Nemo Found

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past week or so guys, but I have been fairly busy undertaking a course to learn how to scuba dive with Deep Sea Divers Den here in Cairns. So, as of the 29th January, I am now an officially certified PADI Open Water Diver which means that I can now scuba dive anywhere in the world, without instruction to a depth of up to 18 metres!

The course was a four day course with the first two days spent in a combination of the classroom and the pool. Classroom time was spent learning the theory of diving, and about safety, and all that crack (and for the first time in nearly three years I was given homework *gasp*). The pool time was spent practicing skills and learning about using the equipment properly.

After that, I travelled on a boat to the Great Barrier Reef where after four dives, passed the appropriate skills and training and was certified.

We saw the most incredible things on the reef.

There were white tipped sharks and sea turtles swimming just metres away from us.

There were sea cucumbers, one of which: the Elephant Trunk Fish, looks curiously enough like a loaf of bread. Upon seeing it for the first time, I would have been sure to remark that someone had obviously dropped their sandwich from the boat, however, being underwater and incapable of speech, this proved difficult. Another of which, the Pineapple Seacucumber, looks nothing at all like a pineapple!

There were massive fish like the Humphead Maori Wrasse that swam up so close to you that you could stroke them, small fish like the official Newcastle United coloured Humbug fish and of course the pièce de résistance: Nemo (otherwise known as the Anemone Clownfish).

All in all, superb fun, if a little daunting initially, but seeing all those things and much, much more in their natural habitat was incredible. A real highlight of my tour so far.

Confusion

A couple of parties that shall remain not so nameless (i.e. Mam and Dad) expressed their feelings to the extent that they thought that I was the individual that added custard to the brew in the post mentioned below! Hence, I would like to clarify: I know that I am a wally alot of the times, but not to the extent that I would add custard to my tea! Anyone that knows me knows that I have made too many brews in my life and love tea too much to make such a schoolboy error!

That said, whats been happening. Well not a great deal really, apart from a crapload of rain. There is a kind of a monsoon type thingie (its a meteorological term) right where I am (which is Townsville today) and its been raining pretty much constantly for the past two days now, forcing road closures and flooding.
That said, I am all safe and well, and am heading north for Cairns tomorrow. More exciting news as and when, and if it happens.

PS. I have 4 highly desirable Google G-Mail e-mail accounts up for grabs. It's by invite only, so if anyone would like one, drop me an e-mail to the usual address.

The Wetsunday Islands

As you can probably guess by the genius of the pun in the title of this latest blog post, it has been raining here at the Whitsunday Islands today. Still, I've never let a bit of moisture spoil my fun, so cracked on with the day as planned.

Well, first I took a rather pleasant boat ride to Whitehaven beach which on a glorious day looks like an absolute paradise. Still, even though it was raining, it was still beautiful, and, as I was swimming in the sea anyway wearing my rather sexy 'stinger' suit to protect against deadly jellyfish, the wetness of the rain mattered little as it was masked by the wetness of the sea.

From there we sailed to a part of the Great Barrier Reef to indulge in a spot of snorkelling, which was simply superb. So much marine life and crazy fluorescent corals and fish it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to realise my dream of spotting a 'Nemo' fish, but I did manage to see a giant sea turtle swimming in the wild which was awesome. Unfortunately, I also saw a jellyfish just after I jumped in the water from the boat, and nearly copped it in the face.

Anywho, an excellent day was had by all.

Must also indulge you lot in a spot of my childish humour before I sign off for the moment. Picture the following scene:

The Venue: Airlie Beach Youth Hostel
The Date: 20th January 2005
The Time: Around 6:30pm
The Task: A youth is preparing a cup of tea

Well, now that the scene is sufficiently set for this seemingly rudimentary task, allow me to elaborate.
Having mastered the trickier parts of the task; finding a mug, putting a teabag into said mug, pouring on boiling water, allowing the brew to 'mash' for a bit and removing the teabag. Our youth goes to the fridge and removes a carton of what he believes is milk from the free food section of the fridge.
Imagine the look of sheer terror on our youths face after wasted time, effort and, more importantly: tea, when, horror of horrors our young friend has removed custard from the fridge and proceeded to add it to his brew. Absolute classic.

10,000 Feet Above The Sea

Well this is the latest moment of insanity for a while, but one that was so completely, totally awesome that it is almost impossible to describe. It's still hard to believe that I actually went through with it, but simply glancing back at the snapshots taken just a few hours ago confirms that, no it wasnt just a dream it did actually happen.

This is me, my tandem skydiving blokie Stevo and the pilot taken by out photographer/cameraman as we ascend to 10,000 feet above the glorious Whitsunday Islands.



This is me and Stevo just about to leap from a perfectly good airplane. Check out my grimace, grr!



This is the moment of sheer terror when I realise that, yes I did just jump out of an airplane. I think the look on the face says it all really. Look; you can see the airplane drifting off in the background.



But, after the initial shock, it was all good, it was all amazingly good. Here are some more photos of the freefall.









Unfortunately, there are no more photos after that as the guy with the camera had to open his own parachute, most inconsiderate I'm sure you will agree. But once the canopy was released the gentle float down to earth was amazing, just so beautifully peaceful and serene.

In my next life I would like to come back as a bird. But a nice bird like a soaring eagle or something cool like that, not some grotty, mangy pigeon scavenging for scraps of dropped pasties and the like!

To anyone who has considered possibly doing this I cannot recommend it enough. The ability to fly is something that man has craved since the dawn of time, and unless you are lucky and return, after death, in your next life as the aforementioned bird, this is as close as you are going to get to that feeling of complete freedom.

The freedom of flight. Incredible.

Post-Family

Two updates in a row, monsieur, you are really spoiling us. Well, thought I would let you know what I've been up do during my time with the family, and also since I left them. Unfortunately I am in a bit of a naff t'internet place at the moment so theres no chance of posting any photos at present, although I will try and amend some of the previous posts with photos at a later date but I will let you know if I do.

So, while at my relatives (or 'rellies' as they will now be known) just outside of Brisbane, I travelled both north and south up the Queensland coastline. North to the lovely Mooloolaba and the Sunshine Coast and south to Surfers Paradise and the Gold Coast. Both were great to see, although the highly commercial and touristy Surfers Paradise could have been any other tourist resort really. Still it was good to see.

After checking out Tambourine Mountain (where more rellies live), the Glass House Mountains, Brisbane town itself, having a good old Aussie Barbie and loads more besides, I left my Brisbane rellies and travelled to Hervey Bay to stay with, you guessed it, more rellies. This time Mark and his wife Tracey were waiting to show me the sights at Hervey Bay. The Bay itself is very pretty, although the main reason people go to Hervey Bay is that is provides a gateway to Fraser Island: the worlds largest sand island and a protected UNESCO world heritage site. There are some cracking pictures here so have a look if you fancy. There are also some cracking mosquitos, so of course I got totally smashed by these mozzies although by pure chance the BBC today reported that scientists have discovered why some people (like me!) get caned by mozzies and some lucky blighters don't. Not that helps me of course, but I like to keep you guys up to date with the latest scientific goings on in the world.

At press, I am at Airlie Beach, again pretty, but again, used mainly as a gateway to another place, the Whitsunday Islands, but as for those, you will have to wait, cos I've only just got here so can't say much about that yet really can I!?

As a brief aside, I want to say a massive hello to my mate James, who after a crap start to the year had things go his way after Burnley beat the mighty Liverpool in the cup the other day. Good stuff fella and keep smilin' bud eh?

Next update soon.

Respect the Family

Its been a while since the last Blog update, but hey, whadaya gonna do uh?

The main reason it has been a while is that I haven't been in the usual travel groove over the past ten days or so. I've been staying in five-star accommodation, being chauffeured around various places, eating and drinking gourmet foods and drinks, ah this is the life.

Some of you will no doubt be wondering why I neglected to inform you of my recent lottery win, but alas, no! The reason of these extravagances is that I have been staying with family that I have in Queensland, Australia.

Therefore, I just wanted to use this forum to thank them all, each and every one of them that I have met, but especially Beryl and Tommy, for their wonderful hospitality and for taking such good care of me during my stay there.

Thank you.

The family (l to r back row: Stephen, Tim, Naomi, Daniel, Potter the cat, Me, Jenny, Lesley and David) (front row: Beryl and Tommy):

Happy Snaps: New Zealand

Well, I'm not so sure about happy snaps, maybe this particular set should be called; very frightening indeed snaps. Nah, doesn't have the same ring about it.

This is shortly before take off...



This is about one tenth of a second after take off...



And this is the same from a different angle. All very scary stuff indeed.

Happy Snaps: Peru

Hello,

Well as promised in yesterdays e-mail, I did say that some photos of stuff were on their way to the blog, so here are some!

This is the first group (or the veterans as I like to call them) of people that were on the tour in Peru at the Colca Canyon in Peru



This is a couple good lads that I met on the trip, Dave and Alan, all of us about to tuck into some alpaca and ostrich. Take particular notice of our fantastic bibs, sporting the face of the very animal we were about to indulge in!



This is some of the Peru veterans, along with some of the Old Skool (joined the group after the veterans) and also some of the New Skool (those that joined the group most recently) high in the Andean mountains at a place called Dead Womans Pass on the Inca Trail. Bonus points to anyone that can spot me in the photo!



This is me. I am posing with a giant ceramic cat. Enough said really.



This is Sam and I on Amantani Island, where we stayed with a Peruvian family. No, I haven't had a drastic change in my wardrobe - this is your traditional Peruvian dress.

The New Wave

Hello to you all,

From now on as well as boring the backside off everyone with one of my occasional e-mails about what I have been up to, I have decided to set up what is called a Blog, to provide more frequent updates.

A Blog is essentially an online journal that will contain the kind of things I've been up to lately, so a Blog would be perfect for letting you know whats happening. Another thing I can do with a Blog is that I can post various pictures with what I have been getting up to (without breaking peoples' inbox with major photo attachments!), and generally keep you better informed with various goings on.

So from now on (well, depending on whether you guys and gals like it that is!) as well as receiving the occasional e-mail, you can also get yourself onto http://john80.blogspot.com/ for more frequent updates, photos and much, much more.

Hope you like The New Wave, comments, etc. are appreciated!

Regards,
John