Day 203 (Tuesday 31/05) - Great Barrier Reef - Diving Lessons 5 - Open Water 3

Wake up at 5:45am, as today I'm going for an Advanced Deep Dive with Neil as instructor (and Tobi, Violet and a Japanese girl).
(8th dive)

We start going down, until we reach the "floor", at 25m underwater.
When there, we see several sharks sleeping or just moving around, looking for breakfast (White Tip and Black Tip).

We also see 2 sea turtles, one eating coral, the other one floating around, coming to us to see what's going on ... It's so cool.

After a few "exercices" (to be sure we can handle the depth), we go back to the surface, to our safety stop.

While waiting there, we see another shark, but this time really close, doing circles around us. Quite impressive, and scary, but Neil assures us there's no risk.

We then get back on the boat.
I can now go down to 30m underwater !
We then have breakfast (again a huge "all you can eat" buffet, with eggs, bacon, etc. as well as toasts, fruits, cereals, etc.)

For the next dive, I go with my buddy Tobi, and with Mark, an older Australian guy, who's been diving for years.
We go around the site and again see so many amazing things ... (swarns of fishes moving around, Barramundis chasing them, etc.)

We then chill for a bit on the deck of the boat, before going for the next dive (again with Tobi and Mark).

This time we go on the other side, and again, it's fantastic.

After that we have lunch (as usual, really good, and a lot), and then relax a bit waiting for our transfer on Sea Quest (to unfortunately go back to Cairns).

Once on Sea Quest, we start our trip back to Cairns.

At around 5pm we get to Cairns.

A shuttle drops us to the DSDD shop, where our bags are, then to our hostels.

I've decided to change hostel and to go to the same as Tobi, the Caravella's (it's much cheaper than the Gilligan's - and has a better atmosphere).
(Matt and the girls are staying at the WoodDuck hostel)

At the Caravella's, the guy at the reception is really cool, a Scottish guy, really funny (but also really professional and helpful).
In the room, we are 6, all guys ...
(4 Germans with Tobi, 1 French - from Bordeaux, who's been living in Martinique for the last 5 years - and me)

We stay there for a bit relaxing (almost falling asleep).

After a while, I get a text from Matt to tell me he and the girls are going to the WoolShed, where we all have a free meal (that we get as we're staying in "partner" hostels - in Cairns, most hostels offer free meals in nearby pubs/restaurants)

I join them and we have dinner (it's free, but it's not really good, and not really big ... But still, it's ok).

After that, we decide to go to the Green Ant, where we meet up with Nick, the assistant instructor from our diving lessons (he sent a texxt to the girls).

There, we get to meet some colleagues of Nick (including Neil that was with us on the boat).
We stay there for a few drinks before moving back to the WoolShed, where tonight there's special prices on the drinks.

There we're joined by Allen who was on the boat with us.
I also meet Damien, the Swiss guy who was in my room last week.

A bit later I see Giulia, who also finished her lessons today (she knew I was here and told me she would probably come - she's with some of the people she went diving with).

We stay there for quite a while, having fun (talking, drinking, dancing, ...).
We get back to our hostels around 1:30am (we're all tired of our long day, and some of us have to wake up early tomorrow morning).

It's been a really good day, and the whole diving trip was amazing ...

The whole boat+dive experience was exceptionnal, I'm so happy I did it.

Day 202 (Monday 30/05) - Great Barrier Reef - Diving Lessons 4 - Open Water 2

Wake up at 7am for breakfast.

Our first dive today is at 8am.

Violet, Tobi, me and Matt

Once underwater, while staying on the "floor" to do some exercices, we see a stingray really close to us, swimming around ... It's beautiful !
We also see a beautiful couple of Butterfly fishes.
(and of course lots and lots of other fishes)
(and this time we have taken the underwater camera that Matt has hired)

During this dive, we have to do some exercices on underwater navigation (using a compass).
(this tim, we go down to almost 18m, the deepest we can go)
The next dive is at 11am.

For this dive we can go without instructor.
We decide to go all four together (Violet, Matt, Tobi and me).
We go around, exploring the beautiful reef ... There are quite a lot of "big walls" (vertical wall of coral) with loads of fishes and amzing creatures (sea slugs, cucumbers, weeds, etc.). There's also some kind of canyons in through which we go.
We see parrot fishes, some Moray Eels (but couldn't get a picture on time ...), etc., etc..
It's fantastic.
(down to 16m)

When coming back on the boat, we chill a bit on the deck, before having lunch around 1pm.
And Olaf congratulates us, we are now certified Open Water Divers !

Around 2pm, Sea Quest arrives to pick up some people back to the mainland, and to drop new divers.
Olaf and Nick have to leave, their job is over.

Olaf, our super instructor !

There's some new people coming on board : only 3 divers (a Japanese girl and an Australian older couple), and some instructors (one of them being Maria from Spain, she's really nice).

We then go for another dive at 3pm.

During the dive we see a Starfish, some Christmas Tree Worms (beautiful and funny), a Mauri Wrasse (huge !), and some Giant Clams.
(dive to 10m deep)

Christmas Tree Worms (in blue)

We spend the rest of the afternoon chilling on the deck, in the sun ... (not much to do, but it's so good to do nothing :-) )

Matt, Tobi, and me ... Hard times ...

At 6pm we're having dinner (again a big buffet).

We then have the opportunity to go for a night dive at 7pm.
Maria is our guide (for our first night dive we have to be with an instructor - and it's also easier as we don't know the site well, and even less in the dark).
We each given a torchlight.
The dive is once again fantastic.
All around us it's dark, and we have to explore using our torchlights (all we see is the lights from the other divers, and one light from the boat).
It's a really strange feeling, but it's fantastic ... (a bit scary, but so pleasant)
During the dive, we see many amazing animals once again, but it's a bit different wildlife, and there's even more than during the day (many are nocturnous, and the hunting is much more obvious).
We see some crabs walking on corals, a baby Lionfish (only 3-4cm long !), a Green Turtle (!).
At some point we get back closer to the boat, and stay under it. We then see several sharks swimming around us, looking for some fishes to eat.
We see some White Tip Sharks and Black Tip Sharks (1-2m), and some Grey Reef Sharks (~2m).
It's a bit scary again, but so good !
(and not that scary as we know they will never attack humans)
We then go at the back of the boat to get back on it, and while waiting (I'm the last one), I see many sharks getting really close to me !
Amazing.
(11m deep)

After the dive, around 8pm, we have dessert.
It's an excellent dessert : home made chocolate mousse with ice cream ... and fruit salad).

Before leaving the table, one of the instructors (Neil) tells us that if we want we can go for an Advanced Deep Dive tomorrow morning.
This dive will allow us to go down to 30m deep instead of 18m !
Violet, Tobi, the Japanese girl and I decide to do it (we need to fill some paper work - kind of tests).

We then spend the evening chilling on the deck, and a bit in the "bar", with some girls from the staff.
We talk about many things (mostly about horror movies ... lol).

We then all go to bed quite early, as some of us have to wake up very early tomorrow morning.

Day 201 (Sunday 29/05) - Great Barrier Reef - Diving Lessons 3 - Open Water 1

Wake up at 6:50am.
I take my breakfast with Emily, the German girl from the room (she's going on a tour today, so she's also up early).

I get picked up at 7:45am by the bus to go to the office where we have to check-in and receive our ticket to get onboard the boat (and drop my luggages).

After that, we head to the marina, where we embark on the Sea Quest, a boat from the company.

The boat leaves the marina and goes to the sea.

After 1.5h cruising (I almost got sea sick, but was ok), we stop at a site where we will do some snorkeling (diving only with a tuba, a mask and fins).

There we swim around, already seeing many wonderful things in the water.
The water temperature is perfect, the visibility under water is incredible, and everything is so beautiful ... (corals, fishes, shells, etc.)

After this snorkel, we get back on boat, and after a quick briefing by Olaf, we put our gear on, and get ready for our first dive in the sea !

During the dive, we have a set of exercices to accomplish to see if we're capable.
(establishing buoyancy, cramp removal, exchange from scuba to regulator 5 times at surface, remove and replace the scuba at the surface, remove and replace the weight belt at surface, emptying our mask of the water that is in it while geing underwater, swimming around while staying at the same depth, etc.)
We all manage to do the exercices well, and go for a bit swimming around.
It's fabulous ...

One of the first fish we see is Nemo (the Anemonefish), but we also see many other species, it's just unbelievable !
We also see some Lion Fishes, an Elephant Trunk Fish, and a White-Banded Cleaner Shrimp, it's really cool ! (as we put our hand on a rock, the shrimp comes on it and starts cleaning it, eating the dead skin ... Really cool !
(dive at 12m deep)

We then get back on board the ship for lunch (self service cold buffet).

After lunch, we get ready for our second dive.
This dive is more relaxed, we have less exercices and more exploring.
We still have to do the emergency exercice where we use the regulator of our buddy and go together to the surface slowly.
Appart from that, once again, we swim around, seeing fantastic things all around ...
The feeling of floating in the water, surrounded by all these beautiful things is fabulous ... There's no word to describe it.
(again, we go at 12m deep)

When back on boat, we have to get our stuff ready, as we're going to be transfered to Ocean Quest, a much bigger boat than Sea Quest, on which we will stay for two nights.

We move to a different site, called "Sharks Playground" (nice name ;-) ).
Once there, after the security briefing, we put our things in our cabins.
I have a cabin for myself.

Soon, we get back in the water for our 3rd dive.
This time, we have to do the CESA (heading up to the surface when we're out of oxygen in a secured way).
Again we go exploring ... Amazing.
(once again, we go down to 12m)

I am now a certified diver (but not yet ready to go in the open water - I still need to do some more dives).

For dinner, we have a huge warm buffet, with many delicious meals ...
It's really nice.

There's also a desert, some apple crumble with ice cream.

In the evening, we chill on the deck with the others, watching the sunset, and the fishes around the boat (as well as sharks !).

Olaf stays with us. He is really cool, an excellent teacher, and a really interesting and funny guy.

We go to bed quite early as tomorrow will be a long day.

Day 200 (Saturday 28/05) - Cairns - Diving Lessons 2 - Pool Training 2 - no photos ...

Wake up at 7:45am.
Pick up at 8:45am.

Dive lessons, day 2.
Today we start in the pool.

We first have to assemble our gear ourselves, before getting into the water.
Before putting our gears on, Olaf tolds us he has to make us do a test : we have to swim 200m and stay 10mins floating.

We all pass the test without problem, and can thus continue the exercices.

We're each associated a "buddy", as we can never go diving alone (for security reasons).
Tobi is my buddy, Violet and Matt are buddies, and Flo has Olaf as buddy (Flo will not stay on the boat for the 3 following days).

We put our gears on, and get into the water, for another series of exercices : removing and putting back on the gear while in the water (at the surface as well as underwater), do some emergency stuff (like getting back to the surface or use our buddy's second regulator when we don't have any oxygen left, etc.)

After that, we go back in the classroom, for the theory part 2, chapters 4 & 5..
Again, we watch the DVD, follow some slideshows and do some quizzes.

After that, we have to pass the "final exam".
It's a set of 50 questions, we need at least 75% to continue the training.
I do 100% (too easy ;-) ).

The theory part is now over, we'll meet tomorrow for the real thing : going on the boat to the Great Barrier Reef, and go in the ocean water !

We're then all dropped back at our hostels.

In the evening, I go with Tobi to Reef Teach, where there's a presentation of the aquatic life in the Great Barrier Reef.
There we meet Violet and her friend Maud, and Matt.
(Maud will come with us on the boat, she already has her PADI certificate and is doing her advanced course)

The presentation is given by a girl explaining a lot of things about the living organisms in the Reef, the different families, the risks, some anecdotes, etc.
(with some good ones, like the real sexual life of the Clown Fishes or Anemonefishes - aka "Nemo" in "Finding Nemo" ; or the intelligent octopusses ; etc.)
She also pass around some specimens (of shells, stuffed fishes, dried corals, etc.).
It's very interesting.
(and there's free tea, coffee, and biscuits :-) )

After that, Tobi and I go back to our hostels (he's staying at the Caravella's), the others go out for some drinks (I'm too tired, and want to be in good conditions tomorrow ...).

When arriving at the reception, I see Chris !
(the Danish roommate from Darwin)
We talk a bit, and plan maybe to see each others in the following days (I'm leaving for 3 days, so he may be gone when I'll come back).

I then go to my room, and start packing up my things.
In the room, there's a new roommate, Kieran from Ireland, he's really cool.
We talk about a lot of things.
During the night there's the Champions League Final, that we will not watch - it's at stupid o'clock here ...
He's not for United : he's a Liverpool supporter ... Hehehe, good boy ;-)

I go to sleep quite early.

Day 199 (Friday 27/05) - Cairns - Diving Lessons 1 - Pool Training 1 - no photos ...

Wake up at 7:45am.
Pick up at 8:45am to get to the Deep Sea Divers Den office, where I start today my 5 days diving course.

The course is made up of 2 days learning theory and training in pool, then passing an exam ; followed by 3 days on a boat at the Great Barrier with dives (learning then for fun).

We are five "students" to follow the lessons : Violet from Holland, Tobias from Germany, Florian from Germany and Matthew from England (Leeds).
Our instructor is Olaf, originally from South Africa. He has been diving teacher for 16 years, in many different places.
He's a really funny guy, but also a very good instructor.
His assisted by Nick, from Perth (who is on the verve of becoming instructor too).
He's also a funny guy, there's a really good atmosphere.

Dive lessons, day 1.
Theory part 1, chapters 1, 2 & 3.

After filling a form, being checked by a nurse and then by a doctor (to make sure we satisfy the health pre-requisites), wa can start learning.
We watch a DVD with loads of theory, some slideshows, and do some quizzes.

After lunch, we go for some learning around the pool.
We start with the equipment (how to prepare the gear - checks, assemble, disassemble, get in, remove, etc.)

We then go for some diving basics : stay underwater breathing through the regulator, establishing buoyancy ("floating" underwater, going up and down by breathing, removing the mask and replacing it underwater, how to go into the water, etc.).

After a series of exercices, we can go for a shower, the lessons are over for today.

When I get back to the hostel, I have to check-in for my new room (they couldn't keep me in the same room, so I have to change ... pfff).

In my new room there are 3 German girls from the same village (even though they're not travelling together, lol).
One of them is Emily, she's amazing ... (extremely beautiful, really kind, and has absolutely no accent)
We talk for a while.
There's also an English guy and a Canadian, but they're not in the room now.

I then go for a walk outside, and while wandering around, I see Giulia coming in my direction.
As neither of us has anything planned, we decide to go somewhere to get something to eat.
After a while we find a Korean restaurant that looks quite good (and with pretty reasonable prices).

We're taking a spicy "soup" (big bowl full of meat, vegetables and liquid), it's delicious !
After that we go for an ice cream, then she takes the bus to get back to her hostel.

I go back to mine, and read a bit the booklet we received about how to use the RDP (Recreational Dive Planner).
(the RDP is roughly a set of tables to determine how long you can stay underwater at a certain depth depending on previous dives)
(it's not easy to concentrate, as 2 people in the room are talking together non-stop - Emily and the Canadian guy)

Day 198 (Thursday 26/05) - Cairns

Wake up at 9:30am.

After breakfast, I meet Giulia in front of the Peterpans shop.

After thinking about what we could do today, we decide to go and hire some bicycles for the day.

We ask the guy at the shop what are the good places to go (as well as where we could go if we were renting scooters).

The places he shows us (on photographs) don't look that special (or we've seen to many sites that look more or less the same).

So we decide to go for the bicycles, and ask him how to get to Palm Cove (Giulia heard about the beach there and and saw pictures, it seems nice).

To get there, it's really easy, it's straight ahead, one road to follow, on 28km ...
The weather is perfect, not too hot, and with a pleasant wind. The road to get there is completely flat, it's easy.

Once at Palm Cove, we just go for a short walk around the "village" (one small road with hotels, restaurants and shops). It's the typical holiday atmosphere.

We then go on the beach, and stay there for a while in the sun ...

The sun is burning, but with the wind, it's perfect (I will actually get a bit sun burnt on my arms and legs, but not too much :-) ).

We stay there for 3-4 hours, before heading back to Cairns (28km again ...).

Once the bicycles returned to the shop, we decide to go to eat something, and end up in an Italian restaurant.

I get a lasagna, Giulia gets the calledonis.
It's pretty good and well served.

After dinner, we split, as she has to take the bus to get back to her hostel, and that we both have to wake up early tomorrow.

I get back to the hostel, and talk with some of my roommates in the room.
Damien (the Swiss guy), is actually a Liverpool fan, and goes to Anfield at least once a year ! (nice guy ;-) )

There's also Emma from England, that is going to study and live in ... Liverpool ! (she doesn't loke cities in general, but apparently since she went to that one, she loves it)
And there's Cristina, from London.
I just got to see some of the other roommates, a couple from England and 2 other girls from ... England.
(that makes 6 Brits out of 8 in the room - 6.5 if you count my half ;-) )

I then go for a walk in the city, enjoying the atmosphere (but it's cold !).

Back to the hostel, I go to bed quite early, have to wake up quite early tomorrow, and need to be in good shape.

Indeed, as I'm in Cairns, there's something I have to do : tomorrow, I start my diving lessons !