Advertisement
Published: March 14th 2013
Fun Dive
Me and a school of yellowtail. A norm at Oak Park.It's been just over a month since I first arrived here in Sydney, and at this point in my training, I can officially call myself a divemaster. This past week has been very busy, finishing my course with my site mapping and my final exam. Today was when it really hit me that this was going to become my profession because I had to by dive insurance. A bit scary to realize that other people will be relying on me to protect their lives while diving. Aside from the stress of sinishing the course, I did get to have a few fun dives thrown into the mix. Last night we all went on a night dive which is one of my favorite kind of dives. Aside from having to babysit a few openwaters, it was my first dive ever that I had to give all of my weight away to students and dive with no weight whatsoever. When I was able to descend, a smile came across my face because I knew that I was experienced enough to take care of others underwater and have no concerns for myself. A bit hard to explain to someone who doesn't dive, but descending
Mapping Project
Me mapping Oak Park with no weight in full gear and a 7mm wetsuit is quite a challenge.
I found myself hanging around the back of the group not only to watch the other divers, but since we weren't seeing alot, I turned off my torch underwater and had time to experience one of my most favorite parts of diving. I hung back and played with the bioluminescent water. This is one of my absolute favorite parts of diving, it's one of the most surreal things to experience. When you move your hand, it looks like a trail of stars are following it. For some reason, this sends a chill down my spine, not because I'm in the ocean and its pitch black, but becasue it brings out something that you don't know is there. The plankton is there in the water all the time, but it's not until night time that you get to see its real beauty. So many different things come out at night, making some of my regular dive sites turn into a whole different world. It was a great way to end the first part of my dive training here in Australia, but I'm really writing this blog
Bioluminescence
This is what it looks like when you wave you hand underwater at nighttime! to talk about the next step.
Now that I have completed my Divemaster course, I'm off to get some experience working in the dive industry. Abyss has decided that I would be a great candidate for working on one of the top dive sites in the world, Heron Island. Located off the coast of Gladstone (just north of Brisbane), Heron Island is right in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. It's known for its crystal clear waters and undisturbed marine habitat which is crawling with all different kinds of aquatic life. It's crazy to think that I'll be working on an island that Jacques Cousteau called one of the top ten dive sites in the world. I think one of the things that I'm looking forward to are the sea turtles (my favorite!), which are abundant on the island. This is something I have dreamed about doing when I first got my open water certification when I was 10. It's finally here, I'm finally doing it, and I'm having a hard time keeping this smile off of my face. My dreams are finally coming true.
Since I'll be living on this resort island for the next three
and a half weeks, with basically no contact with the outside world, I thought I would fill you guys in on some of the stuff I'll be doing for the time being. I'll obviously be doing dive breifings and taking visitors out on dives, leading them on the reefs that are located right off the beach. Doing work in the shop like filling tanks and selling things in the shop as well. Some of the diving will be boat dives, so organizing those kinds of dives will probably be a regular thing. From what I hear from some of my roomates who have gone, 3 dives a day is the norm, and I am so ready for it. By the time I return, I'll have logged near 150+ dives, which is an awesome start for my instructor course that I will begin when I return.
My flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7:00am, so I have to leave the house with Fraser (a roomate who will be joining me for my trip) around 5:30am. Flight from Sydney to Brisbane then Brisbane to Gladstone. After that, there is a ferry that will be shuttling us from Gladstone to Heron Island. Tonight,
my roomates (who are very sad that I am leaving, since apparently I'm the comedic relief in the house) are having a little "going away" party for me, in which I requested many, many tacos. I love tacos. So on that note, I'll be off the radar for the next 3+ weeks, living my dream. Wish me luck guys! I'll send sunny skies to you America!
Also, a special shout out to Sam, who has been so understanding of me fulfilling my dreams. Our 4 year anniversary falls on March 17th (yes, St Pattys Day) and I will have already left for my Heron Island trip. Since I won't be able to Skype and you have somehow managed to lock yourself out of your own Facebook page, I can't wait for Kenya. I find myself thinking about it more and more, excited to have another awesome adventure with you. Here's to proving everyone wrong, I love you and miss you everyday.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.047s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0214s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Virginia B.
non-member comment
Love the pictures and following your adventures. Have fun and be safe.