I thought I would upload a few pictures so you can see where I have been. Beach and lagoon
Beach
Hotel
Sunset
Sunset on walk to the Airport

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!