William Mathewson's blog

Over the past four months I've lived in the capitol cities of Western Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria -- Perth, Hobart, and Melbourne, respectively. I fell in love with all three. Each place has its own unique aura and is filled with people whose lifestyles reflect the distinct attitudes of their locale. But in the back of my mind, I had the feeling that these cities and others like them would always take second- or third-billing to Australia's largest, most vibrant and arguably most Australian metropolis -- the city -- Sydney. I finally visited Sydney this past weekend.

I became a certified diver through Ithaca College's SCUBA course last spring, and came to Cairns intent on diving as much as possible. Over spring break, I finally got underwater: I dove 13 times in Cairns, 11 of which were with Cairns-based Pro Dive. Every Aussie diver I talked to told me that if I was looking to dive the Great Barrier Reef, Pro Dive was the way to go. The Pro Dive crew has a reputation for being young, fun, and very helpful. Pro Dive has exclusive leases to several Reef dive sites, and uses smaller boats than the other Cairns diving companies.

The Walkabout students had an eight-day "spring break" this past week, where we could travel independently for awhile (I put "spring break" in quotes because it's Fall here). A bunch of people went to New Zealand, some went to Thailand and a few went to Singapore. I went to Cairns, pronounced "cans," in northeast Queensland to see the Great Barrier Reef. How could I not?

I came to Australia with more luggage than most of the other Walkabouters. The majority of my travel companions came to the country with two medium-sized suitcases and a backpack; I have an immense travel trunk from EMS, a 6ft. duffel bag, a large hiking backpack and a day pack. I needed the extra luggage to hold a pair of size 12 hiking boots, my Leatherman, a compass, a poncho, and most of the other necessary gear for the numerous hiking trips I planned to go on.

The second stop on the Walkabout (I can't believe it's been a month already!) is the city of Hobart on the island of Tasmania. Hobart is a small, picturesque city of 200,000 that has been ranked by Lonely Planet as one of the world's "most beautiful" places to live. Nearby Mt. Wellington is the most imposing landmark at 1300 meters. It is only a few kms from the city center and makes a beautiful backdrop for Hobart and its suburbs, especially in the morning when its highest reaches are shrouded by blue fog.