Sunday, October 29, 2006
well i've just had a really cool weekend. one of those weekends just kind of make you think you know why you enjoy life. this summer is building up to be one of the biggest ever, if spring is anything to go by.
i was meant to go diving after work on friday. but a combination of equipment problems and desire for a beer to unwind after a toxic week led me to one of the local pubs for a drink with some workmates instead. then it was off to another mates' place to borrow some more equipment so that i could go for a dive the next day.
i wasn't really keen on the friday night dive anyway. i don't like using new gear on a night dive. i like to keep the fuckup factor to a minimum. don't try too many changes at once, and none at night that you haven't previously tested. an afternoon dive would have been ok, but daylight savings hadn't started, and getting away early on a friday is pretty much impossible. from where i was sitting that afternoon, i thought the night dive was probably going to be ok. the bureau of meteorology wasn't showing any significant swell, and the winds were offshore. but it turned out that the conditions were good when they got in the water, but the wind swung and it was crap when they got out, with a prick of an exit. screw that. i'm too spoiled for hard shit like that ;-)
new tanks with my mate's regs bit of a spaghetti factory, but will be severly simplified when i get my own extra set of regulators.
so saturday morning i was up at sparrow fart getting organised. still managed to be running late though, by the time i packed the car, picked up the kids, and headed off, i was destined to about 5-10 mins late at the meeting point. no worries, the others weren't on time either. but then i was driving along, and when i got to a bendy bit of road that i like, i got right into it before getting caught up behind traffic. 5 mins later i realised i should have turned off before the bends. oops. u-turn, a few shortcuts (i'll call them shortcuts untill i prove otherwise) and i got there just as one of the others did, who was also running late.
bass point, shellharbour. the gravel loader. a cool little dive. one of my mates found a big wobbegong in a big rock cave, some cool little cuttlefish, some cool schools of pike and the coolest, at least 40-50 big boxfish schooling around. chains and other stuff, assorted metal bits, a little nudi. there was a cool little yellow catfish, but the only shots i got in focus, was the little bastard swimming away.
unfortunately, like an idiot, i didn't put in fresh batteries, so after each shot it took at least 30-45 seconds for the flash to recharge. those boxfish should have been the coolest subjects, but the best i got was this
when i finally got out, the kids were a bit cold and didn't feel like snorkelling after all. so we bailed out back home for lunch then got ready for a haloween party that night.
we weren't the most prepared (like i'm ever prepared) but we did some face paint, and went as brandon lee from the crow, a witch, and a dead jester. it was fun anyway.
sunday turned up, and we weren't ready for it. daylight savings, what a drag. especially when i have to get up earlier. so we looked out and thought it probably wasn't such a good day for the beach. but we thought we'd try anyway, rushed around like black ants and got to the beach. my son and i had numb faces from the cold after about 30 mins and my daughter refused to get in. it was fun though. one of those giggle and shiver things hehehe
i really can't define what made this such a great weekend. but i know, there's gonna be more. bring it on
i was meant to go diving after work on friday. but a combination of equipment problems and desire for a beer to unwind after a toxic week led me to one of the local pubs for a drink with some workmates instead. then it was off to another mates' place to borrow some more equipment so that i could go for a dive the next day.
i wasn't really keen on the friday night dive anyway. i don't like using new gear on a night dive. i like to keep the fuckup factor to a minimum. don't try too many changes at once, and none at night that you haven't previously tested. an afternoon dive would have been ok, but daylight savings hadn't started, and getting away early on a friday is pretty much impossible. from where i was sitting that afternoon, i thought the night dive was probably going to be ok. the bureau of meteorology wasn't showing any significant swell, and the winds were offshore. but it turned out that the conditions were good when they got in the water, but the wind swung and it was crap when they got out, with a prick of an exit. screw that. i'm too spoiled for hard shit like that ;-)
new tanks with my mate's regs bit of a spaghetti factory, but will be severly simplified when i get my own extra set of regulators.
so saturday morning i was up at sparrow fart getting organised. still managed to be running late though, by the time i packed the car, picked up the kids, and headed off, i was destined to about 5-10 mins late at the meeting point. no worries, the others weren't on time either. but then i was driving along, and when i got to a bendy bit of road that i like, i got right into it before getting caught up behind traffic. 5 mins later i realised i should have turned off before the bends. oops. u-turn, a few shortcuts (i'll call them shortcuts untill i prove otherwise) and i got there just as one of the others did, who was also running late.
bass point, shellharbour. the gravel loader. a cool little dive. one of my mates found a big wobbegong in a big rock cave, some cool little cuttlefish, some cool schools of pike and the coolest, at least 40-50 big boxfish schooling around. chains and other stuff, assorted metal bits, a little nudi. there was a cool little yellow catfish, but the only shots i got in focus, was the little bastard swimming away.
unfortunately, like an idiot, i didn't put in fresh batteries, so after each shot it took at least 30-45 seconds for the flash to recharge. those boxfish should have been the coolest subjects, but the best i got was this
when i finally got out, the kids were a bit cold and didn't feel like snorkelling after all. so we bailed out back home for lunch then got ready for a haloween party that night.
we weren't the most prepared (like i'm ever prepared) but we did some face paint, and went as brandon lee from the crow, a witch, and a dead jester. it was fun anyway.
sunday turned up, and we weren't ready for it. daylight savings, what a drag. especially when i have to get up earlier. so we looked out and thought it probably wasn't such a good day for the beach. but we thought we'd try anyway, rushed around like black ants and got to the beach. my son and i had numb faces from the cold after about 30 mins and my daughter refused to get in. it was fun though. one of those giggle and shiver things hehehe
i really can't define what made this such a great weekend. but i know, there's gonna be more. bring it on
