1000 Leagues Under the Sea

After 3 days of sailing in Witsunday Islands it was back to reality on the mainland. Once we docked, our task was to get back to where we came from which was Cairns, North Queensland. My personal goal in the next 24 hours was to avoid a 10 hour bus ride as well as $180 spent between the two of us. With a bit of luck and a charming personality, I was able to con...vince a nice couple from the UK to give us a lift and we would share gas with them. The only catch was that we needed to leave then and there which was fine by us. A long ride, it definately was. We made it in 7 hours straight but nevertheless our goal was achieved.

My next priority was to get my open water scuba certification. After analyzing all the pro's and con's of each and every company in town, we decided to go with the best priced and away we go! 4 days, 2 of which are spent on the Great Barrier Reef and you are certified (assuming you complete all the skills necessary)

To give you a bit more background on diving in this little town, this is probably the number one tourist activity to do. Therefore, it is their mission to get people in and out of their courses faster than Ford can produce pickup trucks or McDonalds can make Big Macs. Crash course, production line, you name it, we felt it. The only reward we had after 2 full days of classroom and pool training was that we were going out onto the reef and spend another 2 full days in one of the natural wonders of the world! 2 days, 1 night, 6 dives and a feeling that you want more!

Highlights of day 1 included a night dive with a torch where I was able to see a shark, a turtle sleeping in a cave, a parrot fish sleeping in his own mucus and thousands of fish swiming at your finger tips when you shine the light at them. After the first day, I didn't think anything could top that experience... I was wrong.

Day 2 began at 6am (for those who know that I am NOT a morning person, this is significant). As we enter the water, it is completely dark everywhere. I don't think that the fish were even awake. But nevertheless, we did the dive and when we came back up, the sun had risen and it was going to be another gorgeous day! If that wasn't enough, we were lucky enough to see the first humpback whale of the season as it breached right in front of us. This was then followed up with a dive where I was able to have a beer, do a little dance and make friends with all the people under the sea.

In the end, the animosity I was feeling towards the quality of instruction was overshadowed by the fact that I did receive my certification and can now dive anywhere in the world! (except for Norway for some reason - which who the hell would want to dive in anyways)

- the lone asian