We left the
camp ground at 7.45am this morning and were collected at the front
gate by the dive
shop bus service. Our gear was too heavy and bulky to take to the front
gate so I had them drive right up to our
camp site and load on our dive tubs. We'd spent all afternoon preparing our camera gear and were really keen for our day on the water.
The bus took us back to the
shop to fill tanks and load up and then took us about 5km out to Bundegi Wharf. There were 10 divers and we had to transfer all our gear from the trailer to the boat waiting at
the wharf. Although the boat looked huge and had plenty of covered area it was very slow. The 9km trip took an hour and 40mins. The sea was a bit lumpy and we were both thankful for the sea sick tablets offered by the divemaster back at the
shop.
Everything was supplied from cold cans of drinks in eskys full of ice to fully laid out salads, rolls and cold meats for lunch. We had dips and biscuits for morning tea and rockmelon and fruitcake for afternoon tea. Hot drinks and sweet biscuits between dives and just about every convenience we could wish for including a
toilet!
The diving was good but certainly not up to our expectations. The visability was a disappointing 12m but the variety of reef fish certainly made up for it. Between dives we were taken to a beautiful beach for lunch where after eating, we swam back to shore, walked up to the point and then jumped back in to take the current back to the boat whilst snorkelling along the reef. I was disappointed that I couldn't take my camera underwater after all the preparation we'd done - the sensor connector was jammed and couldn't be undone.
It was a big day, finishing at after 6pm when we were all given a can of beer at the dive
shop. I'm off beer and so David got
mine after I had one refreshing sip!
Again, dinner was something out of a packet and tin - risotto with tinned marinara in a tomato base sauce. Unfortunatley, I forgot I was cooking it whilst talking to our neighbors and burnt the dinner a little. Time to go shopping.
David managed to remove the jammed connector in my strobe but could not repair it suitably for diving. We have to send it back to
Sydney for repair. There goes all my underwater photographic opportunities on the West Coast I suppose!