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06/03/06 - 12/03/06 -
CAIRNS
The overnight flight from Singapore was alright. I had an aisle to myself which meant I could lie down to try and sleep. Only problem was 2 rows in front had a crying 2 year old! Bastards.
As we approached Cairns they had a welcome to Australia video presented by none other than Steve Irwin (I am NOT joking!!!). It was all about declaring any goods that your bringing into Oz that could upset the environment. His motto was "Declare or Beware!", then he gives two thumbs up are goes "Yes!".
On my way through customs the sniffer dog thought he could smell something on me so I had to empty alllllll of my bags. Of course I didn't have any fruit, veg, wood or bees on me. Stupid mutt. It reminded me of the Bill Bailey DVD when he talks about Ozy customs: "Do you have any soil on you? Any twigs? Have you recently made a nest in some marshland?"
The youth hostel in Cairns is nice. Me, Haywood and Charlie have a room together. The hostel has a swimming pool, a cold (ie. useless) spa, a bar where they show a different movie every night and a BBQ where u can buy steaks to cook on the BBQ yourself.
On Tuesday morning I started my 5 day scuba diving course. The first 2 days were split between time in a classroom and the swimming pool. We watched some American video on scuba diving, which (like most US stuff) was incredibly patronising, eg. "When you go scuba diving in the water you may find you get wet."
The main trouble I had with scuba diving was my breathing. I hadn't realised that I actually always breathe through my nose. With scuba diving you ONLY breathe through your mouth, which may sound incredibly simple, but I had trouble getting used to it. I was fine in the swimming pool but had trouble when we actually dived in the ocean.
(Above) Nigel our dive instructor - top bloke!
Our instructor Nigel was from Queenstown, NZ and was a legend! The rest of my group were a mix of ages from different places, but all nice people and we had a great laugh together. 
(Above) Andy & Sarah on the boat out to the Great Barrier Reef.
Thursday morning we got on the boat that would take us out to the Great Barrier Reef for 3 days/2 nights. There was about 35 people on the boat, the 8 of us from my group plus more experienced divers either doing advanced courses or just having a bit of fun diving in the Reef.
The boat was pretty small but had a nice lounge area, and the food was delicious. The 1st two dives weren't that great, my goggles flooded immediately and I had trouble with the breathing. Our 3rd dive was at 7:30am Friday morning, before breakfast! Not only was I tired, but I had woken up with a cold. This meant I had a lot of trouble equalizing my ears. Afterwards my ears ached and were blocked; I was tired and I'd had 3 shit dives. I was ready to go back to Cairns.
The next dive at 10:30am, however, went really well. I took my time descending allowing my ears to equalize, managed all the tasks perfectly meaning we had completed our PADI Open Water course - and I was now a certified diver! When we had completed the tasks on the sea bed, our instructor got us to do some underwater break dancing to celebrate!
Afterwards, I had regained all my confidence. In the afternoon I went for a dive with my dive buddy Michael. You always have to dive with a buddy, and each buddy pair were given names. Because I was buddied with another guy, we were called Team Bi-curious. Brilliant.
The dive we did was excellent. Saw loads of fish, string rays and 2 turtles! Got to go up and pat one of the turtles. After this dive I was feeling good. The day had turned around from being really shit to really great!
Despite this, we were all really nervous about the night dive that evening. It was pitch black and everything inside you is saying: don't go in the water!! Fortunately the instructors gave us lots of comforting words, such as:
- "If we see a shark, I want you all to form a circle around me so that you get eaten whilst I swim to safety."
- "If you do get eaten inflate your BCD so your equipment floats to the surface and we can get it out of the water because it is very expensive."
- "Please don't get eaten though, because it is a lot of paper work for us okay!"
When it came to jump in the water I nearly bottled it but (a different) instructor said don't worry, it's actually quite tranquil when you get down there. And he was right. With our torches and glow sticks attached to our gear you can actually see a lot more than you'd think. We did see a shark. It was a reef shark about 1-2m long, just gliding around. It was actually really cool seeing it. The best part was swimming through plankton that sparkled aluminous green when you went through it. If you've seen the sex scene in The Beach, when they're kissing underwater, it was like that.
That evening the instructors organised a few games in the lounge, which were really fun. One game featured 2 pairs, one person in each pair with a toilet roll stuck beneath their crotch; the other wore blacked out goggles and a snorkel between their crotch. This person was spun around a few times and then it was up to their partner to guide them so their snorkel went in the toilet roll. It was hilarious. They also played the suck and blow game where people passed a card around a circle with their mouth. I didn't play this game, which was probably for the best since there were more guys than girls, meaning there was some guy on guy action.
The next morning my left ear was completely blocked and my cold worse, meaning that I wouldn't be able to equalize, which meant I couldn't dive. I wasn't disappointed though because I'd had such a great day yesterday, and I spent the morning just relaxing in the sun. That night back in Cairns we all went out for a meal and drinks, it was a great end to a fantastic few days. Scuba diving wasn't everything I hoped it would be, but was still an amazing experience. Monday morning we start the Oz Experience, slowly working our way to Sydney....
Next: Mission Beach & Magnetic Island
Previous: Singapore
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