Er. . . Its windy down below

  Rottnest Island, Australia
Saturday, April 7, 2007

And before anyone says anything I am not talking about either of us having a problem with flatulence although I have been know to have before I think it runs in the family.

I am of course talking about down there under the sea. Now I know you're probably thinking she's finally lost it and needs locking up how can it be windy under the sea but read on I promise you it really is windy down there.

So it's a 6 am start for us today as we are going diving over on Rottnest Island which is about 45 minutes by boat (the dot on the map is a major guess and probably a million k's out but it's somewhere near there).

Rottnest 02

The sunrise is amazing and I take 2 pics just out side our house but by the time we've walked up to the train station the sky is looking pretty normal so I can't get anymore. We take the train into the city then on to Freemantle where we meet the boat which will take us to Rottnest. We looked at several dive companies one of which was fully booked so eventually decided on Rottnest Dive which has a shop situated in Perth and has the only dive shop on the island.

As we sail out to sea it is calm, the swell is low and the sky looks a bit cloudy but the sun is still shining so we figure we are in for a good day. How wrong can we be!

My love hate relationship with this diving lark has turned back to HATE!!!!! Why oh why do I put my self through it, it is such a nightmare, I'm such a nightmare too I know but Ben says I have to experience all kinds of weather as it will make me a better diver; yeah right!!

Dive 04

When I booked the diving the TV weather people had forecast temperatures of mid 30s for the whole Easter weekend and now it is already looking grim (9 am ish) and I am pretty pissed off as yesterday it was beautiful. But it's too late now as it has all been paid for so we have to go. Ben is so looking forward to today and I guess I am a little more cautious as I always am. When I say its looking grim I mean it is still around 25 degrees with a little breeze and somewhat overcast so we can just hope the rain holds off at least.

Rottnest 03

We arrive at Rottnest Island vacate the boat and collect what ever dive gear we need. The boat is full by the way with about 20 people on and 2 dive masters who are a bloody waste of time for sure! We get back on the boat and sail off to where we are doing the first dive, which is back in the direction we came about 20 minutes out. I have no recollection of what it is called and it will mean nothing to you so it doesn't really matter. By now the sea has turned a bit ruff, the tiny boat is swishing about all over the place and I struggle to stay up right as I fight with my wet suit; I think I've put on a few pounds!!! So I am now feeling sick and really not in the mood to dive but have no choice so off we go to the back of the boat lined up like oversized penguins waiting to get wet. I'm perhaps not as anxious about jumping in the sea (I've done it more than 10 times now) as I am about throwing up and feeding the fish.

I said above that the 2 dive masters are a waste of space so I better explain. As we are gearing up one of them begins to tell us how the dive will go. "Er just jump in, swim this way and that, the whole reef thing is all around you!"
What is that all about?? Where's the map of the dive site with pin points marked on to stop us getting lost? And why aren't you just splitting us into 2 groups and taking 10 each? This isn't a good sign if you ask me and it's the first time Ben and I will have dived just on our own with no guide or any other divers for that matter.

What's going through my mind right now? Have you seen the film Open Water about the couple who get left behind and eaten by sharks!!!

So that's it we just jump in, descend and drift around.

How best can I describe it? Oh what's the phrase "ITS SHIT."

There is a really strong current which is back and forth and it feels like we are caught up in gale force winds with a twister looming somewhere in the distance I swear. It is like drifting over green fields in part full of long tangled weeds all green, brown and yellow. Huge rocks look like small hills you could stand and fly a kite on a bright summer's day even though it is pretty drab down here.

Dive 16

At times if I just stop still (which is pretty hard in this current) it is like the ground below the weeds is actually moving and at a pace that is making me dizzy. The current propels me forward at speed then stops me as it changes direction and takes me back to almost where I was. I figure that the only way to actually make some ground is as it propels me forward I kick my little legs twice as much so the motion of my fins takes me further forward and then it is pretty pointless to fight against the current which is now almost taking my breath away.

It is bizarre!!!

The only thing I can compare it with is sometimes when you look up at the sky and the clouds seem to be moving really fast as if they are racing trying to over take each other. Well it's kinda like that but it's the rocks and the earth below the weeds that seem to be moving really fast. It's really weird and I know you will have no understanding of what I am trying to explain unless you are a diver and have dived in such a strong current.

Dive 18

We don't see anything out of the ordinary but my bloody under water camera won't work again so now I plan to write to Olympus and complain as it shouldn't be doing this all the time. It seems that once I get past 5 meters it just won't work so sorry I get no pics today either well except the ones I take on land. However we also have the under water video now which Ben thoroughly enjoys even though there isn't much to see so I will take some snap shots off the video footage to put on here. They are not the best but will have to do. It was also quite murky down there as the coral sporning thing happened last week so there are lots of weird things floating around and I'm not talking about us divers!

We don't see a single diver on our first dive and come up to the surface what seems like miles away from the boat but we aren't the only ones and everyone is a little pissed off at the way the whole thing is set up. I also think that the current had a lot to do with it as we didn't just go in one direction and I actually thought we came back on ourselves at some point.

Back on the boat we head to the island for lunch while huge waves lap on the boat continuingly making it to rock from side to side making me feel like i will be feeding the fish sometime soon for sure.

Lunch consists of a sandwich (ham, cheese or chicken), an apple and a glass of orange juice all just left out on the counter! This is a joke for sure where's the lovely salad, streak and fish that we normally get on other dives. The tea, the coffee? Thankfully there is a DOME coffee shop upstairs so we head up for a coffee and just chill out till its time to get back on the boat. Ben is more than ready for dive number two me I'd rather sit here for a while and watch the world go by!

Dive 28

So back on the boat we head out not as far this time can't remember the name of this dive site either but we get a little excited as the DM tells us there are two wrecks here both over a hundred years old even though there is a some what 40 meter swim to get to the first one. Can't we just moor the boat a bit closer me thinks. So in we go and as I descend my bloody masks comes off don't ask me how so I flap my way back to the surface sort myself out then descend back down. The second dive will average around 8 meters so we set off in the direction of the wrecks. The current is worse than it was before seriously I have to hold onto Bens BCD so I don't get swept off to a foreign land and I don't enjoy it one little bit.

It is freezing cold; however I have now mastered the art of peeing in the water to keep me warm for all of a few seconds still it takes my mind off how painful it is down here today. We finally float over one of the wrecks which isn't all that but I have to say parts of it were pretty cool (seeing remaining steps to the deck down below and a plaque that some one has submerged down there)

Dive 56

and perhaps had I been in a better frame of mind, with tropical waters around me and zero current I may have enjoyed it just a little bit more. I'm sorry guys but this is so not my kind of diving. Ben of course is having a whale of a time with the video camera cause he would dive anywhere as long as he dives he don't care. Thankfully this time we came up right next to the boat and climb on board.

If you come here diving don't be expecting to find all nice pretty corals and beautiful coloured fish cause it ain't happening let me tell ya although there are quite a few caves and swim throughs which Ben tried to get me to go through and failed as i politiely signal him to get stuffed. So just what did we see? Well I don't remember much but there are a few fish just general dull fish mostly nothing spectacular.

Dive 12

I see a small white ray which kinda like glows as everything else around it is so dull and try to convey to Ben what I have just seen, he does not understand my sign language as I flap my arms around (he probably things I'm drowning!) then point down under weeds to where it hides. Finally he gets my drift and then it swims back out and he follows it with the video. A cute orange fish which doesn't like Ben chasing it around with the video camera, a yellow star fish taking a break - it looks like it is sitting down perhaps after running up the hill in these gale force winds (see pics)!

Dive 24

A tiny tiny yellow and blue fish which plays hide and seek while Ben films it diving in and out of a hole in a rock. Too many weeds to mention and even some good old white sand. I wouldn't recommend diving with Rottnest Dive but if you actually stay on Rottnest and want to dive you will have to dive with them cause it is the only dive shop on the island. There are a few other dive shops in Perth and Freemantle who dive around Rottnest so we will perhaps try one of those when summer comes back around.

We head back to the island for one last coffee before we sail back to freo and enjoy a pleasant drive back to Perth stopping of for KFC before catching the train back home.

We ache all over so we enjoy a nice hot radox bath and get some much needed sleep as tomorrow we will have a house full of people.

To be continued. . . . .