December 31 - Australia: Cairns
My New Years Eve run: Jon's run #38
The New York Road Runners Club runs a race every New Years Eve in Central Park, the Midnight Run. Well, Since I can't be there I sort of thought that if I run this morning at 4:30 and on New Years at 4:30am, it could sort of be like being in NY for the race. Except of course for the fact that it's much warmer here and I don't have to worry about watching for ice patches!
Can you tell that I miss NY? I miss running in Central Park, my daily run along the Hudson River either down toward the WTC or up to the USS Intrepid, and taking a cab back to the apartment after running in the Park and stopping at 23rd and 8th to buy bagels with low-fat veggie cream cheese and a cup of coffee! Diving is great and I don't really consider this a job since it's so much fun and the people are so much fun, but I really miss NY. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss working in NY but I sort of view that as a necessary evil that makes living in NY possible.
Oh yeah, this morning's run--it was through downtown Cairns again. Not quite as many people as yesterday but still great.
I broke my toe today.
I was lookout for both dives, and was navigating between the back of the boat and the front of the boat to keep an eye on the divers. I had to get over a railing to get from the back of the boat to the middle section. And while I hopped over the rail, my foot slipped and my toe caught on a railing. Granted, it hurt. But I figured that I'd just jammed it pretty good. Two hours later, I happened to glance down and noticed the telltale signs of black and blue on the side. Upon further investigation, I realized that the entire bottom of the toe was bruised something terrible. Now - 6 hours after the fateful incident - the entire toe is an ugly shade of purple, red, and blue, and hurts pretty badly. It's on my left foot, the toe next to the pinky toe. So it's not a major appendage, and it's not something that will hinder my life in anyway. But it's still annoying. And it's REALLY unattractive.
Jon's Freedives
Jon led the snorkelers on both dives today. He got to break in the "Freedive" setting on his dive computer, which recorded the different free dives he did during the day. It logged one of his dives at 12.4 meters. This is with a snorkel, mask, wetsuit, and fins. 12.4 meters is about 40 feet, and I'm damn impressed with him. That's a long way to go on one breath of air. Especially with a full wetsuit and no weights. Damn impressive!
Jon On the Boat
On Your Marks....
We left Cairns at the same time as Reef Quest did. Reef Quest is Deep Sea Diver's Den other day-tripper boat. And although Reef Quest is marketed toward the budget backpacker crowd, it's bigger, newer, and faster than our little Sea Quest. Of course, it holds a lot more people so the service isn't as good, but backpackers don't care about that stuff.
Reef Quest leaving Cairns in the AM
Anyway, there's an ongoing competition between Sea Quest and Reef Quest as to who has the better crew, better equipment, most fun, and who gets back to the docks faster. Usually, we win the "better equip" and the "back to the docks faster" just because we do one less dive than Reef Quest. The "better crew" and "most fun" categories are, of course, a bit subjective.
On our way back to Cairns today, we were running a bit late and Reef Quest was running a bit early. A few of us were on the back of the boat taking care of equipment when - suddenly - we felt Matty (our silly skipper) beef up the engine power. Looking up, we saw that Reef Quest had appeared next to us and most of the crew was hanging out the windows with cocky grins on their faces. The race was on! We knew we were destined to lose against the power of the catamaran, but we cheered ourselves on nonetheless. Some of the passengers came back to join in the fun, too. It was a combination drag race and game of chicken because we were getting close to the docks and would soon have to cut power. The question was - who would cut back first? After 30 seconds of testosterone-laden speed, Reef Quest honked its horn and pulled ahead. Matty honked Sea Quest's horn and cut back on the power, and our respective crews waved good-bye to each other. It was no surprise to us that we'd follow them into port, but it was still an exhilarating way to end the day.
New Year's Eve Party
We splurged and got some pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner instead of cooking. What a treat! And our big plans for New Year's Eve - TO SLEEP! Lame-Os. Gone are the days of dancing until dawn in some eclectic club in the bowels of New York City. So much for formal parties in friends' apartments. No longer do we hang out in Old Town Alexandria watching Jon's friends dance nutty steps to silly tunes. Nope. Now we go to bed early and get up early the next day to work. Suddenly, rest has received a higher priority than the all-important "night out".
I suppose this is a milestone of some sort, but I refuse to dwell on it.
Happy New Year!