Sharing travel stories and doing a free lance scuba diving course

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Sunday 24th of June I had the day off and so did Jessie (one of my flatmates), so we made plans to ride our bikes to a swim hole nearby. She went to the Market that morning and I had a late sleep-in. After lunch, we grabbed the bikes and took off. She had learned about this place in a tour she did to the rainforest. The swim hole is called Spring Creek and it's near a trail up a hill that's supposed to be very pretty, with a few nice waterfalls as well. We took about 30 - 40 minutes to get to the swim hole and we stopped there briefly, just to take a look at the place. Apparently there was a family reunion, because there were about 25 people having a barbeque in the place.

We also wanted to take a look at the hill trail, so we left the swim hole and rode the bikes for another kilometer or so, until we reached what seemed like be the place (Jessie had heard about it, but didn't really know exactly where it was). We left the bikes by the road and started to follow the creek upwards. A few minutes after we started following the creek, we spotted an Aussie couple and asked them about the trail. They told us that we were going in the right direction, but that it was maybe too late in the day to start going upwards and then back down again. That, plus the fact that we were almost being eaten alive by mosquitoes, finally convinced us to give it a go some other day.

Instead, we went back to the swim hole and spent about an hour there, swimming, sunbathing and jumping off a swing rope that was tied to a tree (we tried unsuccessfully to do back flips, miserably failing in the attempt and had some nasty falls in the water). After a while, we got bored and rode the bikes back home. The landscapes on the road back to Port Douglas is one of the sights that I have liked most since I got to Australia: farms with palm trees, huge treetops with umbrella-like shapes, rainforest mountains, etc. I think what impressed me the most was the combination of things, which you don't really see in other parts of the world. I didn't take any photos because I wanted to take my time and thought it'd be better to do it by myself on another day off.



Monday morning I was back to work in Calypso. Nothing extraordinary about that day; I got to take out the certified divers, did 3 dives with them and in general it was a very easy day with just 27 passengers on board: the perfect work day.

When I got home I recieved a text message saying that I wasn't working the next day.

A few days earlier, Melina (another flatmate) had told me that she wanted to do her Open Water course and that she had declined doing it with someone from the company she works in due to personal issues there, so I offered to do the course to her. The diving courses I had done before were all in scuba diving centers, so I didn't really have to think too much about the paperwork and all that, because everything was organized already. Now it's different, because I've never taught "freelance", so it's a learning experience for me as well, beginning with paperwork, running the course, buying the e-learning manual, etc.

She had the other day off as well, so we decided to do the first part of the course, which is the pool session (or confined water session) the next morning. I called the Calypso office and asked if I could borrow two sets of gear for the next day.



We grabbed a bus to the marina early the next morning and got the 2 sets of gear from the boat. Then we called a taxi and took everything home. We have a pool in the condominium where we live, which was perfect to do the course. We got started at around 9am and finished all the skills (about 25) in about 2 1/2 hours. This is the first part of the course and when both of us have another day off, we'll go on Calypso to do 3 dives and do all the open water skills and finish the course. I've got to say she was a very good student and I didn't have to do a big effort teaching her, which made it easy for me with my "first real student". If this works out well, I'm thinkng I may do some courses on the side when I get back home (if there are any relatives or friends reading this, we can work out deals XD).

In the afternoon, we took the dive gears back to the boat, then I went to the supermarket and in the night I watched a movie at home.



Wednesday I was back working in Calypso again. That day I worked as a host/snorkeler (I couldn't dive because I was flying the next morning to Brisbane). Again, easy day with not too many people and nothing really extraordinary about it.

In the evening, I invited Bruce and Giselle (my NZ neighbors/coworkers) to my house and we were also joined by Jessie. The whole point of this meeting was something I had wanted to do for while: share travel stories, anecdotes and travel tips. I've met very interesting people along my travels and I very much enjoy learning from fellow travelers' life experiences. Between the four of us, we've covered a lot of countries and we were all keen in learning from each other's experiences. Over a bottle of wine, Bruce was the first to start and he told us about a trip in the Philippines he had done with Giselle not long ago. I've got to say that this country wasn't really on my list (Bruce told me he said the same before going there), but when he finished describing it, it's definitely one of the countries I'm considering in going to next year. He described the good dive spots, places to avoid, where to go and how to get there and about the wonderful people that inhabit that country. I was listening intently, following the map and taking notes. It took a while for the description of the trip and when he was done, it was Jessie's turn. She's been travelling for about 3 years and in between she spent a few months in Nepal. She told us about a very specific moment in Nepal, hiking up a mountain with a friend. She complemented the story with a few photos. The whole story was about a stray dog that followed them up the mountain for a few days and how the dog appeared after what seemed like impossible rock climbs for a dog. The story was really good, with a great ending in which the dog led them to a cave they were supposed to get to after it got dark and they got lost; almost like a guardian angel. I told Jessie she should write it (if she does, I'll share it in the blog later on).

In all, I think the first meeting was a big success and next time, it's my turn, so I think I'll talk about my trip in the "Carretera Austral", Chile about 2 1/2 years ago.

After that, it was getting late and I still had to pack my bag, get about 4 hours of sleep and wake up to catch a bus at 3am to get to Cairns and get the 6am flight to Brisbane...

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