The 12th August 2006 was an exciting day for 16 holiday makers from Vision Divers as they headed off to explore the island of Mindoro in the Philippines, and in particular to dive at Puerto Galera.
On Friday the 16th June, a group of divers headed over to Whyalla, South Australia on the long-awaited trip to witness the world renowned event of Australian Giant Cuttlefish gathering in their masses for their annual mating and 'spawn-fest'.
Around 7:00am on Thursday, April 2, 1931, a dense fog suddenly rolled into Long Bay, obscuring the northern headland. On the bridge of MV Malabar, en-route from Melbourne to Sydney, Captain George Leslie recognised the danger and ordered 5 degrees rudder to steer the ship seaward to pass further offshore than his original plan of half a mile.
Our hosts greeted us warmly at the jetty. Both Kit and I were still jetlagged and slightly overwhelmed at the welcome. A small kava ceremony was given to us and after a brief tour and chat we made our way to dress for dinner.
The seas were angry on Saturday, my friends! Big seas rolling in from the south ruled out diving Freshwater Beach (one of my favourite Northern Beaches dives), so we opted for the old faithful of Shelly Beach instead.
Friends and colleagues envied us for going diving in North Sulawesi, but let me tell you: 11 days with Bob Whorton on a boat is hard work. Especially when he convinces you that visiting a karaoke bar in the midst of the city of Bitung, Sulawesi is a great idea.
Imagine paradise: blue skies, amazing food, flowers, happy people, world class diving, smiles all round, a bit of pampering and a wet-edge pool looking out over the volcanoes on the North-Sulawesi mainland.
When last I corresponded I was venturing into heady world of Dive Mastering. Time, work and the ubiquitous search for a mate has absorbed way too much time to have gained these qualifications to date.
When Sacha, scientist and champion free diver, got together with Argentinean photographer, Alejandro Rolandi, they started developing a scenario to bring the hidden world of shark nets out of the water and into the public eye and hopefully the public conscience.
For those that have followed my ramblings over the years, you will know that I have a varied scuba career and now find myself tinkering on the dark side ~ learning technical diving...