26th February 2012

Jen was back on to another Open Water course a few days ago, and finished on the 25th. Only 3 students this time, and it was very easy according to Jen.

In the meantime, I worked on UK stuff, and booked our tickets for the brief trip to Bangkok in a few days.  I also, tried to locate some Helium for my xmas pressie from Mum, but alas there is none on the island (must get some when I am in Bangkok!).

A couple of days ago, the video boys were filming new intro scenes, and I decided to dress in full scuba gear and climb a rope hanging from a tree... it was a big effort with the weight of the kit, and I got a rope burn on my leg.... so did the 3 people who wanted to try it, after me!

Nasty eh?!  This photo was taken 2 days after the rope burn... I went diving in the morning, which made it especially raw... so it was "Man Up" time, and got some pure alcohol to kill any bacteria (hurts like hell) and iodine to keep it as clean as possible. On this island, things like this have to be super looked after otherwise infection sets in extremely quickly.. The picture below shows the progression today.. looks alot cleaner... but still sore..

Besides the silly rope burn. We organised a Dive Site Clean Up, with 17 volunteers signed up to do it.. Brilliant.. Also, on the dive... I found a CowFish!! I haven't seen one of those on Koh Tao for 2 years... what an awesome find..

 Add that to the other dive schools who participated, and the collective picked up nearly 300kg of trash on the day... Unbelievable!!

Jen had managed to organise a free bbq for all the volunteers at the clean up, which was well received in the evening... what a good day for all!!

Today, is a day off... Jen and I are spending it together just relaxing!! NICE!!

x

SD

22nd February 2012

Things have quitened down finally, and we managed to get a team of 17 divers to come out to Junkyard for some much needed renovations.

Although not completed, it was a bloody good effort, especially by the anchor crew who worked their butts off to get a sandscrew in.. 1 more to go!!

Junkyard Repair Video - CLICK HERE


The weather is most certainly heating up here... not sure of the temperature but I am sweating buckets within 5 mins of getting a t-shirt on!  Beautiful sunsets continue...

On a side note, we may be heading to Bangkok on the 1st of March as we have been invited by the Norwegian Embassy, to a climate change conference! Sweet!!

xx

SD

18th February 2012

Well, I have a day off !! So its time to recap on the previous week...

After finishing the videographer course, that I took on as a favour, I went straight into a Reef Check Course with a student named Eduardo. He is married to a Divemaster Trainee (Thais) who is being mentored by me, and came over to complete his Advanced and Reef Check before returning to his job in Dubai..

So, after a few days with Thais assisting me teaching Eduardo , it was time to return to another Open Water course. Jenny was already conducting one with 8 (!!!) students!.. It was time for the full moon rush crowd.... Never usually a fun course, and mine proved to be very typical of the full mooners..

The confined pool day fell on Valentine's Day... so instead of spending the day as I had planned... it was scrapped since I was in the pool for several hours. But even though it was not the most romantic of days... I still managed to buy some flowers etc for Jen...

Halfway through the course, I had to swap out 2 of my students with 2 from another instructors group as they were not getting along with each other... I took on the students to smooth things over... It worked, kind of...

Everybody pass and I certified them once all the course requirements were met... None of them continued to Advanced, and the troublemaker spent the rest of the day drinking a crate of Chang and continued well into the evening, being rude and abusive to several female instructors. Needless to say, he will not be welcomed back here. See if you can guess which one?

In the meantime, some of Jenny's group continued to Advanced, which she finishes today.. I think she is so glad that she has a day off tomorrow... I bet she sleeps till the afternoon!!!

The weather has been superb, and the sunsets have been spectacular... Hopefully we will now have some time to appreciate it...

Much Love!

x

SD

15th February 2012

Not ignoring you!!

Just super busy, hopefully be able to post an updates asap!!

Much Love


SD

8th February 2012

Finally, I have finished the videography course (which I took on as a favour)... It was 9 long days, sometimes 4 dives each dive... physically and mentally exhausting for the student and myself!

Jenny, in the meantime has been conducting Reef Check, Deep, Nitrox, and Advanced Courses..

This pace can surely not continue!! We are both keen on a couple of days of to spend relaxing with each other by the pool etc... but alas, its Full Moon time, which means the island is about to be invaded by party people from Koh Phangan who pop to Koh Tao to learn how to dive..


Weather wise, the rain has decided to pass, and the sun has returned.. The visibilty of the sea is also improving.. The greenish hue is turning blue, and I would say its now at least 20m viz.!! I think that may improve over the next couple of weeks... it will be fun diving...

Next stop will be Open Water Courses for the next week, and also conducting another Reef Check Course...

On a side note, an eco student took a photo of one of our "toilet transplants" last May, and then Jen took one the other day... check out the growth!! Awesome!!

x


SD

3rd February 2012

It’s been a busy few days for both of us.   

I’ve been teaching ‘Reef Check’ which is a 3 day course look at the reef health, threats, indicator species etc.  It really makes you look at the reef in a different light and also qualifies you to join survey teams around the globe and submit data, which is cool.

Si’s been doing UK work, teaching a problem videographer student who’s been very challenging, sorting out this years ‘Save Koh Tao’ festival posters and finding music and clips from various films for our stage production.  Remember last year we did YMCA and the year before The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

As our friends Tina and Helen are organising this year’s performance while Nathans in Oz, I’m not too sure how it’s going to turn out.  

I'm not too sure whether we told you but we’ve finally bought a small convection oven and the other night we had Jacket potatoes & baked beans.   

The spuds took longer than expected but were very tastie..  Si made some roast potatoes which turned out really well, so now that we’ve got that, I think we’ll be doing a lot more cooking!

This morning, Si left early to catch the 7am boat, while I had a bit of a lie in.  Today I’m going to catch up with household chores. Emails, sort out some of the accounts for the ECO stuff and try later to go for a cycle... finally 2 photos!!

Jenny

x