Friday, September 30, 2011

Long holls

We've now returned from a fab trip to Fiji and then skiing in Australia.

Part 1, Fiji:
Qamea island is a little dot of land about an hours plane trip north east from Nandi - well to the nearest island with an airstrip at any rate - then you have to take the minivan to the opposite side of the island and then a boat trip across the straights and then finally to Qamea. Greeted with a bottle of bubbly - I knew I was going to like it. 10 days of intermittent diving and relaxing. We did our advanced open water course amidst the clownfish in some of the best diving in the world . For the drift dive, or diving in a current component of our course we did the aptly named "Swirling Coconuts" dive in such a strong current that the dive master later told us he was going to call an end to the dive the moment we got to depth as he had never seen the current so strong - we got whipped around in an underwater maelstrom - but apparently we looked comfortable so he continued. On reflection the vigorous current that was sweeping us over the underwater features with such velocity was probably spinning the blood out of my face - thus accounting for the calm look. Saw my first trumpet fish at 10 knots. So many memorable moments that it's hard to pick what to write about - the manta ray cruising past, diving through caves in the reef at The Great White Wall in the Somosomo Straights (regarded as one of the absolute best dives in the world), being attacked by nemo - don't believe the movie, Nemo is a vicious little beast.
But it wasn't all two hour massages and piña coladas - there was some hard work to be done. We had to choose between reading our books in the hammock or on the beach lounge - nobody should ever have to make a decision that hard.
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3 comments:

KJ said...

Omg, just stunning!

The video was like watching a documentary show...the water was so crystal clear.

LẌ said...

Thanks for the vid! Looks like an awesome holiday.

Fusion said...

Very cool! Looks like you have a great vacation.