5:45am Arrived at Go Dive shop, loaded up the trailer and set off down the M1 to Tweed Heads in N.S.W. Had a fast run and arrived on the river front at 7:00am where we were greeted by pelicans. The sky was blue and the water was very calm and flat as we loaded up the dive boat and set off to the dive site with no spare seats. I wouldn't normally think of diving in this area but today was special because Zoe was taking her first open water dive and was about to qualify as a diver. She was very confident and had no problems setting up her equipment and getting ready to dive. I am very proud of Zoe the way she conducts herself, it shows independence and confidence within and strength of character. I don't think that I could have done this at 14 years of age, so well done that girl. I buddied up with Tod who is the father of a lovely 12 year old girl on the same open water course.
Dive 1:
Bottom time: 50min
Max depth: 14.5m
Temp: 21c
What was supposed to be a simple wall dive, simply wasn't. The visibility was at best 5m and the current was strong in all directions. We set off due east heading into the current and passed mooring lines 3 then 4 and went a little bit further; checked air pressure and turned around when I was at 100 bar followed the wall back whilst heading due west and found the current was very head strong making it difficult to return. We both surfaced and took a rest which made me feel sea sick bobbing up and down. I said to Tod it will be better if we try to find the wall and some depth to which he agreed. 5 mins later he signalled that he was tired and wanted to surface again, when we saw how far the boat was we descended once again to find the wall. Once on the wall the current swept us towards the mainland past the dive boat on mooring 2 where I spotted another mooring line with no.1 tied to it. I felt like I was in a washing machine and didn't enjoy the conditions at all. I was cold, the visibility was poor and the current was tiring to say the least. The dive brief was also poor so we didn't know the dangers, how far to go, when to turn around etc.
OK enough moaning, it's not Go Dives fault that the current was strong and the visibility was poor and I was most impressed at what I saw during the ordeal. Firstly we saw 5 large green turtles, one with a tracking device fitted to it's shell, one small turtle covered in white barnacles, one the size of a table and one with one large barnacle that looked like a volcano on the side of it's shell. There was an abundance of fish to see and interact with. Black trigger fish were friendly for once, saw a large shoal of barracuda, many different species of parrot fish, stone fish, bull ray, clams, sponges everywhere, sea urchins of all sizes and some lovely soft corals with yellow and black stripes. One type of sea urchin was black with bright blue/purple star patterns on the shell. Saw my first wobbegong shark sleeping on a rock and didn't know what it was.
I would like to dive this site again when the visibility is better as there is a lot to see and I'm sure it has a lot more to offer than I found.
Surface interval of 1hr: Couldn't eat or drink, was heaving from the smell of neoprene and the motion of the ocean, I hate small boats and will but sea sickness pills for next time.
We saw three dolphins close to the boat and watched two whales heading south. Whale watching season is almost over for the year so we were lucky to see them.
Dive 2:
Bottom time: 40 min
Bottom depth: 18m
Temp: Uncomfortably cold
Second dive was to head due north for 50m and explore and area called turtle reef or gardens then return to the boat. What a shit brief, just head over there you can't miss it. Well Tod had a compass that he didn't know how to use so I took a bearing from the position of the sun and the lines in the sand to get a sense of direction and down we went. We swam and swam and saw bugger all but rocks and sand, we did however find two turtles and one large wobbegong shark which was cool but other than that we were both cold and didn't enjoy the dive. Tod found three gold balls that got washed from somewhere up the river and he used up all of his air trying to keep warm. That dive was so bad that on the bus ride home I was thinking to myself, I've just bought a new wetsuit, snorkel, mask and fins plus a dive knife and paid for Zoe to qualify as a diver so that we can dive together and here I am feeling sick, tired, disappointed and out of pocket. Is it all worth it? When I get home I have to run a bath and wash everything in fresh water, then rinse in a soap solution and hang out to dry. Give me a big live aboard dive boat any day and keep the day diving for those who can't get time off work.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Samford Skirmish
Saturday 22 August
8:30am I am standing in a line waiting to collect my camouflage overalls and 400 rounds of ammo. The signed piece of paper in my hand that I am about to hand over clearly states that if I get injured during the course of the day then I can't sue the operators of Skirmish. Well, that isn't going to stop me from having some fun is it?
Two mates have their birthdays in the same week and invited about twenty others to join them on this fine sunny day in the middle of winter, and what could be nicer then blue skies and 30c? We had planned to play old v young and get into some serious rivalry however, three bucks parties turned up and umpteen others all with the same mindset, to kill someone.
The briefing was fast and concise with information overload, only the beginners like myself had to listen carefully, now what was that bit he said about giving someone within a 5m radius the opportunity to surrender, I don't think so. And something else about shooting the wildlife, surely there can't be any left this place has been here for years; off we went through the safety tunnel collecting our face mask and weapon into the unknown woods. Our group all collected black helmets as did many other players whilst the remainder collected green helmets, with so many people turning up the group was split into two teams of 65 a side. We had a few practice shots at the multi coloured targets and waited instructions. The first game was to attack and defend a fort, the attackers had to drag a bomb (45 gal drum) up to the perimeter of the fort to win. If attackers got hit they had to go back to the start line before returning to the game, defenders were out of the game if they got hit and had to sit in a group inside the fort. Towards the end of the game one of the nutters on our team stormed the fort and proceeded to shoot the hostages, don't remember anything about that in the briefing.
Game 2:
Two teams and three bases, both teams have to protect their flag and capture the opposing teams flag whilst fighting for possession of the empty base. Between the three bases are two lakes with a series of bridges linking the bases. When you get hit you have to run to a blue barrel and touch it to be back in the game; I twisted my ankle in this game and got shot by one of my own team whilst defending the bridge, this is a fun game and very tiring in the sun.
Game 3:
Similar to game two except the setting is in bushland and there is plenty of room for stalking and surprise attacks. Whilst hiding behind a screen waiting to ambush the other team, the chap next to me said that he wanted to get the man in the dress. Being a bucks day out the poor bugger getting married was dressed in a white nurses uniform with green vertical stripes, he had no protection on his bare legs and to make him more of a target they gave him a yellow helmet and tied two blue helium balloons to his shoulders. I spotted him hiding in the trees and pointed him out to my buddy whereupon he duly got up and ran after him never to be seen again. Getting very tired by now and need a drink.
Game 4:
It is set in a scrap yard of cars, caravans and a system of tunnels, when attackers are hit they return to the tunnel and start again. When defenders are hit they are out of the game, being the last game nobody wants to stop fighting and everyone wants to take back an empty gun.... the game is won when an attacker enters a tunnel and pulls on a rope releasing a smoke bomb. Everyone plays defend and attack during the day which means we played eight games in all. I highly recommend giving it a try, despite the twisted ankle and multiple bruising that I am still nursing.
http://www.skirmishsamford.com/fieldmap.html
8:30am I am standing in a line waiting to collect my camouflage overalls and 400 rounds of ammo. The signed piece of paper in my hand that I am about to hand over clearly states that if I get injured during the course of the day then I can't sue the operators of Skirmish. Well, that isn't going to stop me from having some fun is it?
Two mates have their birthdays in the same week and invited about twenty others to join them on this fine sunny day in the middle of winter, and what could be nicer then blue skies and 30c? We had planned to play old v young and get into some serious rivalry however, three bucks parties turned up and umpteen others all with the same mindset, to kill someone.
The briefing was fast and concise with information overload, only the beginners like myself had to listen carefully, now what was that bit he said about giving someone within a 5m radius the opportunity to surrender, I don't think so. And something else about shooting the wildlife, surely there can't be any left this place has been here for years; off we went through the safety tunnel collecting our face mask and weapon into the unknown woods. Our group all collected black helmets as did many other players whilst the remainder collected green helmets, with so many people turning up the group was split into two teams of 65 a side. We had a few practice shots at the multi coloured targets and waited instructions. The first game was to attack and defend a fort, the attackers had to drag a bomb (45 gal drum) up to the perimeter of the fort to win. If attackers got hit they had to go back to the start line before returning to the game, defenders were out of the game if they got hit and had to sit in a group inside the fort. Towards the end of the game one of the nutters on our team stormed the fort and proceeded to shoot the hostages, don't remember anything about that in the briefing.
Game 2:
Two teams and three bases, both teams have to protect their flag and capture the opposing teams flag whilst fighting for possession of the empty base. Between the three bases are two lakes with a series of bridges linking the bases. When you get hit you have to run to a blue barrel and touch it to be back in the game; I twisted my ankle in this game and got shot by one of my own team whilst defending the bridge, this is a fun game and very tiring in the sun.
Game 3:
Similar to game two except the setting is in bushland and there is plenty of room for stalking and surprise attacks. Whilst hiding behind a screen waiting to ambush the other team, the chap next to me said that he wanted to get the man in the dress. Being a bucks day out the poor bugger getting married was dressed in a white nurses uniform with green vertical stripes, he had no protection on his bare legs and to make him more of a target they gave him a yellow helmet and tied two blue helium balloons to his shoulders. I spotted him hiding in the trees and pointed him out to my buddy whereupon he duly got up and ran after him never to be seen again. Getting very tired by now and need a drink.
Game 4:
It is set in a scrap yard of cars, caravans and a system of tunnels, when attackers are hit they return to the tunnel and start again. When defenders are hit they are out of the game, being the last game nobody wants to stop fighting and everyone wants to take back an empty gun.... the game is won when an attacker enters a tunnel and pulls on a rope releasing a smoke bomb. Everyone plays defend and attack during the day which means we played eight games in all. I highly recommend giving it a try, despite the twisted ankle and multiple bruising that I am still nursing.
http://www.skirmishsamford.com/fieldmap.html
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Baby Cockie
Whilst pottering in the garden at the weekend, I heard a commotion amongst the Cockies which was unusually loud so off I went to investigate. One of the birds was casually waddling like they do in a pigeon fashion, amongst my citrus orchard. He wasn't very big and couldn't fly or walk properly and probably needed help so I went over to take a closer look. He saw me heading his way and made a mad dash for the boundary fence only to get caught up in it, being young,he was in a bit of a panic and tried to squeeze through the holes with his wings held high. I grabbed hold of his wings and held them down to prevent any injury to them and then remembered that they have beaks so strong that they can crack macadamia nuts open, it looked like the good Samaritan was about to become a victim. The little bugger grabbed my hand and started chewing it, thankfully I realised that he wasn't a threat but there was already enough blood drawn by now to drop him and run to the house for a towel. When I returned to where I last saw him, he was on top of the fence having climbed up using his beak and claws. I threw the towel over him and excitedly knocked on my front door. When the girls opened the door I said 'guess what I have in here?' The first guess was a hare and the second guess was a bird, damn these kids are quick.
The vet assured me that the bird had probably fallen from his nest before his feathers had all grown and asked if the parents were around, I said that they are both flying around squarking in the trees next door which was good as it meant that they hadn't abandoned the bird. The bird moved to a much larger tree and was still there last time I checked.
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