2~26~01 to 3~4~01
Brightly Coloured Things
We went snorkelling around the Great Barrier Reef. I've been snorkelling many times in my life, but most of those times have been just off the beach, where there aren't a lot of fish.
Here, there were a lot of fish. They were beautiful. The tour we took supplied me with a short wetsuit for a small fee, which meant that I could float with ease in the water. So, any worries about working to stay afloat were erased, and I drifted in the water, observing the fish and other marine life. 
It was neat to see the fish in their natural environment. Perhaps I am anthropomorphizing a bit, but it seemed that the fish here were calmer than in other places I've seen fish, like in aquariums. On the Reef, they were in their home environment, secure in their ability to hide or get away if necessary, so they glimmered around us without showing signs of concern.
~ * ~ Steve and I made several expensive travel re-arrangements in order to be in Sydney for one reason: the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, the largest parade of its kind in the world. I had heard of it before I left home, and in our travels, we met several people who had attended and highly recommended it.
Many (but not all) people wear a costume for the parade. As backpackers, we couldn't just pull a good costume out of our closet, so the day before the parade, we walked around Darlinghurst and Kings Cross (Sydney neighbourhoods), looking for ideas.
Since my hair was already blue at this point, I decided to just be "blue" rather than something concrete. We lucked out in a store called Crazy Prices and found a silky tank top and shorts in just the same shade as my hair, for only US$3! To this, I added some deely-bobbers (see picture if you don't know what they are), blue lipstick, body glitter, and a shimmery blue mask.
Steve, wanting to be more subtle, chose a devilish "black". He wore a black shirt, raggedy cut-off black sweats, a black mask, and the crowning touch, a pair of black horns on his head. We arrived at the parade route five hours early to get a good spot. Lots of people were already there, waiting, but we scored an excellent position right by the judges.
After a long wait, the festivities began. It was fantastic. There were larger-than-life drag queens by the dozen. There were squads of scantily-clad men and women doing precision dancing and marching. There were families proudly marching together. There were floats representing political issues, people's hobbies, people's careers, and local companies such as bars and gyms. Marchers came from as far away as Munich and Edinburgh as well as, yes, the Canadian contingent.
The parade began, as tradition dictated, with Dykes on Bikes - over a hundred motorcycles - roaring past and honking. About three jubilant hours and 175 floats later, the parade petered out with a guy holding a small sign that said, "The End." In between was a dazzling array of different kinds of people and orientations and interests and issues, who all came together to celebrate their differences and promote tolerance.
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~ * ~ Blue Hair: the final chapter
I had blue hair for about a week, and I loved every minute. It matched my eyes and I thought it looked nice. So much so, I may do it again someday. I got a lot of positive comments from people as well, and, surprisingly, no bad treatment. I couldn't detect that I was being treated any differently from anyone else. The only thing I noticed was that people stared at me more, but who could blame them?
I was sad to get my hair dyed dark brown the day before leaving for Indonesia. It is now the darkest of browns, although Steve claims to be able to see blue streaks in the back.
~ * ~ And that's all to say about Australia. There were definitely some highlights (trapeze class, Great Barrier Reef, Mardi Gras), but in between was a lot of driving and small-town similarity. Steve and I were ready for more exotic locales, and instead we drove through towns full of KFCs and McDonalds. Australia is a great place to visit; I just think we did it at the wrong time for us.
