Category Archives: Queensland

This day turtley ruled

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More diving… As I mentioned, I booked myself a 1-day, 3-dive trip with another company called Deep Sea Diver’s Den on their Reef Quest vessel. At $160 (plus taxes) it was the cheapest I could find, but once the journey got underway I couldn’t figure out how they managed it.

The staff were superb, the food delicious and generous and the kit top notch.

There were an odd number of people on board to do certified dives, which made things a little awkward. Two were very experienced – a youngish couple who both have Dive Master qualifications. Another two had little experience or were new to the reef – they ended up being buddied and taking a guided tour at an extra cost. I was buddied with the two “hosties” – volunteer staff on the boat. This suited me fine as they knew the reef and it didn’t cost me any more! They were a young Japanese couple with 75-or-so dives between them. Nice and relaxing and I saw my first turtle swim past while I was with them.

My second dive was with the Dive Master couple and to be honest I was a little nervous as I was sure they could use their air so much better than me. I’d feel rather guilty at bringing them back to the surface when they weren’t ready. No such problem. I had a wonderful dive and they spotted so many things I’d never have even known to look for. A black sea slug with jet blue markings, the tiniest jellyfish in the world ever, some kind of wavy thing… OK, I’m not an expert! I also stroked a Giant Napoleon Maori Wrass which was just sat on the seabed being “cleaned” by two other fish. Huge thing – about four feet long. Apparently they get bigger.

The only annoying thing was that we had to go into the water 10 minutes before lunch was served to ensure we had enough time for our dive. By the time we got back and changed, all the sandwiches were gone and I could only manage a fruit salad. Which was still delicious, but I fancied a roast beef sarnie!

During lunch, we moved to another part of the reef and I was buddied with a Dutch girl called Lisa who had just that morning passed her PADI Open Water. So this time, I was the one with the most experience. A novelty!

And another great dive. We managed to get away from the ship and back to it without getting lost… and I got to touch my first turtle! Lisa spotted it just above me and to my right, feeding off vegetation hanging off the coral. I didn’t try to ride it or anything stupid – it’s far too dangerous both for the diver and the poor animal – just stroked its shell before it floated off in search of more food.

There was tea and cake available for the journey back to Cairns and I snaffled loads of it to make up for not having my sandwiches!

Back in Cairns, I had a shower and caught the free bus to the Wool Shed. Outside, I bumped into Celeste who works for Down Under Dive who I’ve been studying with. We had dinner along with some of the other staff (I had a 300g rump steak for $7 – bargain) and then I headed home. After finishing my homework for tomorrow, I got talking to a girl staying in a room near where I access the internet and we popped out for a drink. She’d just got engaged when her work (she’s a nurse) foisted her up to Cairns for 3 weeks, leaving her fella behind. Nice to have a natter instead of spending the night alone.

I had an early night after that, as I had the final day of my Advanced Open Water in the morning.

Advanced PADI day 1

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Well today was pretty good but I have a lot of homework to do so I won’t rattle on too much! Another early rise to get to the boat for the trip out to the Reef. Today’s course was to be part one of my Advanced certification, part two being on Sunday. By itself, this day would net me an “Adventurer” certificate but there’s no point in doing half of it!

There were three dives and this time I was with Mike, a Dutch guy now living and working here. I buddied with two people as the numbers were odd – Simon from the UK and Raisha (apologies if I spelled that incorrectly, I’ll check my log book later) from Canada. After a quick briefing, we donned our kit and made our way downstairs for the first of the dives – Deep Diving. This is the one which will allow me to dive below my current limit of 18m.

Mike took us down and we had to complete a simple number search game on a pad. Generally, it will take longer underwater than on the boat as Nitrogen Narcosis can settle in if you dive too quickly. People have been known to start doodling instead of answering the questions in the past! Once we’d done that, we separated out and did some exploration for the rest of the dive. Simon led as both Raisha and I only had 4 dives under our belts having just completed Open Water. Simon’s been diving for a year and had notched up 25 or so.

Once on the surface we were correctly informed by Mike that our buoyancy needed a lot of work. I already knew that, so it wasn’t too disheartening and one reason I’m booking 3 fun dives for tomorrow.

After some grub, we did the Boat Dive option. Essentially, we all know how to do this anyway as we’ve all been taught on boats, so it was a simple tumble into the water (rather than our usual big step, for variety) and a fun dive. Again, we let Simon lead and had a good scoot around. Poor visibility, but some wonderful sights to behold nontheless. In particular my first clear view of a shark. Only a little Reef one, maybe one metre long, but it was no more than seven metres away. Amazing!

Back on the boat, a quick zoom to another spot on the reef and we undertook our Naturalist Dive. This involved spotting a nice fish and drawing a doodle of it and making notes so we could identify it back on the surface. This dive lasted longer than the others as both us beginners were learning how to breathe a bit better so our air was lasting longer.

It’s hard to get across how great this diving lark is without showing people first hand. I know I’m being brief about each dive, but believe me it’s an amazing experience each and every time! As you stop concentrating on everything you’re wearing and begin to do things by instinct, you start to spot more and more around you and appreciate it so much more.

I’m now safely back on shore and thinking about getting a job on a boat in exchange for dives. I hear a few companies are offering so I may chase this up and stay in Cairns for a while next time I come up… which is likely to be the start of November for the Reef spawning season. 4 night dives, $290… Hmmm…

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Musical rooms

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At the end of my initial “rent” period and with Kerry no longer in the same room, I decided to swap into a cheaper dorm. I am now in The Aquarium which overlooks the pool, saving $4 a night. As a result, I don’t have a fridge in the room and the lavatory/shower is a 2 minute walk downstairs. Small price to pay, to be honest as I’ve realised how much I’ve spent this month and it’s a scarily huge dent in my finances. I just wish I could work over here to recoup some of it but I have committed the cardinal sin of being over 30 which means I can’t without applying for citizenship. What a pain.

Plans for the next day or so are to buy some more beans and bread and drink a lot less when I’m out! I need to keep an eye on the purse strings. I think I’ll go to the Reef Teach class tonight or tomorrow. It’s only $13 including snacks and is highly recommended by every single person I’ve asked about it. It’s essentially a 2-hour multimedia presentation on the life found along the reef. What’s safe to touch, what the risks are, how to see as much as possible and not harm anything and so on. A small price to pay for a more enjoyable dive at the weekend.

Annie and Travis also left this morning, Brisbane-bound to meet Annie’s brother. Annie flies home on Thursday and Travis on Friday – again, safe journeys to the two of you and stay in touch!

Now just to sit and wait around for Thorsten and Julia to come back from their trip to see if they want to get on a boat at the weekend for some fun dives!

Aftermath

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I didn’t opt for the additional day’s Adventure course after all. Mainly as the other alternative was a night out with everyone from the Open Water course to celebrate our 100% pass rate. I had a huge KFC with Kerry (who opted for a Chinese instead) and then she returned to the hostel as I met up with the rest of the group in Rattle & Hum. Everyone from our class turned up, which was great. I will try to remember the names!

Annie and Travis from Minnesota. Thorsten (and his girlfriend, Julia) from Germany. Magnus and Johan from Sweden. Pablo from Cuba. Eduardo from Spain (and his girlfriend). Heath, Mitz and another instructor from the company. And then the guy from Sydney, two girls from Holland (one of whom got very attached to Heath *ahem*) and the girl from France. My apologies for any memory lapses and spelling mistakes.

A great night was had by all. We stayed in R&H for a couple of hours. The toilets are interesting – the wall you face when stood at the gents’ urinal is a one-way mirror. I’m sure I’ve seen this trick somewhere else as well, but it’s still rather unnerving! We then walked to the Wool Shed where we got free entry and half price drinks courtesy of our dive instructor. Don’t ask how much I necked – all I will say is that my wallet was in tears by the time we left.

I think Annie, Travis and I left around 2am and the place was still in full swing. Travis was wasted and couldn’t even remember what he’d drunk last let alone all evening. Good lad! He also left his credit card behind the bar where he’d started up a tab… and forgot to collect it when we left. Thankfully we got it back the next evening when we went in for food.

As a result of the over-imbibing, I didn’t wake up until around midday with another complete lack of hangover. Travis had managed to get rid of most of the alcohol poisoning his system downstairs near the seating area. Fortunately, the cleaning crew seemed to have no problem clearing that away before people woke up.

Kerry left in the evening for Melbourne, but I have her email address. If you get a chance to read this, Kerry, thanks for being great company and have a safe journey in the rest of Oz, New Zealand and then back home!

Annie, Travis and I went for dinner at the Wool Shed where Travis got his card back. For dessert, we stopped at a “Dip and Dot” shop. The two Americans recognised this ice-cream concoction from their state fair but were surprised to see a shop selling it. Essentially it’s ice cream, frozen water or frozen yoghurt in teeny little balls. I had a small tub of raspberry sorbet and it was really nice. I’ve no idea how they make it but it’s a lot less messy than ice cream!

I have also booked myself onto the Advanced PADI course for this weekend. It’s only two days (Friday and Sunday), but there are six dives with various themes (naturist, deep water and so on) and after completion I’ll be able to dive to 30m rather than the 18m limit I have now. To allow plenty of time for my body to adjust, I’ve booked my next flight (back to Brisbane) for very early on Thursday morning.

Certified!

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Today I passed my PADI Open Water certification which means I can dive anywhere in the world, up to 18m deep, without an instructor. I am sorely tempted to buy all the kit I need to make this a permanent hobby as it is much cheaper in Cairns than just about anywhere else, plus I can claim the tax back when I leave the country. However, lugging it around when I’m not using it is just not an option right now. Grr.

Again I’d like to thank the staff at Down Under Dive, especially Heath, Mitz and Celeste, for making the course so much fun and therefore so easy to learn. Incidentally, I aced the exam – 50/50 🙂

We’ve all seen what it’s like underwater on TV. Well, that’s nothing compared to being there. It’s like reading a Lonely Planet and assuming that going to the place will be just as good. If you’re physically able, try it. Especially somewhere with a better climate than the UK if you want to see the brighter fishies! It’s a relatively inexpensive hobby, especially if you do buy your own kit as most decent stuff will last you 15-20 years with good care.

I met a great bunch of people on the course as well and I’m tempted to do the Adventure or Advanced course shortly.

Aside from that, I had two nice nights out recently. The former was a pub crawl organised by an agency in town. Supposed to be $15, but Kerry scored two tickets for nothing. Free dinner, free pizza when we got the munchies later on and free entry to some decent pubs and a not-so-decent club. Very 18-30, but who cares? It was a good laugh and I even got a free souvenir photo of our group from Saturday night.

Unfortunately, this meant I’d had 4 hours’ sleep before my first open sea dive. Whoops. And I get seasick. Whoopser. Still, I managed it well enough to pass that day’s course!

Sunday night was more sedate. A walk to a restaurant a few minutes away to try their Aussie Game dish. A sampling of emu, croc and kangaroo. Croc was the best – much better than the alligator I had back home. ‘Roo tastes very much like steak. Emu was weird. Nice, but strange. Spicy, almost. After that, a quick walk round the night market, an ice-cream from Baskin Robbins and an early night as I’d spent far too much of Sunday not enjoying myself.

I also caught two films over the weekend: Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed, both of which I’d recommend.

I have updated the Fotopic archive with a gallery of larger-scale photos from the dive. There are also a few videos we managed to take underwater which I’d love to post. However, the broadband here’s not brilliant so I’ll get them online as and when I have a reliable connection. Posted by Picasa