Monday, June 19, 2006
Mumbai, India
After Rainbow Beach I bussed straight to Cairns, which took about 24 hours. The next morning (28th May), I started a diving course. I would have 2 days of instruction in a classroom and a bit of faffing in a pool. Then I'd go to a boat out at the barrier reef, stay overnight there, do some dives and come back to Cairns. I'd fly to Japan the next day (that was the plan).
On the first morning, there was a huge amount of form-filling and signing things. We were then shown some videos which were quite boring. Going in the pool after lunch was more fun. After a bit more faff, we were shown how to assemble the scuba equipment and put it on. It seemed a lot to remember. But going right down under water was amazing. Because you could breathe normally, it felt like being in another world. For me, it was even more of an experience because I had a prescription mask - I realised I'd never been able to see properly underwater before.
On the second day we went in the pool again. We practiced such skills as taking our respirator (the thing you stick in your mouth) out, throwing it behind us and finding it again, and removing and replacing our masks. In the afternoon was some more classroom stuff. Finally, we went through a practice exam that our instructor said was "very similar to the real exam we'd be taking." Oh yeah? I could see what was coming.
I had arranged for a few things to be sent to the post office in Cairns, most notably my passport and visa from the Indian consulate. I went to check - he stuff from my parents was there, but the passport wasn't. They had promised it would be sent on the 24th. I'd used registered post and there was no record of it, which suggested it hadn't been sent yet. Naturally, this stressed me out quite a lot. I phoned up the consulate (during office hours) but the phone just rang and rang. I phoned Quantas to change the date of my flight to Japan. Luckily, I could change it as many times as I wanted: this would be useful because I had no idea when I was going to get the passport back. For now, I just put it back one day, so I'd have a free day in Cairns after the diving course.
Later in the evening, I went to a lecture called 'Reef teach' which was amazing! The lecturer was Irish and was excentric almost to the point of it being uncomfortable to watch. He staggered about the stage, shouted and occasionally threw in ridiculously high pitched or lengthened words...but he was absolutely hilarious. I learned how to classify fish I saw into general groups and learned so many amazing facts about the reef like....um....well there were more amazing ones than this, but I can't remember them: every member of a certain species of coral manages to release their eggs and sperm on exactly the same day of the year, on the first full moon of October of something. Free tea and biscuits were also provided at the lecture. I now have absolutely no self-control when it comes to free food, so I ate so many biscuits I felt a bit sick.
The next morning we took the exam we had been through the previous night. This reminded me of A level chemistry. Even if anyone had managed to fail, they would have been told the answers and allowed to do the test again...as many times as necessary. It really was a bit of a joke. We then took a boat out to the other boat at the reef. I hadn't felt travel sick at all on this trip, but now it took all my willpower to hold my breakfast in.
We did 2 dives during the rest of the day. Being in the real sea for the first time was quite scarey. I wasn't used to going so deep, and getting that horrible salt taste in my mouth and up my nose, etc. For the first few dives I didn't do very well. The idea is to let air in or out of your bouyancy jacket so that you naturally stay at the same level in the water. But no matter how hard I tried, I kept floating up or down. So I wasn't concentrating on the amazing coral as much as I should have.
I liked living aboard the ship - again largely because of the free food. And they had the best kind of meals: buffets! They obviously didn't describe them as 'all you can eat' because that would have sounded tacky...but that's how I treated them.
The following morning, we were wokem up at 5.30. Yes 5.30. I didn't feel like I wanted to be 18 metres under the sea 45 minutes after waking up - but that's what happened. We did 2 dives that morning, and practiced a few skills. After that I was certified! We all went up to the top deck and had a happy presentation ceremony where we got given little cards. I had obsolutely loved the last dive - for the first time I'd relaxed, enjoyed the surreal, weightless feeling and taken in the amazing underwater world. It seemed a shame to get certified, then go straight back to Cairns. So, in a crazy spontaneous gesture, I paid to stay on the boat for another 24 hours. I thought I had better so something about my passport, though, so I used the satelite phone on the boat to call the Indian Consulate. They claimed they'd sent it on the 25th. I briefly felt relieved, which quickly vanished and changed to resignation. If it HAD been sent on the 25th, the post office would have had a record of it when I checked. There were many explanations, but I deduced the most likely one was it had got lost somewhere between the consulate and the post office. But I didn't care because I was doing diving at the barrier reef!
So I did one more dive midday, one at night in the dark (we all took torches) and 3 the next morning before leaving. This would be the ideal place to post some photos.....but unfortunately I don't have any. I was supposed to hire an underwater camera several times. I finally got hold of one for my last dive...I took a photo of the bottom of the boat...then it stopped working. So I'll just have to write 1000 words instead. Wow, the fish are really colourful. Some have simple black and white stripes, some have eye markings like butterflies, some have a whole spectrum of colours. I especially liked the tiny ones which hung around between the 'branches' of these little bush things. My favourite animal had to be the turtle. Something about their slow, lethargic movements and comical shape appealed to me. I also saw a few sharks cruising around on the bottom (apparently they never eat anyone). The coral looked kind of messy - not the pristine white formations you see in promotional photos. This is probably due to the divers - you're not supposed to ever touch the coral, but my lack of control (along with the rest of my groups') meant I kept kicking it. The coolest kind is known as 'Christmas tree coral' - it has these littly blue or white fluffy balls growing out of it; when you wave your hand over them they disappear inside. The coral mainly grew in long walls, but we also had a swim round a circular clump that was like an underwater mountain. While enjoying all this, you can just drift, in 3 dimensions, unconstrained by the usual laws of physics. It really was amazing.
So it was a shame when I had to go back to a mundane existance in Cairns. The next morning I went to the post office. I was supposed to by flying at 2 in the afternoon, but as of yet, I didn't have my passport. It had arrived! So it seemed like all the stress had just been caused by the registered post not registering. I put my flight back one more day, though, so I wasn't too rushed. I therefore had a free day in Cairns. I walked along the waterfront (which isn't that inspiring), went shopping for clothes and guide books for Japan and Hong Kong, and sold my Australia Lonely Planet. In the evening the diving school had hired a bit of a bar and put on a party. I got a bit of free beer and pizza and met up with some of my diving buddies - it was fun. I flew to Japan on 3rd June.
Well here's one photo I could include. I wouldn't say that I grew a beard...more that I just didn't bother to shave for longer than usual.
After Rainbow Beach I bussed straight to Cairns, which took about 24 hours. The next morning (28th May), I started a diving course. I would have 2 days of instruction in a classroom and a bit of faffing in a pool. Then I'd go to a boat out at the barrier reef, stay overnight there, do some dives and come back to Cairns. I'd fly to Japan the next day (that was the plan).
On the first morning, there was a huge amount of form-filling and signing things. We were then shown some videos which were quite boring. Going in the pool after lunch was more fun. After a bit more faff, we were shown how to assemble the scuba equipment and put it on. It seemed a lot to remember. But going right down under water was amazing. Because you could breathe normally, it felt like being in another world. For me, it was even more of an experience because I had a prescription mask - I realised I'd never been able to see properly underwater before.
On the second day we went in the pool again. We practiced such skills as taking our respirator (the thing you stick in your mouth) out, throwing it behind us and finding it again, and removing and replacing our masks. In the afternoon was some more classroom stuff. Finally, we went through a practice exam that our instructor said was "very similar to the real exam we'd be taking." Oh yeah? I could see what was coming.
I had arranged for a few things to be sent to the post office in Cairns, most notably my passport and visa from the Indian consulate. I went to check - he stuff from my parents was there, but the passport wasn't. They had promised it would be sent on the 24th. I'd used registered post and there was no record of it, which suggested it hadn't been sent yet. Naturally, this stressed me out quite a lot. I phoned up the consulate (during office hours) but the phone just rang and rang. I phoned Quantas to change the date of my flight to Japan. Luckily, I could change it as many times as I wanted: this would be useful because I had no idea when I was going to get the passport back. For now, I just put it back one day, so I'd have a free day in Cairns after the diving course.
Later in the evening, I went to a lecture called 'Reef teach' which was amazing! The lecturer was Irish and was excentric almost to the point of it being uncomfortable to watch. He staggered about the stage, shouted and occasionally threw in ridiculously high pitched or lengthened words...but he was absolutely hilarious. I learned how to classify fish I saw into general groups and learned so many amazing facts about the reef like....um....well there were more amazing ones than this, but I can't remember them: every member of a certain species of coral manages to release their eggs and sperm on exactly the same day of the year, on the first full moon of October of something. Free tea and biscuits were also provided at the lecture. I now have absolutely no self-control when it comes to free food, so I ate so many biscuits I felt a bit sick.
The next morning we took the exam we had been through the previous night. This reminded me of A level chemistry. Even if anyone had managed to fail, they would have been told the answers and allowed to do the test again...as many times as necessary. It really was a bit of a joke. We then took a boat out to the other boat at the reef. I hadn't felt travel sick at all on this trip, but now it took all my willpower to hold my breakfast in.
We did 2 dives during the rest of the day. Being in the real sea for the first time was quite scarey. I wasn't used to going so deep, and getting that horrible salt taste in my mouth and up my nose, etc. For the first few dives I didn't do very well. The idea is to let air in or out of your bouyancy jacket so that you naturally stay at the same level in the water. But no matter how hard I tried, I kept floating up or down. So I wasn't concentrating on the amazing coral as much as I should have.
I liked living aboard the ship - again largely because of the free food. And they had the best kind of meals: buffets! They obviously didn't describe them as 'all you can eat' because that would have sounded tacky...but that's how I treated them.
The following morning, we were wokem up at 5.30. Yes 5.30. I didn't feel like I wanted to be 18 metres under the sea 45 minutes after waking up - but that's what happened. We did 2 dives that morning, and practiced a few skills. After that I was certified! We all went up to the top deck and had a happy presentation ceremony where we got given little cards. I had obsolutely loved the last dive - for the first time I'd relaxed, enjoyed the surreal, weightless feeling and taken in the amazing underwater world. It seemed a shame to get certified, then go straight back to Cairns. So, in a crazy spontaneous gesture, I paid to stay on the boat for another 24 hours. I thought I had better so something about my passport, though, so I used the satelite phone on the boat to call the Indian Consulate. They claimed they'd sent it on the 25th. I briefly felt relieved, which quickly vanished and changed to resignation. If it HAD been sent on the 25th, the post office would have had a record of it when I checked. There were many explanations, but I deduced the most likely one was it had got lost somewhere between the consulate and the post office. But I didn't care because I was doing diving at the barrier reef!
So I did one more dive midday, one at night in the dark (we all took torches) and 3 the next morning before leaving. This would be the ideal place to post some photos.....but unfortunately I don't have any. I was supposed to hire an underwater camera several times. I finally got hold of one for my last dive...I took a photo of the bottom of the boat...then it stopped working. So I'll just have to write 1000 words instead. Wow, the fish are really colourful. Some have simple black and white stripes, some have eye markings like butterflies, some have a whole spectrum of colours. I especially liked the tiny ones which hung around between the 'branches' of these little bush things. My favourite animal had to be the turtle. Something about their slow, lethargic movements and comical shape appealed to me. I also saw a few sharks cruising around on the bottom (apparently they never eat anyone). The coral looked kind of messy - not the pristine white formations you see in promotional photos. This is probably due to the divers - you're not supposed to ever touch the coral, but my lack of control (along with the rest of my groups') meant I kept kicking it. The coolest kind is known as 'Christmas tree coral' - it has these littly blue or white fluffy balls growing out of it; when you wave your hand over them they disappear inside. The coral mainly grew in long walls, but we also had a swim round a circular clump that was like an underwater mountain. While enjoying all this, you can just drift, in 3 dimensions, unconstrained by the usual laws of physics. It really was amazing.
So it was a shame when I had to go back to a mundane existance in Cairns. The next morning I went to the post office. I was supposed to by flying at 2 in the afternoon, but as of yet, I didn't have my passport. It had arrived! So it seemed like all the stress had just been caused by the registered post not registering. I put my flight back one more day, though, so I wasn't too rushed. I therefore had a free day in Cairns. I walked along the waterfront (which isn't that inspiring), went shopping for clothes and guide books for Japan and Hong Kong, and sold my Australia Lonely Planet. In the evening the diving school had hired a bit of a bar and put on a party. I got a bit of free beer and pizza and met up with some of my diving buddies - it was fun. I flew to Japan on 3rd June.
Well here's one photo I could include. I wouldn't say that I grew a beard...more that I just didn't bother to shave for longer than usual.
# posted by Alex @ 7:45 AM 
