It was sad for us. Since there was much of Australia we had yet to see and little time left to see it in, we decided to stay in Australia for the Christmas holidays. During the two week break, we planned to go to Tasmania, the southern-most part of Australia for the first week, then to the Great Barrier Reef for the second week, way up north. Working up to the last minute (Kam was working 12-hour days, 7 days a week), we were unable to send out Christmas cards. Our friends and family were nice enough to send us cards though. Thanks everybody!

Our arrival into Hobart proved that if there was inbreeding among the humans who lived in Tasmania, it hadn't caused them to grow extra arms or heads as the people in Brisbane had warned us. Maybe they're just jealous, but a large percentage of the population in Australia thinks of Tasmania as the backwards part of the country, where you're not considered a native unless your brother married his cousin or aunt or some other close relative. We found it to be otherwise and really had a great time.

We were fortunate enough to visit Cairns for the second week of Christmas. This was our first liveaboard diving experience. We did 10 dives in 3 days, including 2 somewhat scary night dives. Too bad we didn't see any Minke whales, maybe next year!