We passed our PADI exams!
Trip Start
Feb 20, 2006
1
20
55
Trip End
Ongoing
Coffs Harbour,
Australia
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Our instructor then showed us how to assemble our scuba equipment. He had us practice that about 4 times. We spent the entire day practicing different techniques under water: Filling our masks with water and emptying it, removing our masks, breathing with no mask, sharing air with our buddy etc. It was about 5:00 pm when we got back to the dive centre. We then went back to the hostel, had supper and prepared some quizzes for the next day.
On our second day of course, we headed out to Solitary Island. It took about 30-40 minutes to get there and of course, I got sick on the boat. Once we arrived, everyone got in the water and I stayed back until I felt better. My instructor was really nice and patient and told me that we were in no hurry and if I felt better that we could do the dive. Luckily, it passed and I got into the water and did feel much better. After I got my scuba tank on and everything else, we headed down below. Wow, what an amazing experience. It's hard to describe... It feels strange for the first time but you quickly forget about all the awkward gear and in moments you feel like you don't even have it on. We started to descend and all I was thinking was wow, I'm really breathing underwater. I followed my instructor and he pointed out some fish. So many different colors, bright blue and turquoise. Some really big ones and smaller ones, even Nemo! I saw a turtle, a leopard shark, starfish and coral. We then met up with the group and Tim swam right under me making me laugh. We then came back to the top, got back into the boat and headed to another island.
I bet you can't guess what happened... I got sick again. This time, I wasn't up to doing my second dive and waited with the instructor while the others did their dive. I actually fell asleep on the boat and woke up when everyone got back on the boat. On the way back, I felt better but still a bit queasy. That night, we went to the pharmacy or what they call "chemist" in Australia and it was closed. We even went into town but it closed at 7:00 pm.
In these smaller towns, everything closes early, really early like 4:00 p.m. Even the restaurants will close at 2:00p.m and reopen at 6:00p.m People here eat really late, like 9:00-10:00 p.m even the free BBQ's aren't until 7:00p.m so Tim and I end up buying groceries and making our own BBQ. The stores are even closed on Saturday! That's why we weren't able to get our underwater pictures developed. We will have to wait until the next town. All to say, I never got my pills for seasickness so I didn't want to risk getting sick again.
The following day, Tim left for his two final dives while I slept in a bit and took it easy. I actually spent the entire day reading my PADI book. It was about 1:30 when I met up with Tim at the dive centre and we left for lunch. Later, we went back to the dive centre for more theory. That night, we reviewed all of the quizzes and studied for our exam.
Yesterday, we wrote our exam. It took about an hour to complete. Guess what, we both got 86% so we were really happy. Tim is now certified and I will complete my last 3 dives up the coast. We were told that there are places where there's shore diving, so we'll look into that. I bought some kwells today for travel sickness prevention. There suppose to be really good for diving. I also bought some bracelets that are supposed to help control nausea.
Were leaving later today for Byron Bay. Were taking the bus around 3:00 and expect to get in at 8:00pm. We already booked our hostel but only for one night. We'll see how it goes but were excited to get to Brisbane, home of the world's largest koala sanctuary. Finally, I'll be able to hold a koala!
One thing about Australia, people are so nice here. Everyone wants to know where we are from and can't get over that we leave our houses when there's a snow storm. Another interesting thing, there's hardly any traffic lights here, only roundabouts. Everyone says "cheers" or our favorite "no worries". Like I mentioned earlier, pharmacies are called "chemists" and from what we could see, all students wear uniforms. Something I think they should do back home. Back in Sydney, when 3:00 o'clock came around, you would see groups of different colors depending on which school then went to.
I hope everyone had a great St-Pattie's day. We're thinking of you... love Tim and Mary
Our website is now up and running... lostaroundtheworld.com
