Tuesday, August 29, 2006
just been watching one of my all time favourite movies. the mean machine
sometimes i think that if i could come back as anything, i'd like to be a professional football player. that's soccer for all you heathens. whilst on holidays i read Pele's book. ignore the rest of the crap on the page. i found the book a really good read. an interesting insight into one of the world's most famous players.
but then, i've got a short attention span. if i was any good at it, i'd probably give up after a while. unless i had a good team. and i don't mean a successful team. just a good one. like the bunch of idiots i play with. they are the coolest. we celebrate, win lose or draw. and we don't pull any punches. abuse is handed out to those who screwed up, didn't pass, saved penalties and scored goals.
in any case, i'm completely over my job. not over as in over the top and completely in control. over as in completely past the exciting bit and dunno where to go next. obstacles and problems are mounting up faster than i can solve them. and if i ask for more staff, yeah right...
i'm having problems working out my priorities. i have a house i want to buy, and i like the money from the job, but i hate the pressure and the stupid, endless, mindless, sideways jumping craziness that is information technology. everyone wants everything yesterday but they don't know what they want, except they want the latest stupid toys and never consider for an instance the consequences. everything today, nothing tomorrow. a thousand blodged up kooky fucking solutions and tomorrow some silly prick (me) has to support them.
oh, now you want me to consolidate the servers. we have too many. fuck me dead. why can't we have simple solutions? i like simple solutions. the more complex fucked up crap we create, the harder it gets.
dribble dribble dribble, moan moan moan. i'd change my life to diving, but i'm afraid i'd hate it. i'd rather hate what i do for money and enjoy what i do on weekends. but i could live with hating my job a little less
sometimes i think that if i could come back as anything, i'd like to be a professional football player. that's soccer for all you heathens. whilst on holidays i read Pele's book. ignore the rest of the crap on the page. i found the book a really good read. an interesting insight into one of the world's most famous players.
but then, i've got a short attention span. if i was any good at it, i'd probably give up after a while. unless i had a good team. and i don't mean a successful team. just a good one. like the bunch of idiots i play with. they are the coolest. we celebrate, win lose or draw. and we don't pull any punches. abuse is handed out to those who screwed up, didn't pass, saved penalties and scored goals.
in any case, i'm completely over my job. not over as in over the top and completely in control. over as in completely past the exciting bit and dunno where to go next. obstacles and problems are mounting up faster than i can solve them. and if i ask for more staff, yeah right...
i'm having problems working out my priorities. i have a house i want to buy, and i like the money from the job, but i hate the pressure and the stupid, endless, mindless, sideways jumping craziness that is information technology. everyone wants everything yesterday but they don't know what they want, except they want the latest stupid toys and never consider for an instance the consequences. everything today, nothing tomorrow. a thousand blodged up kooky fucking solutions and tomorrow some silly prick (me) has to support them.
oh, now you want me to consolidate the servers. we have too many. fuck me dead. why can't we have simple solutions? i like simple solutions. the more complex fucked up crap we create, the harder it gets.
dribble dribble dribble, moan moan moan. i'd change my life to diving, but i'm afraid i'd hate it. i'd rather hate what i do for money and enjoy what i do on weekends. but i could live with hating my job a little less
Monday, August 28, 2006
i have just seen the funniest fucking thing of my life.
there's a show on sbs called topgear. this bird who is a fast driving instructor at the Nürburgring raced a frikking transit van around there. she was overtaking cars, porsches and motorcycles.
one of the main dudes got around the 'ring in 9 minutes and 59 seconds, and she said that was so bad she could beat it in a van. unfortunately she couldn't, her time was 10 mins 8 seconds. crazy woman hehehehe
there's a show on sbs called topgear. this bird who is a fast driving instructor at the Nürburgring raced a frikking transit van around there. she was overtaking cars, porsches and motorcycles.
one of the main dudes got around the 'ring in 9 minutes and 59 seconds, and she said that was so bad she could beat it in a van. unfortunately she couldn't, her time was 10 mins 8 seconds. crazy woman hehehehe
Sunday, August 27, 2006
do you know what i love about my life? (bear in mind it's sunday arvo, i've had a great weekend and i'm gissed as a pit)
i love it all. i love my kids, i love my family, i love my friends, and all the nice people who bounce through my life. there is nothing more important to me than beautiful people. not vogue beautiful or the horror-head models who walk the catwalk, but the people who smile and love to live.
i'm not a god botherer, but i really like the beautiful place that is the earth. (who would call a world dirt?) and i the interesting people who populate it.
my weekend? action, busy-ness, giggling with the crew, blue water, swell, cool customers who travel the world seeking fun, late nights, gentle rolling swells rocking you to sleep, early mornings (bleah) more blue waater, stinky seals, sun, breeze, relaxing and waiting, spinning yarns and motoring, before back and unloading.
some of our customers had problems equalising, or equipment problems. we dealt with them all and tried to make sure our customers had the most chance to spend time in the water having a groovy time.
i love it all. i love my kids, i love my family, i love my friends, and all the nice people who bounce through my life. there is nothing more important to me than beautiful people. not vogue beautiful or the horror-head models who walk the catwalk, but the people who smile and love to live.
i'm not a god botherer, but i really like the beautiful place that is the earth. (who would call a world dirt?) and i the interesting people who populate it.
my weekend? action, busy-ness, giggling with the crew, blue water, swell, cool customers who travel the world seeking fun, late nights, gentle rolling swells rocking you to sleep, early mornings (bleah) more blue waater, stinky seals, sun, breeze, relaxing and waiting, spinning yarns and motoring, before back and unloading.
some of our customers had problems equalising, or equipment problems. we dealt with them all and tried to make sure our customers had the most chance to spend time in the water having a groovy time.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
you know what i like about my over 35's soccer team? team spirit.
we played a semi final tonight to see if we get into the major final next week. against a team that we normally beat quite easily. and we lost.
an hour after the game finished we still had most of the team in the dressing shed, having a few beers, yelling, laughing, telling jokes, bullshitting and taking the piss out of each other. sure we woulda rather won, but now we can spend our next thursday night training for the trip away. first to the pub for a couple of warm up drinks, then watch the final (with a couple more drinks).
my cheeks hurt i've been laughing that much.
we played a semi final tonight to see if we get into the major final next week. against a team that we normally beat quite easily. and we lost.
an hour after the game finished we still had most of the team in the dressing shed, having a few beers, yelling, laughing, telling jokes, bullshitting and taking the piss out of each other. sure we woulda rather won, but now we can spend our next thursday night training for the trip away. first to the pub for a couple of warm up drinks, then watch the final (with a couple more drinks).
my cheeks hurt i've been laughing that much.
ok, crap pics:
a seal and friend . i managed to chop the tail off this one but i liked the effect of the diver in the background.
a colourful ascidian which i mostly like because it's actually in focus.
there were lots of fat port jackson sharks around the place. lots of eggs too after being laid. and a shovelnose shark or shovelnose ray, i can't remember which. little buggers didn't like me taking pictures of them very much so mostly i got pics of them swimming away.
the pregnant port jackson was on a night dive. i might give up solo night diving for a while as i managed to give myself the heebie jeebies. well in the very least, i might wait for the other night divers to get in. i was getting out as they were getting in. if i'd been a bit more relaxed i'd have been getting out when they were.
i didn't realise i had a slight current pushing me along. so when i stopped to take a picture of a big wobbegong shark under a rock, the current kept gently pushing me forward. i thought i was just being unco. and once you've got the seeds of doubt planted, then you might as well give up and get out cause i spent the entire last half of the dive looking over my shoulder and breathing like a train.
unfortunately our main cook, who i usually dive with, has gone off to manage one of the local dive shops. she won't solo dive at night anymore either. she scared the crap out of herself (although she had a buddy at the time) when a grey nurse shark started swimming directly at her torch. she turned it off hoping that it would turn away, but then she was in the dark with a shark and didn't know where it was hehehehe so she turned it back on.
i'll have to video her telling the story one day. it had us in stitches! her buddy is a pretty cool customer, but when she caught up with him and started trying to tell him what happened underwater, he thought she was having a panic attack, so they came up. they were getting close to the end of the dive anyway.
a seal and friend . i managed to chop the tail off this one but i liked the effect of the diver in the background.
a colourful ascidian which i mostly like because it's actually in focus.
there were lots of fat port jackson sharks around the place. lots of eggs too after being laid. and a shovelnose shark or shovelnose ray, i can't remember which. little buggers didn't like me taking pictures of them very much so mostly i got pics of them swimming away.
the pregnant port jackson was on a night dive. i might give up solo night diving for a while as i managed to give myself the heebie jeebies. well in the very least, i might wait for the other night divers to get in. i was getting out as they were getting in. if i'd been a bit more relaxed i'd have been getting out when they were.
i didn't realise i had a slight current pushing me along. so when i stopped to take a picture of a big wobbegong shark under a rock, the current kept gently pushing me forward. i thought i was just being unco. and once you've got the seeds of doubt planted, then you might as well give up and get out cause i spent the entire last half of the dive looking over my shoulder and breathing like a train.
unfortunately our main cook, who i usually dive with, has gone off to manage one of the local dive shops. she won't solo dive at night anymore either. she scared the crap out of herself (although she had a buddy at the time) when a grey nurse shark started swimming directly at her torch. she turned it off hoping that it would turn away, but then she was in the dark with a shark and didn't know where it was hehehehe so she turned it back on.
i'll have to video her telling the story one day. it had us in stitches! her buddy is a pretty cool customer, but when she caught up with him and started trying to tell him what happened underwater, he thought she was having a panic attack, so they came up. they were getting close to the end of the dive anyway.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
i think i'm being hesitant about posting my photos for two reasons. one, because i'm lazy, and two, because they are crap.
so instead (while i stuff around uploading them) i'll bore you with stupid travel tales.
the trip over was quite interesting. with even less than my usual pathetic lack of attention to detail, i didn't even realise that i had to pass through another country to get to borneo. actually what i really didn't know was that borneo is divided into 3 countries. indonesia to the south, malaysia to the north, and a tiny bit on the mid west coast for brunei. so when we landed in brunei i thought i could just change all my american dollars (i was told to convert to american first, presumably so the money changers could get their cut twice) into brunei ringgits. but i was told they wouldn't work where we were going. more confused than usual i didn't change them.
fortunately the shops in the brunei transit lounge took american dollars. unfortunately twisties are not necessarily normal twisties. the first two packets were too spicy for me, i finally found a cheese variety that was just crap. fortunately i won't remember brunei forever just because of crap twisties, but exotic souvenier shops and beautiful ornaments. unfortunately the most beautiful were made from elephant or rhinocerous horns. killing a big animal just for it's horns is a bit nasty for me. if you're gonna eat it, and it's not endangered then i'd probably be ok with it. but my limited knowledge says that's not how it works.
anyway, the people were very friendly and helpful. imagine if a malaysian or brunei-ian person came to oz and didn't speak the lingo, they wouldn't get very far. the dunnies weren't so good. maybe it's a cultural thing, but i don't feel like picking up a hose that's laying on the floor of the dunny and hosing my bum off with it. besides thinking that i'd end up looking like i'd been hit by an upside down mini-squall, i wasn't real keen on picking up some hose that was laying on the floor in the dunny! it's probably not that bad once you get used to it and know what you're doing, but i was suffering information overload at the airport, i settled for the one with the paper roll, even if it looked a bit grubby. in malaysia when i came across a few really nasty ones, i just figured i'd wait until we found another.
heh, travel. travel the world, find interesting dunnies.
anyway, we then caught a flight to kota-kinabalu. i think kota means city and kinabalu is the name of a mountain nearby. it was a nice joint. again there were friendly people and despite our hotel undergoing a bit of renovation, the staff were nice. they stayed up late to give us dinner and some tiger beers. and they got up early to give us brekkie, check us out, and ferry us back to the airport.
the whole airport-bus-hotel thingo seemed a bit disorganised. but they didn't panic and it seemed to work out ok. so i wasn't worried.
i'll leave the next day's travel for another days post. might as well draw it out and bore you for days :-)
so instead (while i stuff around uploading them) i'll bore you with stupid travel tales.
the trip over was quite interesting. with even less than my usual pathetic lack of attention to detail, i didn't even realise that i had to pass through another country to get to borneo. actually what i really didn't know was that borneo is divided into 3 countries. indonesia to the south, malaysia to the north, and a tiny bit on the mid west coast for brunei. so when we landed in brunei i thought i could just change all my american dollars (i was told to convert to american first, presumably so the money changers could get their cut twice) into brunei ringgits. but i was told they wouldn't work where we were going. more confused than usual i didn't change them.
fortunately the shops in the brunei transit lounge took american dollars. unfortunately twisties are not necessarily normal twisties. the first two packets were too spicy for me, i finally found a cheese variety that was just crap. fortunately i won't remember brunei forever just because of crap twisties, but exotic souvenier shops and beautiful ornaments. unfortunately the most beautiful were made from elephant or rhinocerous horns. killing a big animal just for it's horns is a bit nasty for me. if you're gonna eat it, and it's not endangered then i'd probably be ok with it. but my limited knowledge says that's not how it works.
anyway, the people were very friendly and helpful. imagine if a malaysian or brunei-ian person came to oz and didn't speak the lingo, they wouldn't get very far. the dunnies weren't so good. maybe it's a cultural thing, but i don't feel like picking up a hose that's laying on the floor of the dunny and hosing my bum off with it. besides thinking that i'd end up looking like i'd been hit by an upside down mini-squall, i wasn't real keen on picking up some hose that was laying on the floor in the dunny! it's probably not that bad once you get used to it and know what you're doing, but i was suffering information overload at the airport, i settled for the one with the paper roll, even if it looked a bit grubby. in malaysia when i came across a few really nasty ones, i just figured i'd wait until we found another.
heh, travel. travel the world, find interesting dunnies.
anyway, we then caught a flight to kota-kinabalu. i think kota means city and kinabalu is the name of a mountain nearby. it was a nice joint. again there were friendly people and despite our hotel undergoing a bit of renovation, the staff were nice. they stayed up late to give us dinner and some tiger beers. and they got up early to give us brekkie, check us out, and ferry us back to the airport.
the whole airport-bus-hotel thingo seemed a bit disorganised. but they didn't panic and it seemed to work out ok. so i wasn't worried.
i'll leave the next day's travel for another days post. might as well draw it out and bore you for days :-)
Monday, August 21, 2006
i went to visit my brother this afternoon. with typical forgetfullness i, um, forgot why i went there. instead i handed him some gifts for his kids (who weren't home yet) that i bought while in borneo.
one of the co-owners in our racebike lost his mum the other day. she was a couple of years younger than my mum, in good health, and something just snuck up and got her.
it's a bit depressing. i didn't know her, but a death that touches a friend kind of touches you too i think. it also serves to remind me why i am here.
some people are put on the earth to achieve great things, write great music, erect tall buildings, design great motorcycles, invent sewerage and clean water so i don't have to worry about them. you get the point. as far as i can work out, i'm here to have fun, which hopefully won't come back to haunt me in another life. i'm not religious. after working out that i'm not a christian i touched briefly on buddhism and islam and played with tarot cards and astrology. and i worked out that none of it interests me in the slightest.
the coolest thing about having a set of tarot cards was that i had a cool set of tarot cards. i didn't feel compelled (nor did i show any aptitude) to solve the mysteries of the universe, mankind, or even my own future.
i'm good at my job (well i was until i took a step up the ladder, now i'm overwhelmed and under motivated), i earn good money (i think) and my life is comfortable. got two kids who i love, a family of kooky people who i also love, and a wierd and diverse circle of friends.
some religions talk about a heaven, well i reckon i'm in it. sure there's crappy bits, and i hate them, but i also like the good bits and i cherish them. the only reason i'm still doing my job is so i can afford to buy my toys, ride our bike, and go on holidays. it's been too long between cool holidays like the one i just had. i'm already planning for the next. i don't have the balls to follow the Leyland Brothers (sorry, i tried to find a link, but these guys were pre internet and the results i got were way to pathetic a tribute to them), nor even the thousands and thousands of carefree backpackers of all nationalities who walk the globe.
i think i like to do my job, carve out my little bit of materialistic errr stuff, and take a couple of weeks out per year doing something really cool. although having a weekend job on a diveboat really is a great stress relief. another thing i like, apart from scuba diving in exotic locations, is meeting people. i think i like meeting people so much because i have such pathetic people skills. i love to meet new people, find out about their lives, learn how to ask for a beer in a new language, and generally fit in, wherever i go.
i was nearly going to go on a trip to europe next year with a couple of my mates, following the gp circus for a few races. it sounded pretty good to me, but i can't afford it. for the amount of money it was going to cost, i could do 3 of the holidays i just had. one of my mates who is still going to go seemed determined to set me up with every stray chicky he found. i can't work out whether he wants to do this (tried a few times in the past and always pushing) because he's now married with kids and used to be very good at meeting cute chickies and jumping in the sack with them, or because he just loves embarrassing the shit out of me. he goes on and on about how easy it is, and a whole bunch of other stuff, maybe i'm not hot-blooded enough. but i kinda don't work that way. don't get me wrong, i like looking at cute chickies, every now and then i find myself romantically involved (usually with disasterous consequences) but i'm kinda over it.
well anyway, i know what i like and what i don't. i'm gonna enjoy what i do and savour a few pleasant experiences along the way.
anyway, i've rambled from place to place about as badly as usual, so i'll try and cut to a point,
"When you reach the end of your life, the point is not to arrive looking rested and refined, but to slide in sideways saying, 'Wow, what a ride!'"
my friend's mum i think certainly had a full life. family, friends, travel. she'll be missed
one of the co-owners in our racebike lost his mum the other day. she was a couple of years younger than my mum, in good health, and something just snuck up and got her.
it's a bit depressing. i didn't know her, but a death that touches a friend kind of touches you too i think. it also serves to remind me why i am here.
some people are put on the earth to achieve great things, write great music, erect tall buildings, design great motorcycles, invent sewerage and clean water so i don't have to worry about them. you get the point. as far as i can work out, i'm here to have fun, which hopefully won't come back to haunt me in another life. i'm not religious. after working out that i'm not a christian i touched briefly on buddhism and islam and played with tarot cards and astrology. and i worked out that none of it interests me in the slightest.
the coolest thing about having a set of tarot cards was that i had a cool set of tarot cards. i didn't feel compelled (nor did i show any aptitude) to solve the mysteries of the universe, mankind, or even my own future.
i'm good at my job (well i was until i took a step up the ladder, now i'm overwhelmed and under motivated), i earn good money (i think) and my life is comfortable. got two kids who i love, a family of kooky people who i also love, and a wierd and diverse circle of friends.
some religions talk about a heaven, well i reckon i'm in it. sure there's crappy bits, and i hate them, but i also like the good bits and i cherish them. the only reason i'm still doing my job is so i can afford to buy my toys, ride our bike, and go on holidays. it's been too long between cool holidays like the one i just had. i'm already planning for the next. i don't have the balls to follow the Leyland Brothers (sorry, i tried to find a link, but these guys were pre internet and the results i got were way to pathetic a tribute to them), nor even the thousands and thousands of carefree backpackers of all nationalities who walk the globe.
i think i like to do my job, carve out my little bit of materialistic errr stuff, and take a couple of weeks out per year doing something really cool. although having a weekend job on a diveboat really is a great stress relief. another thing i like, apart from scuba diving in exotic locations, is meeting people. i think i like meeting people so much because i have such pathetic people skills. i love to meet new people, find out about their lives, learn how to ask for a beer in a new language, and generally fit in, wherever i go.
i was nearly going to go on a trip to europe next year with a couple of my mates, following the gp circus for a few races. it sounded pretty good to me, but i can't afford it. for the amount of money it was going to cost, i could do 3 of the holidays i just had. one of my mates who is still going to go seemed determined to set me up with every stray chicky he found. i can't work out whether he wants to do this (tried a few times in the past and always pushing) because he's now married with kids and used to be very good at meeting cute chickies and jumping in the sack with them, or because he just loves embarrassing the shit out of me. he goes on and on about how easy it is, and a whole bunch of other stuff, maybe i'm not hot-blooded enough. but i kinda don't work that way. don't get me wrong, i like looking at cute chickies, every now and then i find myself romantically involved (usually with disasterous consequences) but i'm kinda over it.
well anyway, i know what i like and what i don't. i'm gonna enjoy what i do and savour a few pleasant experiences along the way.
anyway, i've rambled from place to place about as badly as usual, so i'll try and cut to a point,
"When you reach the end of your life, the point is not to arrive looking rested and refined, but to slide in sideways saying, 'Wow, what a ride!'"
my friend's mum i think certainly had a full life. family, friends, travel. she'll be missed
Sunday, August 20, 2006
well i know i haven't written anything about borneo yet. i'm still getting my head around it. crappy pictures and stupid stories soon. i promise.
it was a bit of a shock this weekend though. i wanted to get out of working on the boat this weekend as my soccer team had made it through to the semi finals. but typically, things didn't work out quite as expected.
the powers that be decided that our game (4th against 3rd) should be played on a sunday. we had seven players out due to work committments, injury and travel. i should do this last as i found out about it last, but i'll do it first. pretend i'm that tarantino dude, jumping around from scene to scene.
on my way home i saw a couple of cars outside the pub, belonging to a couple of players from my team. so i dropped in to see how we'd gone. one of our guys, who is also in the navy, had returned from 10 weeks at sea and a few weeks in united-states-of-american ports, had just returned for his first game in ages. this guy is very fit, he's faster than me (which isn't particularly hard) and can run all day. he told us about his trip, playing navy war games, and the result of the game, we lost 3-0. but it wasn't a negative thing i thought. despite having so many players out they played hard and defended well. a couple of our guys (who talk themselves up) didn't react well to losing, but you always have a few people who just don't get it. anyway, it sounded to me like the guys really dug in, played hard, and shit happened. i won't be there next week (working again) but they will and the following week we'll be there cheering for our favourite other team.
anyway, back to the fun stuff.friday night one of our favourite groups got on board. we stayed up late, had a few relaxing ales, and then turned in early (about 2am) for a big day saturday.
saturday came and it was grand. one of the reasons i had to be on and couldn't get out of it, was because we had a new deckie who needed to be trained. but as we didn't have that many customers, i was able to take advantage of having another deckie, and get a few extra dives. i managed an unprecendented 3 dives this weekend. the first dive i managed was at the local seal colony. kinda reminded me of the last time i went diving in the tropics. when we came back from diving in 28 degree waters, we went to narooma to dive with the seals in 13 degree waters. this time was the same. diving in 28-30 degree waters, hell, when we hit a 24 degree thermocline we felt quite cold. so i come home and a week or so later i'm in the water with the seals, in 14 degree waters.
fortunately the seals were even cooler than the ones at narooma. there were a few other boats anchored, so as the boat motored past we jumped in and swam over. the easiest way to swim on the surface is backwards, i nearly ran over someone from another boat though, so i gave up and went down.
not much action for a while, lots of life though. the fishies were a little skittish though. must be the seals hehehe
then the seals started coming in. twisting, turning, buzzing around. then they'd disappear and reappear. next thing there was a big group of them on the surface above us. one would come down and buzz from diver to diver, bubble trail to bubble trail, then off in the distance, then back again. then a couple came through biting and fighting each other. i think they were jealous of the others getting all the bubbles. one of the customers said one was sitting behind me for ages but he couldn't get a photo.
eventually i was getting cold and went up. a wonderful start to the day
it was a bit of a shock this weekend though. i wanted to get out of working on the boat this weekend as my soccer team had made it through to the semi finals. but typically, things didn't work out quite as expected.
the powers that be decided that our game (4th against 3rd) should be played on a sunday. we had seven players out due to work committments, injury and travel. i should do this last as i found out about it last, but i'll do it first. pretend i'm that tarantino dude, jumping around from scene to scene.
on my way home i saw a couple of cars outside the pub, belonging to a couple of players from my team. so i dropped in to see how we'd gone. one of our guys, who is also in the navy, had returned from 10 weeks at sea and a few weeks in united-states-of-american ports, had just returned for his first game in ages. this guy is very fit, he's faster than me (which isn't particularly hard) and can run all day. he told us about his trip, playing navy war games, and the result of the game, we lost 3-0. but it wasn't a negative thing i thought. despite having so many players out they played hard and defended well. a couple of our guys (who talk themselves up) didn't react well to losing, but you always have a few people who just don't get it. anyway, it sounded to me like the guys really dug in, played hard, and shit happened. i won't be there next week (working again) but they will and the following week we'll be there cheering for our favourite other team.
anyway, back to the fun stuff.friday night one of our favourite groups got on board. we stayed up late, had a few relaxing ales, and then turned in early (about 2am) for a big day saturday.
saturday came and it was grand. one of the reasons i had to be on and couldn't get out of it, was because we had a new deckie who needed to be trained. but as we didn't have that many customers, i was able to take advantage of having another deckie, and get a few extra dives. i managed an unprecendented 3 dives this weekend. the first dive i managed was at the local seal colony. kinda reminded me of the last time i went diving in the tropics. when we came back from diving in 28 degree waters, we went to narooma to dive with the seals in 13 degree waters. this time was the same. diving in 28-30 degree waters, hell, when we hit a 24 degree thermocline we felt quite cold. so i come home and a week or so later i'm in the water with the seals, in 14 degree waters.
fortunately the seals were even cooler than the ones at narooma. there were a few other boats anchored, so as the boat motored past we jumped in and swam over. the easiest way to swim on the surface is backwards, i nearly ran over someone from another boat though, so i gave up and went down.
not much action for a while, lots of life though. the fishies were a little skittish though. must be the seals hehehe
then the seals started coming in. twisting, turning, buzzing around. then they'd disappear and reappear. next thing there was a big group of them on the surface above us. one would come down and buzz from diver to diver, bubble trail to bubble trail, then off in the distance, then back again. then a couple came through biting and fighting each other. i think they were jealous of the others getting all the bubbles. one of the customers said one was sitting behind me for ages but he couldn't get a photo.
eventually i was getting cold and went up. a wonderful start to the day
Friday, August 11, 2006
well i'm home and i'm happy.
happy to be home, but i had a great holiday. i've had to revise my opinions of countries of the world as well. up until now the turkish people were, in my opinion, the friendliest i'd met. i've had to bump them down to second place as the malaysian people are, amazingly, even friendlier.
got some stories, and got some photos, but i'll get around to it :-)
i learned a lot more about geography than i knew as well. which wasn't particularly difficult as i know very little.
i spent a whole bunch of time hanging around in airport lounges, waiting for flights, trying to spend my malaysian ringits before bringing them home.
if you ever wanna go diving in malaysian borneo, i thought the kapalai resort was frigging awesome. we dived a bit at sipadan, another nearby island called mabul (for which i can't find a decent link but it was cool anyway) and around the kapalai resort.
friends of ours caught up with us there. they weren't content just to dive where we were, they went to layang layang and won a photo competition which gives them a holiday and a heap of equipment as well, then after diving with us they were heading to another resort i can't remember the name of.
now i'm home i've got a double header for soccer this weekend. i've done nothing for nearly two weeks except dive, eat, drink and sleep, lost another notch on my damned belt and i'm gonna be struggling.
happy to be home, but i had a great holiday. i've had to revise my opinions of countries of the world as well. up until now the turkish people were, in my opinion, the friendliest i'd met. i've had to bump them down to second place as the malaysian people are, amazingly, even friendlier.
got some stories, and got some photos, but i'll get around to it :-)
i learned a lot more about geography than i knew as well. which wasn't particularly difficult as i know very little.
i spent a whole bunch of time hanging around in airport lounges, waiting for flights, trying to spend my malaysian ringits before bringing them home.
if you ever wanna go diving in malaysian borneo, i thought the kapalai resort was frigging awesome. we dived a bit at sipadan, another nearby island called mabul (for which i can't find a decent link but it was cool anyway) and around the kapalai resort.
friends of ours caught up with us there. they weren't content just to dive where we were, they went to layang layang and won a photo competition which gives them a holiday and a heap of equipment as well, then after diving with us they were heading to another resort i can't remember the name of.
now i'm home i've got a double header for soccer this weekend. i've done nothing for nearly two weeks except dive, eat, drink and sleep, lost another notch on my damned belt and i'm gonna be struggling.
