Just me hanging around with a 3m guitar shark.
One for national geographic - Green Turtle
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
From odd, to lost in translation, to fun with helicopters
So the last week at work I would have to say has probably been one of the strangest weeks I have ever had.
It all started out with me teaching an open water diver course, I had 2 students, 2 very odd students. First one was from London, was a royal marine now a london firefighter, the second was a freelance mercenary, yes you are reading that correctly, straight from Iraq to Kewait to Australia to learn to dive. So you know when you see on CNN that a "government contractor" was involved in something, well this was one of those guys. Lets just say that both of these guys were more than a little crazy, good guys but probably certifiably insane. But at least life at this point in time was pretty calm. It wasn't untill the day after that open water course that things started to get really weird.
The way our company operates is that there is basically 2 competing sides of it, the English side and the Japanese side. Basically the english side runs the boat and takes care of the English passengers while the japanese side takes care of the japanese customers. But every so often the sides end up slightly overlapping depending on numbers and that sort of thing. So turns out there are too many Japanese for the Jap side to handle one day so they decide to dump 2 customers on our side, a husband and wife couple. No worrys right? Well if there had been extra english staff no problem, turns out there wasn't any, so I got them both. Problem was I was already teaching English introduction dives that day.
No worries we can multi task!
So basically I was taking all at once English intros, Japanese intros, and certified Japanese divers all on the same dive! But that wasn't the most interesting part of the day. At the end of the first dive I get all my divers back up onto the boat and what do I see? Look what we have a passenger on the back deck layed out in the recovery position on Oxygen. Whats wrong with her you may ask? Well thats a good question, we really don't know. But she was certainly letting us know and I quote "somethings just not right", and "I feel heavy", well what does that mean? Beats me, lets ask the doctors, well beats them also. But she doesn't seem to be getting any better so what does the doctor tell us to do? Thats right get her back into the city and to the hospital! So everyone back onto the boat we're steaming for town! 5 minutes later we get a call from the operations manager, they have chartered a helicopter to fly her off, we are to head for the Reef Magic pontoon and helipad. So we change course and are there 20 minutes later, taking her onto the helipad. Onto the helicopter she goes and back to the safety of civilization.
So know that this has all taken place you may ask just what was wrong with her? Well nothing like having a panic attack that costs the company a few thousand dollars to get you airlifted home. Thats right, there was nothing physically wrong with her. Maybe a little sea sick but thats it, if you had seen how she was acting on the boat you would have sworn she was about to die but sadly no.
But then ontop of all of this coral spawning was going on this week, it happens for only 1-2 days a year so its part of luck catching it though they can predict it to some extent in relation to water temp, moon cycles and what ever else. So besides just doing day trips they have also been running right trips to see the coral spawning at night. They don't have us double shifting but the hours are longer because we have to do extra refules on the boat first thing in the morning meaning we have to be at work earlier and we have to clean down the boat 2 times every day and bring water and supplies and everything on for both trips meaning we have an extra hour or two of work to do every day. Good thing we put in for that over time right? Over time? what? Thats right we get nothing other than 1 less hour of sleep. So to put it lightly its been a little high strung on the boat for the last few days with how everything has been going.
Other than all that life has been pretty quiet outside of work not that I've had time for much else, though I'm going to hopefully be starting a tech diving course after Christmas so thats something to look forward to, nothing like being 60-100m under the water and staying down there for hours on end and when you look up assuming you can still see the surface its like looking up at the tops of sky scrapers.
It all started out with me teaching an open water diver course, I had 2 students, 2 very odd students. First one was from London, was a royal marine now a london firefighter, the second was a freelance mercenary, yes you are reading that correctly, straight from Iraq to Kewait to Australia to learn to dive. So you know when you see on CNN that a "government contractor" was involved in something, well this was one of those guys. Lets just say that both of these guys were more than a little crazy, good guys but probably certifiably insane. But at least life at this point in time was pretty calm. It wasn't untill the day after that open water course that things started to get really weird.
The way our company operates is that there is basically 2 competing sides of it, the English side and the Japanese side. Basically the english side runs the boat and takes care of the English passengers while the japanese side takes care of the japanese customers. But every so often the sides end up slightly overlapping depending on numbers and that sort of thing. So turns out there are too many Japanese for the Jap side to handle one day so they decide to dump 2 customers on our side, a husband and wife couple. No worrys right? Well if there had been extra english staff no problem, turns out there wasn't any, so I got them both. Problem was I was already teaching English introduction dives that day.
No worries we can multi task!
So basically I was taking all at once English intros, Japanese intros, and certified Japanese divers all on the same dive! But that wasn't the most interesting part of the day. At the end of the first dive I get all my divers back up onto the boat and what do I see? Look what we have a passenger on the back deck layed out in the recovery position on Oxygen. Whats wrong with her you may ask? Well thats a good question, we really don't know. But she was certainly letting us know and I quote "somethings just not right", and "I feel heavy", well what does that mean? Beats me, lets ask the doctors, well beats them also. But she doesn't seem to be getting any better so what does the doctor tell us to do? Thats right get her back into the city and to the hospital! So everyone back onto the boat we're steaming for town! 5 minutes later we get a call from the operations manager, they have chartered a helicopter to fly her off, we are to head for the Reef Magic pontoon and helipad. So we change course and are there 20 minutes later, taking her onto the helipad. Onto the helicopter she goes and back to the safety of civilization.
So know that this has all taken place you may ask just what was wrong with her? Well nothing like having a panic attack that costs the company a few thousand dollars to get you airlifted home. Thats right, there was nothing physically wrong with her. Maybe a little sea sick but thats it, if you had seen how she was acting on the boat you would have sworn she was about to die but sadly no.
But then ontop of all of this coral spawning was going on this week, it happens for only 1-2 days a year so its part of luck catching it though they can predict it to some extent in relation to water temp, moon cycles and what ever else. So besides just doing day trips they have also been running right trips to see the coral spawning at night. They don't have us double shifting but the hours are longer because we have to do extra refules on the boat first thing in the morning meaning we have to be at work earlier and we have to clean down the boat 2 times every day and bring water and supplies and everything on for both trips meaning we have an extra hour or two of work to do every day. Good thing we put in for that over time right? Over time? what? Thats right we get nothing other than 1 less hour of sleep. So to put it lightly its been a little high strung on the boat for the last few days with how everything has been going.
Other than all that life has been pretty quiet outside of work not that I've had time for much else, though I'm going to hopefully be starting a tech diving course after Christmas so thats something to look forward to, nothing like being 60-100m under the water and staying down there for hours on end and when you look up assuming you can still see the surface its like looking up at the tops of sky scrapers.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Working as a dive instructor
So I've been working as a dive instructor for a few weeks now. Been having a ton of fun though also have had to work like mad. As I said in my last post I'm working 5-6 days a week and each day is an 11 hour day so it is a pretty exhausting experience.
Now that I have been there for several weeks I've had a chance to do basically every job on the boat. I've organized the certified divers and acted as a guide for them, I've done the same for the snorkellers. I've taught a couple classes for open water diver courses, and I've been doing far too many introductory scuba dives, also known as the frogs. The intro divers are the scariest experience an Instructor can have I think. You have to take people into the water and take them on a dive with them having only had maybe a 30minute briefing on the whole theory of diving and no actual skill practice. Basically we tell them a little bit about diving and them put them in scuba gear and toss them in the water with an instructor to go for a dive.
You might ask yourself is this safe?
or Is this even a good idea?
or how about, why do you allow it at all?
Well thats pretty easy to answer, no its not really safe because it gives people a massive false sense of security. If anything at all goes wrong it is 100% up to the instructor to fix it because the diver doesn't have a clue how to. Sure it lets people give diving a try without having to commit the few days time to learn how to do it properly but I've seen far too many people already jump in and think they are completely compident to swim off on their own and go diving with no training because they don't know any better. And the whole reason for allowing this? well thats easy, MONEY!
So basically on a regular basis I take up to 4 complete non divers with me diving which is basically a battle to keep them all from not killing themselves or getting myself injured in the mean time. I've had people completely panic on my, litterally within 3 seconds on them jumping into the water they are jumping ontop of me flayling in the water. Are they going to drown on the surface? No they had a jacket full of air, they can't even go under the surface let alone drown, but do they stop and think about that? NO!
And guess what the most common question I'm asked when people are signing up to do an intro dive? "I can't swim, is that going to be a problem?" Lets think about this now, you want to go scuba diving but you can't swim? Seriously how dumb are people?
So basically if you ask me no one should be allowed to do introduction dives, everyone should have to take the full course, you might say thats not fair but guess what the #1 reason for people doing intro dives instead of a full course is, time? money? naw, "i'm too lazy i can't be bothered to do it." So you can't be bothered to learn a few basic things that might stop you from dying if you actually want to do it, uh huh and you want me to risk my well being so you can go diving also? Ya sounds like a good plan to me.
That being said intro divers are pretty stupid and no matter how crappy the dive site is they think its the greatest thing in the world and are happy afterwords, which means more commissions for the crew, too bad I don't get commissions till I have worked their for 3 months first.
We ended up with some massive mechanical problems on the boat also this week just to make things more interesting. First of all the electronics that raise and lower the back stairs in and out of the water shorted out and we couldn't lower the steps down into the water, or at least not at the start of the day, the skipper got them working after a while. Then the next morning when we went to go start the boat up it wouldn't go because the day before we refueled and when we did that we took water in with the desiel. So the boat didn't go out on Tuesday because they had to drain the fuel and replace all the filters. On top of that the electronics that raise the back steps got completely replaced, the cables that raise the back steps were also replaced and the steps were removed and re-machined to make them fit better. On top of that we cleaned absolutely everything, and treated all the exposed aluminium on the boat to stop if from oxidizing. So the last few days at work were pretty crazy.
All that being said work is still fun, and a bad day diving is still probably better than a good day at the office. Though diving for fun and working as a diver are very very different. It's a shame the customers don't always realise this though.
Now that I have been there for several weeks I've had a chance to do basically every job on the boat. I've organized the certified divers and acted as a guide for them, I've done the same for the snorkellers. I've taught a couple classes for open water diver courses, and I've been doing far too many introductory scuba dives, also known as the frogs. The intro divers are the scariest experience an Instructor can have I think. You have to take people into the water and take them on a dive with them having only had maybe a 30minute briefing on the whole theory of diving and no actual skill practice. Basically we tell them a little bit about diving and them put them in scuba gear and toss them in the water with an instructor to go for a dive.
You might ask yourself is this safe?
or Is this even a good idea?
or how about, why do you allow it at all?
Well thats pretty easy to answer, no its not really safe because it gives people a massive false sense of security. If anything at all goes wrong it is 100% up to the instructor to fix it because the diver doesn't have a clue how to. Sure it lets people give diving a try without having to commit the few days time to learn how to do it properly but I've seen far too many people already jump in and think they are completely compident to swim off on their own and go diving with no training because they don't know any better. And the whole reason for allowing this? well thats easy, MONEY!
So basically on a regular basis I take up to 4 complete non divers with me diving which is basically a battle to keep them all from not killing themselves or getting myself injured in the mean time. I've had people completely panic on my, litterally within 3 seconds on them jumping into the water they are jumping ontop of me flayling in the water. Are they going to drown on the surface? No they had a jacket full of air, they can't even go under the surface let alone drown, but do they stop and think about that? NO!
And guess what the most common question I'm asked when people are signing up to do an intro dive? "I can't swim, is that going to be a problem?" Lets think about this now, you want to go scuba diving but you can't swim? Seriously how dumb are people?
So basically if you ask me no one should be allowed to do introduction dives, everyone should have to take the full course, you might say thats not fair but guess what the #1 reason for people doing intro dives instead of a full course is, time? money? naw, "i'm too lazy i can't be bothered to do it." So you can't be bothered to learn a few basic things that might stop you from dying if you actually want to do it, uh huh and you want me to risk my well being so you can go diving also? Ya sounds like a good plan to me.
That being said intro divers are pretty stupid and no matter how crappy the dive site is they think its the greatest thing in the world and are happy afterwords, which means more commissions for the crew, too bad I don't get commissions till I have worked their for 3 months first.
We ended up with some massive mechanical problems on the boat also this week just to make things more interesting. First of all the electronics that raise and lower the back stairs in and out of the water shorted out and we couldn't lower the steps down into the water, or at least not at the start of the day, the skipper got them working after a while. Then the next morning when we went to go start the boat up it wouldn't go because the day before we refueled and when we did that we took water in with the desiel. So the boat didn't go out on Tuesday because they had to drain the fuel and replace all the filters. On top of that the electronics that raise the back steps got completely replaced, the cables that raise the back steps were also replaced and the steps were removed and re-machined to make them fit better. On top of that we cleaned absolutely everything, and treated all the exposed aluminium on the boat to stop if from oxidizing. So the last few days at work were pretty crazy.
All that being said work is still fun, and a bad day diving is still probably better than a good day at the office. Though diving for fun and working as a diver are very very different. It's a shame the customers don't always realise this though.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Living the dream
Its been a while since my last post which is mainly due to the fact that I have been insanely busy. I got a job as a dive instructor working for Tusa dive on their brand new day boat. (http://www.tusadive.com/index.html)
We take up to 60 passengers a day to go scuba diving and snorkeling. On average we have about 12 staff on the boat including skipper, and hostess, the rest being dive crew. My days usually start around 5:30am when I have to get up to be at work for 6:30. I have a 25min walk to work each morning from where I'm currently living. The day starts up with us setting up equipment for everyone who is going to be coming on the boat along with our own dive gear. The passengers start boarding around 7:30 with us leaving harbour by 8:30 after everyone is checked in and has completed all needed paper work. It takes about 1.5 hours to get out to the reefs normally depending on where we are heading on any given day. We do 3 dives a day, 2 in the morning and 1 more in the afternoon. On any given day I could be responsible for taking care of the certified divers, teaching open water diver classes, giving introductory scuba lessons, and looking after the snorkellers.
We try to have the boat back into harbour for 4:30 so that means we have to leave the reef by 3:00 at the latest having everyone back on board and all gear stripped down by that time. We then have to spend 1 hour a day cleaning and boat and going over safety drills. So its roughly a 11 hour long day, of which I am working 5-6 days a week.
As bad as that all sounds it really isn't, I am getting paid to go scuba diving after all. Of course I am responsible for the lives of up to 60 people on any given day which can be a little stressful at times but the crew on the boat is really good and we have a lot of fun doing what we do.
We take up to 60 passengers a day to go scuba diving and snorkeling. On average we have about 12 staff on the boat including skipper, and hostess, the rest being dive crew. My days usually start around 5:30am when I have to get up to be at work for 6:30. I have a 25min walk to work each morning from where I'm currently living. The day starts up with us setting up equipment for everyone who is going to be coming on the boat along with our own dive gear. The passengers start boarding around 7:30 with us leaving harbour by 8:30 after everyone is checked in and has completed all needed paper work. It takes about 1.5 hours to get out to the reefs normally depending on where we are heading on any given day. We do 3 dives a day, 2 in the morning and 1 more in the afternoon. On any given day I could be responsible for taking care of the certified divers, teaching open water diver classes, giving introductory scuba lessons, and looking after the snorkellers.
We try to have the boat back into harbour for 4:30 so that means we have to leave the reef by 3:00 at the latest having everyone back on board and all gear stripped down by that time. We then have to spend 1 hour a day cleaning and boat and going over safety drills. So its roughly a 11 hour long day, of which I am working 5-6 days a week.
As bad as that all sounds it really isn't, I am getting paid to go scuba diving after all. Of course I am responsible for the lives of up to 60 people on any given day which can be a little stressful at times but the crew on the boat is really good and we have a lot of fun doing what we do.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
What I learned becoming a Dive Instructor
So I've learned a few things while becoming a dive instructor and subsequently doing my specialty training.
1. Assume people are stupid, they might not be but thats how the dive industry expects you to treat people.
2. You don't really have to know how to dive to become a diving instructor, you can be taught everything you need to know in a week prior to taking your instructor exams.
3. Everything you were taught is probably wrong and there is an easier better way of doing it, you just have to find it. This doesn't just apply to diving either.
4. Money, you need it.
5. Do as I say not as I do.
6. Believe it or not but computers solve all of lifes problems, or at least most of them. Expecially when they calculate your decompression times for you which subsequencely stops you from getting Decompression Illness/dying after completely ignoring the amount of time you were supposed to have spend on the bottom which happens to be roughly 100' underwater. If they didn't want me to stay down that long how come they gave me such a big tank?
7. Instructors need to know less than divers do. I can do a specialty instructor course in 2 dives, it takes everyone else 4-5. So I can teach it having done less dives than you will have to do...makes sense to me...
8. If your course director can do it so can you...just don't get caught
9. If it is underwater it probably won't kill you. Unless its a jellyfish, then your going to die.
10. Sharks are like puppies, they like to come see what something is but then get scared and run away.
11. If you know a straight guy that got beat up in a gay bar it is your job to ridicule him with it for the rest of his life.
12. Being a dive instructor does make you more attractive to the opposite sex. Expecially if they are wierd Japanese girls.
Thats only the start of what I learned but its late and I have a job interview in the morning with Tusa Dive, hopefully it will all go well. And as soon as I get pictures from the diving I did on the last few days on the SS Yongala I'll be posting them, including the picture of me laying next to a 7' long shark on the bottom.
1. Assume people are stupid, they might not be but thats how the dive industry expects you to treat people.
2. You don't really have to know how to dive to become a diving instructor, you can be taught everything you need to know in a week prior to taking your instructor exams.
3. Everything you were taught is probably wrong and there is an easier better way of doing it, you just have to find it. This doesn't just apply to diving either.
4. Money, you need it.
5. Do as I say not as I do.
6. Believe it or not but computers solve all of lifes problems, or at least most of them. Expecially when they calculate your decompression times for you which subsequencely stops you from getting Decompression Illness/dying after completely ignoring the amount of time you were supposed to have spend on the bottom which happens to be roughly 100' underwater. If they didn't want me to stay down that long how come they gave me such a big tank?
7. Instructors need to know less than divers do. I can do a specialty instructor course in 2 dives, it takes everyone else 4-5. So I can teach it having done less dives than you will have to do...makes sense to me...
8. If your course director can do it so can you...just don't get caught
9. If it is underwater it probably won't kill you. Unless its a jellyfish, then your going to die.
10. Sharks are like puppies, they like to come see what something is but then get scared and run away.
11. If you know a straight guy that got beat up in a gay bar it is your job to ridicule him with it for the rest of his life.
12. Being a dive instructor does make you more attractive to the opposite sex. Expecially if they are wierd Japanese girls.
Thats only the start of what I learned but its late and I have a job interview in the morning with Tusa Dive, hopefully it will all go well. And as soon as I get pictures from the diving I did on the last few days on the SS Yongala I'll be posting them, including the picture of me laying next to a 7' long shark on the bottom.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Australia's Newest Dive Instructor
As of yesterday I am Australia's newest dive instructor. I absolutely smashed all my exams getting over 90% on everything, and probably shocking everyone else doing their exams by writing both theory exams in less time than it took anyone else to finish even 1 exam.
There were 10 people in total doing their instructor exams. Everyone managed to pass with only a few people having to do remakes on any part. We were divided into 2 groups for the exams. The 3 of us from FNQ Dive plus 1 Japanese guy were in one group and the 6 people from ProDive where in the other group. The examener actually told us afterwords that he felt that our group was a lot better than the other one. I would probably have to give the credit to this to our instructor, Keith Cardwell, simply because he probably taught us every trick in the book that he has learned in his very long career in the dive industry.
Now that I'm done my instructors I have about 10 days before I can actually start to work, so in the mean time I'm going to be doing my Master Scuba Diver Trainer course, which will allow me to teach a number of specialty types of diving. We are going to be doing Deep diving, which means I'll be allowed to more or less go as deep as I want, well to roughly 60m at which point breathing air is no longer safe do to getting bent, and nitrogen narcosis. We are also going to be doing Night diving, which is pretty much just like it sounds which is to dive at night. We are also going to be doing Nitrox training, so I can use Nitrox and teach people to use it, the advantages of which are that you can extent the time you can stay down for by almost double assuming you don't go too deep with it because once again breathing Nitrox at too great a presure becomes toxic. We are also hopefully going to be heading down the coast to go diving on the SS Yongala, which is a really famous wreck, it is a cruise ship that sank in 1911. We will also be doing a handful of other specialties though none that are as interesting.
I will also be in the search of a job now that I'm all done my training, so for the next while I'm going to have to be out there doing a lot of knocking on doors to see what I can find. I'm hoping I will be able to find a job on a live abored dive boat though I don't want to get my expectations up too high.
There were 10 people in total doing their instructor exams. Everyone managed to pass with only a few people having to do remakes on any part. We were divided into 2 groups for the exams. The 3 of us from FNQ Dive plus 1 Japanese guy were in one group and the 6 people from ProDive where in the other group. The examener actually told us afterwords that he felt that our group was a lot better than the other one. I would probably have to give the credit to this to our instructor, Keith Cardwell, simply because he probably taught us every trick in the book that he has learned in his very long career in the dive industry.
Now that I'm done my instructors I have about 10 days before I can actually start to work, so in the mean time I'm going to be doing my Master Scuba Diver Trainer course, which will allow me to teach a number of specialty types of diving. We are going to be doing Deep diving, which means I'll be allowed to more or less go as deep as I want, well to roughly 60m at which point breathing air is no longer safe do to getting bent, and nitrogen narcosis. We are also going to be doing Night diving, which is pretty much just like it sounds which is to dive at night. We are also going to be doing Nitrox training, so I can use Nitrox and teach people to use it, the advantages of which are that you can extent the time you can stay down for by almost double assuming you don't go too deep with it because once again breathing Nitrox at too great a presure becomes toxic. We are also hopefully going to be heading down the coast to go diving on the SS Yongala, which is a really famous wreck, it is a cruise ship that sank in 1911. We will also be doing a handful of other specialties though none that are as interesting.
I will also be in the search of a job now that I'm all done my training, so for the next while I'm going to have to be out there doing a lot of knocking on doors to see what I can find. I'm hoping I will be able to find a job on a live abored dive boat though I don't want to get my expectations up too high.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Scuba Instructor
Scuba diving is easy.
Teaching scuba diving is easy.
PADI doesn't want people to know this.
That is why they try to make it more difficult than it has to be or else they would probably be out of a job.
Most people get things the first time, some take 2 times, stupid people take maybe 3. PADI thinks everyone needs to hear the same thing at least 12 times over again.
PADI have 1 order of how things are done. 1 way only!
You want to change that order? I don't think so, you fail!
Did your changed order still work? yes!
Did it maybe even work better than the PADI way? YES!
TOO BAD YOU FAIL!
I must keep reminding myself that PADI was designed to teach the "average" American how to scuba dive. The "average" american obviously has the listening span and inteligence of a 4 year old. Too bad you have to be at least 10 years old to learn to scuba dive.
Though really who cares if they do it wrong because they are stupid? I'm pretty sure Darwin had something to say about that, survival of the fittest and all that.
As you can probably tell I'm getting a little bored of how the Instrutor examination is set up. The person I have instructoring me really good, and he will be the first person to say how stupid PADI's examination process is set up. He was actually the first full time instructor in New Zealand and has been teaching scuba diving for over 30 years, he has certified over 2000 PADI instructors and countless divers, and yes he thinks PADI's instructor examination is completely stupid.
That being said just 2 more weeks and I'll be done and assuming I can jump through all the anally retentive hoops I will be an instructor.
Teaching scuba diving is easy.
PADI doesn't want people to know this.
That is why they try to make it more difficult than it has to be or else they would probably be out of a job.
Most people get things the first time, some take 2 times, stupid people take maybe 3. PADI thinks everyone needs to hear the same thing at least 12 times over again.
PADI have 1 order of how things are done. 1 way only!
You want to change that order? I don't think so, you fail!
Did your changed order still work? yes!
Did it maybe even work better than the PADI way? YES!
TOO BAD YOU FAIL!
I must keep reminding myself that PADI was designed to teach the "average" American how to scuba dive. The "average" american obviously has the listening span and inteligence of a 4 year old. Too bad you have to be at least 10 years old to learn to scuba dive.
Though really who cares if they do it wrong because they are stupid? I'm pretty sure Darwin had something to say about that, survival of the fittest and all that.
As you can probably tell I'm getting a little bored of how the Instrutor examination is set up. The person I have instructoring me really good, and he will be the first person to say how stupid PADI's examination process is set up. He was actually the first full time instructor in New Zealand and has been teaching scuba diving for over 30 years, he has certified over 2000 PADI instructors and countless divers, and yes he thinks PADI's instructor examination is completely stupid.
That being said just 2 more weeks and I'll be done and assuming I can jump through all the anally retentive hoops I will be an instructor.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Start of my IDC
So the official start of my Instructor Development Course was yesterday. I met the other 2 guys that I will be doing the course with, 1 english, and the other belgian.
The course itself is basically going to consist of 2 parts, in-water skills teaching, and classroom presentation. I've been doing a fair amount diving lately also, though somewhat less impressive than my last set of diving. The dives I've been doing have been in fresh water sites around Cairns, which are not quite as interesting as the barrier reef to say the last, though since I need to get up to 100 dives before I can do my instructor testing these sites are ideal because they allow for my to do 4-5 dives in a matter of hours, and then have the rest of the day left to do classroom work or simply have the rest of the day off where if I was to be diving on the reef I would only be able to get in 2-4 dives in an entire day and it would cost a lot more (also the extra dives right now are not costing me anything). So I'm sitting around 75 dives done now, I need 100 to do my testing so in a few more days I will have all the dives done I need.
The course itself is basically going to consist of 2 parts, in-water skills teaching, and classroom presentation. I've been doing a fair amount diving lately also, though somewhat less impressive than my last set of diving. The dives I've been doing have been in fresh water sites around Cairns, which are not quite as interesting as the barrier reef to say the last, though since I need to get up to 100 dives before I can do my instructor testing these sites are ideal because they allow for my to do 4-5 dives in a matter of hours, and then have the rest of the day left to do classroom work or simply have the rest of the day off where if I was to be diving on the reef I would only be able to get in 2-4 dives in an entire day and it would cost a lot more (also the extra dives right now are not costing me anything). So I'm sitting around 75 dives done now, I need 100 to do my testing so in a few more days I will have all the dives done I need.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Why be a Divemaster when you can be a Master Scuba Diver Instructor?
So basically I've decided why stop my training at simply being a Divemaster, I'm now enrolled in a Instructors course when will roughly be taking place over the next month. When the course is over I will be able to teach any class from the Basic Open Water right up to Divemasters. I will also be getting 5 instructor specialties that I will also be able to teach. The course itself is ment to be taught over a 10 day period but with the instructor I have he allows it to be done over a wider range of time so I've already started the course now, well at least I have the manuals (several 4" thick binders). I also have to get another 35 dives in before I do the actually exams which are going to be the first week in Sept. so I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the water over the next month.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Dive Master
I'm now completely finished my Dive Master program, so you can now refer to me as master....
With the course done I have about a week to wait before all the paper work goes through and I get my member number from PADI, at which point it looks like I'm probably going to start looking for a job as a Dive Master. I figure I'll do the rounds here in Cairns mainly just knocking on doors to see if anyone is hiring here at the moment. I'm not really sure what my odds are like finding a job here in the city. There are dozens of tour and dive companies in the city but that being said there are also a large number of people doing the same as me. Depending on how things work out I might also look at getting my Instructors ticket while I'm here because it would only be another 2 week course roughly assuming I can find someone offering it in the near future.
With the course done I have about a week to wait before all the paper work goes through and I get my member number from PADI, at which point it looks like I'm probably going to start looking for a job as a Dive Master. I figure I'll do the rounds here in Cairns mainly just knocking on doors to see if anyone is hiring here at the moment. I'm not really sure what my odds are like finding a job here in the city. There are dozens of tour and dive companies in the city but that being said there are also a large number of people doing the same as me. Depending on how things work out I might also look at getting my Instructors ticket while I'm here because it would only be another 2 week course roughly assuming I can find someone offering it in the near future.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Dive Master
I'm now half way through my dive master course. I just got back from my first trip out on the boat as a Dive Master in training. For the trip I spent most of my time working with a group of students doing their Open Water Course. I've also wrote the first 3 sets of exams and I will be doing the next 3 of them tomorrow. I will then be working with a new group of open water students and will then be back out on the boat on Friday, after that assuming all the exams go well I will be a fully qualified Dive Master.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Rescue Diving
I spent the last week doing a rescue diving course. It involved 1 day first aid training, half a day classroom theory, half a day in the pool, then 3 days of diving out on the reef. The goal of the course was to teach you how to deal with diver related emergencies ranging from simply a paniced diver to under water drownings to search patterns for missing divers.
The trip was actually extremely stressful because while we were on the boat we were basically always in a state of alert because the instructers would randomly at any time simulate drownings, man over boards, and diver panicks and we would have to grab our gear dive in and rescue them. Along with that the instructers were constantly sabataging our gear so before every single dive we would have to meticously go over our gear to make sure everything was in proper working order.
I've now decided to take the next step with my diving and I have signed up to take a Dive Masters course. The course is over an 18 day period, with 6 days on the reef with 20 dives, I will also be helping teach the basic open water course and help with the rescue diver course. On top of that there is a massive amount of theory to learn and several exams I have to take. This however will allow me to work in the diving industry and it is an internationally recognized certification.
The trip was actually extremely stressful because while we were on the boat we were basically always in a state of alert because the instructers would randomly at any time simulate drownings, man over boards, and diver panicks and we would have to grab our gear dive in and rescue them. Along with that the instructers were constantly sabataging our gear so before every single dive we would have to meticously go over our gear to make sure everything was in proper working order.
I've now decided to take the next step with my diving and I have signed up to take a Dive Masters course. The course is over an 18 day period, with 6 days on the reef with 20 dives, I will also be helping teach the basic open water course and help with the rescue diver course. On top of that there is a massive amount of theory to learn and several exams I have to take. This however will allow me to work in the diving industry and it is an internationally recognized certification.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Diving
I spend the last weekend out on the Barrier reef doing my advanced open water dive course. Over the 3 days on the reef I do 11 dives incluleding 2 night dives and 2 deep dives. 
I got to see all kinds of things like turtles and all kinds of fish, from small anenomy clownfish (Nemo) to massive barracudas to bumphead parrotfish, and stingrays, moray eels. During one of the night dives I even got to dive with the sharks, there were 4-5 grey reef sharks circling the dive boat, and I saw a few more white tip reef sharks on other dives.
I'm going to be going back out diving again this next week to do my rescue dive course. It involves 1 day first aid training, 1 day classroom theory and practice in the pool, then 3 more days out on the boat to do more diving.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Cairns
So I've been hanging out in Cairns for a few days now. On tuesday I was out on the barrier reef scuba diving. Wed I was white water rafting on the Tully river, which was a pretty crazy day. I was in the first group of rafts on the water and they had us doing all kinds of crazy things like swimming through big rapids and jumping off of cliffs. It also happened that there is a damn on the river but for what ever reason the damn was all the way open so there was the maximum amount of water flowing that they get through there.
Yesterday I went up to Kuranda which is a small village in the middle of the rain forest. It was originally a mining town/aboriginal village, but now it has kind of turned into a kind of hippy town tourist attraction. To get up there I took a cable car that goes up above the rain forest which was really cool to see, and for the way back I took a train back down through the mountains. The rides there and back were really good though the town itself didn't have much to interest me, it is mainly wildlife sanctuaries and art galleries.
On saturday I'm going to be heading out on a dive boat for 3 days to go diving on the reef and do my advanced open water course.
Yesterday I went up to Kuranda which is a small village in the middle of the rain forest. It was originally a mining town/aboriginal village, but now it has kind of turned into a kind of hippy town tourist attraction. To get up there I took a cable car that goes up above the rain forest which was really cool to see, and for the way back I took a train back down through the mountains. The rides there and back were really good though the town itself didn't have much to interest me, it is mainly wildlife sanctuaries and art galleries.
On saturday I'm going to be heading out on a dive boat for 3 days to go diving on the reef and do my advanced open water course.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Goodbye Airlie Beach, Hello Cairns
So I've decided it is finally time to leave Airlie Beach. The way things worked out a job simply wasn't going to be coming available for a while longer and I decided I've spent enough time hanging around here so I've decided to keep going with my treck up the coast. I'm going to be leaving Airlie tonight and taking the overnight bus all the way up to Cairns.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
What to do
So I've started looking at alternatives of what to do if I can't get a job here in Airlie. There is a massive industry of boat deliveries where you can crew a boat and sail to pretty much anywhere in the world on private yachts. How it works is people either are paying to have their private boat moved to somewhere are they are in need of people to help crew the boats themselves. So I've been doing a bit of looking around at this and I'm thinking if I can't get a job here I'm going to see if I can jump onto a boat somewhere around here or else up in southeast asia. Of course I still need to find a boat that will take me so it won't happen over night but this is at least my plan of the moment if things don't turn out well here.
For an idea of what I'm talking about check out www.findacrew.com
For an idea of what I'm talking about check out www.findacrew.com
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Whats going on
So I've been in Airlie for a long time now sailing around. I'm still in the process of trying to get a job here but I don't really know if I'm any closer to that goal than I was a month ago. To this date I've now done about 10 volly runs out on the different boats and I'm at the point that I know the boats better than some of there current crew do. However that doesn't mean I am getting a job because the company I have been working with is looking at having 1 female crew on every boat, meaning they need to hire a lot of girls, which equals bad things for me in terms of getting a job. I was however talking with the owner this last week and he still seems to want to give me a job he just needs to work it out with the other owners because there is one crew person that is going to be leaving very shortly that they do not have anyone available to take her place other than me, so I'm hoping that I will get that possition.
If I don't end up getting that position I will probably just go back to travelling for a while because the next position after that one doesn't open up for a month and a half at least.
In the mean time however I've been fairly busy, between trips I have gotten my Queensland powerboat operators licence which now means I can legal drive pretty much any motorised water craft in the world no matter how large as long as it is for private purposes, and that i'm allowed to operate motorised craft of up to 15 meters for commercial purposes. So if anyone has a 400 foot ocean liner they need someone to drive I can do it...
I've also been studying for my marine radio operators licence because the owner of the sailing company is certified to do the testing so I'm going to be getting that qualification without having to bother taking the course or spending the money on it.
If I don't end up getting that position I will probably just go back to travelling for a while because the next position after that one doesn't open up for a month and a half at least.
In the mean time however I've been fairly busy, between trips I have gotten my Queensland powerboat operators licence which now means I can legal drive pretty much any motorised water craft in the world no matter how large as long as it is for private purposes, and that i'm allowed to operate motorised craft of up to 15 meters for commercial purposes. So if anyone has a 400 foot ocean liner they need someone to drive I can do it...
I've also been studying for my marine radio operators licence because the owner of the sailing company is certified to do the testing so I'm going to be getting that qualification without having to bother taking the course or spending the money on it.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Still waiting
So basically I'm still waiting around in Airlie Beach to get a job, I've still be going out on the boats doing volly runs but I haven't officially been hired on yet, hopefully I will hear more in the next couple days.
Cell phone is fixed now.
Cell phone is fixed now.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Still sailing
For all of you that are wonding what I've been up to I'm still hanging around in the Whitsundays sailing around on the maxi's. I've now done 3 trips out on the Hammer, and 2 on the Condor (the most famous racing yacht ever built). Basically I'm going out every single day that I can to get as much time on the water as possible. By the looks of it I should have a job in the next 1-2 weeks because 1 person finished this week, another is going next week and another 2 weeks after that so they are going to be in need of people at prosail (the company whos boats I have been going out on) so hopefully I will be offically a crew member in a week or so, not that the money will be all that great but it is better than nothing and since I basically have no expences while working for them it will be good, not to mention every trip is basically a big party with a new group of people.
The last trip I was out on kinda sucked though because the boat had tore its main sailing on the last trip and wasn't fixed in time for this trip so we had to motor almost everwhere even though the hammer was still doing 8 knots with just the heady up. The boat is getting a new heady this week which was cut larger than it was supposed to be and will be getting a new main in a couple weeks time so it will be a absolute weapon when that is ready so I can't wait to get back out on the water on it as soon as the new sails are on.
The last trip I was out on kinda sucked though because the boat had tore its main sailing on the last trip and wasn't fixed in time for this trip so we had to motor almost everwhere even though the hammer was still doing 8 knots with just the heady up. The boat is getting a new heady this week which was cut larger than it was supposed to be and will be getting a new main in a couple weeks time so it will be a absolute weapon when that is ready so I can't wait to get back out on the water on it as soon as the new sails are on.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Hammer
I just got off of the water after having spent a week on the racing yacht, Hammer. I was working as volunteer crew on the cruise, I wasn't getting paid but it didn't cost me anything to go out on the boat and my food and accommidations is all covered when I am out on the boat. The weather wasn't the greatest for sailing, there was basically no wind so most of the time we just had the sails up more for show than anything and were forced to motor along. Though the one day when there was wind, we challenged a couple other boats to a "friendly" race and we completely smoked them. Life out on the boats is just amazing fun, everyone on them is basically between 19-25 and just out to have a good time.
I'm back in town for the moment right now but I will most likely be going back out on some boat in the next few days, till then the owner of the sailing company is letting me sleep on one of the yacht that is in harbour. The boat lost its keel so its not going to be going anywhere for a couple months so it is going to be my home for the next little while, and I get to stay there free of charge also. I also talked to him about a job, they don't have any openings right now but he told me that he will hire me as soon as a spot opens up, so hopefully in a couple weeks I will have a job, till then I get to keep going out on the boats to act as volunteer crew.
I'm back in town for the moment right now but I will most likely be going back out on some boat in the next few days, till then the owner of the sailing company is letting me sleep on one of the yacht that is in harbour. The boat lost its keel so its not going to be going anywhere for a couple months so it is going to be my home for the next little while, and I get to stay there free of charge also. I also talked to him about a job, they don't have any openings right now but he told me that he will hire me as soon as a spot opens up, so hopefully in a couple weeks I will have a job, till then I get to keep going out on the boats to act as volunteer crew.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Sailing
I've been in Airlie Beach for almost 2 weeks now sailing around the Whitsundays. My first trip out was on the Enid (http://www.ozsailing.com.au/vessel.php?sailing=Enid), a 2 masted tall ship. My second trip which lasted a week was on the Double O Seven, a 38 foot monohull. The week I spent on the 007 was to get what they call a "Compident Crew" qualification whichs means that I am now recognized by Yachting Australia as being qualified to crew a sailing yacht.
The training was actually extremely intense because we had really bad weather the entire time we were out. We had 30 knot winds on average and were in up to 3 meter swells and it rained extremenly hard at times causing white our conditions. We managed to break 1 of the runners for the rigging, and put minor rips in 2 of the sails and we also had most of our electronics die on us so we really had to learn what we were doing. It was probably actually a good thing it was such bad weather because I learned far more this way. I can put in and take out reefs in bad weather and I can drop the sails easily in emergency conditions. I'm not quite ready to race the Sydney to Hobart but I learned a ton.
I'm going to be going back out on tuesday to work as a crew member on the Hammer (http://www.ozsailing.com.au/vessel.php?sailing=Hammer), which is a racing maxi. I'm not getting paid but my room and board is covered while I'm on the boat and I was actually talking to the owned of the charter company and he told me I could actually just sleep on a couple of the boats while they are back in harbour, I'm hoping if I do a couple runs as volunteer crew and everything goes well I will be able to get on as a deck hand.
The training was actually extremely intense because we had really bad weather the entire time we were out. We had 30 knot winds on average and were in up to 3 meter swells and it rained extremenly hard at times causing white our conditions. We managed to break 1 of the runners for the rigging, and put minor rips in 2 of the sails and we also had most of our electronics die on us so we really had to learn what we were doing. It was probably actually a good thing it was such bad weather because I learned far more this way. I can put in and take out reefs in bad weather and I can drop the sails easily in emergency conditions. I'm not quite ready to race the Sydney to Hobart but I learned a ton.
I'm going to be going back out on tuesday to work as a crew member on the Hammer (http://www.ozsailing.com.au/vessel.php?sailing=Hammer), which is a racing maxi. I'm not getting paid but my room and board is covered while I'm on the boat and I was actually talking to the owned of the charter company and he told me I could actually just sleep on a couple of the boats while they are back in harbour, I'm hoping if I do a couple runs as volunteer crew and everything goes well I will be able to get on as a deck hand.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Learning to sail
I had so much fun out on the boat this last weekend I've signed up to take a sailing course here in Airlie Beach, I'm going to be going back out on a boat tomorrow for 3 more days to learn how to crew a sailing yacht.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Frazer and Whitsundays
So much to talk about and so little time.
I litteraly just got off a sailing ship after spending 3 days sailing through the Whitsundays.
When I last posted I was just heading out to go to Frazer Island. Frazer Island is the worlds largest sand island. The island itself is made of nothing but sand, inland there are freshwater lakes that are absolutely crystal clear, and the island is amazingly contrasted, on one side of a like there will be rain forests and on the other side will be a 40 foot high sand dune sloping down into the lake. The waters around Frazer and completely shark infested and I actually watched a couple of British fishermen one morning pull in a 3ft reef shark around dawn. You can't swim around the Island either because it is a breeding ground for tiger sharks which are one of the types of sharks that will attack people.
The trip across Frazer was pretty crazy, we were loaded up into big 4x4 jeeps and drove around the island, each vehicle having between 8-11 people in it. And its not norming driving around on roads I'm talking about it's crashing along sand roads that you sink 2 feet down into the sand and crusing along the beach. We did however get rained on one night while on Frazer and the rain continued through the second day on the island, all together though it was a great time.
I caught the over night bus up from Hervey Bay after leaving Frazer Island to Airlie Beach. I was originally supposed to go out on a sailing ship called "The Card," it was a ship that had come in 4th in the around the world race and its sister ship was actually the only ship to have won ever leg of the around the world race, unfortunately my cruse was cancled due to a lack of bookings, I was then transfered onto another Maxi racing boat but that cruise was also cancled, I was finally transfered onto the Enid a 3 masted sailing ship that managed to go out on time. The Enid isn't a Maxi sailing boat but it does actually make pretty good speed. The Skipper actually allowed me to pilot the ship back in from the Islands today, so I was piloting the ship for a little over 2 hours myself, I was also the only passenger that he allowed to take the wheel. It was a little uncomfortable when I started to steer the ship and we got out into some bigger wind and the sails catch the wind and the ship starts to pitch over on its side as the boat accelerates. Though once you get used to being on an angle all the time its really amazing.
The sailing trip was absolutely amazing, we spend most of the time either sailing or snorkeling. While snorkeling I saw everything from sea turtles, which I was actually able to swim up and pat their shells, to giant clams, and millions of tropical fish, and even a dolphin and some squids.
I litteraly just got off a sailing ship after spending 3 days sailing through the Whitsundays.
When I last posted I was just heading out to go to Frazer Island. Frazer Island is the worlds largest sand island. The island itself is made of nothing but sand, inland there are freshwater lakes that are absolutely crystal clear, and the island is amazingly contrasted, on one side of a like there will be rain forests and on the other side will be a 40 foot high sand dune sloping down into the lake. The waters around Frazer and completely shark infested and I actually watched a couple of British fishermen one morning pull in a 3ft reef shark around dawn. You can't swim around the Island either because it is a breeding ground for tiger sharks which are one of the types of sharks that will attack people.
The trip across Frazer was pretty crazy, we were loaded up into big 4x4 jeeps and drove around the island, each vehicle having between 8-11 people in it. And its not norming driving around on roads I'm talking about it's crashing along sand roads that you sink 2 feet down into the sand and crusing along the beach. We did however get rained on one night while on Frazer and the rain continued through the second day on the island, all together though it was a great time.
I caught the over night bus up from Hervey Bay after leaving Frazer Island to Airlie Beach. I was originally supposed to go out on a sailing ship called "The Card," it was a ship that had come in 4th in the around the world race and its sister ship was actually the only ship to have won ever leg of the around the world race, unfortunately my cruse was cancled due to a lack of bookings, I was then transfered onto another Maxi racing boat but that cruise was also cancled, I was finally transfered onto the Enid a 3 masted sailing ship that managed to go out on time. The Enid isn't a Maxi sailing boat but it does actually make pretty good speed. The Skipper actually allowed me to pilot the ship back in from the Islands today, so I was piloting the ship for a little over 2 hours myself, I was also the only passenger that he allowed to take the wheel. It was a little uncomfortable when I started to steer the ship and we got out into some bigger wind and the sails catch the wind and the ship starts to pitch over on its side as the boat accelerates. Though once you get used to being on an angle all the time its really amazing.
The sailing trip was absolutely amazing, we spend most of the time either sailing or snorkeling. While snorkeling I saw everything from sea turtles, which I was actually able to swim up and pat their shells, to giant clams, and millions of tropical fish, and even a dolphin and some squids.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Noosa and beyond
So I'm going to be in Noosa Heads for almost a week it looks like. Noosa Heads is a collection of small towns that are basically holiday/weekend communities. So it's alot of beachs and rainforests.
The reason that I'm staying here for as long as I am though is for the next big part of my trip. On friday I'm going to be leaving Noosa and heading to Harvey Bay where I will be spending the night then leaving first thing the next morning for Frazer Island, where I will be spending 3 days 3 nights camping on the island and cruizing around on 4x4 in the sand. I'll be getting back from Frazer around 5pm and catching the bus at 8:30pm to take me up to Ailese Beach to get on a racing Yauht first thing the next morning, to go sailing around the Whitsunday Islands for 3 days 2 nights. The boat I'm going to be on from what I hear has actually won a number of races before it was retired, so I think I'm going to be in for quite the adventure.
In the mean time I'm going to just hang around Noosa, probably head over to Steve Irwin's Zoo, and maybe try my hand at surfing again.
The reason that I'm staying here for as long as I am though is for the next big part of my trip. On friday I'm going to be leaving Noosa and heading to Harvey Bay where I will be spending the night then leaving first thing the next morning for Frazer Island, where I will be spending 3 days 3 nights camping on the island and cruizing around on 4x4 in the sand. I'll be getting back from Frazer around 5pm and catching the bus at 8:30pm to take me up to Ailese Beach to get on a racing Yauht first thing the next morning, to go sailing around the Whitsunday Islands for 3 days 2 nights. The boat I'm going to be on from what I hear has actually won a number of races before it was retired, so I think I'm going to be in for quite the adventure.
In the mean time I'm going to just hang around Noosa, probably head over to Steve Irwin's Zoo, and maybe try my hand at surfing again.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Noosa
I'm leaving Brisbane in the morning and heading 2.5 hours up the coast to Noosa, going to be staying at the Koala Backpackers there. I'm not really too sure what is actually in Noosa but it seems to be a stop that alot of backpackers are making so I figured I would check it out. Probably only going to spend a couple nights there and then move along up the coast a little farther.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Brisbane
I just arrived in Brisbane after spending 4 nights in Surfers Paradise (aka. wannabe Orlando Florida). Went to Dreamworld while there and rode all the rides, Spent far too much time drinking, though every hostle should have a bar as the reception desk. Surfers is way too commercialized though, its all about attracting the big spending holidayers so it was good to get out of there, the entire city is basically nothing but amusement parks, hotels, casinos, and massive condo complexes.
So I'm in Brisbane for the next 2 nights for sure, probably going to stay a couple more than that though still not sure about my plans. Then I'll be back on the road heading north along the coast on the backpackers pillgrimage to Cairns for some diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
So I'm in Brisbane for the next 2 nights for sure, probably going to stay a couple more than that though still not sure about my plans. Then I'll be back on the road heading north along the coast on the backpackers pillgrimage to Cairns for some diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Up the East Coast
Since my last post I traveled up the coast to Newcastle where I stayed for 3 nights. Newcastle is basically a big industrial town with not a lot to do in it. The one good thing about the stay there however was that the hostel I stayed at offered free surfing lessons so I went out and learned how to surf. The actual surfing in the easy part (well I can get up and go a ways at least), the hard part is trying to paddle out through the big surf, though the day I was out the surf was maybe only 6-8 feet high at max where it was breaking.
After leaving Newcastle I took the train/bus up to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is basically the Australian version on Daytona Beach and it just so happens to be spring break here for Australians so there is a ton of partying going on in Byron, Besides party there isn't much to do in Byron however, its basically just a beach community. So after having spent 2 days here I am leaving for Surfers Paradise tonight on the bus. Going to be spending 4 days there. From what I hear Surfers Paradise is a big resort community with lots of amusement parks and that sort of thing so we are planning on spending 4 nights there then probably heading up to Brisbane.
After leaving Newcastle I took the train/bus up to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is basically the Australian version on Daytona Beach and it just so happens to be spring break here for Australians so there is a ton of partying going on in Byron, Besides party there isn't much to do in Byron however, its basically just a beach community. So after having spent 2 days here I am leaving for Surfers Paradise tonight on the bus. Going to be spending 4 days there. From what I hear Surfers Paradise is a big resort community with lots of amusement parks and that sort of thing so we are planning on spending 4 nights there then probably heading up to Brisbane.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
East Coast
Today I bought a rail pass for the East Coast, I'm leaving for Newcastle tomorrow where I will be staying for the next 3-4 days, it is just 2 hours up the coast from Sydney. After which I will probably make a couple more small hops and stop over for a few days at a time on the way up to Brisbane.
The hostel I'm staying at in Newcastle is supposedly a kind of a hippy surfer hang out so maybe I'll see if i can get a lesson or two.
The hostel I'm staying at in Newcastle is supposedly a kind of a hippy surfer hang out so maybe I'll see if i can get a lesson or two.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
First week in Sydney
Since I arrived in Sydney I have been doing a ton of exploring. I've been to the Aquarium, the Animal wildlife centre, the Powerhouse museum, the National Gallery, the Royal Botanic Guardens, the Opera House, China Town, and a hand full of other locations.
The Guardens were amazing, it was like being in the middle of a well groomed rainforest.
Today I'm going to catch the ferry across to the far side of the harbour and go around through Manly.
The Guardens were amazing, it was like being in the middle of a well groomed rainforest.
Today I'm going to catch the ferry across to the far side of the harbour and go around through Manly.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
In Sydney
So I arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning, around 6am. Took about 2 hours to make it through Customs/Immigration and agriculture quarantine. My first day here I spent walking around the city.
Day 2 was my orientation with IEP/SWAP which took about 3 hours. Then spent the rest of the day wondering around the city with a couple other IEP participants from the US.
Today I think we are going to see if we can catch a train across the city and go check out the Opera house and take the ferry across the harbour.
I'm going to be staying in Sydney for the next week or so. After that I think I'm going to be going to "Surf Camp" for 4-5 days in a town south of Sydney.
I picked up a cell phone so if you need to get ahold of me for something my number is 0432 841 563.
Day 2 was my orientation with IEP/SWAP which took about 3 hours. Then spent the rest of the day wondering around the city with a couple other IEP participants from the US.
Today I think we are going to see if we can catch a train across the city and go check out the Opera house and take the ferry across the harbour.
I'm going to be staying in Sydney for the next week or so. After that I think I'm going to be going to "Surf Camp" for 4-5 days in a town south of Sydney.
I picked up a cell phone so if you need to get ahold of me for something my number is 0432 841 563.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Flights
As requested:
American Airlines FLT:4300
LV Ottawa 12:40pm
AR Chicago 1:55pm
American Airlines FLT:0455
LV Chicago 3:10pm
AR Los Angles 5:35pm
Qantas Airways
LV Los Angles 10:30pm
AR Sydney 6:05am
American Airlines FLT:4300
LV Ottawa 12:40pm
AR Chicago 1:55pm
American Airlines FLT:0455
LV Chicago 3:10pm
AR Los Angles 5:35pm
Qantas Airways
LV Los Angles 10:30pm
AR Sydney 6:05am
T - 1 day
Just for a very brief explenation of all of this.
Basically I graduated from University in December and didn't really know what to do next. So I tried to get a job in Ottawa (though not overly hard) and well I decided that it wasn't really what I wanted to be doing right now so I decided might as well go and do something fun instead.
So I'm moving to Australia for a year, I have myself a "Working Holiday Visa" which means I can go for a year and travel around and work.
Right now I'm just finishing up doing my packing, which is actually more difficult than I thought it was going to be, as big as the backpack I have is, it is going to be very difficult to get everything I'm going to need for a year into it and have much space left over for anything.
Basically I graduated from University in December and didn't really know what to do next. So I tried to get a job in Ottawa (though not overly hard) and well I decided that it wasn't really what I wanted to be doing right now so I decided might as well go and do something fun instead.
So I'm moving to Australia for a year, I have myself a "Working Holiday Visa" which means I can go for a year and travel around and work.
Right now I'm just finishing up doing my packing, which is actually more difficult than I thought it was going to be, as big as the backpack I have is, it is going to be very difficult to get everything I'm going to need for a year into it and have much space left over for anything.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
