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Hey everyone, Just got back from a delightful 10 days in the Galapagos Islands, Chucky Darwin´s old stomping ground, where the, now obsolete, Theory of Evolution was formulated. I say obsolete because the natural process of evolution by filtering out the bad genes over time has been stunted by man´s modern techniques and potions. As Nick said to me the other day, if the old process of survival of the fittest was still the way it was done, neither he or I would be around. Neither of us could see without man-made solutions, and thus we would not be able to find, gather or hunt food efficiently enough, and would have starved to death, among other things, long ago. Anyway, the first five days we were on a cruise on the 75 foot Yacht Fragata with 13 other people, with whom we got along well. Actually, we could only communicate with less than half of them, the Yanks and the Irish. The others were all Spanish speakers, but we all got along okay. There were 8 crew on the ship, as well as our naturalist guide, Ivan, who was very knowledgable and a good laugh. We went to sevaral islands over the duration of the tour, and each island has it´s own unique properties and ecosystem. The word "endemic" was frequently used in our guides explanations. That means that the flora or fauna he was refering to was specific to Galapagos, or even more locally, to that particular island, and couldn't be found anywhere else in the world. The Galapagos Islands are fairly new, islands range between 1 and 3 million years old. they appeared from out of the sea, by being pushed up by the continental and tectonic plates, and they are gradually going to slide underneith the mainland South American continent. Several of the islands house active volcanoes, the last eruption was in 1995 I think, and lasted for 3 months. As we cruised along, Frigate birds sawed along, hovering on thermal patches in the air, some only a metre or so above our nose as we lay on deck-chairs on the top level of the boat. Frigates are a fairly large bird, maybe a wing span of a metre or so, and their beaks have a promenant hook at the end. The male birds have a red sack on their chests, and in mating season, which was while we were there, they inflate the ballon and spread their wings to attract the females. The inflated baloon could be about 25cm in diametre, really huge and spectacular. The subspecies Magnificent Frigates, as opposed to the Common Frigate, had a metalic greenish plumage on the back of their head and neck too. They attracted several females gawking at their magnificence, flashing their cameras at the birds from every angle. On one island we saw the males that had attracted a mate and they both sat cozily on the nest together. On the islands and rocks we saw many Boobie birds which came in sub-species of Red Footed, Blue Footed, Nazca, and Hybrid (between Red and Nazca). They´re funny creatures, firstly ´cause they just look funny, with their blue feet and beak, and beadie eyes, but secondly ´cause of the way they fish. You see a group of maybe 4 of them circling a few metres above the ocean, and then, 1,2,3,4 they point their beaks down, suck themselves into a streamlined dart, and dive into the water. They go probably a metre or so down, and then a few seconds later, 1,2,3,4, they pop back up like when you get off a volleyball that you´ve been sitting on top of in the pool. There were many chicks on the islands as well. Boobie chicks are huge. After only afew weeks of being born they´re as tall, if not taller, than their mothers. They´re really cute too, because they´re still covered in soft, fluffy, white down. Many of them were malting and their adult feathers coming through in patches, and they had bits of down stuck to their beaks and feet. Along all the rocks and edges of the islands, there are hundereds of crabs, little black ones and big bright red, orange and blue ones. There are also, as Galapagos is famous for, many iguanas around the place. Both land and marine versions. One day Nick and I were sitting on the beach and saw this marine iguana walk along the edge of the ebbing water line. Off it toddled the entire length of the beach, sometimes being floated out towards the sea and then washed back in onto the sand, but it was unperterbed by it´s frequent diversions. And then there are the land iguanas that lie very still in the sun, like normal reptiles do. Some islands are covered in the largish lizzard, and they range in colour from black and greys to yellows, oranges and greens. They too are funny looking creatures. The other regular inhabitants of the islands and ocean around them are sea lions and pelicans. Many islands have variations of a species of cactus, and sometimes you can spot a Small Cactus Finch´s nest built precariously between the cactus pads. One time we were on a walk and we found such a nest that had two tiny, baby birds in it. There´s another bird that I was fortunate enough to be the only one on our tour who spotted it, called the Vermillion Flycatcher. I can´t remember what it´s called in Spanish, but the translation is The Witch Bird, because in the words of our naturalist guide, "it can appear and disappear at the same time". He was right too. It flew right past my nose, and made me lose balance on the rock ledge I was standing on. A bright flash of brilliant red, right in front of me, and then it was gone. Our tour group visited the Charles Darwin Centre, where a lot of research is done into preserving the unique ecosystems that exist in the Galapagos Archipelago. There they have a breeding program for the Giant Tortoises that Galapagos are famous for. In fact, the word "Galapagos" means "saddle" and is named that because of the saddle shaped shell of one of the 13 or so varieties of Giant Tortoise that inhabit that area of the world. At the station we saw the incubators where they raise the egg, and then the baby tortoises that were only a month or so old. We also saw some 65 year old tortoises. They were massive, probably the diametre of their shell would be just over a metre. They are very prehistoric looking creatures. And they are so cute. We saw them eating their lunch, and they´re such grubs, but very adorable grubs... kind of like me. They have this 65 year old tortoise their called Lonesome George. He is the very last of his species, and they are trying to get him to breed with the next genetically nearest breed of tortoise, but he just can't seem to get it up. The poor tortoise has been sent to zoos all over the world to try and get him to breed, and has been used to artificially inseminate other tortises, but nothing seems to work for this poor old guy. And when he dies, it means that his species of Giant tortoise will be extinct... gone... forever. You can buy a t-shirt with a cartoon of Lonesome George reading a playboy magazine with a female tortoise on the cover. On the last day of our tour we went inside a lava tube. This particular one was 3km long, but had collapsed in parts, so for safety reasons we weren´t allowed very far in. A lava tube is where a river of molten lava has travelled. The liquid on top, which is exposed to the air, cools quickly, hardens and forms a shell through which the still molten lava underneith flows rapidly. The liquid lava from the source continues to flow below the solid shell like water inside a pipe. As the molten river progresses below the shell it slowly cools down. The ooler the lava, the thicker and denser the molten rock becomes, because the gas has had time to escape the liquid. The thicker the liquid, the slower it flows, and eventually it stops and solidifies, thus forming the end of the lava tube. Thus, lava tubes have a single opening, and the other end tapers to a close. The tube is formed by the finite source of liquid flowing right through, and as it passes, all that is left is air between the ground and the solid lava shell. We also visited two of the five volcanic craters of Santa Cruz, the largest of the three inhabitted Galapagos Islands. For a crater, I suppose they weren´t that huge, but when you´re walking along in thick vegetation and suddenly come across a pot hole the size of a couple of football fields, the size becomes quite impressive. We did a bit of snorkling off the boat as well which was great, but it was definately overshadowed by the diving I did after the cruise. I´ve had my diving licence for about 6 years, and have now done a grand total of 12 dives. Shamefull I know. And not one of the dives have been in Australia. I´ve dived in exotic places like Zanziba off the coast of Tanzania in Africa, Lake Malawi, The Maldives, and Fiji. Anyway, my last 4 dives, all at the Galapagos, were by far the best I´ve ever done, albeit the most difficult. The first two were at locations  called Enderby and Champion Islands off the larger island called Floreana. And the second two were at a place called Gordon Rocks, half an hour by boat from Porto Ayora, on Santa Cruz Island. On one dive we dove with about 25 Sea Lions. It was just like on documentaries where you see the mammals come right up nose to nose with your own mask and peer in, as if they are curious about the strange creature looking out from behind it. We, swam, played and watched them, looped around with them, trying to immitate them to win their trust and acceptance. As we swam away, around the rocky point where they reside, the group followed us. We also saw many, many Hammerhead, Galapagos, and White Tipped Reef Sharks, however they are all fairly smallish. Maybe a bit less than a couple of metres long. We saw many Green Sea Turtles, quite big ones, and schools of Eagle Rays and Golden Cowrays. Geez, the fish aren´t really even worth a mention. But there were good fish, big rainbow coloured Parrot fish, Surgeon fish, King Angel fish, a very well camouflaged Scorpion fish, a squashed conical shapped Spotted Green Puffer Fish, and long skinny Cornet fish, and heaps of others that I don´t know the names of. The real treat, other than diving with Sea Lions, was on the last dive when we were being sucked through a wide corridor between two rock pinnicles which jut high out of the ocean. The dive masters indicated we should grab onto this rock formation which formed the bottom of the valley between the two towers. We did so, and watched the fish, rays and sharks go by. The current was extremely strong, and I could hardly keep myself gripped to the rock. My feet kept on floating over my head, and my arms got all twisted and I had to let go and then paddle furiously to re-attach myself.  Watching the sharks and rays and fish go by, we examined the little corals, the morray eels that were hidden in tunnels in the rock, with only their ugly toothy gaped mouth and beedy eyes peering out. We watched the tiny Barnicale Blenny fish, as they gazed out of the little coral pods, and then we heard an underwater scream. It was Rob, an American guy who has about 1,100 dives under his belt. He kept telling me that he´s been diving since before I was born, and that back then, the BCD (Boyancy Control Device) wasn´t even invented and he had to carry his tank of oxygen under his arm. In fact everything he ever talked about was before I was born. He was a funny guy, and I´m going to go and visit him and his wife when I go to Seattle. Anyway, back to the story, what he was trying to communicate to the rest of the group, was that a Whale Shark was swimming about 3 or 4 metres away from the rock we were all gripping. The Whale Shark is the biggest fish ever. In the entire history of ever. The biggest fish in the sea, on our planet. And thank goodness I only saw the tail of this bloody big mostrosity because that was huge enough for me. From top to bottom of the tail fin was probably 2 metres high. The dive masters estimated that the fish that swam past us was a baby, at 8 metres long. If I saw the face of it I probably would have hyperventilated and died. I have a fear of fish and the ocean and all things in it at the best of time, let alone when I´m free floating away from where I´m supposed to be anchored and there´s a monstor floating past me. It was exciting though. Unrelated to the Galapagos and diving, this one time when we were in Lima, Nicko ordered this fish soup thing, and I nearly threw up when it arrived. This big grey fish lying on it´s side in the middle of a bowl of soup stock. The ugly fish´s open mouth revealed lots of little ugly teeth, and it´s ugly eyeball, until Nicko ate it, was still in it´s socket gazing up at me, who sat, horrified and petrified, across the table. Oh god, I hate things from the sea. Back to Galapagos. Actually, no that´s it. I´m done. Unfortunately Nicko couldn´t dive when I did ´cause hurt his ear drum when snorkling, so he extended his stay in the islands so he could dive when he got better. These were dives he understandably didn´t want to miss out on. Until next time folks, hope all is well where ever you are in the world. Happy birthday to Adam N. and Pete Paddon (Mum, that's the guy I had lunch with on the first day of uni. Dad, that´s the guy who´s lifestyle you're jealous of) :), and Chook (aka. Nick Brennan, Noodes, Propeller Hat). Ciao all, Niqui