The Proper Introduction to Byron Bay

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There are small families that fill the bar. Young parents dancing with their small children to the funk or acoustic act that is playing that night. The bar is right on the beach with a huge deck and sloping hills that are free to sit on and enjoy a local brew. As if on cue, bongo drumming begins to sound in the distance at roughly the same time every night. There are a few guitars being played, either by someone sitting alone staring at the ocean, or someone surrounded by a group of listeners. The bar crowd is as diverse as the country itself - from the 60 year olds with grey hair, bronze sun kissed skin and dreds that reach the floor, to the young surfers, to the tourists, to the people in between.

Entering Byron Bay you are surrounded by a relaxed aura, that you just naturally adopt, whether you mean to or not. There is a strong sense of personal security, a strong sense of self, that is present with each passerby, each shop owner. This is a very comfortable place and the common Aussie phrase "No worries mate" really rings true as it comes off the lips of the locals.

The town lit up at night, and the shops and cafes are busy after a great day of surf, dive or lazing in the sun. There is a sleepy dazed happiness here.

And now the current events section...

Tenneal and I have successfully completed our first 2 open water dives. We went to Julian Rock (http://www.byronbaydivecentre.com.au/dive_sites.php). They were absolutely amazing. Our first dive was at 7am and the second one was at 10am. We have our last 2 dives tomorrow morning and we will be certified divers.

I found ascending to the ocean floor to be unbelievable. The visibility was 20 meters...amazing. It was so clear and there was barely any current. On our first dive we saw so many fish, tonnes of different kinds, from huge silver schools, to single rainbow colored fish. There was a huge Blue Groper that swam right up to us. Apperently it gets friendly with divers. It was sooo cool to have it swim up right in front of you and you just kind of look at each other. Usually I would just watch fish swim around in a tank and look at them kind of like goldfish with a memory span of 3 seconds...aka not so bright. But to have a huge fish (bigger than my head, maybe 1.5 ft long) swim up to you expressing interest, coming right up and looking into your eyes, showing a kind of personality....Weird feeling... Here is a link to a picture of the exact fish from the Byron Bay Dive Centre website....(http://www.byronbaydivecentre.com.au/images/photo/003.jpg). We also saw about 4 or 5 leopard Sharks..maybe 1.5 m long. They blend in really good with the bottom, so its a little scary when they suddenly take off from under you. On our 4th dive I looked down and saw a spotted eagle ray swim underneath me. That was unbelieveably neat. We didn't get to see any lion fish, but I hope to see one of those and a giant sea turtle tomorrow. I HAVE to see a sea turtle on this trip. Apperently there are a lot of turtles around the area we were diving at...(http://www.byronbaydivecentre.com.au/images/photo/016.jpg)

So Tenneal and I are beat, and its only just after 6. It was an exciting day for us. I love scuba diving....its so amazing....

Oh and there is an underwater photographer that will be with us filming our dive on the 3rd one and taking photos on the 4th dive, so I will get some awesome pictures up soon!

Later!

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Comments

[Luke]

go to the perentians in malaysia....i saw about 6 or 7 turtles there. also saw a turtle on my dive in koh phi phi yesterday.