periphery beaches one day and actually found a matching pair of thongs within a few feet of each other. Wild, though we speculated that someone else had been walking the beach & just left their thongs... the possibility of two matching thongs traveling together from Indonesia or wherever was probably pretty slim. Then again, there don't seem to be many visitors to this place, other than G's Reef trips, which are only during a short period each year. Who knows... another mystery in this crazy world.

G and one of his guides, A invited me along one afternoon for a fly fishing photo opp. Well, I saw it as a photo opp - they saw it as a fishing opp. I realized I had never actually seen anyone fly fishing before so was very interested, indeed. I was amazed at how physical and beautiful it was - kind of like a mix of ballet and martial arts and rodeo. The idea that you could actually see your fish prey in the water and aim for him was just so cool to me, as I had always thought of fishing as this great unknown, behind the curtain kind of thing - you don't know what you've really got until it hits the surface. The Canon Rebel was wheezing and panting at the end of this little adventure - I got some wonderful shots of both G and A in action and life was good. I felt like I was hangin' with the rock stars of the fly fishing set - way cool!

Evenings on the mothership were especially nice because G was finally able to relax a bit and just enjoy himself. Dinnertime was always full of lively conversation and nice food - usually something caught fresh that day. Often, as anglers would be regaling G with their exploits of the day, G and I would be playing footsies under the table - what a hoot! It was all I could do maintain decorum and not giggle like a school girl. 

It was an incredible week for me, filled with adventure and laughter and relaxation and fun and the thrill of hanging out with someone I really liked being around. For G, of course, it was just another work week, though I'm sure having this strange new woman from America aboard, whom he had accidentally bumped into online, threw off his normal routine a bit. After watching G operate in his world for the past week plus, I could see why he would be ready for a break, which in his case is about three months.

That's another one of the cool parts of this story - G has been spending most of his off-seasons for the last 10 years in the US... actually the Florida Keys for the most part. Woo hoo!! This was just another snippit of the awesome serendipity of this whole thing. Not only are the Keys in the same hemisphere, on the same continent, and in the same time zone, but they're actually driveable for me!! And I know people down there! 

So the plan was to meet up in the Keys in January and spend more time together. This was the one thing that made leaving Aus and G more bearable - I knew I would see him again within just a few weeks. I really wanted to know more of this guy and what it was like to really spend plentiful time with him - his month and a half in the US seemed the perfect opportunity for such.

Yes, the long, strange trip to Aus and my time there with G was good... very very good. 

And yes, believe it or not, it continues to get even better.