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Land Sickness
Thursday, 21 December 2006
I decided to go on a three day diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef, cause I am after all a scuba diver. The ride out was bumpy and I got soaked sitting at the front of the boat. Every other wave literally smacked me in the face, but it was better than being in the back. Apparently some people got sick. The boat I was to live-aboard was old, but functional. I was in a small room with two bucks and a small bathroom. I am prone to getting motion sickness, so I don’t know what I was thinking booking myself on a trip like this! However, once I got into the water, everything was fine. I met a sweet couple from South Africa, Irene and Rolf, whom I did most of my diving with. If you are an advanced diver you can just throw on your gear and go out and dive. I became the Dive Master of our group of 3. I hadn’t lead a dive since I lived in Hawaii, back in 99. I had forgotten how different it makes the experience when you have to ask for air and make sure everything is OK. After a few minutes I got the hang of it and had a great time. There’s heaps to see: turtles, sharks, sting rays… but my favorite are the fish. I love swimming in the schools of fish. They are inches from your face. The coral is gorgeous too. The closer you get the more detail you can see. And the coral is so intricate. (much like the mold in Liz Levy’s refrigerator in Sebastopol minus the smell) We went to different dive sites and even did two night dives. After the first day about 15 people left. All of my new buds were gone! But the crew was still on board and some new people came on. I was so ready to leave after the second day but I am glad that I stayed on cause the next dive was awesome. We were at this reef called the Three Sisters. We stayed down for 57 minutes. I love being under water for that long in a completely different world. There was this hilarious old man, Walter, who had really thick glasses and a head full of gray hair. His dive buddy looked exactly like Santa Clause, no joke. Gray beard, belly and all. I ended up on a night dive with Walter. Poor guy, he was so disoriented! He wasn’t sure where to go and what to do. He couldn’t read his gages cause he wasn’t wearing his glasses. When we got up to the surface, after convincing him that he need to come up, he started swimming away from the boat and the cive master had to tug him in. Later that night the boat really started rocking and everyone was having a hard time walking around. You really have to time is right, when you get up, move, and sit back down. Walter went to get up, did this full circle swaying walk-around-thing a couple of times and knocked over a few chairs before falling over. He was still smiling though! Then there was my shower curtain experience..... ugh, the shower curtain! It was so moldy and I didn’t want it to touch me! My bathroom was so small I did everything I could to avoid touching that thing! But I had to rinse off. So the boat was really rockin’, and the shower curtain started swinging. I would cringe and move away from it, but then it would latch itself around my leg, eeeuuuueeeww! Then it would swing away and then come back and latch onto my arm! Yuck! I used to have a fear of spiders, but now my fear of moldy shower curtains has far surpassed that. All in all though it was an awesome trip. You always remember the good stuff and laugh at the bad times, cause it adds up to a magnificent experience and a good story to tell. I am back in Cairns now and I still feel like I’m on the boat, land sickness they call it. I did manage to go to a yoga class though and stand on my head, and balance one foot with out falling over. But just sitting here typing, it’s weird, I’m still swaying. Now I know why Captin Jack Sparrow walks so funny and is so spaced out. I’m going to sleep good tonight… here’s hoping I’m back to normal when I wake up!
Posted: 12.21.2006
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