January 7 - Australia: Cairns

Sprints:  Jon's run #41

I have to do something to keep my running interesting so this morning I did 5 sets of sprints.  Adding time to each, with the hopeful result being some additional speed.  Of course, it would probably help if I ran a measured course but I seem to just run wherever I want.  At 4:45am there are no crowds to have to contend with and for that matter there's really nobody to have to contend with!

The run was a bit further north to the mangrove swamp park and then down onto the path along the waterside.  No real creative thoughts this morning but I did watch the police wake up a sleeping homeless person.  It seems that the renovation in the central shopping area included the removal of most of the nice park benches that the homeless use to sleep on...which of course sends a few of them to the park on the water to catch some shut eye.  The police seem to be intent on nipping this in the bud though.  It felt just like NY!

For today's dive trip, Jon guided the two dives.  Two of his divers needed a "Scuba Tune-Up" - in other words a skills assessment.  One of them hadn't dived in two years, the other in seven!  So he took them down and made sure they had a grasp on their basic skills.

I led the snorkelers.  Nothing exciting happened, although that's no for lack of trying!

Frank and Brenda

There was a great American couple on board yesterday and today.  Frank came on board with an "Air Force Academy: 1968" ballcap on, which means I immediately liked him.  Since I grew up an "Air Force Brat", I'm quite partial to men who've served in the military.  Especially the Air Force.  And I also liked him because - and don't take this the wrong way - Frank is African-American.  Think about it.  An African-American male who attended an excellent U.S. Military Academy in the height of the civil rights movement.  The guy's got cajones.  I was immediately impressed.  He and Brenda were really fun to talk to, and Jon and I enjoyed hanging out with them.  They were on my guided dives yesterday, and they were in Jon's group today.  So we spent a lot of time with them and got to know them quite well.

They insisted on having their pictures taken with us, saying that "we were the reason they had so much fun the past two days".  On the way off the boat this evening, Frank stuck $40 (Australian dollars) into my hand and told me it was for me and Jon.  I love getting tips.  Regardless of the money, it just makes me feel like I've done something special for someone.  And that makes all the hard work worthwhile.