After finishing a EFR (Emergency First Response) course yesterday and meeting Si off the boat, I finally had chance to collect my new mountain bike, which was kindly put together by Tim, one of the videographers at Deep Down.    
With new lights and only a couple of adjustments I set off home.  Boy, for only having a few weeks off from cycling, the ride home killed me 😀     It’s so nice to have a decent bike to ride.  No excuses for me now, not to go cycling ;-D  (Pics to follow, when the rain stops!!)

So today was the ‘Dive Site Clean Up’  …basically a dive picking up rubbish that’s in the sea.  The plan was to have ‘Crystal 2’ (Crystal’s medium size boat) but Si received a message first thing, saying that it had broken down.  What a pain! As we were supposed to be meeting other dive schools/boats south of the island and collect all the rubbish collected and bring it all back to the pier but we had to cancel.  Instead we, all 16 volunteers, managed to squeeze onto the course boat ‘Crystal 3’ at very short notice and do a clean up at ‘Twin Peaks’  …not a great deal of rubbish collected but that’s a good sign. 

On our 2^nd dive, we got everyone to do ‘Coral Watch’ as well, which in short, is measuring the darkest, lightest part of the coral, whether it be boulder, branching, plate or sort coral (apart from the tips, as that’s new growth) and recording it on a slate which we then take and enter online global database.All in all, the day was success and everyone enjoyed their dives.  

It was so nice to have so many volunteers and hopefully if they’re out diving again, they just might pick that plastic bag/bottle and stick it in their pocket or, decline a plastic bag from 7-Eleven.   
x
Jenny 

Wow… The work never stops… Jen has been teaching advanced, then Deep and Nitrox, while I taught advanced…

It is soooo busy that we are both tired and stressed from the amount of work that we still haven’t found our feet yet.

I finished a 2 person Chinese advanced last night (completing their Night Dive at Junkyard), while Jen completed her dives this morning, but then she went straight back into teaching in a class.

Today, after dropping Jen down at the dive school at silly oclock for her dives… I went back to the apartment when I had a list of chores. Collect washing, fix shower, find UK adaptor, pick up Xbox, talk to Divemaster trainee protege (I am a DMT’s mentor!)…. and sort out the ant infestation.

For the past 2 nights when we arrived home, the place was covered in ants… thousands of them!  So, I went searching for this special chalk which they hate… Now, I have drawn all over the floor and outside in the hope that they “don’t cross the line”…

Jen finishes in a couple of hours, and is coming straight home on her new mountain bike!! YES IT HAS ARRIVED…. pics to come..!

x

SD

While Jen and I had 2 days off, we needed to catching up on simple chores that we didn’t have time to do… such as washing, shopping, sleeping!!!

Jen started 1 of her students on the advanced course yesterday, and I tagged along for the ride just for the pleasure of diving without having anyone to be responsible for. It was a welcome change. We were also joined by Johannes, a divemaster who hails from Holland. I mention Johannes because it was the 1st anniversary of his father’s death and he was quite pensive understandably. But what a great way to have a peaceful, reflective day by doing a couple of chilled dives.

1st dive was Aow Leuk, a bay on the South East of the island. Surprising good visibilty and the student accomplished the Navigation dive fine.

2nd dive was Tanote Bay, a little bit North of the previous site. While visibilty was not so good, the student completed her Peak Performance Buoyancy skills, and then we went for a little bubble… and found 3 beautiful flatworms.. like these:

Then, time to head back to the port, where we hung around until it was time for night diving… I tagged along yet again so that I could try out a UV torch that I brought from the UK… it was AMAZING… like being at a full moon party but underwater… All the corals and rocks become glow-in-the-dark…! What a funky way to dive… and now everyone wants to borrow our torches!!
To bed for an early night after a quick bite to eat… cos Jenny is up for early deep dives….