March 2 - Australia: Cairns, Queensland

For today, we'd made reservations for Mike to take an "Introduction to Diving" course on SeaQuest with DSDD.  Jon is much too sick to go diving today, and while he considered going snorkeling he really just needs a day of rest.  So Mike and I went down to The Pier at 7:45 to get checked in and set up on the boat.

It was great to see everyone again.  Matty was skippering, Mark was Dive Supervisor, and also on board were Cliff, Tom, Dave, and Walesy (the videographer).  Walesy was getting over the same cold Jon has, and he called it the flu.  Come to think of it, I might agree with him.  At what point does a bad cold get elevated to The Flu?  When it lasts more than a few days?  In that case, I had it and Jon's fighting it.  Walesy was bummed to see that I'm still not 100% better a week later.  I feel fine, but my congestion is still really bad.

Enough of our health problems (I really am getting old!)... let's talk about the diving.

Dive #1: Hasting's Reef - Angels' Bommie

Depth: 14.6 meters

Bottom Time: 56 minutes

Visibility: 20 meters

Angel's Bommie is always a lovely dive, with lots of colorful coral.  I dove with Chiemi (the hostie) and Christine, who is one of the local agents that DSDD invited on board.  We had a very nice dive, and saw some starfish (now called "sea stars" because they're not really fish) and some large Oriental Sweetlips.

Despite my congestion, I didn't have any trouble descending.  Nope.  My trouble came on the ascent.  I experienced what we refer to as a "Reverse Block".  This is what happens when air gets trapped in your sinuses, and - upon ascent - the expanding air can't escape.  The pressure causes a very intense, concentrated pain that gets worse the closer you get to the surface.  It's usually caused by decongestants wearing off during a dive.  Only I hadn't taken any decongestants specifically to avoid this!  This was an all-natural Reverse Block, which didn't make the pain any easier to deal with. 

As soon as I got on the boat, however, I heard the "eeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkk" squeak of my ear as the air escaped and the pressure released.  The relief was incredible.

Mike was already on deck, so we decided to go for a snorkel around the Bommie.  Mike got some nice underwater pictures of clams and fish, and had a good time duck-diving.  But anytime I tried to dive down to point to something, my sinuses screamed from the pressure.  So I spent my time on the surface watching him dive. 

During lunch, we sat and talked about Mike's first scuba dive.  He seemed to really enjoy it.  I decided - because of my sinus issues - to follow Cliff and Mike's group around for the second dive.  It would be an easier and faster dive than if I went with Chiemi and Christine.  So that's what I did. 

Dive #2: Hasting's Reef - Blue Lagoon

Depth: 9.1 meters

Bottom Time: 59 minutes

Visibility: 15 meters

Many of the divers who were in Mike's group decided not to do the second dive.  So it was just Mike, Cliff, and me, and we had a very nice dive.  I'd never been to Blue Lagoon, which is a very pretty and shallow sight.  And it was fun to watch Cliff interact with Mike - showing him fun things like sea cucumbers and big clams.  Mike took a camera with him and got a lot of shots. 

Part of the dive sight included a MASSIVE yellow lettuce coral.  This coral is about 20 feet high and shaped like a dome.  It's perfectly symmetrical in shape, and has some little coral and fish inside.  It really did look like a giant head of head yellow lettuce.  I've never seen anything like it.

Imagine a Big Symmetrical Mountain of This Yellow Coral

(not my picture, by the way)

At the end of the dive, we found two cuttle fish swimming around some coral beneath the boat.  I sat and watched one of them change color from light to dark as it moved from the sand to the coral.  It was so cool to watch!

Then it was time to ascend.  Because Mike's an introductory diver, Cliff had them do a safety stop and ascend on the shock lines from the boat.  Since I was expecting ascent problems myself, I did this with them.  Sure enough, I could feel the pressure in my head increase as I went up.  The pain was right between my eyebrows.  So I went very, very slowly, doing everything I could to decrease the pressure.  After their safety stop, Cliff took Mike up to help him get out of the water, and he stayed at the ladder to watch me from the surface.  Mike would tell me later that there was a small crowd of crew on the side of the boat watching me to make sure I was OK.  (So sweet - that makes me all warm and fuzzy.)

While I hung out on the line, ascending inch by inch, I had plenty of advice.  Walesy came by with his video camera and pointed at his forehead.  I nodded at him and he gave me the symbol for "blow out your nose".  (Believe it or not, this is communicable underwater).  So I tried it, and it helped just a little.  A few seconds later, Tom came up to do the safety stop with his group.  He asked the same question and gave the same advice, which I did again and again.  I was starting to get a bit frustrated with all the nose-blowing, so I decided to go up.

Ow!

I mean it.  OW!

The pressure was pretty painful, and the guys on the boat were concerned about me.  Walesy wanted to know if I'd heard the "eeeeeeeeekkkkkk" yet, which I hadn't.  Matty gave me some Ibuprofen.  Cliffie gave me some Vicks Vapor Rub for my nose and advised that I take a hot shower.  So I did.  Twice.  And all of this helped clear it up within about 1/2 hour.  But that was a pretty painful half-hour.  At one point, my teeth actually hurt!

As always, I have to learn the hard way.  It's not enough for me to be told not to dive when I'm sick.  I have to experience this for myself.

Unfortunately, this means that when Jon and I leave to travel south next week, we won't be doing any diving.  He won't be better for at least another week, so we'll have to miss out on some good dive sights on the way to Sydney.

Back In Cairns

Back in the marina, I waited for all the other passengers to leave the boat before I said my good-byes.  As always, the crew was lined up along the dock to wish everyone happy travels.  It made me really sad to know that this would be the last time I saw this.  So I made my way along the line and gave everyone a goodbye hug.  It was a very nice end to the day.

Dinner - Ocean Palace Chinese Food

Next to The Raw Prawn is a nice Chinese Restaurant where our friend Masa works.  Masa is one of the Dive Masters on the boat - a crazy Japanese guy who will be starting the IDC this month.  When we walked to the Raw Prawn last night, he accosted us and tried (unsuccessfully) to waylay us into his restaurant rather than the Raw Prawn.  So, for tonight, we decided to go see him and have some Chinese food.

Funny, because it was just a few months ago in September that Jon and I swore we would never eat Chinese food again.

Masa took great care of us and gave us some delicious suggestions.  Jon had Szechuan Chicken, Mike had Spicy Peanut Chicken, and I had Beef with Broccoli and Mushrooms.  We each started with soup - Jon and I shared Crab Wanton and Mike had a Corn and Crab bisque.  Very good dinner.