Woke up early but excited this morning....I was going diving for the first time in almost 2 years. We were both extremely tired as there was a lot of noise at the hostel last night. There were people up drinking and making noise right outside our window until pretty late and then one guy went completely mental, screaming and hitting things before starting puking. Nice! The dive centre is just around the corner from where we're staying so we wandered over there to get kitted out with wetsuits and gear. There were about 10 people going out on the dive trip. We all got in a bus for the short drive the jetty where we got on the boat. Soon enough we were at Lighthouse bay, and the first dive site, Blizzard Ridge. I was a little bit nervous about this first dive as it had been so long since I did a proper dive. But I had no need to be nervous, it all went really well. We spent almost an hour underwater and for once I didn't even get cold. We saw some really big sea snakes, a Wobbegong or carpet shark and loads of lion fish. The visibility was really good and it was great to be back under water.
The second dive site was the Labyrynth. Again we spent almost an hour in the water. This time we saw some White Tipped Reef Shark. I wasn't sure how close we should get to these but the guide seemed relaxed so I followed her lead. One of them swam right by me, it was great to get such a close up view. We also found a green turtle hiding among the rocks and saw a blue spotted ray. Overall a great dive.
Back on the boat we had lunch and then headed back shore. Unfortunately Matt was feeling sea sick on the way back but thankfully he recovered once back on dry land. It was mid afternoon by the time we got back to the hostel and we were both exhausted -- I have no idea what it is about spending a day on the boat that tires you out but it really does. We hung around by the pool for a while, before cooking at the hostel in the evening and having a few beers. We enjoyed today so much we are now thinking of doing an Advanced Diving course. We'll check it tomorrow. For the moment, it's great not to have to set the alarm for the morning.
