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Published: February 18th 2007
Pro Dive Cairns The next two days were spent doing the in-class portion of my scuba diving class. We began with watching movies, discussing, and doing some quizzes. Then we went in the pool and tried things out first hand. Scuba diving is a lot more intense than you’d think. A lot of companies will take beginners out for the day without any training. However, there is a lot of stuff that could go wrong, and a course really prepares you for EVERYTHING.
The Reef I woke up bright and early on the 5th to be picked up for the boat out to the reef. As advised, I popped 2 seasickness tablets. There was a delicious breakfast served when we arrived, and I was excited (albeit a little tired) to begin my 3-day reef adventure! Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last. We hit some BIG waves which sent my stomach flip-flopping and before I knew it, I was up on the top deck, my face in the wind and rain, trying not to throw up. I wasn’t alone. Four Korean guys were throwing seasickness bags off the boat left, right, and centre. A girl in the Rescue Diver course (a very
The dive deck
My wonderful pillows - the air tanks.advanced course) was my companion on the wet deck. I felt TERRIBLE.
The boat stopped for the first dive. I slowly hobbled down to the dive deck and tried to get dressed but when I was suited up I felt horrible. My dive instructor asked me if I wanted to dive. I looked around - I was the only person in my course who was feeling this bad. I tried to get on my equipment and go, but every time I thought about jumping into the water, my stomach jumped. As much as I really really REALLY wanted to go in, I just couldn’t. I sat out the first dive. I spent most of the next few hours sitting on the deck, drifting in and out of sleep with wonderful air tanks as my pillows. The time came for the second dive and I was determined to get in the water. Everyone said it would make me feel better. So I told myself I would take the first step - I was going to try snorkelling. So I got on my wetsuit and grabbed my fins, mask, and snorkel and headed to the deck with my class. I felt
Scuba gear
Not mine...this is on the evac boat... awful but I jumped right in. The waves were crashing all around me, and I could barely control where I was going. I was told by the crew where I could swim. Within minutes, I was throwing up. Over and over and over again. I was told to keep swimming, that I would feel better. I looked down and the reef was still about 10m below me. The visibility wasn’t the best because of the strong waves knocking around the sand on the bottom. But I saw it - I saw the reef, and it looked so magnificent that all I wanted to do was dive down to it! But then I started to feel terrible again and I decided to head back to the boat. I spent the next few hours drifting in and out of sleep. I don’t remember much, but I do remember feeling much better. Night was coming and the water had calmed down significantly. I walked around, and everyone was asking me how I felt. The Rescue divers left for a night dive and we watched their flashlights swim around. We also saw the fish come jumping up to eat other fish. It was quite
a sight!
I actually had a very good sleep and the water had been so calm overnight I woke up feeling great. I WAS GOING TO DIVE, and nothing was going to stop me. I got up in my cabin and started to put on my bathing suit when suddenly we hit some big waves. My stomach noticed immediately, and before I could get my pyjamas off, I was running through the boat in my PJs and out to the deck where I could get some air. But I was determined. I was told that under the water was the best place to be, since there were no waves and the current wasn’t very strong. I was also told that Simon, one of my classmates, had thrown up underwater and had still made it. So I suited up and got in the water. Once under the water, I did feel better, and I was so excited. I saw fish and coral and plants and it was FABULOUS. But then came time to re-surface and I felt even worse than I had all trip. I threw myself onto the dive deck and the crew actually came and took off my
fins and air tank for me, while handing me a seasickness bag. I needed about 3 of them.
Alma, a Dutch woman in my group, had also been sitting out dives. After doing the first dive, she had been feeling terrible and hadn’t been off the boat since. Simon (of underwater puking fame) was also feeling down, despite having done all the dives so far. The three of us decided to follow in the footsteps of the 4 Korean guys from the day before and evacuate. We were going to be stopping right next to another boat which was ending its trip that day, so the 3 of us would be sent to that boat and would be back in Cairns by 4pm. Simon did the 4th and final dive required for our certification, but unfortunately felt so ill that he was unable to finish all of the skills required, so he returned to shore just short of his certification. Alma and I had both done 1 dive, but did no skills on those dives, so we were quite short. But we all got referral letters stating what we had done so far so that we could finish the
Feeling a lot better in the calm waters by the shore
A better title for this picture would be the spot where Dafne spent 90% of her time on the reef - in the corner, sleeping on air tanks, feeling like I'm going to throw up... course elsewhere. I intend to finish the course here in Perth.
Cape Tribulation Alma and I made plans to go up to the Rainforest together the next day, since we had planned to be on the boat and therefore had nothing to do. We decided on a Cape Tribulation trip, a famous destination. I had been very pleased with my first tour, so I chose the Cape Trib trip from the same company.
The trip to Cape Trib was a lot longer than Kuranda, and we spent a good portion of the day in our van. We first stopped at the Mossman Gorge, but our time there was short because it was pouring rain. We would later find out that Northern Queensland was being hit with a cyclone! We then went up to Daintree National Park, and got to walk around the rainforest after enjoying a morning tea (no joke! The tour was filled with old people.) We then stopped for lunch at a fancy resort that was pretty much empty since the ocean, which would draw people to this spot, was incredibly dangerous - the box jellyfish was floating near the shore. A light brushing with this
CAIRNS!!!
I've never been so happy to see the shore in all my life... creature kills. It is the deadliest animal in the world. And the scariest part for me is that is just floats through the water, not meaning to hurt anyone except the shrimp and other small sea animals it feeds on. It does not need to be provoked, you do not need to annoy it in any way. It just blindly swims along, killing everything that comes in its path. Scary stuff. I stayed several feet away from the water to be safe.
Next we reached our final destination of Cape Tribulation, a famous spot where Captain James Cook faced trials and tribulations. You see, his boat became lodged on a shallow section of the reef. Luckily, he was able to fix the problem, or, as Bill Bryson explained in his book which I am reading (In a Sunburnt Country), Australia would probably have become a French colony. Of course, we also faced trials and tribulations on our little day trip. The rain had been coming down consistently and one of the roads we had to cross had become overtaken by a river. Being a tour bus and not a 4x4, our driver wasn’t sure if we’d even be able
to make it through! But luckily we followed behind a truck and made it across. Exciting stuff! Our last adventure was a boat tour of the Daintree River to look for crocodiles. If that fails, we are there to look at wildlife. And if that fails, the tour is mangrove appreciation. The mangroves were quite exciting.
A Party and a Day of Rest We then headed back home. It was a long day, and we travelled a fair distance. Alma and I went into town to join our classmates at the celebration dinner. All the staff got EXTREMELY drunk, and the rest of us exchanged e-mails and shared stories. Everyone was happy to see me smiling again, since I basically stopped smiling about half an hour into the trip, and never started again.
I decided to spend the next day as a day of rest. I went into town and bought a plug adapter for my laptop. I also ran into no less than FOUR people from my dive course, which was pretty funny.
I returned to my hotel and enjoyed the wonderful pool and went on the internet for the first time.
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The Almighty Furlano
non-member comment
throwing up sucks. I get "seasick" watching those Imax movies. I'd probably go insane on that boat.