Here is a link to the pictures that I took with the hired camera. Some good ones. Enjoy!!
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/sheldonbucl/DivePicturesHiredCamera?feat=directlink
Friday, September 11, 2009
Trip up North
So the dive trip was awesome! For a first time diving it is going to be hard to beat. I have talked to some divers back home and they are very jealous of me. There was so much that I have seen and don't know what a "crappy" dive site is. Lucky me. :)
So the rest of the dive trip was a great time. We got back on Tuesday afternoon and settled up at the dive shop on our bills. I bought a t-shirt that looks pretty cool. Maybe I can take a picture with it. I went back and checked into the hostel again. This time I was just ready for sleep. However, I didn't get any. I went back out because the group was planning on meeting at a restaurant and hang out, exchange info, and have some booze. Pretty much everyone showed up except for the dive instructors. Weak. Dave (dive master) and Max (chef) showed but that was it. So the rest of us hit up the bars.
The night was full of drinking, dancing, and having a great time. I don't know where the hours went but the next thing I know I was walking back to the hostel and it was late. I was politely asked to wake up at 10:30 AM by the hostel manager because checkout was at 10:00. Oops.
So I packed my things up and headed to Avis. Ol' trusty Avis. They had some decent cars so I snagged a Ford Falcon XR6. The key is to book a cheap car that they don't have and then get a free upgrade. It worked for me!!
I headed north and it was a bit difficult to drive.
#1) I had a bit of a fuzzy head
#2) Everything about the trip was completely backwards. I was driving on the wrong side of the car, the blinkers were on the right-hand side, the shifter was on the left, everybody drove on the wrong side of the roads, and I was driving North and the weather was getting warmer. It is like a crazy bizarro world!
Lucky for me I had a Pepsi and I caught on quick with the car. I stopped at about 5 beaches throughout the day. It was amazing! Most of them I was the only person there. The views were amazing and such a beautiful day!
I made my way up to Port Douglas. This city is a pretty cool city. It seems to me that it is where the rich vacationers go. I stayed in a hostel. It was the nicest hostel I have ever stayed in. I had my own room and everything was very nice. I think it has only been open for 2 or 3 years. Very pleased for 30 Australian!
After a good night's sleep I hopped back in the car and drove through the rainforest up to Cape Tribulation. I stopped at a river area in the rainforest and took a swim. The water was pretty cold! It was good fun though. Who would've thought, rainforests in Australia?!? Not I.
After stopping and relaxing at a few beaches and stopping for ice cream I made my way back to Cairns for a final night. I decided to book the Holiday Inn because I had a free night to use. Those things come in handy. It was a nice change from a small bed on a boat and hostel beds. I even got upgraded on my free room because of my rewards status with them. I feel special.
On Friday I headed to the airport and back to Sydney. It was pretty uneventful and I had no flight troubles. What a great week!!!
So the rest of the dive trip was a great time. We got back on Tuesday afternoon and settled up at the dive shop on our bills. I bought a t-shirt that looks pretty cool. Maybe I can take a picture with it. I went back and checked into the hostel again. This time I was just ready for sleep. However, I didn't get any. I went back out because the group was planning on meeting at a restaurant and hang out, exchange info, and have some booze. Pretty much everyone showed up except for the dive instructors. Weak. Dave (dive master) and Max (chef) showed but that was it. So the rest of us hit up the bars.
The night was full of drinking, dancing, and having a great time. I don't know where the hours went but the next thing I know I was walking back to the hostel and it was late. I was politely asked to wake up at 10:30 AM by the hostel manager because checkout was at 10:00. Oops.
So I packed my things up and headed to Avis. Ol' trusty Avis. They had some decent cars so I snagged a Ford Falcon XR6. The key is to book a cheap car that they don't have and then get a free upgrade. It worked for me!!
I headed north and it was a bit difficult to drive.
#1) I had a bit of a fuzzy head
#2) Everything about the trip was completely backwards. I was driving on the wrong side of the car, the blinkers were on the right-hand side, the shifter was on the left, everybody drove on the wrong side of the roads, and I was driving North and the weather was getting warmer. It is like a crazy bizarro world!
Lucky for me I had a Pepsi and I caught on quick with the car. I stopped at about 5 beaches throughout the day. It was amazing! Most of them I was the only person there. The views were amazing and such a beautiful day!
I made my way up to Port Douglas. This city is a pretty cool city. It seems to me that it is where the rich vacationers go. I stayed in a hostel. It was the nicest hostel I have ever stayed in. I had my own room and everything was very nice. I think it has only been open for 2 or 3 years. Very pleased for 30 Australian!
After a good night's sleep I hopped back in the car and drove through the rainforest up to Cape Tribulation. I stopped at a river area in the rainforest and took a swim. The water was pretty cold! It was good fun though. Who would've thought, rainforests in Australia?!? Not I.
After stopping and relaxing at a few beaches and stopping for ice cream I made my way back to Cairns for a final night. I decided to book the Holiday Inn because I had a free night to use. Those things come in handy. It was a nice change from a small bed on a boat and hostel beds. I even got upgraded on my free room because of my rewards status with them. I feel special.
On Friday I headed to the airport and back to Sydney. It was pretty uneventful and I had no flight troubles. What a great week!!!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
The other 5 dives
So I got 9 dives in total with this trip (+ 1 snorkeling session). The remaining 5 "pleasure" dives were exactly that. We had rules that we were to follow from the dive master. If we broke them then we couldn't dive the next dive. The rules were pertaining to depth, remaining air when we got on the boat, and the time that we were to get back on board.
My first of 5 was exciting! I had no dive buddy since my training dives I was partnered up with an instructor. He was going out with some other people for additional training. Once again, the odd-man out. Finally someone volunteered to be my buddy. Sebastian and I hit the water and of course we broke the rules. Our max depth was to be 14 m and I hit 18.1 m! Oops! I was chasing a fish and forgot the rule. Luckily the dive master was lenient on this dive. After this one I was sure to follow the rules.
We saw tons of different kinds of fish. I don't know what they were all called but very cool. The experience is very difficult to describe. My best attempt is to say go to an aquarium and step into it and swim around! There were sharks, turtles, "Nemo", rays, barracudas, and just about every tropical thing you can think of. I only had a camera on 2 of my dives, which, is enough for me because I don't want to live life through the lens of a camera. I like to take in the view and enjoy it. Perhaps a bit selfish because I can't share the exact picture with others but that's too bad.
On the other dives I had Mario as a dive buddy twice and David as a buddy once. He is the one you will see in the pictures.
We did a night dive. Since it was my first night dive it had to be "guided" by an instructor. This kind-of sucked. At night you can't see as much but you can get closer to fish because they can't see you either. The big down-side was we had 7 people following the instructor. I was in the middle of the pack with 2 other people and we spent more time looking at the people's fins in front of us than looking at fish and coral. Next time it will be better when I can go out with just a buddy. "Torches" are a necessity. It is definately a different experience when it is at night and I would like to try it again.
Here are the photos from my camera. I will be uploading the batch from the other camera that I rented. Please stand by ...
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/sheldonbucl/DivePicturesMyCamera?feat=directlink
Cheers!
My first of 5 was exciting! I had no dive buddy since my training dives I was partnered up with an instructor. He was going out with some other people for additional training. Once again, the odd-man out. Finally someone volunteered to be my buddy. Sebastian and I hit the water and of course we broke the rules. Our max depth was to be 14 m and I hit 18.1 m! Oops! I was chasing a fish and forgot the rule. Luckily the dive master was lenient on this dive. After this one I was sure to follow the rules.
We saw tons of different kinds of fish. I don't know what they were all called but very cool. The experience is very difficult to describe. My best attempt is to say go to an aquarium and step into it and swim around! There were sharks, turtles, "Nemo", rays, barracudas, and just about every tropical thing you can think of. I only had a camera on 2 of my dives, which, is enough for me because I don't want to live life through the lens of a camera. I like to take in the view and enjoy it. Perhaps a bit selfish because I can't share the exact picture with others but that's too bad.
On the other dives I had Mario as a dive buddy twice and David as a buddy once. He is the one you will see in the pictures.
We did a night dive. Since it was my first night dive it had to be "guided" by an instructor. This kind-of sucked. At night you can't see as much but you can get closer to fish because they can't see you either. The big down-side was we had 7 people following the instructor. I was in the middle of the pack with 2 other people and we spent more time looking at the people's fins in front of us than looking at fish and coral. Next time it will be better when I can go out with just a buddy. "Torches" are a necessity. It is definately a different experience when it is at night and I would like to try it again.
Here are the photos from my camera. I will be uploading the batch from the other camera that I rented. Please stand by ...
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/sheldonbucl/DivePicturesMyCamera?feat=directlink
Cheers!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Snorkeling
Here are a few pictures as a teaser and a link to my picasa album. Enjoy!
I don't have all of the pictures posted yet. These are from my snorkeling adventure.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/sheldonbucl/SnorkelingPics?feat=directlink
I don't have all of the pictures posted yet. These are from my snorkeling adventure.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/sheldonbucl/SnorkelingPics?feat=directlink
Training Dives
Dives 2, 3, and 4 were pretty much just going through all of the basic skills that are needed for diving. You have to show how to properly put gear on while on the boat, on the surface of the water, and at depth. Also have to do all of the "what if's" so that if you do have an emergency you don't die. That would suck. Drowning wouldn't be a fun way to go. Shark attack, maybe, (would be a good story for everyone to tell) but drowning, no.
I passed the other 3 dives with flying colors! We only did 1 more dive on Sunday and the experienced divers went and did a night dive. We also got in a good bit of snorkeling time. I took my camera with me while snorkeling and got a few good pictures.
After the 4th training dive I was a fully certified scuba diver! Yay! 5 more dives to go during the trip!
I passed the other 3 dives with flying colors! We only did 1 more dive on Sunday and the experienced divers went and did a night dive. We also got in a good bit of snorkeling time. I took my camera with me while snorkeling and got a few good pictures.
After the 4th training dive I was a fully certified scuba diver! Yay! 5 more dives to go during the trip!
Dive #1
So in my 3 hours of riding on a boat, I only played the Lonely Island song twice. After all, I was "on a boat". :)
We had a briefing on what was going to happen for the trip. The first 4 dives were going to be a continuation of the pool session that everybody else went through. Since I had done my theory and pool sessions a month ago I was a bit nervous. I didn't have a dive buddy like everyone else did either. Once again, odd man out.
The boat stopped and everybody rushed to the back deck and put on their wetsuits, BCD, air tanks, weights, masks, and took their fins to the back platform. It was a crazy frenzy to get everything on and be the first to go! My group was the first group off of the boat. I was buddied up with the instructor. That turned out to be a really good thing because I had someone experienced and also when he was off helping other people I got to have some time to look around and check things out on my own.
The first dive was strictly a dive to get used to being in the ocean. We didn't practice any skills nor did we do any of the certification stuff. It was very basic. We saw tons of cool stuff! Our instructor Dan was very good. After about 30 minutes we got back to the boat and did everything in the reverse of the start. Lunch was ready shortly thereafter.
After lunch we had some down time so that we could de-brief and talk about what the next dive would be. You have to have down time so that the nitrogen can dissipate from your body.
We had a briefing on what was going to happen for the trip. The first 4 dives were going to be a continuation of the pool session that everybody else went through. Since I had done my theory and pool sessions a month ago I was a bit nervous. I didn't have a dive buddy like everyone else did either. Once again, odd man out.
The boat stopped and everybody rushed to the back deck and put on their wetsuits, BCD, air tanks, weights, masks, and took their fins to the back platform. It was a crazy frenzy to get everything on and be the first to go! My group was the first group off of the boat. I was buddied up with the instructor. That turned out to be a really good thing because I had someone experienced and also when he was off helping other people I got to have some time to look around and check things out on my own.
The first dive was strictly a dive to get used to being in the ocean. We didn't practice any skills nor did we do any of the certification stuff. It was very basic. We saw tons of cool stuff! Our instructor Dan was very good. After about 30 minutes we got back to the boat and did everything in the reverse of the start. Lunch was ready shortly thereafter.
After lunch we had some down time so that we could de-brief and talk about what the next dive would be. You have to have down time so that the nitrogen can dissipate from your body.
Cairns Trip
I thought I'd split up my posts for fun. It makes the page bigger and seems like there is more for you to read!
So Saturday morning I jumped on a JetStar plane and flew to Cairns. My luggage was seemingly lost when I got there. I got to baggage claim and most of the people on my flight got their bags and left. The carasel stopped moving. That is a bad feeling. I, along with about 5 other people headed back to the ticket-counter as there is no JetStar baggage agent. They are a very low-cost airline and service isn't great.
After about an hour wait to talk with the ticket agent, she called back to the baggage claim and there were another load of bags sitting there. Apparently a cart got lost and our bags were on it. Just my luck. I was happy to have a bag.
I caught a shuttle into town and stopped at my hostel. The memories started flooding back from my trip to Europe as I haven't stayed in a hostel since then. I met some people and went looking for the dive shop.
At the dive shop I arranged a pick-up time and got all set for the next day. I was like a little kid before Christmas! I walked around Cairnes for the rest of the evening and checked things out. It is a pretty small city. Surprised me because they have a fairly large airport. I guess it is the gateway to the north of Australia.
Instead of a beach they have a very large public pool that has sand in it like a beach. This is because of the crocodiles I guess. It is a pretty cool pool area. Lifeguards and all included.
Sunday morning I was to be picked up at 6:15. I set my alarm for 5:50 so I could grab a quick bite and a cup of coffee. I woke up at 6:16 and paniced! After running downstairs in my boxers, there was no van outside! I ran back upstairs and grabbed all of my things and ran back down. I was going to have to run to the dive shop ... not a good start. When I got back down there was a van pulling up. Only the dive instructor was in there. Apparently they stopped by at 6:00 and came back for me since I wasn't there. After all, I paid a good amount for this trip!
So at the dive shop I picked out some fins and got back in the van. We headed straight to the boat and got on and ready to go. There wasn't any time to spare. After boarding we had a quick briefing and about 3 hours until we got to the first dive site. There were about 20 Germans, 2 Austrians, some New Zealanders, Canadians, and some English people. I was the only American on board. That surprised me. It seemed like I was the odd-man out all during the trip. More about that later. 33 people + 4 instructors, a cook, and the skipper.
So Saturday morning I jumped on a JetStar plane and flew to Cairns. My luggage was seemingly lost when I got there. I got to baggage claim and most of the people on my flight got their bags and left. The carasel stopped moving. That is a bad feeling. I, along with about 5 other people headed back to the ticket-counter as there is no JetStar baggage agent. They are a very low-cost airline and service isn't great.
After about an hour wait to talk with the ticket agent, she called back to the baggage claim and there were another load of bags sitting there. Apparently a cart got lost and our bags were on it. Just my luck. I was happy to have a bag.
I caught a shuttle into town and stopped at my hostel. The memories started flooding back from my trip to Europe as I haven't stayed in a hostel since then. I met some people and went looking for the dive shop.
At the dive shop I arranged a pick-up time and got all set for the next day. I was like a little kid before Christmas! I walked around Cairnes for the rest of the evening and checked things out. It is a pretty small city. Surprised me because they have a fairly large airport. I guess it is the gateway to the north of Australia.
Instead of a beach they have a very large public pool that has sand in it like a beach. This is because of the crocodiles I guess. It is a pretty cool pool area. Lifeguards and all included.
Sunday morning I was to be picked up at 6:15. I set my alarm for 5:50 so I could grab a quick bite and a cup of coffee. I woke up at 6:16 and paniced! After running downstairs in my boxers, there was no van outside! I ran back upstairs and grabbed all of my things and ran back down. I was going to have to run to the dive shop ... not a good start. When I got back down there was a van pulling up. Only the dive instructor was in there. Apparently they stopped by at 6:00 and came back for me since I wasn't there. After all, I paid a good amount for this trip!
So at the dive shop I picked out some fins and got back in the van. We headed straight to the boat and got on and ready to go. There wasn't any time to spare. After boarding we had a quick briefing and about 3 hours until we got to the first dive site. There were about 20 Germans, 2 Austrians, some New Zealanders, Canadians, and some English people. I was the only American on board. That surprised me. It seemed like I was the odd-man out all during the trip. More about that later. 33 people + 4 instructors, a cook, and the skipper.
Not in Sydney Anymore
G'Day. So to wrap up a long story in Sydney, I went out on Saturday night with Joy and Sunday I went to Manly Beach and strolled around. It is a pretty cool area. I stumbled across a dive shop and ended up buying a scuba mask and snorkel. I then also booked a trip on a boat! It was with Pro-Dive in Cairns. Sunday morning to Tuesday evening. Live-Aboard scuba trip. The rest of Sunday was pretty un-eventful.
The work-week last week was another long one. We worked and worked but did not finish. I am having to extend my trip for another week (after I get back on Friday night from my holiday). This trip is turning out to be a long one!
The work-week last week was another long one. We worked and worked but did not finish. I am having to extend my trip for another week (after I get back on Friday night from my holiday). This trip is turning out to be a long one!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)