libertus

We’re on our way to Townsville which involves quite a lot of driving so we’re taking it bit by bit, stopping here and there. The temperature is getting hotter the further north we travel, which is a bit upside-down but that’s Australia.

In Rockhampton we stopped at the tourist information. We noticed a statue outside the building similar to the NSW/QLD border marker. On closer inspection we found this marked the Tropic of Capricorn and that the way we had parked Mitsi, it was cut in half by the tropic!

I didn’t much like Rockhampton for various reasons although the coastal village of Yeppoon where we stayed overnight was OK. We were hoping to dive the Keppel islands but the choice of dive shops was either on the island (which was not appealing, sight unseen given our Ko Tao experience) or in Rocky. The shop in Rocky was actually closing when we arrived (1230 on a Saturday!!) but the proprietor opened up for us and we had a chat. Unfortunately, because of the wind there was no diving until at least Tuesday. That made up my mind - time to move on, which we did after a beer and (for me anyway) a t-bone steak at an Irish pub. Rocky is the beef capital of Australia after all so I had to give one a go. Quite nice but I doubt I’m able to tell the difference between a good steak and a great one.

We drove until about 6pm and stayed overnight at the hotel/pub a tiny village called Carmila. We then started early for Townsville going via Mackay which is a gateway to the Whitsunday Islands - a perfect diving spot. We stopped at the tourist information on the outskirts of Mackay to get a local map when disaster struck - Mitsi refused to start!

After some faffing around and many, many attempts to get Mitsi to comply with our engine starting wishes, we were forced to call out the RACQ. About 45 mins of waiting the guy turns up. Embarrassingly, Mitsi decides to start straight away without any intervention on his part! Bloody van has a mind of its own. We’ve been threatening to take it to the wreckers yard if it misbehaves again.

Anyway, rather than shoot straight off to Townsville we took a slight detour to a place called Airlie Beach where we have decided to stop for a few days. It’s a vibrant, busy backpacker town which makes a refreshing change from the predominantly retiree oriented places we have been stopping at for the last few days. Close to the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef, it is naturally well stocked with dive shops. We’ve booked in for a one-day/two-dive reef visit tomorrow followed by a 3-day/3-night/10-dive liveaboard reef adventure during which we are both taking our PADI Advanced Open Water Diver courses.

I must mention the rather excellent combined service we have received while booking our diving and caravan site accomodation. Everything is sorted out for us; three nights stay (one free), secure storage for Mitsi and our stuff during our liveaboard and even the possibility of Mitsi being fixed up by a local garage while we’re off diving! As they say in Australia - it’s too easy!

So yeah, no. Apart from the car trouble, we’re going good. Being looked after. Fair dinkum.

Two dives this morning at Cochrane Artificial Reef. Both were to ~16m for ~30mins. We were accompanied by divemasters Dan and Greg. Boat skipper was Kelton.

The artificial reef was made by sinking ships, aeroplanes and bricks. We started both dives where the boat anchored - Light Ship One. The first dive was exclusively around the light ship. The second dive involved a little swimming from the light ship over to two of the aeroplanes then back.

There is an astonishing quantity and diversity of marine life that makes its home around these wrecks. Although the previous dives over the shallow coral were fun, the fish there were mostly quite small. Not so these wrecks; some of the fish were enormous, at least by the standards I am used to so far.

I’m getting quite accustomed to the possibilities for motion under the water. On the second dive I was having great fun poking my nose into the various nooks and crannies of the wrecks whilst avoiding entering any of them because I’m not qualified to do so. The freedom of movement in three dimensions is liberating. Unfortunately, my air limit was hit all too soon and we had to surface.

On the way back we spotted a huge loggerhead turtle taking a breather on the surface.

What can I say? I’m hooked!

We made two dives today from the Barolin Rocks with divemaster-in-training Greg who works for Bargara Beach Dive Centre.

It’s difficult to imagine this but there are beautiful coral reefs only a few metres from the shore, teeming with life and very easy to dive. Maximum depth was only 8m and each dive was roughly 45mins long. We entered and exited at the shore which was a first for both Liberta and myself. Getting in the water was easy enough both times but getting out was a little challenging due to the surf and a slight navigational miscalculation Greg made for our returns on both dives due to the current! No worries though - we were never all that far from our starting point or the shore.

I think I’ve got my weighting about right at ~8kg for a 5mm full body wetsuit and 12 litre tank. Mental note for next dive is to bring Coke and choccy bars for the surface interval. Liberta was suffering a bit from hunger today.

Our two dives tomorrow will be off a boat in deeper water at an artificial reef. We’ve been told that there is a bull ray some 2m across that lives there as well as a host of other interesting marine life. I’m really looking forward to the experience even though it involves a very early start.

Not much to say about it really. Did my last two dives off the boat at Cook Island. I was a bit seasick during the surface interval but I couldn’t let that stop me. I saw a turtle during my underwater compass navigation skill. Phil the instructor then took us for a tour of the reef garden where he abused an octopus and showed us a couple of extreme nudibranchs - a fairly large Spanish Dancer which he got to dance and a spectacular blue/orange one that was smaller than a fingertip!

Liberta and I shared a bottle of fizzy wine as a celebration and had a good sleep. Then we packed up and drove north to Bargara which is on the coast east of Bundaberg. The caravan park is absolute oceanfront which means that we parked up and spent the evening looking out over an ocean horizon that starts just beyond the fence.

We’ve booked in for four dives over the next two days; two shore dives tomorrow and two boat dives on Thursday. The shore dives are to shallow (~7.5m) reefs just off the shore. The boat dives are to an artificial reef consisting of sunken ships and aeroplanes up to a depth of ~17.5m - just within our limits. Should be fun. The bloke at the dive centre is a Brit from Gatwick. Definately a pattern emerging with regards to multicultural Australia

Today we’ll be tourists around Bundaberg which is the heart of sugar cane country and, somewhat related, Rum City. I’ve had a few tastes of Bundy Rum with various mixers. It’s more tasty than the average Aussie beer but not always in a good way.

The city has a clean, appealing European colonial look mixed with standard Aussie city design. Seems to me to have the feel of prosperity.

Finally!!!

This morning I completed the first two required open water dives and successfully passed the multiple choice exam. I’m one day, two dives and a few skills away from my qualification.

Both dives were in the Tweed River rather than off the boat. First dive was to 10m for 38mins, second also to 10m for 30mins. Visibility wasn’t excellent at between 8-10m but was sufficient for the purposes.

Big Phil the instructor led the group which comprised Julia and Tiffany (doing the last two dives of their Open Water course), divemaster Welsh Phil and myself.

I had trouble with my weights at the beginning of the first dive. With 7kg I was underweighted and couldn’t descend. Big Phil found a couple of rocks and popped them into my BCD which solved the problem. Even so, I still had difficulty with buoyancy control on the first dive. Welsh Phil helped during the dive and explained things to me during the surface interval. On the second dive 1.5kg was added to my belt so that I could dive without rocks! I felt more under control and Phil thought I did a lot better although I was still a little clumsy.

I didn’t see all that much during the dives although there was plenty going on. It’s a perceptual thing that I’m sure will improve along with my confidence and experience in the water. Phil did point out a number of interesting things. On the first dive we saw some cleaner wrasse at work picking and eating the parasites off another fish. On the second dive we saw a school of small barracuda hovering against the current. I was envious of their seeming lack of effort - I had to kick quite hard to move forward.

It is clear to me now that there is a lot more to diving than just being under the water. The socialising is at least as important.

The windy weather cancelled the diving today. Forecast for tomorrow and Friday is sunny so here’s hoping that I can complete my course then.

Still off the fags. Still a touch of withdrawal today but less than yesterday. I don’t have much to do with the long days. Practiced snorkelling again this morning. Read a little. Sat in the sun.

Sigh…

Phil from the dive shop called yesterday to reschedule my PADI course for 8am QLD time tomorrow. So, all going well, I shall be a qualified open water diver by Thursday afternoon.

The weather yesterday was a bit crap - cold and drizzly - so I decided to spend some time in the caravan park’s pool practicing with snorkel and fins. Playing about in the water is quite a lot of fun! Liberta joined in and we spent over an hour swiming, diving, recovering coins and developing techniques. I need to learn more about breath control and found that being a smoker gets in the way of holding and using a full breath.

I’ve been planning to stop smoking for a few days now - using the rationale that I would prefer the virtue of more efficient air use while diving than the vice of cigarettes. Withdrawal is really biting today. If I can last out until tomorrow there’ll be no chance for me to smoke - I’ll be underwater

Rob the instructor called this morning to cancel today’s diving due to problems with the boat. Apparently it will be fixed today and so the course continues tomorrow. Oh well.

I read some more of The First Three Minutes. It doesn’t deal with the actual origin of the universe at all! The first one hundredth of a second (roughly) is too difficult for Weinberg to deal with for varying reasons - mainly the extremely high temperature his theory predicts for it. Not that he cares - he just assumes that everything at that time was as is necessary for his theory to make sense. Oh well.

I wonder what is more absurd; confidently predicting the future or precisely describing the past? Both depend on an accurate knowledge of both the present and the nature of the universe. Isn’t there a rule stating that multiple attributes of a system cannot be completely known simultaneously? Oh well.

Whew! Wonderful day in the pool but I’m knackered!

The day started with my mandatory physical check-up for diving. The medico wasn’t happy with my smoking (naturally) but my performance on the breath test was acceptable. He passed me without sending me for a chest X-ray.

The second day of the course focused on familiarising us with the scuba equipment, setting it up, making use of it in shallow water and rehearsing the various underwater skills and safety/emergency procedures we have to show over the next two days during our open water dives. At the shop we gathered all the gear together, transported it all into the car (air tanks are bloody heavy) and headed for the public pool at Benora Point.

The first thing we had to do in the pool was, for me, the most strenuous - a 200m swim and a 10 minute float. I can swim but 200m without stopping is pushing my limit. I made it but not with any great finesse. Since the method of swimming isn’t stipulated I did it on my back!

Next we assembled our scuba gear, suited up and got in the water. For the next three hours, instructor Rob took us through the skills. I had a slight advantage since I had done some of the basic ones before and had already been in the water with the gear on. The guys who hadn’t didn’t suffer much though - they all got the knack in the end. It was instructive to watch others go through the same learning process I remember going though.

Of all the skills I found buoyancy control to be the most challenging. Then again, so does everyone! I also had trouble with the skills that involved removal of my weight belt. I’m still a little clumsy in the water and became even more so holding 8kg in my hand!

I used my own mask, fins and snorkel. The fins are really good. They are quick to don and remove. The power they provide underwater is markedly better than the basic fins in the hire kit. The mask is great for visibility but tends to flood a little. I also suffered an uncomfortable pinching between the seal of the mask under my nose and the regulator in my mouth. I solved this towards the end of the session by adjusting the angle of the reg hose so that the exhaust valve was touching my chin. That also improved the airflow so I’ll be remembering that for the dive tomorrow. I’m not so fond of the snorkel as I don’t quite have the knack of clearing it completely yet.

Highlight of the day was the kids in the pool. We were asked Are you going scuba diving? many times on entry. Rob also had to shout over the noisy buggers as they were cheering for their mates using the inflatable slide. Finally, I had a giggle when a young girl who didn’t realise there were people under the water kicked Alan in the head during one of his skills which prompted Rob to make like he was going to grab her leg and pull her under. Of course, he didn’t!

So, I think it’s a decent meal and a few light beers this evening in preparation for tomorrow in the sea. No doubt I’ll sleep well.

Myself and three other blokes (one of whom has exactly the same name as me) of varying ages were taken through the initial theory part by instructor Rob. I’ve done the theory before (in Malaysia) so it wasn’t all that interesting for me although I did refine my knowledge a bit. The PADI videos are still cheesy and heavily American. As before, the most challenging part of the theory is learning to use the Recreational Dive Planner - the crib-sheet of tables which is used to control the time and depth of dives to avoid decompression illness. I’m quite comfortable using it although the others showed the same confusion that I recall having when encountering it for the first time. I guess there are too many numbers on it for most people and that is temporarily overwhelming. They’ll get used to it. Or buy dive computers.

Tomorrow I have my medical check-up (mandatory in Australia) followed by the confined water training dives in the pool.