Scuba baby yeah!

Managed to get a lie in in Alice and then went into town for some needed souvenir shopping. Ended up with a didgeridoo that's wending it's way back to England as we speak. Yet another random instrument to add to my repertoire. All I've got to do is learn to rotary breathe and it'll be sweet.

I don't think that school is in any danger of a didgeridoo orchestra any time soon though.

Flew to Cairns with the Austrian couple who'd been on the tour and then found my way to Northern Greenhouse. This hostel definitely deserves it's status as one of the top 5 in Australia - it's fantastic. I was in a girl's only dorm. 3 bunk beds, en-suite bathroom, sink, balcony, Wardrobe and Fridge Freezer. In the communal area there's free Internet, a massive kitchen, tables, lounge area, pool and parking. It's a stone's throw from the esplanade but far enough away that it's fairly quiet. Loved it.

Also, as Pro-Dive correctly informed me, it's only a couple of blocks from the 24-Hour Medical centre and 2 doors down from their shop. As instructed I dumped my bags (by which I mean I literally went in removed them onto my bed, grabbed my wallet and left straight away) and headed to the medical centre. I was worried as I had only just about got rid of the worst of the cold and was serruptisiously blowing my nose whilst sitting in the waiting room - mostly by going to see what fascinating things the pharmacy had! Passed everything I needed to - discovered I need to lose at least 3/4stone to be at my target weight (project for when I get back?) and went straight to Pro-Dive wear they checked everything thoroughly and then kitted me out with my BCD, fins, mask & snorkel.

Went for a stroll along the esplanade and found a pizza for $9 (Dominic's) and ate it whilst devouring some surfing time at a local internet place. The guy in the booth next to me asked me where I got it and then left about 3mins later!

Next morning I was at the shop for 6:10 (after discovering that I had failed to alter my alarm to Adelaide time and having a small coronary on looking at my watch) and once everyone had arrived and been checked in we were driven out to Scuba Pro II.

I wish I could describe how awesome my time onboard was but it would take ages (and it's not like me to rattle on....*hm*) so I'll try to keep it brief.

My instructor was Chris, brilliant teacher and made me and the other newbie to the 5-day learning group feel welcome and included. The whole crew were so personable and approachable, you felt safe at all times and everything was done with great attention to detail. The boat was clean and very practical. I ended up with my own room on the top deck which was nice although barely anytime was spent in there. Max was our chef and the meals were healthy and filling - he manged to bake a cake everyday as well as everything else :)

We were really lucky with the weather and the sun shone and the sky was blue the whole way through the time on the reef. I completed my 4 training dives by the 2nd day and then was free to dive with my Buddy (Dutch guy named Luit) on the other dives. Important thing to remember when doing training dives in the sea - when you have to clear your mask of water, don't open your eyes, salt stings.

My ear was not a happy bunny on that first free dive and some water got in making me exceptionally dizzy so we surfaced and I had to be 'tired diver' towed to the boat. That night was out night dive. I wasn't going to try but in the end though I'd kick myself if it turned out to be fine - which it did! And besides, who doesn't want to jump into the dark (not that it was really that dark with all the lights on) when they've been feeding the grey reef sharks off the boat beforehand and they're still hanging around to see if their luck's in? Next morning ear went bad again so decided on snorkeling for the next 2 to give it a rest. I had started my Adventure Diver but as I'd not filled in the book it didn't matter, my night dive still counts though :)

The Great Barrier Reef is very like Uluru in a way - so much to see it's really hard to take it in. On our training dives we did skills with a swim around in between and then skills at the end - so taking in what I was looking at was tricky. I do remember the Moray Eel with it's scary looking head and looooong body. The Christmas tree coral that were blue and looked like festive trees - until you ran you hand past them and they shrunk back into the rock. Diving and snorkeling I saw, amongst other things: Nemo's, Dori's, Red Bass, Trumpet Fish, Lion Fish, Parrot Fish, Napoleon Wrasse, Fusilier Fish, Butterfly Fish, Sea Cucumbers, Giant (and I mean GIANT) Clams, Banner Fish, all sorts of colourful coral, Humbug Fish, Goat fish - and most excitingly, Flat Worm (doesn't sound exciting but hard to find and sooo pretty) Blue Spotted Rays, a White tipped Reef Shark, and....a TURTLE!!! The turtle was so special. I spotted it and could hear it munching away when I was snorkeling. Then it came up to the surface for air and we swam along next to it for a bit before it disappeared back down. So beautiful :)

I can't wait to come back some time and explore more. I will definitely be coming with Pro-Dive, they made the whole thing so relaxed and there was the right balance of rest and Diving.

After lunch on the last day we headed for shore and then got dropped off back at the store, pottered next door to the hostel to settle in and then headed out to meet everyone for a meal at 'Rattle & Hum'. Good Times:)

Scuba sorted

Next on the "big money" list has been sorted - I'm booked onto my 3day/2night Ocean Referral Course in Cairns, whoop!

I looked around at a few courses but one of the few that did the PADI referral (instead of their own version) were these guys - Pro Dive. The Referral course means that you can do all your class and pool work in one location and then complete your actual dives somewhere else. I did consider taking longer for the course in Cairns but it would have taken up almost a week of travelling so thought it would be better to do it this way.

I been spending a lot of time recently on tripadvisor.co.uk (so much time in fact I have a link in my top tool bar) and there were some great things said, lots of photos and even a video on this website - it's written by a couple who are taking a break from their careers and having a year of adventure - well worth a look.

The diving is the single most expensive thing of my entire trip (apart from the flight!) but definitely up there on my top 5 list-of-things-to-do-ever so worth it I feel. I then followed that up by investigating a good place to do the classroom and pool work here and have found a place in Bristol (Subaquaholics) that runs the classes on Wednesday and Thursday nights. It'll take me 5 weeks to complete so will be starting that quite soon to allow for work/illness/car not starting and will keep you up to date with progress.

I've also been scouting round for accommodation in Cairns for the night before and the night after my trip. There are quite a few to choose from depending on what you're after. I basically want to avoid being in a huge studenty-party scene (I'm 29 people, I need sleep!) but still want chilled out & laid back.

Originally I was hoping to stay at Traveller's Oasis which came highly recommended by just about everyone (Lonely Planet make it their 'our pick') but who, sadly, cannot accommodate you unless you are staying for 2 nights consecutively. I used the booking system before they sent me a very nice email explaining it. It's their busiest time apparently so understandable.

My next choice was the Northern Greenhouse, one of the 'Greenhouse Backpacker' group. After my previous experience I emailed them first and got a very speedy response saying that it was fine to stay for the 2 separate nights so have booked in. The only problem is I do miss the airport transfers; however I've since discovered the airport is only 10-15mins outside of town so I can't see that being a huge problem (famous last words????).

Next things to sort are accommodation in Airlie Beach (Whitsundays) and out how I'm getting from Melbourne to Adelaide. There's a couple of 3 day tours that look good but I'm not sure about the timings, Flying is the other option, which means I'll have to sort out some exploring of the G.O.R (Great Ocean Road) by myself. Fortunately I'm staying with my friend Dee when I'm in Melbourne and we're hopefully going to be able to do cool stuff together (her family have a beach house on Phillip Island - there's penguins!!!) as well as getting some ideas for other things. Although, obviously, the 'Neighbours' tour is still at the top of the list :)

Brain ache

So after having a rethink of the scuba location - and doing some research - have decided that really its going to be better doing my course in Cairns. Because, despite the excellent looking h20 sportz there really isn't a lot of choice to do the referral course (in fact they were almost the only PADI certificated one I found!) which also include the extra dives etc.

Instead I've been looking at delaying my arrival in Sydney by a day and flying to the Whitsundays to spend a day exploring round the islands and spending some time on the amazing beaches.

I did look at Fraser Island for a while (STA recommended it, along with some other people) but, as I only really have a day I'd rather spend it out in the sun on the water than in a 4WD.Although there were some cool safari-type trips available exploring the flora & Fauna of Fraser, the Whitsundays has one out for sheer beauty and the timings of the trips (which will mean I can fly in early stay one night and fly out early the next day).

Am now I'm ploughing through the websites trying to find an ideal day trip - that leaves late enough for me to catch it if I fly. However trying to find an alternative to that  - hopefully a bus goes overnight!

There are some fantastic looking trips for great prices, trying to go to some of the more out of the way places - like Hook or border island, as wells getting to walk along the amazing Whitehaven beach (98% silica you know!) I'll put some options up when I've sorted out the travel and narrowed down the choices....

Diving rethink

Ever since I started planning this trip I have been set on the idea of diving the Great Barrier Reef (or GBR to those in the know!) and Cairns seemed the ideal spot to do this. I've done all the research found the best referral course I can and all seems set to go as this is the month I've penciled in to pay for it.

However, I've spoken to quite a few folks recently and the general opinion seems to be that if you can't hang around for long then you're better off visiting the Whitsunday's rather than just cruising around the Northern part.

So I've decided to do some looking into diving further south, in particular, closer to Fraser island as this is one of my 'secondary' places I would like to visit - mostly to see what all the hype is about and see if I can spot a dingo...or a shark!

The other option I'm thinking about is changing my arrival date in Sydney and spending longer heading down the coast (at present  have 5 nights booked in Sydney - 3 of which were included in my flight!) and then I can do a bit of both. Hmmm, tricky decisions that need to be made this week.

Right, back to the web and the lonely planet it is then.