Finally they arrived in the post! The maroon hard cover National Parachute Certificates provided by British Parachute Association with our names in them made it down to us on this island. It looks very official and feels great to get it, now we can jump around the world! :) So Reunion here we come! La Reunion Island (note: site does not work in a Firefox browser) The dropzone also has a listing about Reunion dropzone.com Now maybe some of you should [View Full Entry]

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Joachim has always wanted to spend more time playing, and he thought better to get a small handy guitar that he can easily bring along to the beach, on the dive boat, to friends and wherever he might roam. I look forward to some nice tunes Joachim :) [View Full Entry]

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The skills and training Today we had our first real course day and that without the English speaking instructor. Pierre the French master instructor did his best to speak English and with good help from other crew task one was ok. Rescue Skills review - discover an unconscious diver at 20m, bring him safely to the surface and give rescue breaths as well as getting the diver over to the boat. This went well. Second Skill was to swim 800m with snorkel, mask and fins. Now this is pretty tough and Nina did not understand the point system and came [View Full Entry]

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Today we went to the post office to send Christmas presents for family back home that was easier said than done…. Check this out: If you rap the parcel yourself and close it is very expensive, they wanted 1001 rupees for one of the closed parcels I wanted to send. That is about £15, 190NKR, 35CAD and 30USD. BUT if you buy a padded envelope and only close it with clips and open all the Christmas presents so that they can see the contents, they only charge 415 rupees. In addition they offer to register the parcels for an additional [View Full Entry]

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Almost got everything sorted now! :) We are going to rent a flat that is in Trou Aux Biches on the north west coast of Mauritius. With great help from Fatiha and Clarel at Le Capitaine we got a large flat with a spare bedroom close to the centre of Trou Aux Biches for a very good price! :D:D:D We will be moving up there on Sunday so will post some pictures once we get sorted with a connection there. AND hey guys! This is your golden chance for you to come and stay with us in Mauritius! :D [View Full Entry]

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We went for a couple of dives with Blue Water Divers yesterday and made the decision. They are a busy dive centre, professional and very friendly. Like mentioned in another blog, we should pick up the French books, so we can be part of the small talk… The diving was also great on the first dive we dived a wreck called Stella Maru. She is standing up straight on the bottom at 24meters, so we could see her as soon as we entered the water. Oh Oh and Nina touched a Moray eel for [View Full Entry]

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Dayflower has been taking us around the island so we have been able to check out several dive centres. We have been talking to the managers as well as other divers. There are two centres that we have short listed: Dive Mauritius, Bel Ombre, South West The centre is in the Mövenpick Hotel and is a five star gold palm PADI resort and the manager Nolan seems like a very nice guy and he would take us on for 2-3 months. Living in the south centre we will be based in an area where it is less touristy. It is either [View Full Entry]

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All in good time for Christmas and New Years text we got local mobiles :) Joachim: +230 49409 51 Nina: +230 49409 42 Keep in touch! [View Full Entry]

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On day two they bought a car… Thanks to our friend Clarel who got us in connection with Shameer we now are the proud owners of Dayflower! It is a white Nissan Sunny from 1992 and is a beauty. She had a bit of a flat tire today, but after a refill of air at the gas station her tires are doing fine! :) One interesting point is that in Mauritius they drive on the left just like in the UK, but for whatever reason the controls on the steering wheel are reverse! So the wipers are still occasionally going when [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in a very sunny and friendly place with the husband (Clarel) of the manager (Fattima) of our hostel Le Capitaine waiting at the arrival area outside the airport. We not only received a transfer, but a tour of half the island! Clarel, whose other job is in insurance, seems to make it a hobby to help visitors enjoy their time in Mauritius. He says it is just typical Mauritian hospitality. After dumping our stuff at the best-value hostel in Maurtius, we caught a ride to the nearby local beach. After taking a dip [View Full Entry]

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