Following tradition, Dominic completed his 100th dive yesterday. Its a "special" dive you have to do to ensure good luck in your future diving.!
Many congrats Dom!
Monday 31 May 2010
Philinopsis Pilsbryi
Thats the latin name for this little Sea Slug. Apparently never seen on Koh Tao before.... Jenny managed to grab some footage of the little fella zooming across some sea grass... very cute... Will we ever find him again? If so, I want some super close up shots with the big boy camera.. Well done Jenny!
SD
SD
Sunday 30 May 2010
Day 115 - 30th May 2010
Happy Birthday Janet & Happy Anniversary Rosie & Charles
Up & raring to go we were at Crystal around 9.30 to meet Kiwi. Back in classroom we started looking at BCD's and were given the challenge of threading the tank strap back up in 2 minutes. As I only remember doing this once I think in my DMT days, neither of us did it correctly or in the time DOH! Oh well, after being shown, it just took seconds, at least now we will never forget ;-D
The next thing we looked at was the inflator hose buttons which we disassembled, checked, cleaned and reassembled. Then we looked at dump valves, all in all very basic and straight forward to repair.
We then moved onto tanks. All we could do with these was to service the actual tank valve by emptying the tank of air and then unscrewing the valve itself from the tank and disassembling the components inside, replacing all the Orings and giving each part a thorough clean before putting anything back together.
I'd like to spend a couple of days working on faulty dive equipment to make myself more familiar with all of the components as I found it really interesting.
Tonight is a group of DMT's snorkel test, so we'll pop down to watch that and then head home for another early night as we've signed up for the 7am boat
Up & raring to go we were at Crystal around 9.30 to meet Kiwi. Back in classroom we started looking at BCD's and were given the challenge of threading the tank strap back up in 2 minutes. As I only remember doing this once I think in my DMT days, neither of us did it correctly or in the time DOH! Oh well, after being shown, it just took seconds, at least now we will never forget ;-D
The next thing we looked at was the inflator hose buttons which we disassembled, checked, cleaned and reassembled. Then we looked at dump valves, all in all very basic and straight forward to repair.
We then moved onto tanks. All we could do with these was to service the actual tank valve by emptying the tank of air and then unscrewing the valve itself from the tank and disassembling the components inside, replacing all the Orings and giving each part a thorough clean before putting anything back together.
I'd like to spend a couple of days working on faulty dive equipment to make myself more familiar with all of the components as I found it really interesting.
Tonight is a group of DMT's snorkel test, so we'll pop down to watch that and then head home for another early night as we've signed up for the 7am boat
Saturday 29 May 2010
Day 114 - 29th May 2010
Last nights celebrations were brilliant. Luca has no idea about his surprise party and the newly qualified instructors were on great form. It wasn't our intention to stay out late but I think we left around midnight rather drunk whilst others went on elsewere.
I didnt feel too bad this morning surprisingly ..by the time I got up it was 9ish, Si had already been out and bought provisions for breakfast, made tea and put Eastenders on for me. How spoilt am I?! After egg and soldiers we showered, dressed and rode to Crystal. Today we were doing an equipment spec and servicing our regulators which was great fun. Kiwi (Instructor from NZ) showed us how to disassemble, clean and replace parts in them and then we had to put them back
together. Our Cressi regs we later found out are supposed to be serviced after every 50 dives, no wonder they've been acting up.
After playing around and cleaning the individual parts both of our regs were serviced so then we started on the faulty Crystal ones. I got a reg that had a leaky depth guage which was only a matter of replacing a couple of O rings and Si got to take apart an Aqualung first stage which didn't look as complicated as our Cressi's but complicated enough ...the next regulator I looked had a broken hose which just a matter of unscrewing and replacing and both mouth pieces were wet breathing, basically letting in water as you breath, so we broke those down and replaced the rubber
All in all it was a great afternoon. It's great to know how exactly everything works and how to fix it.
Tomorrow we'll be looking at BCD's and tanks
Early night for us tonight!!
I didnt feel too bad this morning surprisingly ..by the time I got up it was 9ish, Si had already been out and bought provisions for breakfast, made tea and put Eastenders on for me. How spoilt am I?! After egg and soldiers we showered, dressed and rode to Crystal. Today we were doing an equipment spec and servicing our regulators which was great fun. Kiwi (Instructor from NZ) showed us how to disassemble, clean and replace parts in them and then we had to put them back
together. Our Cressi regs we later found out are supposed to be serviced after every 50 dives, no wonder they've been acting up.
After playing around and cleaning the individual parts both of our regs were serviced so then we started on the faulty Crystal ones. I got a reg that had a leaky depth guage which was only a matter of replacing a couple of O rings and Si got to take apart an Aqualung first stage which didn't look as complicated as our Cressi's but complicated enough ...the next regulator I looked had a broken hose which just a matter of unscrewing and replacing and both mouth pieces were wet breathing, basically letting in water as you breath, so we broke those down and replaced the rubber
All in all it was a great afternoon. It's great to know how exactly everything works and how to fix it.
Tomorrow we'll be looking at BCD's and tanks
Early night for us tonight!!
Friday 28 May 2010
Day 111-13 - 26 -28th May 2010
Apologies for the lack of daily updates.
The last few days have been pretty quiet so not much to write home about, plus the internet has been very flakey which is driving Simon crazy. He's trying to do his UK work and the connection keeps dropping out, so everything is taking twice as long ....how frustrating is that?!
In the last few days we've had rain. It's been slightly overcast and has drizzled on the odd occasion but the other evening when we were at the Crystal bar waiting to watch the Open Water movie the wind came from nowhere, lightning tore up the sky and the heavens opened. It was incredible. The Crystal bar area is big and undercover but the wind was just driving the rain in and everyone ended up huddled in the most sheltered corner watching the movie on a tv, as everything was getting soaked and blown away. A few people just went out and sat in the sea, sipping their beers watching the lightshow ..nutters! Maybe next time though ;-)
Anyway, we've had a couple of dives at 'Junk Yard' and found the smallest sweetlips ever. It was so small that I thought it was plankton at first, how crazy is that?!
Today when we went out, the longtail brokedown a hundred meters or so off the beach, so we all put our dive gear on and surface swam to 'JunkYard' while we left Nathan on the longtail, moored to a buoy.
At Junk Yard, quite a few of the structures had come apart/fallen down due to the storm the other day, so we spent most of our time assembling them and moving the structures we'd dropped the day of the 'Dive Clean Up'. It was a productive dive and a long swim back.
Back at Crystal, Nath was sat down in pain as he had towed the longtail back on his own and put his back out, even for two people, that would have been a real struggle. ..I think we'll call him 'Super Nath' from now :-)
Tonight it's the newly qualified instructors celebration party as well as instructor Luca's surprise birthday party.
The last few days have been pretty quiet so not much to write home about, plus the internet has been very flakey which is driving Simon crazy. He's trying to do his UK work and the connection keeps dropping out, so everything is taking twice as long ....how frustrating is that?!
In the last few days we've had rain. It's been slightly overcast and has drizzled on the odd occasion but the other evening when we were at the Crystal bar waiting to watch the Open Water movie the wind came from nowhere, lightning tore up the sky and the heavens opened. It was incredible. The Crystal bar area is big and undercover but the wind was just driving the rain in and everyone ended up huddled in the most sheltered corner watching the movie on a tv, as everything was getting soaked and blown away. A few people just went out and sat in the sea, sipping their beers watching the lightshow ..nutters! Maybe next time though ;-)
Anyway, we've had a couple of dives at 'Junk Yard' and found the smallest sweetlips ever. It was so small that I thought it was plankton at first, how crazy is that?!
Today when we went out, the longtail brokedown a hundred meters or so off the beach, so we all put our dive gear on and surface swam to 'JunkYard' while we left Nathan on the longtail, moored to a buoy.
At Junk Yard, quite a few of the structures had come apart/fallen down due to the storm the other day, so we spent most of our time assembling them and moving the structures we'd dropped the day of the 'Dive Clean Up'. It was a productive dive and a long swim back.
Back at Crystal, Nath was sat down in pain as he had towed the longtail back on his own and put his back out, even for two people, that would have been a real struggle. ..I think we'll call him 'Super Nath' from now :-)
Tonight it's the newly qualified instructors celebration party as well as instructor Luca's surprise birthday party.
Tuesday 25 May 2010
Day 110 - 25th May 2010
Not much to report today.
What I have made is a quick video clip of stuff that Jen has filmed on the last 4 dives..
Quite the budding videographer eh?!
What I have made is a quick video clip of stuff that Jen has filmed on the last 4 dives..
Quite the budding videographer eh?!
Day 109 - 24th May 2010
We arrived at Crystal around 10.15 ..Nathan was already there talking to Carsten and the DMT team as to what needed to be done for the beach clean up.
Teams were sent off with gloves and bin bags down the beach to collect rubbish and then groups started to sift the sand at the side of the decking as it was full of polystyrene balls which had escaped from the tired old bean bags used in the bar. I personally think they should bin them and replace them with some environmentally friendly seating.
Whilst this was going on, Nathan, Si and I gathered all left over gear that was going to be deployed at Junk Yard (weights system, cross trainer, pvc coral garden etc) and put that to one side, ready to be put on the long tail, then stored all the left over pvc piping, rope and did a general tidy up.
A couple of hours had passed and the sifting had stopped, rubbish had been collected and before breaking for lunch, everyone helped to load all the gear up onto the longtail.
We had an hour or so for lunch, so Simon & I rode up to 'Deep Down' to see what was going on and had a coffee whilst ordering lunch from 'Zest'
Back at Crystal and before the dive site clean up began, Nath, Si & I jumped on the longtail and dropped off all the equipment at Junk Yard. We'll be arranging it and assembling items in the next few days and then finally, Junk Yard should be complete.
Back on land, everyone gathered, dive kits assemble and after a briefing by Nathan we headed out equipped with rubbish bags (nets) and scissors. Some got dropped off from the longtail whist some of us just swam out.
It didnt take that long to fill our bags, we'd found nets, plastic bags, sacks, piping, drink cans and clothes to name a few. The longtail was coasting about, so on surfacing, we'd call it over and empty out the contents and then carry on collecting.
Our dive was just over an hour and we'd collected 693kg worth of rubbish between us which was sorted into categories and then disposed of.
In the evening, 'Vibe' were having a fundraising bbq for 'Save Koh Tao'. There was tug of war, which Crystal won :-D, a limbo competition and more but as we arrived late, I think we must have missed a few.
A very good night was had by all..
Teams were sent off with gloves and bin bags down the beach to collect rubbish and then groups started to sift the sand at the side of the decking as it was full of polystyrene balls which had escaped from the tired old bean bags used in the bar. I personally think they should bin them and replace them with some environmentally friendly seating.
Whilst this was going on, Nathan, Si and I gathered all left over gear that was going to be deployed at Junk Yard (weights system, cross trainer, pvc coral garden etc) and put that to one side, ready to be put on the long tail, then stored all the left over pvc piping, rope and did a general tidy up.
A couple of hours had passed and the sifting had stopped, rubbish had been collected and before breaking for lunch, everyone helped to load all the gear up onto the longtail.
We had an hour or so for lunch, so Simon & I rode up to 'Deep Down' to see what was going on and had a coffee whilst ordering lunch from 'Zest'
Back at Crystal and before the dive site clean up began, Nath, Si & I jumped on the longtail and dropped off all the equipment at Junk Yard. We'll be arranging it and assembling items in the next few days and then finally, Junk Yard should be complete.
Back on land, everyone gathered, dive kits assemble and after a briefing by Nathan we headed out equipped with rubbish bags (nets) and scissors. Some got dropped off from the longtail whist some of us just swam out.
It didnt take that long to fill our bags, we'd found nets, plastic bags, sacks, piping, drink cans and clothes to name a few. The longtail was coasting about, so on surfacing, we'd call it over and empty out the contents and then carry on collecting.
Our dive was just over an hour and we'd collected 693kg worth of rubbish between us which was sorted into categories and then disposed of.
In the evening, 'Vibe' were having a fundraising bbq for 'Save Koh Tao'. There was tug of war, which Crystal won :-D, a limbo competition and more but as we arrived late, I think we must have missed a few.
A very good night was had by all..
Sunday 23 May 2010
NEW Pin Up of the Month !!
After the success of last month, with 2 joint winners.... this month we give you "The Men"
Contestant Number 1: Hailing from New Zealand, we have the newly returned Dominic.
Dominic was on Koh Tao last year learning to become a Divemaster. He is the youngest, and palest of our contestants. He enjoys activities that involve his hands. Knitting, Finger Painting, and Belly Dancing (see the full hip sway move in this photo) are top of his agenda to be at one with his female side. He hopes for a New World Order of Sheep to rule to end the worlds problems..... BAAAAAA.
Love Muscle number 2 is Iain. From Good old Blighty, he has been an island resident for what seems like eternity. He spends his time teaching Open Water courses, being a part time Eco Warrior, and serving drinks at Vibe. Having a hectic schedule barely leaves him enough time for working out. He enjoys listening to The Cheeky Girls, baking cakes, and dressing up in Lingerie. His big hopes for the World is that they build a KFC on Koh Tao.
Finally, our last contestant. Yes, it is a man under all that hair! His name is Johnny and also comes from England. Being a recently qualified Divemaster, Johnny is currently under the protective wings of Crystal, enhancing and training him to become a fully fledged Yeti. Up extra early every morning, he dries and combs his locks, and 3 hours later he is finally ready to go to work. He enjoys Lucys Lunches, bagels with bacon and cream cheese, Gazapacho soup.... sucking his belly in for a photo... His big hope for the world is to create a new stronger, longer lasting hairspray.
Good luck to all contestants! 3 weeks to go!
Contestant Number 1: Hailing from New Zealand, we have the newly returned Dominic.
Dominic was on Koh Tao last year learning to become a Divemaster. He is the youngest, and palest of our contestants. He enjoys activities that involve his hands. Knitting, Finger Painting, and Belly Dancing (see the full hip sway move in this photo) are top of his agenda to be at one with his female side. He hopes for a New World Order of Sheep to rule to end the worlds problems..... BAAAAAA.
Love Muscle number 2 is Iain. From Good old Blighty, he has been an island resident for what seems like eternity. He spends his time teaching Open Water courses, being a part time Eco Warrior, and serving drinks at Vibe. Having a hectic schedule barely leaves him enough time for working out. He enjoys listening to The Cheeky Girls, baking cakes, and dressing up in Lingerie. His big hopes for the World is that they build a KFC on Koh Tao.
Finally, our last contestant. Yes, it is a man under all that hair! His name is Johnny and also comes from England. Being a recently qualified Divemaster, Johnny is currently under the protective wings of Crystal, enhancing and training him to become a fully fledged Yeti. Up extra early every morning, he dries and combs his locks, and 3 hours later he is finally ready to go to work. He enjoys Lucys Lunches, bagels with bacon and cream cheese, Gazapacho soup.... sucking his belly in for a photo... His big hope for the world is to create a new stronger, longer lasting hairspray.
Good luck to all contestants! 3 weeks to go!
Friday 21 May 2010
Day 105 - 20th May 2010
Both feeling tired and bleary eyed, we hopped on the bike and rode to Crystal and got our dive kits and then walked to 'Deep Down' to collect my camera and made our way to the boat. Today dive sites were 'South West' and 'Shark Island'
We not been to 'South West' for some time, so that made a refreshing change. The visibility was great, such a pretty dive site with hundreds of enenimies carpeting the pinnacle. This was the only place that we've actually seen a whale shark last year but yet again, no sightings today. I did manage to capture some good footage of a couple of blue spotted sting rays and butterfly fish but not much else. The dive went extremely quickly. Si was having problems with his reg, which was free flowing and swimming against the current it was letting in some water which isn't good. We really need to do an equipment spec to sort our regulators out.
After an hour surface interval we arrived at 'Shark Island' (named as it looks like a sharks fin comng out of the water) The visibility to start with was only a couple of meters which was surprising and there was a slight current. Simon managed to spot a yellow box fish which I filmed for some time and a puffa. We did hope to find the albino moray that's lives there but didnt manage to find it. In the shallows the visibility was slightly better, coming across a large school of barracuda at the end of the dive and a couple of bat fish near the buoy line. Slightly disappointing dives but it was good to dive somewhere different.
Back on land, we dropped my camera off at Deep Down and then headed home, stopping at 'Greasy Spoon' for lunch ..we were both pretty tired, so ate and then had an afternoon snooze.
We didnt fancy venturing out in the evening so popped down to 'Kanya' for our usual Green Thai curries and then lazed infront of the tv and watched 'Wolfman'.
We not been to 'South West' for some time, so that made a refreshing change. The visibility was great, such a pretty dive site with hundreds of enenimies carpeting the pinnacle. This was the only place that we've actually seen a whale shark last year but yet again, no sightings today. I did manage to capture some good footage of a couple of blue spotted sting rays and butterfly fish but not much else. The dive went extremely quickly. Si was having problems with his reg, which was free flowing and swimming against the current it was letting in some water which isn't good. We really need to do an equipment spec to sort our regulators out.
After an hour surface interval we arrived at 'Shark Island' (named as it looks like a sharks fin comng out of the water) The visibility to start with was only a couple of meters which was surprising and there was a slight current. Simon managed to spot a yellow box fish which I filmed for some time and a puffa. We did hope to find the albino moray that's lives there but didnt manage to find it. In the shallows the visibility was slightly better, coming across a large school of barracuda at the end of the dive and a couple of bat fish near the buoy line. Slightly disappointing dives but it was good to dive somewhere different.
Back on land, we dropped my camera off at Deep Down and then headed home, stopping at 'Greasy Spoon' for lunch ..we were both pretty tired, so ate and then had an afternoon snooze.
We didnt fancy venturing out in the evening so popped down to 'Kanya' for our usual Green Thai curries and then lazed infront of the tv and watched 'Wolfman'.
Thursday 20 May 2010
Day 104 - 19th May 2010
The trip to 'Sail Rock' today was cancelled so we ended up on the boat to 'Twins' & Japanese Gardens'
I took my camera but I didnt get any real footage. The first dive we went to look for the seahorses but didnt find them and then spent the rest of the dive swimming around the shallow pinnacle. On the 2nd dive, instead of going to 'Japs' we stayed at Twins. As most people had spotted 2 Eagle rays on the first dive, that was our mission for our 2nd dive. The only largish thing we saw was a Trigger which seemed to be minding it's own business but we did find a lovely puffa fish and saw a blue spotted ray hiding under a ledge. So all in all two pretty okish dives
That evening our friend Debbie was having a birthday meal at 'Blue Wind' We both had an Indian curry with garlic naan and samosa, very tasty. There was a really good turn out and after we went for drinks at 'Vibe'. I think we left just before midnight as we were on the morning boat and the last I saw of Debbie, she was pretty smashed.
I took my camera but I didnt get any real footage. The first dive we went to look for the seahorses but didnt find them and then spent the rest of the dive swimming around the shallow pinnacle. On the 2nd dive, instead of going to 'Japs' we stayed at Twins. As most people had spotted 2 Eagle rays on the first dive, that was our mission for our 2nd dive. The only largish thing we saw was a Trigger which seemed to be minding it's own business but we did find a lovely puffa fish and saw a blue spotted ray hiding under a ledge. So all in all two pretty okish dives
That evening our friend Debbie was having a birthday meal at 'Blue Wind' We both had an Indian curry with garlic naan and samosa, very tasty. There was a really good turn out and after we went for drinks at 'Vibe'. I think we left just before midnight as we were on the morning boat and the last I saw of Debbie, she was pretty smashed.
Day 103 - 18th May 2010
We were woken by the biggest clap of thunder ever this morning which scared the living daylights out of me. With the rain lashing down and lightening, it was pretty fantastic to watch. Apparently our aerial was struck but seeing we dont really watch the cable tv, we didnt notice.
As you can imagine, we stayed in most of the morning, Si was working and I got my bag ready for todays diving. Around 11am, after it had dried up a bit we rode down to Deep Down to collect Si's camera, as today Nathan wants him to film some of the bleaching at 'Twins'.
After Si struggled down to the boat with his enormous camera, we walked to Crystal to collect our dive gear and order breakfast from 'Zest'
The 2nd dive was at 'Twins'. Si was taking his big camera on this dive but once in the water, discovered that he'd not replaced the tape DOH!!! So I took Nathans stills camera and took a few photo's of coral bleaching, and we both recorded some data for Coral Watch.
Off the boat, Si struggled up to DeepDown equiped with both his camera and dive gear to drop off his camera. I headed straight back to Crystal to clean my kit and then waited a few minutes for Si to turn up.
This evening, the Open Water video showing has a little of our friend Teresa's footage in, so in order not to miss it, we shot home to check Si's UK work and then returned to Crystal at 7.30ish to watch the video. The video was cool and all her shots were good.
Today it feels so much cooler and by the look of things, it might well rain again later (fingers crossed)
As you can imagine, we stayed in most of the morning, Si was working and I got my bag ready for todays diving. Around 11am, after it had dried up a bit we rode down to Deep Down to collect Si's camera, as today Nathan wants him to film some of the bleaching at 'Twins'.
After Si struggled down to the boat with his enormous camera, we walked to Crystal to collect our dive gear and order breakfast from 'Zest'
Today, we helped Nathan deploy mooring buoys and roped lines to protect the shallow bay and extend the snorkelling area at 'Mango Bay' We had a 100 meter line with numerous small buoys along to add. The existing line was untied from one end along with a couple of guide ropes underwater and then we tied the extention on, making sure we were far enough away from the main mouring buoy. After putting down new guide ropes, tied onto rocks 4/5 meters beneath the line, the snorkelling area had almost doubled.
The 2nd dive was at 'Twins'. Si was taking his big camera on this dive but once in the water, discovered that he'd not replaced the tape DOH!!! So I took Nathans stills camera and took a few photo's of coral bleaching, and we both recorded some data for Coral Watch.
Off the boat, Si struggled up to DeepDown equiped with both his camera and dive gear to drop off his camera. I headed straight back to Crystal to clean my kit and then waited a few minutes for Si to turn up.
This evening, the Open Water video showing has a little of our friend Teresa's footage in, so in order not to miss it, we shot home to check Si's UK work and then returned to Crystal at 7.30ish to watch the video. The video was cool and all her shots were good.
Today it feels so much cooler and by the look of things, it might well rain again later (fingers crossed)
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Day 102 - 17th May 2010
After yesterdays breakfast disaster, I cycled down into Sairee with our new tuppawear and went to 'Zest' and ordered fruit, yoghart & museli and then stopped at 7Eleven for OJ.
I think the tuppawear is a brilliant idea as normally the portions they give wouldnt even fill half the container and they filled it to the top for the same price Bargain!!! :-)
Si and I ate a healthy portion and still had some left over, so popped in the fridge for tomorrows breaky.
Around midday, we biked down to Crystal for the afternoon boat for double 'Champon'. Every time we dive there we've always taken our camera's for the chance of seeing a whale shark but today we didnt. Guess what? No whale sharks in sight but we did find at 33m a very long fishing net with so many dead/stuggling fish in it that it was very upsetting, neither Si or I had our dive knives/scissor on us but still tried freeing some of the them but to no avail.
Our second dive was pretty short and we just swam around the pinnacle for half an hour and surfaced. I just wish we could have done another deep dive with a cutting implement to free some of the drowning fish.
In the evening, we went to 'Tattoo Bar' for food, which was slightly disappointing. Si's veggie burger & chips was very greasy and tasteless. My taco was very small and not what I'd imagined but I must say the sunset was lovely.
After eating we then headed to Crystal for a couple of beers whilst watching the Open Water video's and headed home .
I think the tuppawear is a brilliant idea as normally the portions they give wouldnt even fill half the container and they filled it to the top for the same price Bargain!!! :-)
Si and I ate a healthy portion and still had some left over, so popped in the fridge for tomorrows breaky.
Around midday, we biked down to Crystal for the afternoon boat for double 'Champon'. Every time we dive there we've always taken our camera's for the chance of seeing a whale shark but today we didnt. Guess what? No whale sharks in sight but we did find at 33m a very long fishing net with so many dead/stuggling fish in it that it was very upsetting, neither Si or I had our dive knives/scissor on us but still tried freeing some of the them but to no avail.
Our second dive was pretty short and we just swam around the pinnacle for half an hour and surfaced. I just wish we could have done another deep dive with a cutting implement to free some of the drowning fish.
In the evening, we went to 'Tattoo Bar' for food, which was slightly disappointing. Si's veggie burger & chips was very greasy and tasteless. My taco was very small and not what I'd imagined but I must say the sunset was lovely.
After eating we then headed to Crystal for a couple of beers whilst watching the Open Water video's and headed home .
Monday 17 May 2010
Coral Bleaching
Here is a small snippet of some of the bleaching that has quickly come on.
Fingers crossed that the weather change (rain and wind needed) will help it recover... the next few weeks will be critical, and we shall be monitoring it closely.
Fingers crossed that the weather change (rain and wind needed) will help it recover... the next few weeks will be critical, and we shall be monitoring it closely.
Day 101 - 16th May 2010
After riding down to Sairee to buy fresh bread, OJ, water and eggs I planned to make a lovely breakfast for Simon. As we've only got a plug in, one ring stove and a wok like pan it didnt exactly turn out how Id imagined. The eggs must have been old (ish) as the joke seperated from the white and just didnt look right and the lovely fresh bread that I'd put in the grill, microwave to toast, ended up as hard as hell. Typical, all that effort and it really wasnt worth it. Si joked about loosing a tooth which I wasn't too amused at ;-)
In the afternoon, we met with Nathan, his sister and mother to have a fun dive at 'Junk Yard' along with Ohad, a DMT (dive master Trainee) who was going to map the dive site. We had a lovely relaxed dive and felt proud of all the hard work we've put into this dive site. After a 50min dive, we clambered about the longtail and headed back to shore. Nathans mother was pretty impressed. Just the sheer convienience of jumping on the longtail and being at the dive site in 5 minutes. Junk Yard will be a bit hit with Open Water students i'm sure.
Back at home we showered and watched Battlestar Galactica and then some of the Monaco Gran Prix before heading out to 'Morava' Restaurant. Tonight was a leaving bash for Ali, who worked at Crystal. We did plan to eat but by the time we got there, the table was full (15 or so people) and more friends standing at the bar who had already ordered, so we thought we'd just stay for a few drinks and then get food later, plus there was only veggie Lasagna for Si, which he doesn't really like. So after a few beers we left and got a takeaway and headed home to watch the last episode of Battle Star galatica, which was very sad ;-D LOL
In the afternoon, we met with Nathan, his sister and mother to have a fun dive at 'Junk Yard' along with Ohad, a DMT (dive master Trainee) who was going to map the dive site. We had a lovely relaxed dive and felt proud of all the hard work we've put into this dive site. After a 50min dive, we clambered about the longtail and headed back to shore. Nathans mother was pretty impressed. Just the sheer convienience of jumping on the longtail and being at the dive site in 5 minutes. Junk Yard will be a bit hit with Open Water students i'm sure.
Back at home we showered and watched Battlestar Galactica and then some of the Monaco Gran Prix before heading out to 'Morava' Restaurant. Tonight was a leaving bash for Ali, who worked at Crystal. We did plan to eat but by the time we got there, the table was full (15 or so people) and more friends standing at the bar who had already ordered, so we thought we'd just stay for a few drinks and then get food later, plus there was only veggie Lasagna for Si, which he doesn't really like. So after a few beers we left and got a takeaway and headed home to watch the last episode of Battle Star galatica, which was very sad ;-D LOL
Sunday 16 May 2010
Day 100 - 15th May 2010
Many Happy returns to: Garth, Sean & Stef!!!
Si went out early to get breakfast and returned with a feast. Eggs, sausage (for me) beans, toast, coffee and juice, all in our new Tuppaware containers. FYI - most of the takeaways on the island come packed into a hideous amount of polystyrene boxes & plastic bags which isnt very eco friendly, so we thought we'd set a good example. Breakfast tasted delicious and I think we appreciated it more as we'd not eaten since yesterday morning.
This afternoon we were out on the boat helping Nathan do a Reef Check at 'Twins' along with the soon to be qualified Reef check students. I assisted on the shallow (5mtrs) transect line, counting invertebrate while Debbie & Nathan did fish & substrates. The rest of the team, along with Simon did the deep (9mtrs) transect line. All the data from lines will be recorded and then entered on a global database.
After going home for a shower and a couple of episodes of Battle Star Galactica, we went to 'Dirty Nellys' for food and then on to Crystal to watch Tims (trainee videographer) final underwater movie and to cheer on the newly certified Dive Masters do there Snorkel Test.
Si went out early to get breakfast and returned with a feast. Eggs, sausage (for me) beans, toast, coffee and juice, all in our new Tuppaware containers. FYI - most of the takeaways on the island come packed into a hideous amount of polystyrene boxes & plastic bags which isnt very eco friendly, so we thought we'd set a good example. Breakfast tasted delicious and I think we appreciated it more as we'd not eaten since yesterday morning.
This afternoon we were out on the boat helping Nathan do a Reef Check at 'Twins' along with the soon to be qualified Reef check students. I assisted on the shallow (5mtrs) transect line, counting invertebrate while Debbie & Nathan did fish & substrates. The rest of the team, along with Simon did the deep (9mtrs) transect line. All the data from lines will be recorded and then entered on a global database.
After going home for a shower and a couple of episodes of Battle Star Galactica, we went to 'Dirty Nellys' for food and then on to Crystal to watch Tims (trainee videographer) final underwater movie and to cheer on the newly certified Dive Masters do there Snorkel Test.
Saturday 15 May 2010
Day 99 - 14th May 2010
Due to severe temperatures and the rapid bleaching, Simon and I went out with our video camera's to get some footage for Nathan, while he and the Reef Check students did a practice survey along the transect line. Si will be putting together a short movie for you guys to watch soon.
The amount and speed that the corals are bleaching is incredible. Most of the solitary mushroom corals are on their way to be fully bleached, whist other boulder coral seems to be bleaching from the bottom up.
Anyway, along our travels we disturbed an eagle ray which shot past us and scared the life out of me.
After a 105 minute dive, only at 5/6 meters I hasten to add, we climbed back on the longtail and head back to Crystal. On our way back into shore the heavens opened and at last we had some decent rain, it was a real struggling to carry tanks and the kit from the boat whilst being battered by the rain.
Once the rain stopped, Nath, Simon and I walked off the beach with our camera's and snorkelling gear in hand to check out the coral nursary that we'd set up a few weeks ago and to tag 9 different corals for monitoring.
Back at home we showered and relaxed for a bit.
Tonight, there's a free bbq at 'Vibe' as 3 people are leaving Koh Tao. We headed out around 8.30pm to say our goodbyes and to find the bbq was already finished. They obviously underestimated about how many people were going to show. Anyway after multiple beers, chats and laughter, we headed home just after midnight.
The amount and speed that the corals are bleaching is incredible. Most of the solitary mushroom corals are on their way to be fully bleached, whist other boulder coral seems to be bleaching from the bottom up.
Anyway, along our travels we disturbed an eagle ray which shot past us and scared the life out of me.
After a 105 minute dive, only at 5/6 meters I hasten to add, we climbed back on the longtail and head back to Crystal. On our way back into shore the heavens opened and at last we had some decent rain, it was a real struggling to carry tanks and the kit from the boat whilst being battered by the rain.
Once the rain stopped, Nath, Simon and I walked off the beach with our camera's and snorkelling gear in hand to check out the coral nursary that we'd set up a few weeks ago and to tag 9 different corals for monitoring.
Back at home we showered and relaxed for a bit.
Tonight, there's a free bbq at 'Vibe' as 3 people are leaving Koh Tao. We headed out around 8.30pm to say our goodbyes and to find the bbq was already finished. They obviously underestimated about how many people were going to show. Anyway after multiple beers, chats and laughter, we headed home just after midnight.
Day 98 - 13th May 2010
I spent most of the morning just pottering about whilst Si got on with some of his UK work.
Around midday, we headed to Crystal as the last of the structures were being deployed at 'Junk Yard'. As well as the normal crew, we had a few DMT's on the boat who were actually going to map it.
The 4 cement pillars for the Sydney Harbour bridge and pvc pipes which were cemented into biscuit tins,went in first and then we dove down with the structures.
Luckily we didnt have to move anything too far as the drop zone was exactly where we planned. So with the bridge tied to the pillars and the kareoke station fixed to the pvc piping our job was done.
We've doubled the size of Junk Yard now and with a couple of more items being deployed next week, it should be a fantastic place to take open water students.
Around midday, we headed to Crystal as the last of the structures were being deployed at 'Junk Yard'. As well as the normal crew, we had a few DMT's on the boat who were actually going to map it.
The 4 cement pillars for the Sydney Harbour bridge and pvc pipes which were cemented into biscuit tins,went in first and then we dove down with the structures.
Luckily we didnt have to move anything too far as the drop zone was exactly where we planned. So with the bridge tied to the pillars and the kareoke station fixed to the pvc piping our job was done.
We've doubled the size of Junk Yard now and with a couple of more items being deployed next week, it should be a fantastic place to take open water students.
Friday 14 May 2010
Day 97 - 12th May 2010
Up early, Si started on his UK work and I slept in.
Around 2.30 we headed down into Mae Haad and got breakfast from 'Greasy Spoon'. Si had a healthy portion of large chips and I got an egg and bacon sandwich which we got as takeaway and ate at Deep Down, then headed to Crystal. Nathans friends were putting the last touches onto their 'Sydney Harbour bridge' which looked incredible. They'd even been out to buy a few toy cars which they attached to the netting road. By far, this was the best structure to date.
This afternoon we were all going out on the Dusk dive at 'Chumphon' and the night dive at 'Twins'
At Chumphon pinnacle we were the only boat apart from a little fishing boat moored up which made a refreshing change. The viz was good even with the light fading and Si and I had a great dive. I was constantly looking out for a whale shark or two (wishful thinking) but it wasn't to be.
After a 55 minute dive, we were back on the boat and change to a fresh tank, ready for our next dive at 'Twins'.
The journey back was around 1/2 an hour, so we had a cuppa & a few biscuits until we had an hr surface interval then kitted up ready for our next dive.
This dive we followed Nathan, Tracy & friends around 'Buoyancy World' and then headed off in our own direction when we came across Kat, Deb & Carsten with his incredibly powerful light. The strobe setting on it would certainly start you fitting if you suffered from epilepsy.
Anyway, for a laugh, both Si and I turned our torches off and swam either side of Kat for a minute or two. When Kat saw Si, it made her jump and then Si signalled her to look to her left, where I had my head as close to her as I could, she shrieked ..it was so funny that my mask kept on filling up with water. Moments like that are priceless. (Obviously we wouldnt have done it on anyone that would have panicked)
Dive kit washed and packed away, we headed to the bar for a drink, caught up with a couple of friends and then made our way home..
Around 2.30 we headed down into Mae Haad and got breakfast from 'Greasy Spoon'. Si had a healthy portion of large chips and I got an egg and bacon sandwich which we got as takeaway and ate at Deep Down, then headed to Crystal. Nathans friends were putting the last touches onto their 'Sydney Harbour bridge' which looked incredible. They'd even been out to buy a few toy cars which they attached to the netting road. By far, this was the best structure to date.
This afternoon we were all going out on the Dusk dive at 'Chumphon' and the night dive at 'Twins'
At Chumphon pinnacle we were the only boat apart from a little fishing boat moored up which made a refreshing change. The viz was good even with the light fading and Si and I had a great dive. I was constantly looking out for a whale shark or two (wishful thinking) but it wasn't to be.
After a 55 minute dive, we were back on the boat and change to a fresh tank, ready for our next dive at 'Twins'.
The journey back was around 1/2 an hour, so we had a cuppa & a few biscuits until we had an hr surface interval then kitted up ready for our next dive.
This dive we followed Nathan, Tracy & friends around 'Buoyancy World' and then headed off in our own direction when we came across Kat, Deb & Carsten with his incredibly powerful light. The strobe setting on it would certainly start you fitting if you suffered from epilepsy.
Anyway, for a laugh, both Si and I turned our torches off and swam either side of Kat for a minute or two. When Kat saw Si, it made her jump and then Si signalled her to look to her left, where I had my head as close to her as I could, she shrieked ..it was so funny that my mask kept on filling up with water. Moments like that are priceless. (Obviously we wouldnt have done it on anyone that would have panicked)
Dive kit washed and packed away, we headed to the bar for a drink, caught up with a couple of friends and then made our way home..
Thursday 13 May 2010
Day 96 - 11th May 2010
We were at Crystal around 10.30. Si sat down and started some UK work and I helped to finish some of the structures that were created yesterday, then helped move all the cement bases down onto the beach, so they were ready to be lifted up onto the longtail for the afternoon deployment dive.
The work on the Sydney harbour bridged was still going on and it was looking good. Nathans friends had put in some really hard work especially when they're supposed to be on holiday.
After a short break for lunch, we tidied up the construction area and loaded most of the structures onto the Longtail along with our dive equipment. The longtail was rammed full but didnt look as low in the water as it was yesterday. So no chance of sinking today LOL
Our first job was to lower the cement blocks one at a time and then cement filled biscuit tins. With these on the sea bed we took the framework (roof shaped) down and placed it in it's position and then swam back and collected the cement blocks with pvc uprights for the corner pieces and fixed those on. So now we have a tower which fins with letters cut out of them will hang, spelling out 'Crystal'
61 mins later, we surfaced after a succussful dive and headed back. Dive kits washed and put away and a general tidy up, we headed back home stopping on the way for spray paint for Si's bike.
At home, I got on with sanding various parts of the bike which Si had dismantled and Si fiddled with the electrics whilst carrying on with UK work.
Around 5.30, 6pm it was invasion of the mosquito's. We bared it outside for around 15 mins but after killing a dozen or so, we surrendered and headed indoors. Both very sweaty and covered in dust, we showered and headed out for a pizza and had an early night..
The work on the Sydney harbour bridged was still going on and it was looking good. Nathans friends had put in some really hard work especially when they're supposed to be on holiday.
After a short break for lunch, we tidied up the construction area and loaded most of the structures onto the Longtail along with our dive equipment. The longtail was rammed full but didnt look as low in the water as it was yesterday. So no chance of sinking today LOL
Our first job was to lower the cement blocks one at a time and then cement filled biscuit tins. With these on the sea bed we took the framework (roof shaped) down and placed it in it's position and then swam back and collected the cement blocks with pvc uprights for the corner pieces and fixed those on. So now we have a tower which fins with letters cut out of them will hang, spelling out 'Crystal'
61 mins later, we surfaced after a succussful dive and headed back. Dive kits washed and put away and a general tidy up, we headed back home stopping on the way for spray paint for Si's bike.
At home, I got on with sanding various parts of the bike which Si had dismantled and Si fiddled with the electrics whilst carrying on with UK work.
Around 5.30, 6pm it was invasion of the mosquito's. We bared it outside for around 15 mins but after killing a dozen or so, we surrendered and headed indoors. Both very sweaty and covered in dust, we showered and headed out for a pizza and had an early night..
Tuesday 11 May 2010
2 Dives
Hey guys,
Just a couple of dives but I had a camera in hand (for once!)
Please enjoy, and take note of the extreme coral bleaching at the end...
SD
Just a couple of dives but I had a camera in hand (for once!)
Please enjoy, and take note of the extreme coral bleaching at the end...
SD
Day 95 - 10th May 2010
The Junk Yard project (lasting for 3 days) started today. We had more volunteers this time round. The whole morning was spent making structures and cement foundations. Nathans friends decided to join in and they're making the Sydney Harbour Bridge ..I will put up some photo's soon.
Today the heat is overwhelming, even working in the shade we were saturated with sweat and all feeling really fatigued. Around 12.45 the building work stopped and we prepared our dive kits to go out on the longtail and deploy the outer ring of the 'Tower of Power' held in position with cement moulds that we'd previously made a week or so ago. All went well, apart from the boat was weighed down so much by the cement moulds that I thought it was going to sink at one point ;-)
With the outer ring in place, so we spent our remaining time fun diving. Its astonishing as to how much life now lives in Junk Yard. I counted 3 porcupine puffa fish, 5 Bristle Tail file fish, squid, clown fish, juvenile sweet lips, lots of wrasse, a giant clam on one of the benches and lots or sea cucumbers and urchins. The best and most populated item down there is an old fin rack whch has a couple of lean to's.
At home, Si continued with UK work and whilst waited for uploads he took parts of the bike while I sandpapered them as we're spraying it black. It's going to look so much better than the dirty white colour it is at the moment.
Tonight, we'll probably go out for food and have an early night as we both feel totally shattered.
Today the heat is overwhelming, even working in the shade we were saturated with sweat and all feeling really fatigued. Around 12.45 the building work stopped and we prepared our dive kits to go out on the longtail and deploy the outer ring of the 'Tower of Power' held in position with cement moulds that we'd previously made a week or so ago. All went well, apart from the boat was weighed down so much by the cement moulds that I thought it was going to sink at one point ;-)
With the outer ring in place, so we spent our remaining time fun diving. Its astonishing as to how much life now lives in Junk Yard. I counted 3 porcupine puffa fish, 5 Bristle Tail file fish, squid, clown fish, juvenile sweet lips, lots of wrasse, a giant clam on one of the benches and lots or sea cucumbers and urchins. The best and most populated item down there is an old fin rack whch has a couple of lean to's.
At home, Si continued with UK work and whilst waited for uploads he took parts of the bike while I sandpapered them as we're spraying it black. It's going to look so much better than the dirty white colour it is at the moment.
Tonight, we'll probably go out for food and have an early night as we both feel totally shattered.
Day 94 - 9th May 2010
Up and out by 6.45am we headed to Deep Down to collect our camera's and then onto Crystal to collect our dive kit. The morning boat took us to 'Chumphon' where in the last couple of days, Whale sharks have been spotted. Equipped with camera's we were eager to get in the water. We had just under an hours dive saw a few moray eels, lion fish, a massive grouper, huge schools of smaller fish but no whale shark. We were utterly disappointed. I bet one's spotted there tomorrow when we're helping out with the expansion of Junk Yard (artificial reef) that would be just typical.
Our second dive was a 'Japanese Gardens' Within a minute or two of being in the water, an eagle ray appeared and then another. We couldnt believe our luck. I got a few nice shots but when all the trainee videographers appeared and decided to swim after them, that put an end to any decent footage. I just don't understand why they think they need to chase them (its a learning process for them). Anyway, Karma got its revenge as one of the videographers, Kat got triggered. I first saw the Trigger out of the corner of my eye, it attacked Kats tank a few times before she turned around and spent a couple of minutes backing away from it whilst having her new finns bitten to pieces. I'm not too sure that I would have been as calm as Kat. The persistance of this Trigger was incredible. All n all a very entertaining dive. (Trigger footage to come!)
Back on land we dropped of the camera housings, washed and put away our dive kit and headed home as Simon has a lot of UK work to do.
Later on in the evening we popped down to 'Vibe'. Nathan was there with his family and a couple of friends from Qatar & Australia.
Our second dive was a 'Japanese Gardens' Within a minute or two of being in the water, an eagle ray appeared and then another. We couldnt believe our luck. I got a few nice shots but when all the trainee videographers appeared and decided to swim after them, that put an end to any decent footage. I just don't understand why they think they need to chase them (its a learning process for them). Anyway, Karma got its revenge as one of the videographers, Kat got triggered. I first saw the Trigger out of the corner of my eye, it attacked Kats tank a few times before she turned around and spent a couple of minutes backing away from it whilst having her new finns bitten to pieces. I'm not too sure that I would have been as calm as Kat. The persistance of this Trigger was incredible. All n all a very entertaining dive. (Trigger footage to come!)
Back on land we dropped of the camera housings, washed and put away our dive kit and headed home as Simon has a lot of UK work to do.
Later on in the evening we popped down to 'Vibe'. Nathan was there with his family and a couple of friends from Qatar & Australia.
Day 93 - 8th May 2010
We met John & Andy from' Deep Down' at 'Zest' this morning for a debrief of the Documentary course, lessons learn etc I think for the first Doco, it went very well, as you can see in the previous post.
This afternoon, Simon and I are both diving and with our camera's for a change. It's seems like we've been out of the water for weeks. We were both pretty excited especially with not having any fun divers to lead. Todays first dive was at 'Twins'. The visibility was pretty good. In the water, we decided to search for the sea horses which we knew roughly where they were but have never actually found them as they are away from the main pinnacle. Ten or so minutes into the dive I spotted a Pipe fish, a long stickish looking creature then just a few meters away there was a little Cow fish just bumbling around on his own. These fish really remind me of the small box fish but with horns ...very cute. Simon will upload the vid.
Time just seems to fly when you're filming and towards the end of our dive we bumped into Jace, one of the videographers who pointed out the whereabouts of the sea horse. On our way over and to my amazement, I found another, just by itself blending in against a small rock. They were much bigger than I had imagined, although different species do vary a lot. If all I had seen the sea horse on that dive I would have been happy.
Our second dive was at the wreck just off of 'Japanese Gardens'. I dove there a couple of weeks ago with Nathan for the first time but Simon hadn't. The boat itself, sank probably just under a year ago and the marine life that it's attracted in such a short time is incredible.
There were 2 sleeping trigger fish inside, a yellow box fish, a puffer, schools of bat fish and sweetlips to name but a few. We only spent 15 minutes there as we were close to hitting our no decompression limit and then had a 10 minute swim back towards the boat at 'Japs' in hope of seeing the Eagle rays. Unfortunely we didn't see them but we weren't too bothered as the visibility was not that great.
On both dives sadly we both noticed an incredible amount of coral bleaching which is due to the rise in water temperature (32degrees)
This evening Si's working on UK edits and I'm doing some research into coral bleaching.
This afternoon, Simon and I are both diving and with our camera's for a change. It's seems like we've been out of the water for weeks. We were both pretty excited especially with not having any fun divers to lead. Todays first dive was at 'Twins'. The visibility was pretty good. In the water, we decided to search for the sea horses which we knew roughly where they were but have never actually found them as they are away from the main pinnacle. Ten or so minutes into the dive I spotted a Pipe fish, a long stickish looking creature then just a few meters away there was a little Cow fish just bumbling around on his own. These fish really remind me of the small box fish but with horns ...very cute. Simon will upload the vid.
Time just seems to fly when you're filming and towards the end of our dive we bumped into Jace, one of the videographers who pointed out the whereabouts of the sea horse. On our way over and to my amazement, I found another, just by itself blending in against a small rock. They were much bigger than I had imagined, although different species do vary a lot. If all I had seen the sea horse on that dive I would have been happy.
Our second dive was at the wreck just off of 'Japanese Gardens'. I dove there a couple of weeks ago with Nathan for the first time but Simon hadn't. The boat itself, sank probably just under a year ago and the marine life that it's attracted in such a short time is incredible.
There were 2 sleeping trigger fish inside, a yellow box fish, a puffer, schools of bat fish and sweetlips to name but a few. We only spent 15 minutes there as we were close to hitting our no decompression limit and then had a 10 minute swim back towards the boat at 'Japs' in hope of seeing the Eagle rays. Unfortunely we didn't see them but we weren't too bothered as the visibility was not that great.
On both dives sadly we both noticed an incredible amount of coral bleaching which is due to the rise in water temperature (32degrees)
This evening Si's working on UK edits and I'm doing some research into coral bleaching.
Sunday 9 May 2010
Documentary Course
Here is the video of my 1st doco course...
I think Andy (the student) did very well..
I think Andy (the student) did very well..
Friday 7 May 2010
Day 92 - 6th May 2010
Up and dressed we headed out on the bike to Deep Down in Maehaad. Just as we pulled up, the heavens opened. It's strange to see so many people happy to see rain.
After the rain had stopped I left Deep Down and walked down to Crystal as I was going to continue work on the 'Tower of power' I'd spoken to Nath and the idea for the tower was just to have it as a coral nursery with no swim throughs. So with that, I attached netting to most of the structure, trying to make use of all the off cuts that had been left from the previous jobs. I must say it's taking shape. Perhaps a few more pieces of netting need to be added but by 4.30pm my fingers were pretty sore and cut up, so I decided to call it a day, bought some water and walked back to Deep Down.
As I arrived, they were just watching the last segment of the documentary to ensure everything was ok, as it premiers tonight at 8.30 at 'Dirty Nelly's'. All looked good and you could tell that Andy was pretty excited.
The evening went very well. There must have been well over a hundred people attending. To start with an Open Water video was shown and then a couple of short films made by a couple of trainee videographers which were very good. Towards the end of the second film, the food came out, a mixture of pizza's, salad, potato, green thai curry, rice and bbq'd chicken. Everyone tucked in and it made a refreshing change for Simon to have something to eat apart from Salad, rice and bread at these bbq's.
Once most people had got there food, Andy's film was put on. The dramatic music really captivated the audience and near enough everyone watched.
He's done a good job with Simons help. There were a few bits that Simon would have liked changed but in the time frame that he had and with all the problems with rendering it just wasnt worth taking the risk. I will hopefully get a copy and put it on the blog for you guys to watch.
A few beers later Si & I retired after a very sucessful night.
After the rain had stopped I left Deep Down and walked down to Crystal as I was going to continue work on the 'Tower of power' I'd spoken to Nath and the idea for the tower was just to have it as a coral nursery with no swim throughs. So with that, I attached netting to most of the structure, trying to make use of all the off cuts that had been left from the previous jobs. I must say it's taking shape. Perhaps a few more pieces of netting need to be added but by 4.30pm my fingers were pretty sore and cut up, so I decided to call it a day, bought some water and walked back to Deep Down.
As I arrived, they were just watching the last segment of the documentary to ensure everything was ok, as it premiers tonight at 8.30 at 'Dirty Nelly's'. All looked good and you could tell that Andy was pretty excited.
The evening went very well. There must have been well over a hundred people attending. To start with an Open Water video was shown and then a couple of short films made by a couple of trainee videographers which were very good. Towards the end of the second film, the food came out, a mixture of pizza's, salad, potato, green thai curry, rice and bbq'd chicken. Everyone tucked in and it made a refreshing change for Simon to have something to eat apart from Salad, rice and bread at these bbq's.
Once most people had got there food, Andy's film was put on. The dramatic music really captivated the audience and near enough everyone watched.
A few beers later Si & I retired after a very sucessful night.
Thursday 6 May 2010
Day 91 - 5th May 2010
Last night we headed down to Crystal to meet Tina her leaving dinner was off as she was running late and it also clashed with Jonnys (DM) birthday BBQ which most people were going to, so we decided to meet at the BBQ and say our goodbyes there. We only stayed for an hour or so as Simon wasn't feeling great, he'd still had his rash and felt and looked pretty drained.
Today, we woke around 9am, I got dressed, jumped on my bike and cycled down to Sairee to buy some bread & orange juice for breakfast as I thought I'd make boiled eggs & toast as Si was still feeling pretty rough.
Once we'd eaten breakfast, I washed up and we set off to the clinic to get Simon checked out. Si showed them the antihistamine he was given yesterday and they advised him to continue taking them but to drink lots of water as he might have a mild strain of Dingue but to come back if he gets any worse. Si's not one for complaining or being fussed over, so I think he might find the next few days pretty challenging
As Simons student Andy has a deadline of the 6th for his documentary, Si needed to go to Deep Down to help/advise him. So we spent the rest of the morning there. Around lunch time I walked down to Crystal to see if I could do anything with the 'Tower of Power' (PVC tower which will be used for a coral nursery) which will be put down at 'Junk Yard' but all I could find was some unfinished bits of netting that needed to be tied down, so finished that and went back to see how Andy and Simon were getting on.
After a lot of waiting around, Andy was putting the final touches on his documentary and around 7pm, Si and I headed off for the 'Save Koh Tao' meeting where they covered current, up & coming projects, fundraisers, beach clean ups and gave a presentation about the increased water temperature and what we can do to help monitor any changes to the coral.
Once the meeting was over, we headed yet again to Deep Down. Andy was having various issues with the rendering and in the end, Simon had to bring the students work home as his pc is more powerful.
Its wasnt a great night ...Simon was up for most of it trying to save the student's project, eventually managing to get a backup working..
Today, we woke around 9am, I got dressed, jumped on my bike and cycled down to Sairee to buy some bread & orange juice for breakfast as I thought I'd make boiled eggs & toast as Si was still feeling pretty rough.
Once we'd eaten breakfast, I washed up and we set off to the clinic to get Simon checked out. Si showed them the antihistamine he was given yesterday and they advised him to continue taking them but to drink lots of water as he might have a mild strain of Dingue but to come back if he gets any worse. Si's not one for complaining or being fussed over, so I think he might find the next few days pretty challenging
As Simons student Andy has a deadline of the 6th for his documentary, Si needed to go to Deep Down to help/advise him. So we spent the rest of the morning there. Around lunch time I walked down to Crystal to see if I could do anything with the 'Tower of Power' (PVC tower which will be used for a coral nursery) which will be put down at 'Junk Yard' but all I could find was some unfinished bits of netting that needed to be tied down, so finished that and went back to see how Andy and Simon were getting on.
After a lot of waiting around, Andy was putting the final touches on his documentary and around 7pm, Si and I headed off for the 'Save Koh Tao' meeting where they covered current, up & coming projects, fundraisers, beach clean ups and gave a presentation about the increased water temperature and what we can do to help monitor any changes to the coral.
Once the meeting was over, we headed yet again to Deep Down. Andy was having various issues with the rendering and in the end, Simon had to bring the students work home as his pc is more powerful.
Its wasnt a great night ...Simon was up for most of it trying to save the student's project, eventually managing to get a backup working..
Wednesday 5 May 2010
Day 90 - 4th May 2010
Simon left around 10am and went to Deep Down to help Andy with his documentary and I stayed at home. I got up as soon as Si left and caught up with the blog, emails and charged my phone & Ipod.
After blogging and mailing, I sorted out all my Open Water paperwork and typed up all of my notes/sequence of skills that I'd taken from the courses that I've team taught, then filed all my Advanced Open Water paperwork and exam answer sheets. I still need to write all the skills onto a white slate but I think I'll do that after I've assisted on a few more courses just to work out the best sequence for me.
After another cup of tea (it's a hard life;-)) I washed both Simons new motorbike and my pushbike which I've borrowed from Nathans wife, Tracy. They're both gleaming now, just wonder whether Simon notices ;-)
I've had another bad ear (now my right one) for the last couple of days and I've been taking eardrops and Ibuprofen for the pain ..its doesn't seem as bad today but I popped down to the pharmacy just to get it checked out and lo and behold, yet another ear infection! Don't know what's going on, Im always washing my ears with fresh water after diving ..it's getting annoying now. Saying that, in the last few days, Si's got sort of rash all over his body. It's not itchy, just looks really odd. Im sure he'll be off to the pharmacy to get it checked out later.
Tonight, it's our friend, Tina's leaving dinner. She's going back home to Canada for a few weeks, so looking forward to that.
After blogging and mailing, I sorted out all my Open Water paperwork and typed up all of my notes/sequence of skills that I'd taken from the courses that I've team taught, then filed all my Advanced Open Water paperwork and exam answer sheets. I still need to write all the skills onto a white slate but I think I'll do that after I've assisted on a few more courses just to work out the best sequence for me.
After another cup of tea (it's a hard life;-)) I washed both Simons new motorbike and my pushbike which I've borrowed from Nathans wife, Tracy. They're both gleaming now, just wonder whether Simon notices ;-)
I've had another bad ear (now my right one) for the last couple of days and I've been taking eardrops and Ibuprofen for the pain ..its doesn't seem as bad today but I popped down to the pharmacy just to get it checked out and lo and behold, yet another ear infection! Don't know what's going on, Im always washing my ears with fresh water after diving ..it's getting annoying now. Saying that, in the last few days, Si's got sort of rash all over his body. It's not itchy, just looks really odd. Im sure he'll be off to the pharmacy to get it checked out later.
Tonight, it's our friend, Tina's leaving dinner. She's going back home to Canada for a few weeks, so looking forward to that.
Day 89 - 3rd May 2010
We both had a good nights sleep but as per normal, Si was up before me, tapping away on his PC.
After showering and packing what little we had, we lazed about for couple of hours playing games on Si's Iphone (Zombies & Bullseye. Which he's obviously played far too much as he beat me every time) before leaving for the Lomprayah (5 mins walk away)
At the Lomprayah office we bought our boat tickets and then waited at the restaurant next door sipping on a fanta & coke until it was time to board.
The crossing was only a couple of hours and went really quickly and before we knew it, we were back on Koh Tao. We walked to the Motorcycle shop Leiderhosen to collect Simons bike & keys and then strapped the case on the bike and headed down to 'Deep Down' as Si wanted to see how the documentary student Andrew was getting along.
An hour or so later, we left and headed home to unpack, sort washing and catch up on emails etc
In the evening we decided to get a takeaway from 'Kanya' where we bumped into Alan, Heidi and their friends, which was a nice surprise.
Takeaway ready, we headed home plated our Green Thai curries up and watched an episode of 'Fringe' and 'Flashforward'.
After showering and packing what little we had, we lazed about for couple of hours playing games on Si's Iphone (Zombies & Bullseye. Which he's obviously played far too much as he beat me every time) before leaving for the Lomprayah (5 mins walk away)
At the Lomprayah office we bought our boat tickets and then waited at the restaurant next door sipping on a fanta & coke until it was time to board.
The crossing was only a couple of hours and went really quickly and before we knew it, we were back on Koh Tao. We walked to the Motorcycle shop Leiderhosen to collect Simons bike & keys and then strapped the case on the bike and headed down to 'Deep Down' as Si wanted to see how the documentary student Andrew was getting along.
An hour or so later, we left and headed home to unpack, sort washing and catch up on emails etc
In the evening we decided to get a takeaway from 'Kanya' where we bumped into Alan, Heidi and their friends, which was a nice surprise.
Takeaway ready, we headed home plated our Green Thai curries up and watched an episode of 'Fringe' and 'Flashforward'.
Tuesday 4 May 2010
Day 88 - 2nd May 2010
7am the alarm went off and we both quickly dressed and left the hotel and headed to the mall to queue for tickets to go up the Petronas Towers. By the time we arrived there must have been a few hundred people already queueing and it was just 7.30 ..so we stood in line and waited for what seems like hours and finally at 8.30 the queue started to move. I think we must have reached the front of the queue just before 9am and already most of the morning slots had gone which wasnt good. Finally we were at the front of the queue and I got a 10.30 slot, the only morning slot left and Simon got 12.30 ..so we agreed that I'd go up the tower and Si would give his ticket away as we needed to be at Sebang airport by 12.30.
Instead of going back to our hotel, we stopped at Starbucks and had a large cappuchino and latte. Around 10:10am, I headed off for my Petronas experience which started with a short film showing the design, construction etc and then was escorted to the lift and taken up to the walkway between the two towers were I had 10 mins to take photo's and a birds eye view of the city, I dont think Simon would have been that impressed with the whole experience but I enjoyed it and it was something new.
We checked out of the Maderin Oriental and headed for the airport for our flight to Koh Samui where we had to stay a night before catching the Lomprayah back to Koh Tao.
The return flight was good, we flew Berjaya air on a old propeller plane. It looked and felt pretty antiquated but we made it safely and then jumped into a taxi which took us to our hotel, a 25 min journey. Once checked in and shown to our room Si made a dash for the TV to check to see whether the Spanish MotoGP was on. After surfing through channels, he'd found it and it was just about to begin. I've never seen someone so happy ;-D ..I cant moan as I was hoping it was on too.
The race itself started off pretty boring but the last few laps were just amazing. Lorenzo was in 3rd position for pretty much the whole race, when 3 or 4 laps from the end he caught up with Rossi, then somehow managed to catch up with the leader, Pedrosa, by the last lap. After a few attempts at overtaking with some heavy contact, he overtook to win... being a Spaniard, he was overjoyed, jumped off his bike and ran into a lake... absolutely hilarious!
The time now was only 8.30 so we went for a walk to check out the hotel facilities, beach, pool, bar, restaurant etc and then decided as it was so quiet, to head into town to eat and perhaps do a little shopping.
In Chaweng, the main stretch of Samui we took a stroll, popping into a pharmacy (to get some ear drops as my right ear is sore & inflamed) a couple of clothes shops and then found a quietish bar to chill and have a couple of beers. By the time we ordered our 2nd beer a reggae band appeared who were very entertaining. It was only a small bar an after the first track an older couple got up and danced ..that was the most entertainment I've seen in a long time, even the band members we giggling away. The singer had a good voice but the saxophonist after a couple of tracks brought pain to our ears so we left.
As we were both pretty hungry we stopped for pizza & colzone, before catching a taxi back to the hotel and a good nights sleep.
Instead of going back to our hotel, we stopped at Starbucks and had a large cappuchino and latte. Around 10:10am, I headed off for my Petronas experience which started with a short film showing the design, construction etc and then was escorted to the lift and taken up to the walkway between the two towers were I had 10 mins to take photo's and a birds eye view of the city, I dont think Simon would have been that impressed with the whole experience but I enjoyed it and it was something new.
We checked out of the Maderin Oriental and headed for the airport for our flight to Koh Samui where we had to stay a night before catching the Lomprayah back to Koh Tao.
The return flight was good, we flew Berjaya air on a old propeller plane. It looked and felt pretty antiquated but we made it safely and then jumped into a taxi which took us to our hotel, a 25 min journey. Once checked in and shown to our room Si made a dash for the TV to check to see whether the Spanish MotoGP was on. After surfing through channels, he'd found it and it was just about to begin. I've never seen someone so happy ;-D ..I cant moan as I was hoping it was on too.
The race itself started off pretty boring but the last few laps were just amazing. Lorenzo was in 3rd position for pretty much the whole race, when 3 or 4 laps from the end he caught up with Rossi, then somehow managed to catch up with the leader, Pedrosa, by the last lap. After a few attempts at overtaking with some heavy contact, he overtook to win... being a Spaniard, he was overjoyed, jumped off his bike and ran into a lake... absolutely hilarious!
The time now was only 8.30 so we went for a walk to check out the hotel facilities, beach, pool, bar, restaurant etc and then decided as it was so quiet, to head into town to eat and perhaps do a little shopping.
In Chaweng, the main stretch of Samui we took a stroll, popping into a pharmacy (to get some ear drops as my right ear is sore & inflamed) a couple of clothes shops and then found a quietish bar to chill and have a couple of beers. By the time we ordered our 2nd beer a reggae band appeared who were very entertaining. It was only a small bar an after the first track an older couple got up and danced ..that was the most entertainment I've seen in a long time, even the band members we giggling away. The singer had a good voice but the saxophonist after a couple of tracks brought pain to our ears so we left.
As we were both pretty hungry we stopped for pizza & colzone, before catching a taxi back to the hotel and a good nights sleep.
Monday 3 May 2010
Day 87 - 1st May 2010
Today we were up pretty early and headed out to try and get tickets for the Patronus Towers. Apparently every day,1000 people are given a free pass to go up to the tower. We arrived there just before 9am and already all of the tickets were gone. People must get there ridiculously early, so we planned to get up tomorrow at 7am to start queueing. Hopefully we'll get a time slot in the morning as we were leaving for the airport around midday.
It's stupidly hot today and after popping to the motorbike shop to sort out a few details we thought we'd go to KL tower to get some panoramic shots of the city. After a short white knuckle taxi ride we arrived. To the left of the entrance there was a crowd of people getting a 20 meter pony rides, how bizarre... After climbing up the steps to the entrance, we queued and finally got the the ticket desk where they were charging a ridiculous amount of money to go up the tower but thrown in with that was a 20meter pony ride, a free go on F1 simulator (which was 'Out of order') and a nature walk where animals were enclosed in tiny cages and a free photo in front a a false backdrop of the tower with fireworks going off ...Nice!! None of that appealed to us in the slightest so we hopped on the free shuttle which took us down to the main road and headed back into the main shopping district. We would have caught the skytrain but for some reason it had stopped running so we walked.
Tired and very very sweaty, we reached town and looked around the huge maze of shopping malls, taking a quick look into the camera shops to see if we could find anything reasonably priced for Nathan. No joy there but we did see some amazing 3D & 2D tv's on display, the picture was incredible. Feeling tired hungry and dehydrated we searched for somewhere western to eat as Simon had bit of a dodgy tummy. You wouldn't think that finding something vegetarian would be that hard, We tried Nando's, who in the UK do a great falafel wrap but everything on the menu had meat in it, even McDonalds didnt have a veggie option. So frustrated and so hot that both of us were about to pass out, we decided to go back to the hotel and make a plan.
Our hotel was next to a shopping mall just by the Patronas Towers so we cooled down, rehydrated ourselves and ventured out, well more like staggered out. The lower level was a food mall with cafes serving meat, fish dishes of every description and cakes. By this time Simon was very frustrated and just wanted me to choose something, so I stopped at an Indian stall and got a beef curry dish. I must say it was tastey but I felt guilty and urged Simon to go off for another look. He came back with a plain Naan bread ..argh!!! It wasn't all doom and gloom, as on our way out, we suddenly figured out that there must be a supermarket (must be the heat that's affecting us) and there was. So we marched quickly there and got a basket full of cheese, crips, biscuits, chocolate, beer and wine ..yes I know, not the most healthy of options but at least it was what Simon wanted.
Back in our hotel room, Si took a beautiful photo of the Petronus towers from our bedroom window and then we put on a movie and had a picnic in bed ;-D
It's stupidly hot today and after popping to the motorbike shop to sort out a few details we thought we'd go to KL tower to get some panoramic shots of the city. After a short white knuckle taxi ride we arrived. To the left of the entrance there was a crowd of people getting a 20 meter pony rides, how bizarre... After climbing up the steps to the entrance, we queued and finally got the the ticket desk where they were charging a ridiculous amount of money to go up the tower but thrown in with that was a 20meter pony ride, a free go on F1 simulator (which was 'Out of order') and a nature walk where animals were enclosed in tiny cages and a free photo in front a a false backdrop of the tower with fireworks going off ...Nice!! None of that appealed to us in the slightest so we hopped on the free shuttle which took us down to the main road and headed back into the main shopping district. We would have caught the skytrain but for some reason it had stopped running so we walked.
Tired and very very sweaty, we reached town and looked around the huge maze of shopping malls, taking a quick look into the camera shops to see if we could find anything reasonably priced for Nathan. No joy there but we did see some amazing 3D & 2D tv's on display, the picture was incredible. Feeling tired hungry and dehydrated we searched for somewhere western to eat as Simon had bit of a dodgy tummy. You wouldn't think that finding something vegetarian would be that hard, We tried Nando's, who in the UK do a great falafel wrap but everything on the menu had meat in it, even McDonalds didnt have a veggie option. So frustrated and so hot that both of us were about to pass out, we decided to go back to the hotel and make a plan.
Our hotel was next to a shopping mall just by the Patronas Towers so we cooled down, rehydrated ourselves and ventured out, well more like staggered out. The lower level was a food mall with cafes serving meat, fish dishes of every description and cakes. By this time Simon was very frustrated and just wanted me to choose something, so I stopped at an Indian stall and got a beef curry dish. I must say it was tastey but I felt guilty and urged Simon to go off for another look. He came back with a plain Naan bread ..argh!!! It wasn't all doom and gloom, as on our way out, we suddenly figured out that there must be a supermarket (must be the heat that's affecting us) and there was. So we marched quickly there and got a basket full of cheese, crips, biscuits, chocolate, beer and wine ..yes I know, not the most healthy of options but at least it was what Simon wanted.
Back in our hotel room, Si took a beautiful photo of the Petronus towers from our bedroom window and then we put on a movie and had a picnic in bed ;-D
Day 86 - 30th April 2010
uess what, Si still woke around 7am and was typing away at the PC when I woke.
We both showered and got dressed and headed into town. We decided this time to catch a taxi back one of the huge shopping malls as we had a couple of chores.
Alan & Heidi had a couple of faulty dive computers which needed taking back to a shop but unfortunately the few dive shops we tried didnt know of any Oceanic dealers/distributors.
Then next, was to look at camera's with underwater housings for Nathan ..we checked out a few and mailed him the makes & models. Funnily enough, there's not a massive saving at all, only a hundred pounds or so compared to UK prices.
Our penultimate chore was to find a motorbike shop as Si needed spares for his new bike. We'd tried about half a dozen shops before stumbling on one that could supply the parts, which they'd then ship onto Koh Tao.
By this time we were thirsty and very hungry so we decided to attempt to find the Vegi restaurant that we'd been to a few years ago. We knew it was on the edge of Chinatown and not far from the market, so we strolled down a couple of streets and lo and behold we found it!
Nothing had changed, looked as drab as ever. On sitting down, the old lady came over with the same ole, photo album style menu and we ordered. Yet again, we ordered far too much.
Vegetable spring rolls, Beef (fake) strips in black bean sauce, BBQ'd chicken (fake) with vegetables and lastly, fried rice.
As we had hardly eaten since yesterday, we started to feel full after the spring rolls and made a pathetic dent in the rest of the food. So instead of wasting it, we got it takeaway.
Feeling full and satisfied, we headed off to the Chinatownn market to see what bargains we could find.
Si bought a couple of Tshirts and cap and I bought some shorts and a vest top. You really have to be in the mood for bartering and Si did a much better job than I did surprisingly...
Full, shopped out and tired, we headed back to the hotel for a bath & bed.
We both showered and got dressed and headed into town. We decided this time to catch a taxi back one of the huge shopping malls as we had a couple of chores.
Alan & Heidi had a couple of faulty dive computers which needed taking back to a shop but unfortunately the few dive shops we tried didnt know of any Oceanic dealers/distributors.
Then next, was to look at camera's with underwater housings for Nathan ..we checked out a few and mailed him the makes & models. Funnily enough, there's not a massive saving at all, only a hundred pounds or so compared to UK prices.
Our penultimate chore was to find a motorbike shop as Si needed spares for his new bike. We'd tried about half a dozen shops before stumbling on one that could supply the parts, which they'd then ship onto Koh Tao.
By this time we were thirsty and very hungry so we decided to attempt to find the Vegi restaurant that we'd been to a few years ago. We knew it was on the edge of Chinatown and not far from the market, so we strolled down a couple of streets and lo and behold we found it!
Nothing had changed, looked as drab as ever. On sitting down, the old lady came over with the same ole, photo album style menu and we ordered. Yet again, we ordered far too much.
Feeling full and satisfied, we headed off to the Chinatownn market to see what bargains we could find.
Full, shopped out and tired, we headed back to the hotel for a bath & bed.
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