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We checked out of koalas one at a time so that we didn't have to leave the room for another half an hour when we had to put our bags in storage and make our way to the harbour. We were early and the first ones there so sat by the bay and waited for the others to arrive, in total there were 15 of us and then three staff members, which was a nice number. Anita was our skipper, who was originally from Sweden, Carly was our dive leader and Billy was our hosty. The boat wasn't as big as we had expected it to be, but it was a beauty.
We left at midday and our first destination was the Hayman Islands and it was here that we did our first dive at Blue Pearl Bay. In total Erica and I did five dives one being a night dive. The reef we dived at was called the maze, we dropped to a maximum depth of just 12m as there were a newly qualified and unconfident diver called Stephanie as well as an overconfident and not particularly great diver despite being advanced, called Kate, who were buddies. The
visibility was only about 5-7m so Stephanie was a little nervous, Kate however was one of those divers who always swam up the dive leaders arse, in the process ended up kicking anyone in her way. Erica and I were happy to leave them to it, Erica followed them as i was fine at the back, Carly had bright coloured fins so as long as I could always just about make them out I was more than happy. What did irritate me was that Kate was using a lot of air and she wanted to see what i had left, but because she didn't know how to sign and ask me she grabbed my gage, not very good practice for an advanced diver at all. The current was also quite strong and Stephanie was finding it difficult to keep up, at one point she had mistaken me for the dive leader as she hadn't seen which direction Carly had gone. There wasn't many fish to see really, as it was hard enough seeing where Carly was at times, i also felt i should keep my eye on her location as i wasn't entirely convinced that Kate and Stephanie were always
heading in the correct direction.
The none divers had gone out snorkeling and Carly took people who wanted to do introductory dives out, once they had all finished we headed around Hook Island (to the west) and drove between Hook and Whitsunday Island where we moored for the night ready for our visit to the mainland in the morning.
The food was great and in the evening we all had a dip in the spa, which unfortunately wasn't bubbly but still lovely and warm, 'just what we needed as it was a little chilly outside. We all gathered inside to see the pictures that Billy had taken of our first day.
On Wednesday we were up early to visit the Whitsunday Island, we were actually the first boat to make it ashore, as there were another three boats moored up. We went to the lookout first which had an amazing view of Whitehaven beach. We were able to get some great photos and as no one else was there we all got individual shots too. We than headed to the beach where we relaxed for an hour or so, Billy took some great photos of
us all, as you will see attached. The DVD Erica and I actually got free as we did so many dives.
We then got back on the boat and headed to Manta Bay for another dive, we went to a maximum depth of 18m and the visibility was slightly better this time at 7-10m . Again there were no great fish, although George the Napoleon wrasse who is about a one and a half metres long was about in the shallow waters for all to see, he is such a sociable fish, like myself. Kate was a lot better this dive, probably as i mentioned that she was all over the place last time. Anyway it was a much more pleasurable dive. Erica and I don't use that much air up so we got to stay down a little longer, i saw a white tip reef shark swim past me to find a good place to settle in the coral, i tried to get Erica's attention but by the time i did we had to swim on so not to loose Carly.
Our second dive of the day was at Luncheon Bay and it was just Erica and
I with Carly. The others were probably gutted that they didn't come as we saw two things this time a turtle and a ray. We went to a maximum depth of 17.1m and there were lots of great swim throughs for us to play in, it was like an adventure park for adults, or big kids!
We then traveled further north to the Hayman and Hook Islands where we did our night dive at Langford reef. It was little strange at first and took me a few minutes to get my bearings and feel confident. You can't see anything unless you shine your torch on it so it is quite difficult to know that you are in control of your buoyancy. There was also a strong current too which was great as it made it like a roller coaster ride, having to dodge coral, it was awesome. One of the best bits had to be at the end of the dive when we surfaced and saw the stars, that was fantastic. I had hoped to see some sharks as they are nocturnal, but no such look. Once back on the boat the first thing we did was to get
into the spa, which was roasting, it actually stung getting in.
Again there was a slide show of photos in the evening which was great fun as we got to see the funny ones Billy had taken of us on Whitehaven beach. Erica and I then had an early night as we were diving at 6.30am the following morning.
So another early start on Thursday, we dived Langford reef again, this time in daylight which did make a difference despite the visibility still being quite poor. Stephanie and Kate joined us for our final dive, they were rather comical at one point as they never really look out for each other or act like a buddy pair. So it was no surprise when Kate landed on top of Steph, she was ok which had Erica and I were in stitches. I did an impression of my brother laughing holding/wobbling my belly which made Erica laugh so much she flooded her mask.
Once we were all back on board it was time to head back to Airlie , the weather had gotten worse and the sea was rather choppy causing a few of us to feel
George
Napoleon wrasse a little worse for wear, despite taking sea sickness tablets. I was glad to be back on terra firma, but Erica , James and I had 13hrs to kill before we caught the bus to Town 1770. We ended up finishing our goon by the lagoon and being bums for the day. We collected our bags at the latest possible time before heading to meet everyone in beaches bar for a farewell drink, although not many people turned up. So we ordered something to eat and drank the free wine before making our way to the bus terminal.
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Stephen Paul
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Hostile Takeover
No comments? Where's all your fans at? I saw the "pirates" pic on the 'travel photos" page and discovered your blogs, you have some great pics!! Cheers..