Read the post below this first, which leads into the rest of the scuba trip.... you can save this post for a later time too since I keep taking so long between posts and writing too much.
The time for the night dive came and I was exhausted. Derek had decided not to go and I decided not to go also. There was two other people who wanted to go so Nico said he would take them first, then if I wanted to go I could go when he got back, but I had to be ready in 25 mins. I decided to just chill and not go... so obviously I went. I got my suit and everything on and waited for him to return. I really wasn't worried at all, they give you a flashlight and junk and it didn't seem like a big deal. Then I got in the water... and it was dark. Like really dark. Like when you are laying in bed with the lights off and your face in the pillow with your eyes open. Pretty dark I'd say.
So we started off into the blackness with probably about 15-20 feet of visibility from our two flashlights. So we swam... and swam... and swam, and then Nico kept looking back every minute or two and I didn't know why. Either something was stalking us or we were off course, I didn't hope for either. Turned out we were off course. So we swam in blackness for about a 10 minute period that seemed like a 30 minutes period... then finally we came to the reef! I was pretty relieved to say the least. We swam along and it was pretty cool at night. I hadn't seen anything really cool earlier in the day, but this changed when we came to the den of a turtle. Trust me, much more exciting than it sounds. I thought turtles were synonymous with smallness... until I saw this turtle. I was HUGE! By HUGE I mean it was almost the size of my mother (in length, and obviously much much wider). I was astounded. Unfortunately our lights had awoken it, so Nico decided we should vacate quite rapidly.
We continued on, seeing a couple more turtles and cool things. After a bit he let go of me and let me go on my own, which was a little uncomfortable, but fine. I saw my first shark, not anything spectacular, but a little eerie even though reef sharks are known to be scared of people and never attack them. We returned and I shed my gear and headed up to hang out with the group for the rest of the night... a crazy, crazy night.
After a while most people went to bed except for the boat crew, me, one guy from our group, and a couple people from the other group that had been there a few days. We played king's cup (a drinking game) and to say the least people got a little silly and it got a little wild. Slowly people left the game for bed or other reasons until only the crew and about 3 others of us were still up. Some of the crew decided it scuba time so they strapped up and jumped in the water. Little did I know, it was really shark viewing time. And not only shark viewing time, but shark feeding time.
They tied the remains of a big fish they had caught earlier on a rope and dropped it in the water, scubaing near by with flashlights to watch the sharks go after it. Flipping Crazy!!!! I watched from safety on the boat. They slowly came up onto the boat sad because their flashlights were keeping the sharks from coming up to the bloody fish (this completely dropped my fear of the reef sharks). Not a minute after the last person lept onto the boat, the sharks came after the fish, which a guy was holding by a rope. That was a site to see. I was sure the guy was going overboard, but I guess that is one of the skills you pick up living on the boat. I don't think I could or ever want to pick up that skill.
I finally got to bed at 2:30AM and then awoke again at 5:30AM for our last day of diving. We had 3 dives, including one on our own without the instructor. It was good, very interesting and truly an amazing experience. The scuba diving has without a doubt been one of the peak moments of this trip and of my life thus far. It's a little expensive so I don't know how often I will be continuing it, but I now have a license how to continue it as I wish. It was really just fantastic.
We returned to the mainland and ordered a couple pizzas for an early night. The next day we took a 45 minute skyrail (gondola) through the nearby rainforest area to a city called Kuranda, which was a nice relaxing day with a few hikes. The trip back is by train, which was a very pleasant time. It wasn't the most exhilarating thing, and is definitely not a necessity when you go to Cairns, but it was a good way to pass the 24 hours period you have to wait to fly post-scuba diving. All in all, very successful.
Dad is here for another week, then we head south for a frantic romp around New Zealand for a few weeks, and then back home. Don't worry mom, we're being safe! Toodles.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Big Poppa Arrives and we make a Scuba! (Part 1 of 2)
Dad got into Sydney just fine and we got a little off on our sleep schedule. We had to go get him at the airport at 8AM, needless to say we were all sleep deprived by the mid-afternoon so we layed down for a little nap around 4. We awoke around 9-10PM and so went into a nocturnal spell, which was broken by our 4:15 AM wake up to fly to Cairns. We stayed up all day finally and were set back on track after an early sleep and an 8AM wake up for our first day of Scuba lessons. Or as our instructor Nico put it "go to make a scuba!"
We had two days of pool training and theory lectures, which weren't really that bad. Dad was the only old man around and it took him a little while to get into the groove. This was probably due to the fact that he's been around long enough to know you're not supposed to breathe underwater... the rest of us just went for it. I just decided to pretend I was a fish... a fish with a giant tank on my back, a hose in my mouth, and a plastic contraption to keep the water out of my eyes.
The course went by fairly easily and we boarded the boat in the morning to transfer us out the great barrier reef. The night before we left we went to a great barrier reef class thing to learn about the reef. They told us about good fish, bad fish, 1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish, jellyfish, smelly fish, big belly fish, and country grammar Nelly fish (he's a rapper). The most interesting of all things though was the flatworm called the pseudobiceros hancockanus (did not make that second name ups at all). It is a genus of hermaphroditic flatworm, which engages in penis fencing with another flatworm. One will win by stabbing the other in it's penis sword 5 or 6 times, injecting sperm into it. The injector becomes the father and swims away to weiner-spar once more. The injectee settles down, buys a Martha Stewart book, bakes cookies, and settles into motherhood for the baby flatworms. Australia is a weird place.
Unfortunately during our scubas we didn't come across any of these fascinating wormoids. We hopped into the ocean for the first time at around 1PM. It was not like the pool training. They pretty much just throw you into the ocean, very rushed, and you look under the water to what's going on. We saw quite a few fish about the size of our heads swimming under the boat... and then blue nothingness. It is pretty crazy, it is just a fuzzy blue abyss. I kept thinking a shark was going to just appear out of it heading right for us, but they told me that wouldn't be so. For some reason I believed them and we started our descent...
The reef wasn't as far down as we thought, just the visibility was poor, so that was actually a relief. It is a really wild experience. All of a sudden you're just underwater, still breathing, not knowing if everything is normal or not, but it feels pretty normal. Dad was my buddy, but he wasn't doing so hot, so I kept looking after him while trying to view the reef a little bit and get my bearings. It's really unexplainable, it is just wild. Dad had some problems throughout the dive and at the end decided that diving just wasn't his thing. We were really proud of him for going down though because he was totally not into it, but we made him try it anyways. He was happy to have tried, but retired to the sun deck with a rum and coke for the remainder of the day.
We moved reef locations and had another dive at 4PM. First we snorkeled, which was really cool at the new reef location since it was built up so close to the surface. After about 20 minutes snorkeling, we got our tanks back on for our second dive, which was pleasant. We were getting more used to it now, which was good. At night there was an optional night dive, which the instructor takes you on in pairs of two so Derek and I decided we would do it. Then after the 4PM dive Derek was feeling a bit light-headed and decided to sit the night dive out. I didn't know whether to do it or not...
We had two days of pool training and theory lectures, which weren't really that bad. Dad was the only old man around and it took him a little while to get into the groove. This was probably due to the fact that he's been around long enough to know you're not supposed to breathe underwater... the rest of us just went for it. I just decided to pretend I was a fish... a fish with a giant tank on my back, a hose in my mouth, and a plastic contraption to keep the water out of my eyes.
The course went by fairly easily and we boarded the boat in the morning to transfer us out the great barrier reef. The night before we left we went to a great barrier reef class thing to learn about the reef. They told us about good fish, bad fish, 1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish, jellyfish, smelly fish, big belly fish, and country grammar Nelly fish (he's a rapper). The most interesting of all things though was the flatworm called the pseudobiceros hancockanus (did not make that second name ups at all). It is a genus of hermaphroditic flatworm, which engages in penis fencing with another flatworm. One will win by stabbing the other in it's penis sword 5 or 6 times, injecting sperm into it. The injector becomes the father and swims away to weiner-spar once more. The injectee settles down, buys a Martha Stewart book, bakes cookies, and settles into motherhood for the baby flatworms. Australia is a weird place.
Unfortunately during our scubas we didn't come across any of these fascinating wormoids. We hopped into the ocean for the first time at around 1PM. It was not like the pool training. They pretty much just throw you into the ocean, very rushed, and you look under the water to what's going on. We saw quite a few fish about the size of our heads swimming under the boat... and then blue nothingness. It is pretty crazy, it is just a fuzzy blue abyss. I kept thinking a shark was going to just appear out of it heading right for us, but they told me that wouldn't be so. For some reason I believed them and we started our descent...
The reef wasn't as far down as we thought, just the visibility was poor, so that was actually a relief. It is a really wild experience. All of a sudden you're just underwater, still breathing, not knowing if everything is normal or not, but it feels pretty normal. Dad was my buddy, but he wasn't doing so hot, so I kept looking after him while trying to view the reef a little bit and get my bearings. It's really unexplainable, it is just wild. Dad had some problems throughout the dive and at the end decided that diving just wasn't his thing. We were really proud of him for going down though because he was totally not into it, but we made him try it anyways. He was happy to have tried, but retired to the sun deck with a rum and coke for the remainder of the day.
We moved reef locations and had another dive at 4PM. First we snorkeled, which was really cool at the new reef location since it was built up so close to the surface. After about 20 minutes snorkeling, we got our tanks back on for our second dive, which was pleasant. We were getting more used to it now, which was good. At night there was an optional night dive, which the instructor takes you on in pairs of two so Derek and I decided we would do it. Then after the 4PM dive Derek was feeling a bit light-headed and decided to sit the night dive out. I didn't know whether to do it or not...
Friday, November 13, 2009
Long Overdue Post for those of you still checking in...
Sorry it's been so long! School picked up a smidgen and I got a little lazy in my free time taking in the summer sun here on the beach. I apologize for sparking jealousy and hatred from those of you falling into winter. Anyway, things over here on the island continent are wonderful. I finished two classes and Derek is completely finished with school. I have one more final to go so have been spending my days surfing, studying, and surfing the web!
As most of you know, Derek and I opted to not buy internet here due to it's massive expense and instead have resorted to school and cafe's for our internetisms. Eventually we found out the Cafe next door sells internet for $5 for a day of wireless AND that internet extends to our apartment stairwell. Soon after this we found out that they had a problem where after signing into their internet you were never signed off. And in the spirit of my loss your gain we have received free (limited) internet... via stairwell. The other day though while working on a puzzle my computer someone found a connection with the network. I've spent the past couple days experimenting with this and have found one spot on my table where I get three bars of connectivity! I have traced my laptop and so will be able to return here and receive this joyous gift often... hopefully.
Derek and my surfing has thoroughly improved to the point where we can stand up with ease and can now give others dirty looks because we are good enough to look like we know what we are doing. Before we were just the victims of dirty looks when we were in the way. Now we have become the 5th graders, easily spotting the 2nd and 3rd graders so if we mess up we can easily blame them. It's a jungle out there... in the ocean. A wet, blue, tree and monkeyless jungle.
There's a quick update. Dad comes in about a week and we're super stoked! We're going to go scuba diving in the great barrier reef. I'll try to update again at least weekly until we return January 7 and get to see the whole gang! Can't wait to see you mom we miss and love you!!!! Muah!
As most of you know, Derek and I opted to not buy internet here due to it's massive expense and instead have resorted to school and cafe's for our internetisms. Eventually we found out the Cafe next door sells internet for $5 for a day of wireless AND that internet extends to our apartment stairwell. Soon after this we found out that they had a problem where after signing into their internet you were never signed off. And in the spirit of my loss your gain we have received free (limited) internet... via stairwell. The other day though while working on a puzzle my computer someone found a connection with the network. I've spent the past couple days experimenting with this and have found one spot on my table where I get three bars of connectivity! I have traced my laptop and so will be able to return here and receive this joyous gift often... hopefully.
Derek and my surfing has thoroughly improved to the point where we can stand up with ease and can now give others dirty looks because we are good enough to look like we know what we are doing. Before we were just the victims of dirty looks when we were in the way. Now we have become the 5th graders, easily spotting the 2nd and 3rd graders so if we mess up we can easily blame them. It's a jungle out there... in the ocean. A wet, blue, tree and monkeyless jungle.
There's a quick update. Dad comes in about a week and we're super stoked! We're going to go scuba diving in the great barrier reef. I'll try to update again at least weekly until we return January 7 and get to see the whole gang! Can't wait to see you mom we miss and love you!!!! Muah!
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