Author archive
2 July 2015
I set the alarm for 0640 so I could prepare for my dive day in a relaxed manner, without having to fight for the shared bathrooms. Apart from throwing up after both dives, it was a great dive day. SS Yongala is rated amongst the best wreck dives around and I wasn’t disappointed. You can […]
2 July 2015
Introduction I dived the SS Yongala with Yongala Dive Centre based in Alva, near Ayr. Alva is about 1h20 minutes south from Townsille. I stayed at their pleasant dive lodge the night before the dive. It is possible to dive the Yongala from Townsville but the commute by sea is quite long and it makes it […]
1 July 2015
I have to make my way down to Alva today for my dive tomorrow. I had investigated the buses and trains but their schedules don’t work for me. And they’re pricey too. I worked it out that I could hire a car for one day from Avis, and with the 59 minute grace period, I […]
30 June 2015
My first impression of Reef Lodge as a clean, well-run placed was confirmed when I wandered around the premises in the morning. It had a nice garden courtyard. Rules are on the tough side of fair but it keeps the riff-raff in check. I needed breakfast and wandered out. Nothing much was open. The supermarket […]
29 June 2015
Arrival formalities into Oz was quick today. The Qantas domestic bagdrop at the international terminal was closed so I bused over to domestic with luggage in tow on a very full bus. Nearly no one wanted to get off at domestic meaning that I had to squeeze past everyone with my pack. Talking to someone, […]
29 June 2015
Today I escape the Kiwi winter on a trip that will see me re-visiting some places that I enjoyed, plus a foray into a continent I have little experience in: Africa. But first up, it’s Australia. To be specific, Queensland’s winterless north. I did my bag-drop at the airport nearly 4h before departure because we […]
21 June 2015
I set the alarm for 0630 in order to have breakfast at 0700, when it opened. I made my way to the main road to wait the bus to Nadi airport which was scheduled to go past at 0810. It arrived more or less on time. On the way, we made a couple of unscheduled […]
20 June 2015
I finally had good enough weather in Pacific Harbour to lie by the pool and enjoy the resort’s facilities. It gave me a chance to get out of the dorm room as well. I did have two dips in the pool and it was freezing. The sea, with the churned up sand wasn’t appealing enough. […]
19 June 2015
Introduction There are two outfits at Pacific Harbour that offer the Shark Dive experience where they feed the sharks underwater in front of the divers/customers. Beqa Adventure Divers is one outfit and the other is Aquatrek. I chose the former. In the back of my mind, there was the question of ethics. Should we be […]
19 June 2015
I woke at 0400 to go to the toilet. It was blowing a gale and I could hear it howl through the dorm. I had trouble getting back to sleep. By 0500, I could hear the birdsong and cicadas; I realised that was because the wind had died down. When the alarm rang at 0620, […]