A Challenge

(Not us - the viz was worse than that!)

Phil and I have signed up for a diving course to get our PADI certificate and we spent the last four days getting up very early and finishing quite late. It's hard work and I find it quite scary at times.

The idea of actually being under water and breathing is really strange and my brain keeps going 'Huh? What's going on, technically this is not possible. You are not a fish.' But it's also really cool and exciting!

Our first two sessions were in the pool and we got another four dives in the sea. The visibility was really bad - only about a metre! - but it was good to learn in and learn we did! We did all sorts of exercises and drills - how to breath with your buddy, what to do when the air runs out, how to make emergency ascents, how to float properly (it's hard!) and how to navigate. Our instructors were really good and a couple of times I was really scared. At one point I got some water in my nose and was coughing on it and that was really scary! We also had to do an exercise, where they turn off your air - that was horrible, my body was rebelling against it so much, it's like a survival instinct. So mad, but I'm really glad I did it. Phil and I passed our tests and completed the programme and we are now certified divers - hooray!

During our dives, we did manage to see some pretty corals and cute little fish, an anemone and a clown fish. I also saw some sea urchins and I saw a blow fish!!! So cool! We've decided we want to go diving in Malaysia as well as in Oz now, it's meant to be beautiful and the visibility something amazing like 30 metres! Can't wait for it - it'll be so much fun! Phil and I are properly chuffed and very excited. At some point, we will sign up for our advanced certification, so we can dive down to 30 metres and improve our skills. Yay!

True to form though, I did manage to embarrass myself. On our last dive, I was wearing a wetsuit with a front zip and when we had gone down, Gary the instructor just kind of pointed at me. Guess what, the zip had opened up and my boobs were out! Thank God I was wearing a bikini, but still! I couldn't zip it up because of the pressure (we were like 16 metres deep) and I couldn't see what I was doing so Pascale, the only other girl in my group had to yank my zip up for me while all the guys were staring and laughing themselves silly! Try laughing under water with a massive mouthpiece in your gob - it's not easy and I had to hold it with my hand to keep it from popping out! Oh man...