So I have been on Koh Tao for about a week. Relaxing on the beach, eating good food, and having a great time. I stayed in a bungalow 100 meters from the beach for the first 4 nights then moved to free accomedation while I was taking the rescue diving course.

The course took 3 days and was great, even if it was tiering for me. Learning how to respond to other divers in distress makes you much more comfortable if you were to get into the situation yourself. I highly recommend it for any scuba divers.

Well, once I completed the course I went back to relaxing. Sit around, read, do some fun scuba dives. Life is hard.

Ok, I have been told before that pants are required.¬† Or, more to the point, shorts aren’t allowed.¬† Somehow when I ended up heading that way today I forgot and was wearing shorts.¬† I ended up just walking around Bangkok for several hours.

Earlier in the day I decieded to walk to Pantip Plaza.¬† For those who don’t know, this is a tech superstore of sorts.¬† There are six levels of every type of tech I could think of.¬† I am tempted to go back there tomorrow and buy a dslr camera but I need to know more about what I want, what kind of lens, etc and I haven’t researched it enough to spend that kind of money.¬† Maybe on my way out of the country.

I am still looking at where I am going to go next.  So much to do in Thailand and I have no clue.  Maybe I should just head to the beach while I figure it out.

I am using my iPhone a ton and I have to say, having a gps and maps in your pocket rocks when you have no clue if the person driving you that doesn’t speak english and has someone else’s picture on display as the driver is taking you to the right place.¬† Also useful is the thai language app from lonely planet.¬† So nice to have your phone teach you thai, or translate for you.

So, my work and holiday visa would have run out the end of November and they wanted me to stay longer (I still need to work out how much longer).  After a month of getting things together and going through the process I found that I had to leave Australia to actually apply for the 457 Work visa. 

I picked Queenstown.¬† I had been here before for two weeks and it was great.¬† Expensive but great.¬† I didn’t do all the bungy this time that I did last time so it didn’t turn out that expensive.¬† I called today and my Visa had been granted so I can go back whenever, but why rush things?

I did go Skydiving.¬† Wow.¬† I wasn’t really expecting it to be as cold as it was.¬† On the way up we started being able to see our breath after 12000 feet.¬† By 15000 when the door opened my face was already cold.¬† I was the first to leave the plane.¬† Even though I had done this before I still had a few jitters as I sat on the edge with my feet hanging over.¬† A quick push off and we did a back flip comming out of the plane.¬† Falling with your back to the earth watching the plane get smaller seemed much longer than the three seconds it was before we turned to the earth.¬†

I enjoyed this dive more for several reasons.  One was that without a photographer diving with us I could focus on other things; the sceanery, the freezing air on my cheeks, the cloud we almost dropped through.  The mountains here are remarkable (ha ha) with just a bit of snow on top still.  The huge lake and lush green fields were all amazing.

Tomorrow it is back to Melbourne and back to work on Friday.¬† These were my first days off since I started other than one public holiday.¬† I know there are some work-aholics out there but 5 months straight working 8 or more hours¬†every day entitles me to a break.¬† I get another day off on Tuesday.¬† No not to celebrate the election but for Melbourne Cup day.¬† Don’t know what I will do yet but I will find something.

This last weekend I flew up to Cairns.¬† The taxi driver that picked me up from the airport was the same one that had driven me to my hotel three weeks prior.¬† We had a small chuckle about actually knowing where I was going this time instead of just “somewhere that starts with an M.” So right after I checked into the hotel I went straight to bed.¬† Not the most exciting thing but it was past 1am and I had to get up early the next day.

Sadly I woke up without an alarm an hour and a half early and couldn’t sleep anymore so I took time getting ready and ate a real breakfast before going to the docks to board the boat.¬† I am amazed at how much of a process this is for them, I have always thought that scuba was a low volume, high touch industry but I guess that changes anywhere there are hundreds of people going everyday.

On the boat ride out we filled out the paperwork and were oriented to the dive sites.¬† There are going to be some fish and some coral… big suprise!¬† I was trying to make sure my new camera and case were setup and didn’t leak.¬† I had never used it before so I was trying to find out which settings were best.¬† This took me through the first dive and I still hadn’t found out the feature I was looking for.

I used a combination of underwater macro mode and burst picture capture so I could try to get several pictures and delete the ones I don’t want.¬† I ended up taking over 300 picutres on my dives with many many crap shots.¬† Hey, it is a new camera and my first time taking underwater pictures.¬† Well, that and I am not the best photographer anyway.

I will upload the ones that made it through my deletes (about 100) to my photo site for you all to look at soon.  Also going to redesign my site a little, who know when that will happen though.

It was a great weekend basking in the tropical heat and scuba diving with all the fish.¬† A bit too “easy” for scuba though.¬† I am used to taking an hour to get ready and jumping into 10 degree water with only 5 meter visibility. Being able to see something 30 meters away seems like cheating.¬† I plan to cheat more often.

So, after my last post I decided where to go.  On Friday after work I came home, made a call, and booked a weekend up in Cairns.  Even though I will be back up here in three weeks for a friends birthday I needed a weekend in the sun to relax and think about nothing.  This trip was exactly that.

The flight up here was slightly annoying.¬† The plane was delayed by 40 minutes when it wasn’t suposed to land until 1am anyway.¬† Also my reading light didn’t work.¬† I know, I was actually trying to read.¬† Martin Chuzzelwit by Dickens.¬† I bought it when I was in Brisbane back in June and hadn’t read past the first couple chapters. So, instead of reading I just listened to music for the 3.5 hour flight.¬† I need new headphones.¬† The ones I like got a short in them and the replacements are too big and have poor sound.¬† The ones I want are only sold in the US so I may try to do some relay shipping to get new ones.

OK, that is enough complaining, now about my vacation this weekend.¬†¬† I flew up on Friday night, and stayed in a hotel instead of the hostel.¬† I think this was a good choice on my part and not only because the hostel was full.¬† They include simple conviniances that I never used to care about; like towels, soap and shampoo.¬† If you are flying and can’t bring this in a carry-on anymore it is nice.¬† I think they don’t care about it on domestic flights anymore but I would rather not worry about it.¬† It is also a great location right on the Esplanade.¬† It made walking to and from anywhere close enough that I could leave whatever I wanted at the hotel and stop in to grab something instead of worrying about leaving things somewhere as I was swimming.

I got sunburnt!¬† Yeah!¬† I actually like it when you are just a little bit crispy.¬† It is just enough to make my co-workers jealous as they were sitting in the rain all weekend.¬† And speaking about the sun, I forgot sunglasses.¬† For me it is hard to go from being inside, in winter, looking at a computer screen everyday for hours to looking across the ocean with the sun glare.¬† This means that I went and bought some new sunnies. I have been meaning to for a while, my last ones I bought in New Zealand dug into my ears when I wore them for more than a couple hours.¬† I wanted to get some polarized ones but they didn’t have any in a style I liked so I just ended up with a pair of Ray Ban.
Well, since it is still Sunday and I have a whole day to go enjoy up here in Cairns, I am going to go to the store to buy some suncream and go lay by the lagoon.  In Cairns there are too many bad things in the ocean (jellyfish, crocadiles, sharks, etc) so they made a free public lagoon.  Great place to hang relax for a weekend, I wonder if they will give me a discount on flights if I come up every weekend?  I still have lots of Oz to see though so we will see when I end up on my next vacation.

Last weekend I took the Advanced Open Water scuba course.¬† I was planning on taking it sometime, but couldn’t decide if I should take it now or in two months.¬† It allows me to dive a lot more sites around Melbourne and anywhere else I go.¬† Since I plan on going to Cairns in September I wanted to take it before so I have the ability to do all the dives.

The dives were great.  I did my first night dive.  Amazing, all the different life that comes out at night to feed. Yes, I got lost.  But I found my way back too (just look for the light in 5m visibility).  I also did a deep dive.  28 m down in 7 C (44 F) degree water.  That dive was short because some other students were cold. The fish and plant life along the wall were great.

The last dive was a drift dive.¬† I got stuck with the end so I was swimming the most.¬† It was a pretty boring dive over sand but completed the fifth dive of the course so that was good.¬† As I was drifting along I went right over a crab and it jumped to try to snip me.¬† He didn’t touch me or I would have been eating crab on Sunday.¬†¬† At the end of the dive I swam right over a shark (less than 1.7m (5 foot) though).¬† It was boring and just sitting on the bottom.¬† I didn’t want to kick it to see it move so I just let it be, the smart idea I think.
So what plans do I have now?  First, I am taking a weekend off.  Four weekends of scuba is a bit much for me when I am working all during the week.  A month not having a day off has taken a toll ($3.50, dang loch ness monster).  In three weeks, I will go to Cairns for a day of scuba and to see a friend for her birthday before she leaves Oz.  I am excited for both the warm weather and water.  I think my 7mm wetsuit will be a bit warm so I may just try to skin dive (without any exposure suit).

As for other plans, I need a vacation.¬† Yes I know I am in Oz and this should be a vacation but I am working and taking classes so I need a vacation from my vacation.¬† I think I may do something for my birthday (still 2 weeks away, I hope I can last) but I don’t know what.¬† Post any ideas you have.

Here are some to start you thinking.¬† Go to western australia.¬† Go to Thailand.¬† Go to New Zealand.¬† Don’t go anywhere and relax.¬† Take a sailing class. Go scuba diving. Crap. Ignore the last couple. Not the vacation I need.

Turns out once I finished with the classes that when you just go out to enjoy a dive it is really a lot of fun.¬† I went on three dives yesterday.¬† The first one was not that fun.¬† There are several reasons for that; I had gotten up at 4:30 to make it to the dive, I only had a drunk a V (carbonated energy drink) and had not eaten, and I was using new equipment I wasn’t used to.¬† This lead to me purging the V from my system once on the boat.¬† I highly recommend that you don’t drink carbonation before diving, the whole air compresses thing should have been a clue but I am not the brightest when I am tired.

The second dive was great.¬† It was a drift dive, one where you don’t need to swim and let the current take you across the dive site.¬† By then I had gotten my equipment sorted so I just sat in the current and flew along the bottom.¬† There were tons of sponges a few rays and some fish.¬† My dive computer had flooded so I couldn’t check my depth or time underwater so I was a little nervous but I just checked my buddy’s from time to time.

The third dive was another fun one.  My first scallop dive.  We were just dropped into a scallop field and went collecting.  I got about 10 scallops, saw a nice crab, and a gigantic ray (2 meters).  When I got home, I cooked them all up with a nice salad and had a fine feast!  I need to start cooking more for myself but I find cooking for one hard.

So, where does that leave me.  Next weekend I am scheduled to go do my advanced open water course.  This will open up a lot more dive sites here in Melbourne to me.  I would be able to go see more of the wrecks and submarines that are scattered around.  In addition, I will be a lot more confident about my equipment so I can enjoy diving more and focus on the beautiful sceanery!

On Saturday and Sunday I finished my Open Water scuba course.¬† Saturday I was diving at the pier finishing most of the “skills” we needed to do.¬† Taking off my mask underwater is my least favorite.¬† I will try not to do that one often.¬† If the mask is just filled with water but still on my face it is fine but I found that I try to breath through my nose and get loads of water if my mask is off.¬† I am glad I never have to do that again (at least on purpose).

Sunday we headed off on the boat and went to a reef (60 feet below the surface).  It is like swimming in a big aquarium!  Tons of fish and colorful plant life.  The second dive was amazing.  There were fish swiming all around me and seals.  They can do flips and somersaults better than I can but I was trying anyway.  I was amazed at how warm I was in the 10 degree water (50 F).  It gives me confidence that I can scuba pretty much anywhere.  The next step is to do some fun adventure dives and see more of the fun!

Ok, I know I have been bad.¬† I have had things to write but just haven’t found the time to sit and type them up.¬† Three weeks is a long time and lots is happening.

To start, I have been getting my Open Water scuba certification.  That was last weekend and this coming up one.  I have to get up at 5am to catch my ride down to where we are going to go so I think it will be an early night for me.

Scuba is fun once you learn to control your breathing and get past some of the unfamiliar things.¬† Like having to locate an air source after you lose it and remembering to breath out until you find it.¬† If I lose a way to breath I want to hold my breath.¬† Hopefully I don’t drownthis weekend.¬† Work was joking a little bit how bad off they would be if I didn’t come back.

I have had some friends come visit which is great but keeps me up late on a work night.  I feel like an old man being all responsible and worrying about work n things.  The job is going excellent and I may be asked to stay on another five months.  I am not sure how this affects things with my New Zealand visa but I will work that out when I know a little more.  It should be settled in a couple weeks.

Well, I hope that clears up a little of what I have been up to.  If you harass me a little I will post more often.  I just get busy with life and forget.

I know I haven’t been updating my blog that often.¬† It has been because I haven’t really been doing all that many different things.¬† I mean, blog post #29 of “I sat around the hostel again today” would get old.¬† Anyway, I will try to do more things so I can write more posts…

Last night I went out with some friends to a comedy show.¬† It has been a while since I have been to a comedy club and this was a better one.¬† The show didn’t start till after midnight and was being recorded to air on TV.¬† It will showup as something related to the Melbourne international comedy show.¬† I am not sure what station or even where it will be aired, possibly only in Australia.¬† If you want to see people crawling under tables to get away from being the brunt of a joke (it only made it worse for him) then I would recommend watching when it comes on.