Bubble Bubble Bubble

[pauln1964]

Had a "Try Dive" session at the gym last night. Much fun in all.

Spent a short while being introduced to the equipment and taken through basic use and safety, then into the swimming pool for 45 minutes. Sat on the bottom for a while getting used to it. Swam about a bit. Tried removing and replacing the regulator and clearing the mask. All ok. The only slightly weird moment was when I didn't have the mask tight enough at the start and it leaked a small amount of water round the base of my nostrils. Very difficult trying not to inhale at that point, but sorted it quickly.

Almost certainly booking in for a full training course before the Australia trip, which is now looking likely to be

Thursday 29th Sept. Fly to Bali, stay somewhere nice but reasonably cheap for 4/5 nights
Tuesday 4th October. Fly to Melbourne, staying with my sister through the weekend. Do the Penguin Parade and possibly the Ocean Road. Clare will probably take us to a winery.
Monday 10th October. Fly to Cairns. Stay there for about 6 nights, including 2 on a boat trip out round the Barrier Reef to do some diving.
Sunday 16th October. On to Fiji and just relax for a few days, coming home on either the Friday or Saturday.

That itinerary is with a couple of travel agents to get us quotations, but we're well on the way to being sorted.

Comments

[november-girl.livejournal.com]

I'm so jealous. I'd wanted to scuba dive just about all my life and finally got to give it a go in Tenerife in 1996. The problem was that my claustrophobia kicked in big time, and no matter how many times I tried to do it I just kept bursting into tears. It was really upsetting, especially as I wasn't expecting it at all: my claustrophobia usually applies only to people and I love swimming underwater. I wish I could get over it, but I fear that I'll be confined to snorkelling.

[nortysarah.livejournal.com]

Just be warned - Bali is like Ibiza. Don't stay in Kuta. It's a dump. If I were you I would try and see if you could get to Komodo. From what I remember it's less than a day from Bali by boat. And be careful of Cairns. It's full of flies and very very hot and there's nothing to do there. Try going down to the Whitsundays which are beautiful or Mission Beach which is great too. Give me a call if you want to.

[arwel.livejournal.com]

I can reccomend ProDive in Cairns if you've yet to book your diving trip. It's also worth a visit to the mad irish marine biologist at Reef Teach before a trip out to the reef. He does excellent talks in the evenings.