and we happened to run into a Clown Fish... Pop culture has even reached as far as the ocean floor.... the children's movie "Finding Nemo" has completely changed this little guys name... "i saw a Nemo"... no one says "I saw a clown fish" anymore..... nonetheless, it's a real cute fish and the cartoon depiction is spot-on.

Samantha Ryan's first descent into the ocean as a scuba diver! apparently, i should have been born a fish... or some sort of tropical sea creature... Only one more dive tomorrow and i'll have obtained an Open Water Diver Certificate... and life under the sea is so great... for a little extra money and a few more dives (namely 'adventure dives') I'll have an Advanced Open Water Diver Certificate... at which point I will be permitted to descend down to 30 metres!!! currently can only do 18.... the adventure dives are fun cause you get to specialize, or rather experience things like underwater photography, underwater naturalist, navigation dive etc etc... although it's been just one day and three dives.... i'm hooked.

Blizzarts next Monday.... witness the end of an era...

...this is a short way downstream....

went swimming in the crystal clear FREEZING fresh water... the current was real strong.... almost got pulled downstream...

big fish are found in little waterholes...

wonderful trees in there... giant trees with vines or roots everywhere.... you can follow their roots for long stretches along the ground for about a few hundred meters or more.......

took little trails through the rainforest.... very enjoyable.... although, you'll hear these crazy sounds, dinosaur-like birds and rustling in the bushes... scary at times...snakes, spiders, whathaveyou....

i thoroughly enjoyed climbing around.

Mossman Gorge

a bouder-strewn river valley in the traditional lands of the Kuku Yalanji aboriginal people. Explored the lowland rainforest of this area... and trail started on this little suspension bridge that crosses the river.... looking down you see the rapids below...

i have an australian learner's permit... i can now attempt to get my probationary licence which enables me to drive solo (without being accompanied by an individual with an 'open' or full licence, as it stands now)... in Oz one must hold a probationary licence for a year before getting a regular licence.

buckets of sand were found in his hair...

on windy days, falling asleep on the beach can become very amusing for those around you.

the best part about the 4 mile beach is that the sand is hard enough along the coast line to make bike rides along the beach possible.

the beach is about 500 meters from the house... this is where i've spent the majority of my weekend.

living room and patio... there is a hot tub out there too. we pay 130$ a week for the room. much better than the 220$ we were paying for the tent!

kitchen.

our bathroom. i had a bath for the first time in over 2 months. and i don't have to wear flipflops in the shower no more.

this is the room in the house that i live in... no more tent business..... i can now make meals in a kitchen that has an oven, and i can cook without 25 backpackers watching my every move and fighting over the best pot or the cheese grater. yes those are lawn chairs... the room wasn't exactly furnished... it contained a bed and that's all. Alexi's boss loaned us a table... nice guy.

this is Dan Stefik (another famous Montrealer) looking through the peephole on the door of "The Small Room."

this is Robb in the little room. Robb is a famous Montreal artist and dj, who will be moving to London in order to attend Goldsmith's University. Soon he will be famous worldwide.

this is the entrance to Robb Jamieson's "The Small Room."

DJ locked in booth - Montreal Mirror July 28-Aug 3

In a performance entitled The Small Room, DJ Robb Jamieson will lock his record collection, turntables, amp, fan, monitor speaker, headphones, mixer and himself in a three-foot-high crawlspace for a week in Blizzarts bar (3956A St-Laurent) where he'll DJ from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. Patrons will be able to watch him through a custom-installed peephole and listen through specially provided headphones. "It's kind of a riff on those large clubs that boast a big room and a small room - well, this is a really small room," explains Jamieson, "Also, it transfers the typical DJ experience from a public spectacle into a private one-on-one kind of thing." It starts today, July 28, and runs till Aug. 4 - Raf Katigbak

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/072805/artsweek.html