Diving the Great Barrier Reef
I enrolled in a 5 day scuba certification class this last week. 2 days in a pool in Cairns, and then 3 days/2 nights on a boat out of the GBR. It was a most excellent adventure. The diving was incredible – the colors and the variety of the coral reef was beyond belief and the thousands of fish certainly added to the experience.
Did 9 total dives – including one night dive. The 6 AM dives were brutal to get up and prepared for (wet neoprene at 6 is never fun), but the early morning dives were my favorite as you could see both the night and day time life. My waterproof camera casing sprung a leak – so when I do post photos, they will all be boat pictures).
There was enough down time between dives to get to know the other passengers and crew – most everyone was very interesting.
My dive group consisted of 4 folks from England, a guy from California, and myself. All of them were young enough to be my kids, but that didn’t seem to matter. One guy in particular, Max, 20 year-old red-haired pom, was very fun. He and the other Brits taught us a drinking game called Ring-of Fire. A deck of cards is laid out in a circle in the middle of the table. Depending on the card you draw, a different event happens. If a jack gets turned up, all of the guys drink…a queen – all of the girls drink. When a king gets turned over, the person adds booze to a glass in the center. When the 4th king gets turned over, that person must chug the contents of the glass. For certain cards, you make up your own rules. I turned over a 5 and the rule that I made was that you had to drink if you said the word you. Some of the made up rules required that you remove items of clothing. I don’t know if the pics of this will be posted.
I went to bed early-more than a few folks missed the 6AM dive the next morning…
Tags: australia, dive, diving, Great barrier reef, Travel
jpb
October 11th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
Hey! Can’t wait to see the photos, but too bad about the camera! Waterproof, as in Kodak-disposable-from-the-grocery-store, I hope. I’m glad the diving was good…PWS is waiting for you, now!
Age is just a state of mind…and you know all those kids are talking about the great Alaskan guy that’s still out there doin’ it! Remember the comment from Manitoba…”Boy, I hope I’m still out here when I’m 50!” You’re inspiring someone, somewhere!
Keep having fun! S
October 12th, 2006 at 1:19 am
Yeah – it was a fairly cheep camera, but I thought it was an upgrade from the disposable ones…But that’s what I ‘ll buy the next time…
In Townsend right now – may do a wreck dive in the AM…
j