Tom’s first photo of sunrise over the Coral Sea at 6 am this morning.

A few days ago while we were busy with our record-keeping flipping between screens on both of our laptops, a wildlife show flashed on the TV. Australian TV offers a constant stream of interesting documentaries of both its own continent and that of other continents which when we staying in we often keep running in the background.

Quickly, the scene began to change.

It was from watching documentaries that we’ve been inspired to visit many parts of the world. It was in 2004 that we watched a documentary on the Great Migration that stuck in our brains. It was nine years later that we found ourselves in the great Serengeti and the Maasai Mara in Kenya. 

He said it changed in seconds, not minutes.

We must admit that while I’m preparing the daily posts and Tom’s busy searching for future travels we keep the TV turned on to Australian news and documentary type shows. Without cable TV and only an antenna at our rental, there’s no BBC, US news, or world news on any of the channels here, although on occasion the US Today Show will pop up for no reason at all. 

TV programming by antenna only is lacking, to say the least except for the few treasures we’ve stumbled up. We were warned about this by our shipmates on the last cruise.  Most often one can only find “footy” (football/soccer in Australian talk), old reruns of MASH, and a few tiring game shows. 

Tom doesn’t usually capture amazing shots such as these.  I’m impressed!

We seldom, if ever, sit down to watch the TV itself. It’s only at night after dinner that we watch a few of our favorite shows. Instead, as we’ve mentioned in the past, we feel lucky when there is a flat-screen TV into which we can plug my laptop via an HDMI cable to watch a few favorite downloaded shows. In a few past vacation homes, we had no TV at all and we were content to watch the laptop’s 15.6″ monitor.

At present, we’re watching “Breaking Bad” (starting season three tonight) having recently completed the fabulous seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy, an all-time favorite. Also, we love BBC shows, recently completing Poldark and Crimson Fields, both amazing shows recommended by our friend Liz in Bristol, UK.

By the time I walked out the door, it had already changed this much.

Let’s face it, we’re just like most people who wind down at night to engage in a number of favorite pastime activities such as read, listen to music, drink wine and/or watch a few shows. We all need some “downtime” and the fact that we live a life of travel doesn’t change that fact. 

He handed me the camera, but at that point, the magical scene was nearly gone.

By evening, especially after a good meal and cleanup, we have no interest in searching for new places to visit in the future and our brains aren’t working well enough to maintain record keeping or handle financial matters.  Those tasks are best served during the day when we’re most alert.

What we’ve found most peculiar about Aussie TV programming is the fact that shows don’t necessarily start “on the hour or half-hour” and aren’t necessarily on at the same time each day or week or, on at the time listed on the online guide. One can easily miss a favorite program if counting on the next episode occurring on the same day and time a week later. 

Tom had already captured the very best of it.

As a result, we’ve made little effort to watch any Aussie produced shows other than documentaries that pop up on occasion when we happen to take notice. As mentioned a few days ago, we’ve loved David Attenborough’s documentaries but, there are numerous documentaries about life in Australia, the Outback, and travel around the continent.

Many of these shows we’ve stumbled upon have inspired us to visit various beaches, book more Australian cruises, and consider returning to Australia during the gaps in our itinerary as shown in yesterday’s post. 

Mountains and the sea are a perfect combination here in Trinity Beach.

The Australian documentaries are beautifully produced and give the viewer an appealing perspective of this vast relatively low populated continent. With its 23.5 million residents (2014) and size comparable to the US with its 319 million (2014), Australia relatively unpopulated for its size with most of the population residing near the perimeters closest to the sea.

Watching an occasional documentary has inspired us in many ways to further appreciate this unique continent.  I supposed we could say that most continents we’ve visited thus far are unique in their own ways for their terrain, lifestyle, and of course, their people. 

The beauty of the sunrise wafts away.  The beauty of a new day just begins.

Yesterday, we took a drive with more good photos to share over the next few days. Tomorrow morning, we’re off to Tom’s medical appointment and my final test results. Since he won’t be able to have breakfast before we leave due to upcoming blood tests, we plan to go out for coffee and breakfast in Trinity Beach by the sea, weather permitting. Photos will follow.

The dawn of a new day.  We’re grateful for every day we’ve been given.

For today, we couldn’t resist posting these sunrise photos Tom took this morning when getting up before 6 am.  I heard him go outdoors and I followed shortly but by the time I got outside, the amazing sky had begun to wane. The more intense photos shown here today are his and mine are the less than vibrant batch. 

Have a lovely Saturday or Sunday, wherever you may be!

                                              Photo from one year ago today, July 19, 2014:

While in Madeira one year ago, we visited one of the other rental homes owned by our landlords, Gina and Carlos. As we toured the beautiful house, our eyes were glued to the many works of art on the walls including this above needlepoint made by Gina’s mother and aunt. As a result, we posted photos of many of these works which can be found by clicking here.