Our temporary BunnieBlog:

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Ok so I have a lot lot lot of copying and pasting ahead of me before the Bunnnie Blog is fully back up and running, and sadly there is a big chunk of last year that has disappeared into the ether, but in the grand scale of things, I had been writing it for over three years, so all was not lost. Big thanks to the guys at YD who posted a great archiving link where the bulk of my blog had been saved! Phew! So, what has been going on since I last posted here?? All the usual stuff really, we are back to work with a vengeance, and the dive centre is hectically busy... possibly because there are currently some ridiculous offers about, so people are escaping from the misery of home for a bargain price. Great for us, as it keeps us working and diving! DiveBunnie Home

20th April 2008:
Well today, or rather yesterday, I got to hang my head in shame! I have lived on a cliff above one of our local dive sites for over a year now, and yesterday was the first time I had actually bothered to go snorkelling in what is pretty much my backyard!!!
We have a couple of friends over for a holiday so invited them round together with their snorkelling gear for a spot of fish spotting followed by a glass or two of wine. All very lovely.
I must say the snorkelling was great! To think that two minutes from my door, I can hop into crystal clear waters, and see all the usual suspects that we have here in Sharm. We saw several anenomes together with their resident clown fish, a free swimming moray, a peppered moray, loads of the usual butterfly and parrot fish and an octopus. In fact we saw two octopi (?) one of which was being eaten by a whole crowd of fish. All in all a great afternoon. The water temp. wasn't too bad either with pockets of almost hot water, followed by sections of quite chilly, just to even it out.

19th April 2008:
So this week has been a busy one! Without a break, I have gone through a full open water course, followed by advanced open water, followed by a couple of days' diving, a scuba review and then another advanced course!! All fun and games. Actuall, it was, we had nice, keen students and everyone did really well. We managed to get a few fantastic dives in the Ras Mohammed National park as well, so everyone went home fully inspired.
Talking of inspiration, Sharm is very much inspirational at present. We seem to be basking in a plethora of pelagics! Janna, one of our guides spotted a whale shark a couple of days ago in the Gardens area (a local dive site, no less). We have had turtles there too. I have seen several sharks over the last few weeks, admittedly in the Tiran or Ras Mohammed areas. Culminating in a great sighting last week on Ras Za'atar of a grey reef shark ambling along during the last dive of our day. Very cool.

Just when you think it is all easy going…
December 21st, 2007 by divebunnie

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Well after a relatively chilled week last week, I was in for a collection of challenges this week.
It all started well with a scuba review off the beach and once again we saw the cute little harlequin shrimps.. well I did, they are soooo tiny that I am not sure that the guests were able to spot them without me trashing half the reef in order to point them out (not my style I’m afraid).
Then I had what I was expecting to be a relatively easy dive a day later with only a tiny group of guests. This dive really confirmed to me the importance of remaining behind the guide. I brief it every time, and sometimes feel that I may even be being a little churlish, feeling a little bit redundant if my guests do overtake me. However this dive showed a method in my madness. The last thing I said before we got in the water was “I just ask that you make sure you stay behind me, as I will need to turn the dive at some point”. Anyway, a couple of my guests did indeed spend the majority of the dive ahead of me. Now they are certified divers with plenty of dives so I was not about to gesticulate and harass them underwater, and I could also see that every so often they would swim back in order to at least stay close to me. Anyway, sure enough, the current picked up a little sharply so I had to turn the dive, and of course two of my divers, being ahead of me, got even more of a kick from the current and really struggled. Unfortunately one did lose control, however in the long run was ok. It just confirms to me that when I choose to turn the dive around, it is always with good reason and when I ask people to stay behind me again it is a safety issue, not just an ego thing.
Anyway, all’s well that ends well, despite a bit of a shock and a realisation that mother nature really does rule the roost out here.

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Diving dry…
December 11th, 2007 by divebunnie

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So it was back to work this week, if only for a couple of days. And it was hard work!!! Well I knew after a good 3 weeks of living the leisurely life, it was going to be a little hard getting back into it, but the added bonus of being back in a dry suit meant that it was all just that little bit more physical. Just the 10kg needed to get down makes the surface bit much harder work, but once underwater the effect of being vacum packed into your suit, just makes finning a bit of a struggle.

I am sure I will get my fitness and muscles back again. To be honest, it was just fantastic to be back in the water. It is still fairly warm (24ºC), it is just the breeze on the surface that makes the dry-suit so much more comfy than diving wet.

Having said all that, yesterday I was diving off Naama Beach and it was warm enough(a toasty 25ºC) to wear a wetsuit (with a few layers mind) and we had an awesome time, seeing the eagle rays, 5 very large squid, tiny harlequin shrimps… generally a very cool dive.

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Homeward Bound
December 7th, 2007 by divebunnie

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So back to sunny Sharm!!

And… it is still sunny! Ok it is a bit windy, Ok it was VERY windy last night, but the sun is kind of out, and it is nice and warm. So I guess it is a happy return home. I have put off getting back to work for a couple more days… highly lazy of me I know, but you know what it is like after a nice long holiday… and a nice long journey (24 hours!) home. And it is not like we had a sluggish trip, we were out and about every day… loving it mind you, but a couple of days gathering ourselves and chilling out is just what we need.

Apparently the water is still fairly warm (24ºC) and there is still stuff to be seen, so all is quite cool here. As usual at this time of year, Tiran is the place to be (so long as the wind plays ball) as the hammer heads are still on the back of Jackson (if you can get there) and usually this time of year is good for seeing the babies (sharks) on the back of Woodhouse… verrry cute.

But for now, we are catching up on friends and pets (the cat was glad to have us back and get back to her life of pleasure n luxury) and the kitten neighbours have all grown up and got tame.. bless them.

I guess the next stage is to actually get back in the water and do some work then. So… the dry suit is going to get an airing… yes, and I hold my head up high, as there was a guide diving dry before we even went away, and whilst the water is warm(ish) that pesky wind when you surface is enough to make you freeze!

Whale Watching!
November 29th, 2007 by divebunnie

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Coool! So we have seen whales!!! We came South to Hermanus, not really expecting to see anything, as the season has all but finished. But thought that as we were here, we may as well take a look out from one of the viewing points when we arrived.
Within a minute, I saw something that looked like a rock in the water, followed by a mighty tail fin out of the water as the magestic creature went on a dive! How awesome!

Well, we have spent the bulk of our afternoon scanning the waves, watching whales breaching and spouting water again and again. Apparently they reckon that there are four of them who have stayed behind, after most of the others have gone. (maybe it is the cooler weather than normal.. or the storms creating a higher than normal amount of food in the water, who knows). It was worth the drive just to see this event. We actually saw a mother and calf really close to the shore too… totally jaw-dropping.

Diving South Africa!
November 27th, 2007 by divebunnie

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Ok so I have bottled it and have still not dived these icy waters!!
In fairness to myself, I have not brought any kit with me, so was kind of not really planning to dive anyway. We have seen divers parked up at the side of the road, warming up in the sunshine before heading down the cliff (far too much like hard work) to take a dip in the Arctic. (I really am not exaggerating… apparently the waters here are fed directly from the Antarctic, so you’ll get my drift).

Having said that, I have heard that the diving here is amaayzing, with Kelp forests, and understandably plenty of cool wrecks, one of which is Jaques Cousteau’s recommended ones. Now much as I bear judgement on the way he behaved in his ignorance, I do agree with his recommendations… with Shark and Yolande reefs in Sharm remaining my #1 top dive site.

Anyway, I digress… I am embarrassed to say that at present I am unable to give you any tales of fantastic diving down here in this amazing country, as I have yet to sample it (head is hung, suitably shamed). I have dipped my toe in the warmer False Bay waters (nearly the Indian Ocean) and the Mossel Bay waters (definitely Indian Ocean.. fed by the warm Agulas current) and would possibly consider venturing in there as the water really is warmer on that side! So… we shall see… we still have another week here and our Garden Trip having been cancelled (that howling wind and rain of the other night, lasted for a few days, and sadly took a few lives) we have a few miles left in us to venture off a bit.

On a more lively note, we found a fantastic bar and restaurant on Sunday in the older part of the Cape, Kaulk Bay (really quaint yet funky town) Cape to Cuba. It was totally decked out in genuine Cubana style (we got our bill in a cigar box) with waiters wearing Che Guevara hats n T-shirts and waitresses in full, frilly skirts, chandelliers, giant victorian chairs, carved pillars the lot, it was amazing. If you are ever in this part of the world, you have to pop in there if only for the atmosphere alone. The food was simple and tasty.

Anyway, that is enough of the restaurant guide coming out in me… we have another week left, and after Robben Island today, and a wine tasting trip (ooops) tomorrow, we are heading south to Hermanus and the Whale coast in a few days. It may be there that I finally get to don a wet suit… who knows.

South Africa!
November 21st, 2007 by divebunnie

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So here we are in sunny and stormy Cape Town!
So far it has been awesome, although I admit to not having gone underwater at any point just yet. In fact, I can’t see myself going underwater at any point either, well certainly not in the Atlantic water at any rate. It is FREEZING! Even on a lovely sunny, hot day, I went for a walk along the beach and the water was sooo cold, that as it lapped over my feet, they ached to the bones! Apparently the water on this part of the coast has just come straight from the Antarctic, so I really am not exaggerating when I say t feels Arctic.
Having said that, Cape Town is glorious, we have had roasting sunshine, bikini weather, followed by howling gales and rain (today… hence the time to update here in a cafe) but hopefully like the UK, it shouldn’t be long before the weather changes and we can once again sit out in the sunshine sipping our wine, watching the waves of icy water roll out onto the lovely creamy sand in Camps Bay.
Today was meant to be the start of our Garden Route trip, but after a night spent awake listening to the gales howling around our 10th floor apartment, we kind of felt that this was not the day to be driving out on those winding cliff-top roads!
So far though, we have done loads: sat atop Table Top Mountain, perched on the boulders with penguins, chilled out in Camps Bay eating fine food, drinking fine wine and even set out on a mini safari where we got up close and personal with quite a few of the residents… talk to George about his encounter with the lion (!!!).
The jury is still out on whether or not to do the famous cage diving with sharks. Having spent the last few years preaching about not feeding fish, not wanting to interfer with their natural behaviour etc, I am finding it hard to justify going out on a boat that is going to chuck a load of chum in the water in order to lure sharks for our cage encounter. Hmmmm. They do emphasise that they are all about eco friendliness and promotion of shark awareness etc, but I will have to have a bit more of a think about that one. We are also close coming to the end of the Shark season too, and the water is cold, so I may not even get the chance to make the decision for myself after all.

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Open water week…
November 11th, 2007 by divebunnie

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Another good week was had by all… I think!

So my last week of work before heading further down south (about as far south as you can go on this continent) was an open water course. And I think a good week was had by all. Well everyone seemed pretty enthusiastic and we had a 100% pass rate which was great. We finished off the advanced course yesterday with a lovely little night dive in which we saw a cuttle fish, tiny, pink sea slug, and loads of the usual shrimps and crabs that come out to play. It was a new moon too, and we saw some whispy stuff coming out of some of the soft coral, not sure if it was feeding tendrils or sperm, which would have been really cool.

On a totally different subject, the kitten crowd that live near us have realised that it is actually quite nice to be stroked, so now whenever I go outside, I am followed by all seven of them and the mother! Ooops, don’t think Boo, our cat is overly impressed at all.

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Back to work, and the warmth hmmmmm
November 4th, 2007 by divebunnie

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Well England turned out to be cold, wet and grey, in fact everything that we really do not miss about the place. But it was successful, the knee was fixed to a certain extent, and it turns out that diving is the best exercise that he can do.
So I came back early and did a week’s work which has been quite fun.

We have had a boat of relatively inexperienced divers, so all our dives have been 18M or less, and I can tell the difference! Even on a three dive day whilst I still feel sleepy in the evening, I don’t feel that complete physical tiredness that I do at the end of a normal week’s guiding where most of the dives have been deeper than 20M and some in the region of 30M. Interesting…

After a couple of days building up people’s confidence and abilities, we were still able to take them to some of the more spectacular dive sites, so hopefully they went home having learned something as well as having seen some pretty cool wildlife.
I certainly enjoyed myself, but I guess I always do enjoy those first few dives that little bit more when I have come back from a break. Another bonus was that the water appears to have warmed up again! Once more we are getting 28ºC on local sites and 26-7ºC on the deeper Tiran and Ras Mohammed sites.. not bad eh. This combined with my new super-duper wet-suit means the dry suit stays in its bag for a few more weeks. Now that is cool, as I am normally struggling by this time of year.

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Feb 11. 07
Phew… calmer, warmer, nicer Thankfully the winds eventually died down, much to the relief of my new bunch of students who’d heard talk of the cancelled diving and winds earlier, so were concerned about their course. In fact in total contrast, the seas are now glassy smooth, and looking out over the bay, it is sooo flat, I can see the Ras Mohammed cliffs reflected in the sea below them. We had a good week in the end, resulting in three open water divers, one scuba diver and one who had whilst not mastering the whole caboodle, had certainly reached new heights (or rather depths) that she had never thought possible. I also had my first fun dive in 10 months! Woo hoo! We did a little drift from Ras Bob to Nasrani which was totally awesome. This was the first time I had just jumped on a boat and been the only instructor fun diving, so just tagged along with the group doing my own thing, nice n slow, nice n shallow. I have decided to change the way I guide this dive forever, as it really is not worth going below 20m on this one at all, it is stunning in the shallows. And come safety stop time, I just hung around on the plateau of corals struck by the colours, pinks, purples, greens and blues just surrounding me at all angles, really very, very pretty. I must fun dive more often, as you get so distracted with looking for stuff for the guests to see, or checking for guests (!) that you can miss so much. The only downside was that I didn’t have the distraction of the guests to take my mind of the fact that I was dying for a pee!!! DiveBunnie Home

Blow blow blow

Well once again we have another windy day.

This time I was headed out to have my first day of fun diving in the last 10 months, typical. As we walked onto the jetty we could hear waves crashing against the little beach there, sloshing water up between the wooden slats to give us a nice soaking!

By the time the boat began lurching towards us, we were already beginning to have second thoughts. I had kind of come to the conclusion that this was not going to be a good day for my mum to chill out as a snorkler on the boat, and was beginning to think twice about the day’s diving for myself.
Then one of the larger boats lurched back pushed by the swell jolting the whole structure we were standing on. Suddenly the jetty itself began to feel more than a little vulnerable with heaving boats stacked either side, things were not looking too promising. Skippers were screaming at their crews and each other to let lines out or pull forward in attempts to prevent further collisions, but to no avail.

After a few more jolts from various boats, and Ali declaring that while he will go out for us, he was refusing to sign anything taking responsibility in these conditions.

The wind is coming in from the south bringing with it some weather, so on hearing this it was the guests themselves that made the call not to go out today. The thing is, when the wind is from the south here, there is no shelter for diving at all.

I can hear as I write the wind picking up once again having had sandstorms while we ate lunch (hmmm crunchy!) and… rare for Egypt it has just started to rain. That’s the second time this winter!

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Love of the local stuff

Ok I am not about to winge, but I really feel the need to make comment here.

We have some totally awesome local dive sites in the Sharm el Sheikh area, and of course yes we also have the incredible Ras Mohammed National Park and Tiran reefs which are well worth a visit at some point in your trip. However I do wonder why it is that relatively novice divers get it in their heads that these are the places to go, and that the local sites are not worth a visit, not even for a day or two in order to regain that comfort zone.

As a guide it is my duty to be honest with guests and advise them accordingly, so it can be a little discouraging when attempting to advise a diver who has yet to gain that wonderful neutral buoyancy element of diving, I am met with disappointment or even anger. My recommendation is usually only to have a couple of days diving our local sites before venturing further afield, so it is not as though I am totally banning the idea of tackling the stronger stuff.

These local sites generally tend to have slightly milder currents, usually a sandy bottom or at least a sloping drop off, but still have the stunning corals in the 15-5M range, pinnacles encrusted with life, cleaner wrasse that like cleaning divers, crystal clear waters and very pretty topography. They are also ideal for photographers, bearing in mind that it is not exactly easy to adjust your focus when zooming along a wall in a flying drift dive!

If you are planning to visit the Red Sea, please bear in mind that Ras Mohammed and Tiran are really suitable for the more experienced divers. I don’t mean years of practice, but you need to be comfortable in potentially strong currents, with surface swell, as these conditions can crop up out of the blue in these sites. The dives are also wall dives which while stunning, are also challenging as there is no sandy bottom to stop you should you find yourself a little on the negative side buoyancy wise.

Anyway, I am not having a rant, but just giving a little advice. Also remember that aside from the obvious safety, comfort and confidence issue, there is also a fragile reef to consider. It is positively heartbreaking to see divers out of control creating a trail of devastation across a reef that will take years to recover. There are so many divers visiting the area, it has to be our duty to ensure that we do not destroy the very thing we are here to see.

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Windy city!! jan 07

OK so whilst the winter sun is definitely still here… a bit of the winter wind has blown in and consequently blown out the diving!!! So those of you who left last night… you needn’t be quite so downhearted!

Looking out this morning (having been woken up at 5am by our washing line blowing over) Ras Katy normally an oasis of calm in most conditions was lumpy with lots of white frothy stuff (ooh yes, that will be waves!). By the time we got to work, I was dreading my 4 pack scuba review off the beach envisioning struggles with surge and sandy visibility.

Well all was not lost, despite all the boats being cancelled, and Jetties closed, I took the decision to stay in the pool. As a result we were able to really do a great thorough review without the trudge down the beach or the inevitable surge n sand. Phew.

Of course I was one of about 3 people working in Sharm today which wasn’t so hot, but, hey we had fun. And I was toasty warm in my dry suit hehe total overkill so didn’t suffer the wind chill effect when I got out.
Happy Christmas!!!

Well a big old Happy Christmas to the faithfuls out there. It even looks as though some of us may get Christmas day off too!!! Unlike last year which was heaving on Christmas week, we seem a little quiet this time. So it really could end up being a bit of a party week!!! As it is, we are having two Christmas dinners, one this evening (Christmas eve) as we have some Europeans among us, and then another British one tomorrow. No complaints there however!
Back to normality

Well it is back to normality for me and to ease me in gently after nearly a month off, I had a single Open Water student. After my longest break since becoming an instructor, it felt sooooo good when I went off for that first little swim around the pool… ahhh that floaty feeling of just sitting midwater, like the ultimate floatation tank.

The course went well, although in my absence the water seems to have frozen over!! Ok you hardcore Brit divers will be clicking your teeth at me here, as I am talking a paltry 22ºC nothing hovering around the single figures you often dive in… but for me it was a tad on the nippy side.

Having said that, we have started doing our first open water dives from Naama Beach, and there are some new things to be seen there that I haven’t seen elsewhere which was cool. I especially liked the horned trunk fish, which is like a cross between a box fish and a scribbled file fish, really cute.
Leaving Las Vegas… sorry New York

Well after a fantastic holidy, our flight home has got off to a slightly shaky start. We are delayed an hour, and the kindly security gentlemen here at JFK after rummaging through one of our bags and carefully replacing the padlock, only sent the other bag through unsearched and unlocked! We now have visions of that bag (which does of course contain our Christmas tree and presents!) turning up empty or at the very least a little rifled through once we get to Cairo. We have asked them to try and track down the said suitcase, but now only have visions of all our bags getting delayed and not making it to the plane! Joy… of course this always happens at the end of your holidays doesn’t it? Not at the beginning when you are a touch more chilled out and happy.

Anyway, I have now discovered that the airport here does have wi-fi so how cool that I can get on line while passing the extra time? Of course it is now 3am in the UK and 5am in Sharm, so no one is on MSN… funny.
Big Trip to the Big Apple draws to an end

Ok so all good things must come to an end, and I guess it is nearly time for us to come back to reality… of course, thankfully our reality does happen to be based in Sharm and diving most days, so I won’t grumble.

This was my first visit to the states, and it was totally awesome!

I would say that the Grand Canyon was one of my best trips (especially the realisation that the wall on Shark reef is nearly the same depth in places!). If you ever get the chance, grab it with both hands… but remember to take warm clothes! We had not really thought about it, so were totally gobsmacked when our pilot told us to “wrap up it’s -10ºC out there!!”.

Anyway, we have a couple more days in New York, another show to watch, and then another 24 hour trip of 15 flights (ok I’m exaggerating about the flights) back to Sharm el Sheikh.
Ha! Now I am in the Arctic!

So.. not satisfied with freezing to bits in Sharm, I thought I would go one step further and freeze for real in New York… yes that is the New York that is found on the East coast of the USA! Ok not very aquatic, but we thought we would take a much needed break and come here for a holiday and a change of scene for a bit.

I must admit I thought I was going to have fun getting through customs with about 15 Egyptian stamps in my passport not to mention a Russian stamp from my previous career! (What with all the recent stuff going on between Russia and the UK) But the only hassle we got was for not having the exact address of the people we are staying with .. oops.

Of course being used to a nice balmy 27′C or so, it does feel a little on the nippy side.. added to which, they have forecast temperatures of around -4′C later today!! Eeek!

Still it is great to see green grass again and even a bit of a downpour last night (after not seeing rain for the best part of a year). And I can’t wait to do the shopping bit in the city itself tomorrow! Not to mention finding a bit of kit! Anyone know of a good dive shop in NYC??
OK it is not arctic, but it feels that way!

So call me mesh, whimp or whatever you like but I am feeling the cold. And I am ashamed to say the water is not as chilly as it was last year! By the time we got to the beginning of this month, it had dropped to 26′C and I was FREEEEZING! So as soon as I saw one other guide in a drysuit, that was it… mine got a good dusting off, and out it came to play.

Boy does it feel sooo much better too. I don’t care what anyone says, but if you are female, under 8 stone, and quite a chilled diver, I strongly recommend a drysuit if you decide to pop over here during the winter. Ok not the best advert for our wonderful winter sun, but if it makes your holiday just that bit more comfy, what the heck. Enjoy being nice n toasty while everyone else shivers. Why suffer the icy cold wet wetsuit on that second or third dive??

Anyway, winging over, I shall get back to my nice hot chocolate.

Back on line! Weeeell… kind of
Saturday, November 25th, 2006

Ok so it is not quite so simple getting things sorted here in Sharm as it is in the UK. But rather than bore you with details, needless to say, I have managed to set up some kind of semi on-line stuff here. IE… I am sat in a cafe on a lappie using my new funky wi fi adaptor thingy.

So the flat has brought out the domestic goddess in me and the domestic god in my other half and I must say things are looking quite homely. Let’s hope we stay a while!

There’s still sharks in them there waters!
Thursday, October 12th, 2006

Well, you will all be glad to know that the big boys are still hanging around.. it is just a case of doing the right dive!

Of course it is not every day that things in Tiran are flat enough to do the outside of the reefs, but today things were beautiful and flat. Having persuaded our guests that at the moment Tiran is the best place to spot fish of the sharky variety, we had our decision justified within the first minute of the first dive on the back of Woodhouse reef (the long skinny one, for those who have been here before).

Sheltered in the first shallow cavern were a couple of baby white tips just hanging out and then twenty minutes later we were greeted by another baby swimming alongside the reef. He later joined his buddy in a deeper shelter, where they continued to circle each other until we decided to leave them be.
How cool was that!?

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Moving
Thursday, October 5th, 2006

Well at last we have moved house!

I now live in possibly the best place I could ever imagine. Only here could I afford to live on a cliff top overlooking both a coral reef and a national park.. awesome!

Now it is just a case of turning the place into a home… and most importantly getting internet installed, so I can keep everything here up to date!!

A dramatic week in Sharm!
Friday, September 22nd, 2006

Well it has been all fun and games in and around Shaab Ali this week… well, you could argue that it has been far from fun and games, but thankfully no one has been hurt.

The first nightmare was on Shag rock, just up from the Thistlegorm wreck and prone to the same kind of hairy currents! Two divers (both very experienced locals) went missing during a dive. For two days we all held our breath whilst the search team looked for them, however eventually it was sadly called off. A day later though, sighs of relief were felt throughout the town when we heard that the divers had actually only drifted for 4 hours, before finding a small wreck on another patch of reef. There they sheltered for the next couple of days until they were picked up by some local fishermen on a felluca and returned home very sunburned and dehydrated, a bit scratched and scuffed, but otherwise OK.

The other event was yesterday just south of this on the Thistlegorm itself. The swell was up all over Sharm and the wreck is one place where if there is a bit of lumpiness in the water, it is going to be at its biggest here. So two boats from our dive centre were there, and unfortunately both almost came a cropper! The bow line snapped on one causing it to spin on its stern line, snapping the anchor line of its fellow boat… pretty soon neither boat was on a mooring, guides were trying to heave guests out of the water, and one boat even ended up ramming its bow into the window of the other! As I said no one was hurt, the conditions under the water were actually perfect, and the videographer sold loads of dvd’s that day, so I think the adrenaline got everyone going.

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2 days off… you’re really spoiling me!
Friday, September 15th, 2006

Well, you would be if I didn’t actually quite love diving and actually enjoyed my job (sorry). As it is, a couple of days to myself has given me the time to get cracking on updating the site a touch, adding to the blog (I have discovered how to change the date code, so sorry if you get bombarded with stuff from the past!).
I have also been working on some funky DB tee shirts… watch this space for more info. At present they will solely be available here in Sharm (great excuse for a holiday I say) but they will soon be up for grabs in a dive store near you (if all goes to plan of course!).

Meanwhile my flatmate has gone up to the roof to fry! Yes the fiery burn is finally ebbing out of the sun and now is the time that we actually start to get tanned ourselves.

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maneating wrasses!
Thursday, September 14th, 2006

Well, maybe I am being a little dramatic here… but we were under attack yesterday!
Those of you who have dived here in Sharm may have had the pleasure of diving a site named Fiddle Garden where you will find a couple of cleaner wrasse who have discovered that it is much easier to clean the divers that pass by at regular intervals.
Well, as usual we headed out that way, keen to see the novelty, however I had forgotten about a graze on my knee! Ooh it was like bees to honey! The two wrasse who do this trick, attacked my knee with such gusto, they pulled the scab off and ate it (yik) coming back for more once that was done! I had to put my hand over my now bleeding knee to stop their feast… OK I’m being a wuss here, it didn’t hurt, but I did kind of prefer it when they were happy to nibble your ear a little! We also noticed a third, smaller wrasse has cottoned on to the little trick, I wonder how long it will take for the word to spread!

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Reminiscing
Wednesday, September 13th, 2006

I popped along to the Blue Ventures Blog today and found myself being brought straight back to my time with them.

Scroll past the French bit (unless you speak French of course!) and you will see a few entries from some of their current volunteer team. Just reading about their initial impressions of the camp, the project and how life is out there just brought it all flooding back. What an awesome time I had whilst out there with them a couple of years ago read about it here…. And I can safely say that had I not done that, I may well have never gone on to become the instructor that I am today.

Within 2 days of my return to the UK, I had booked my Divemaster course and realised that somehow I was meant to go diving everyday!

Divebunnie home

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Weather
Tuesday, September 12th, 2006

Amazing isn’t it, we live in a country where it is pretty much “scorchio” every day, but weather is still an issue!

Already there is talk of winter being around the corner… the sea temp has taken a tiny dip (ok if you are diving Tiran a bit of a plummet) and here we are talking dry suits already.

On a serious note, things have not gone that far just yet. The weather is still toasty hot, the sea lovely and warm, we are just spoilt wusses that like 30ºC in the water and around 40º on the surface.

On a positive side, the slight dip downwards has meant that the sharks are back, and this time by the reef… cooool. This week hammers and black tips have been seen in their usual haunts. So all is still pretty good.

The temperature has dropped a few degrees to around 27º but the slight drop in air temp (high 30’s) is probably a relief for most.

DiveBunnie Home

Archive for July, 2006
Awesome
Monday, July 31st, 2006

Well, I certainly hadn’t scuppered my chances of sharks with the last post.

We headed out onto the back of Jackson today and were met by a single very big hammerhead shark. I believe he would have been the scout for the group. Sadly no sign of the rest of the gang. It was also quite far off the reef so, we did have to take care not to lose it entirely… just for peace of mind, we kept an SMB above us for the whole dive.

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Hot hot hot and sharks sharks sharks!
Sunday, July 30th, 2006

Yes it is that time of year again, and sadly I have been far too busy in the water to get onto my faithful lappie and keep up to date with the latest goings on in Sharm.

Well the title says it all… it is that time when every trip to Tiran brings with it the hope that the sea flattens out enough for us to go “round the back”. Out there if they want to be found, we live in hope of spotting the hammerheads or more. And… sometimes we do strike lucky…

And then we go down south to Ras Mohammed and great joy we find the barracuda shoal in which we can find a couple of very big black tips… ooo. Although if it is any consolation, on our second dive on Shark and Yolande last week, we didn’t see a single fish for 20 mins, which if you know this reef is quite a miracle in itself!!!

So week two of guiding and we shall see what this brings. I have probably scuppered the lot now by writing about it, I shall put on my bestest shark attractor suit and see what happens.

Watch this space, and don’t worry, I shall be sure to share my pain if we do indeed see nothing bigger than a trigger fish all week! Hee hee.

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Archive for June, 2006
spread the word
Thursday, June 29th, 2006

Ok… so I’m the guilty one. It seems as though my cold has spread around the dive centre… great, that’ll make me popular!

First my flatmate started sneezing, and now my boyfriend is doing the same… oops. I wonder how long it will be before everyone falls victim. And of course, it is one of those sneaky ones that really goes straight for the sinuses, so we’ll have a dive centre full of guides who can’t dive… oops.

So once again I am on dry land, while the rest of Sharm is out shark spotting: black tips, white tips, oceanics and hammer heads are on the list so far, Oh, and a whale shark! The tigers have not yet made an appearance, but it will only be a matter of time, and let’s hope we’ll all be back in the water by then.

In the meantime, whilst I have become a total slob, my flatmate has proceeded to repair her wetsuit, sticking herself to it and the floor in the process. Ok that’s a slight exaggeration there, but that glue is strong stuff!

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Local Potterings
Monday, June 26th, 2006

Whilst battling with my dodgy snotty nose and bunged up ears (I know!) I did have a couple of very nice dives yesterday.

The water has really warmed up, even though my computer doesn’t seem to be registering it… I almost felt too warm on the first dive yay!

The first potter was at the infamous Ras Katy, supposedly a nice mild mannered site, however for the area, the current was positively howling today! We trudged against it for 20 mins and then drifted back in 5!

The same happened on Temple, which was great for all the fish coming out in their hordes, but not so much for my guests on their first day of the week. This is not normally a site where I have to encourage people to tuck down against the current, but I had to on this dive, using the pinnacles themselves as shelter against the full force. Ok we are not talking Shark and Yolande here, but for a local dive, it was quite a lively one.

I even wore a shorty on this dive too.. and had I been wearing a snug jacket, I would have been fairly warm. As it was, I got more than a bit nippy.. brrr. I guess I was being a little too hopeful there.

Butterfly fish

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Ooops
Monday, June 26th, 2006

Well, I guess this is a lesson learned… following on from my previous post. Had I been a student, my advice would have been not to dive as I had a cold.

However in the name of determination and plain old stubborn state of mind, I decided to attempt to dose away the cold with vitamins, garlic and a long acting decongestant and, hey presto… whilst I was able to equalise at the time I am now suffering and my ears have kicked up a fuss and refuse to budge today.

So… I could have explained that I had a cold brewing and maybe a week’s guiding was not the best idea for me, and saved everyone the aggro. However instead I soldiered on, and had to throw in the towel for today and possibly the next few days if I am unlucky.

So great role-model behaviour there… maybe next time I will listen to my body before thinking I am invincible and wanting to prove indestructible.

Doh!

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Back in the Sea…
Saturday, June 24th, 2006

Well… hopefully tomorrow.

I am back on a boat guiding which should be fun. So long as the cold that’s brewing does not materialise that is… typical, I haven’t been in the water for the best part of a week and today I start sneezing like I’ve breathed pepper!

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Hi n Dry…
Friday, June 23rd, 2006

Well, it’s the fourth day on dry land for me, and for anyone who has been in Sharm at this time of year, you’ll know how hot it can get if you don’t get in the water at least a couple of times a day.

I have been stood up by a student… ! I had a one pack Scuba Diver course, and the guy (who the other day had turned up at 2pm expecting to join a course that had started at 8am… hasn’t showed up once again… his phone is off the hook so short of going to his room and knocking on the door, there is no other way of tracking him down. I guess he went out on the lasth last night and decided an 8am start was just a little too early for him.

So… what to do with my day off…?

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Oooo summer’s definitely here!
Thursday, June 22nd, 2006

It’s happening already.. the sea is flattening out and the winds of the last few weeks have finally died down a touch.

For the first time in ages we have been able to dive the back of the Tiran reefs! And yesterday was true to form… on the back of Jackson there was a mega pod of dolphins on the surface… filling the sea as far as the eye could reach. The divers below were joined by hammerheads.. cooool.

Sadly I was in the office! But hey.. it’s a quiet week, so if I’m off later in the week, I think a little fun diving is the order of the day.

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Stuff’s growing
Sunday, June 18th, 2006

OK so my dive log has been a bit lacking of late.. I hang my head in shame. If it is any consolation, my last written log was back in March.. oops.

Well, Ras Mohammed is once again the place to be at the moment… I haven’t yet seen any of the sharks, but even without the big boys, everything else is just heaving!

The wall of snappers is back, just off Shark Reef, I descended into it the other day which was truly awesome… a little tough to see all my guests mind, as they really had formed a big old wall, and half of my guys were hanging on the opposite side to me.

We have also seen the shoaling masked puffer fish which are totally cuuute! They only gather together for a couple of weeks in the year, and swim around in their usual ungainly fashion as a gang, for a while, before going their separate, solitary ways once again.

Even the local sites are getting good too… I saw a bunch of quite meaty barracudas on Temple the other day, and then in the afternoon descended into the shoal of baby barracudas that usually hangs around the lagoon area, really cool.

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Betty Gets Done
Sunday, June 18th, 2006

So the day finally came when we decided to get Betty (the mother of our kittens) spayed. Two kittens really are enough, and the cat population of Hadaba really doesn’t need any more additions… cruel though it seems.

Having said that, when the time actually came last week to drag the poor lady down to the vet, I felt like a completely evil and twisted butcherer. As it happened, it turned out that she was already up the duff, having got frisky with a boy cat barely weeks after giving birth, and we would have been host to another four babies had we left it a couple of weeks longer!

Thankfully all went well, and after a few gruesome days watching her struggle onto her feet and scowl at us from under the couch, she has kind of returned to her normal self a touch. I don’t think she quite entirely trusts me yet, but I guess that is to be expected.

Of course the kittens are oblivious to their mother’s trauma and have ended up with a few swift swipes from her for trying to interfere where they are not wanted.

Archive for May, 2006
In the Office…
Sunday, May 7th, 2006

Well, I can’t believe how quickly that week went. Amazing how Open Water Courses just absorb you. I had a great course, and despite initial difficulties, my students put in loads of effort and the final two qualified on Friday… I was dead proud.

So a few days in the office now, just to make sure I don’t get too bored of the water I guess. It’s all good, gives my ears a rest, and makes sure I totally off-gas before guiding later this week.

Weather wise we had a wierd one… it really rained on a couple of days, with thunder and everything as we were jumping in for OW dive no. 1 Funny

Archive for April, 2006
« Previous Entries
Sunday Morning… well Saturday actually
Saturday, April 29th, 2006

Amazingly, even though I had been on holiday all last week, I was still given my usual day off, along with the majority of the dive centre, so it has that true weekend feeling. Many of us were out and about last night (despite any misgivings after the Dahab bombs bringing back memories of last summer).
So… it has been a lazy day of waking up slowly and snoozing infront of dodgy old movies.
Off to Terrazzina for lunch later…

DiveBunnie Home!

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Temple
Saturday, April 29th, 2006

Another local classic.
We were moored a little further away from the pinnacles than I would have liked today however, but still got to have a potter. I had a couple of divers who had just qualified, so for them it was great to actually get to the pinnacles, rather than having to stick to the sandy bottom doing skills.

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Guiding Fiddle Gardens
Saturday, April 29th, 2006

Ah… it’s good to be back at work again, and guiding a nice little group who are just having a potter on their last day.
Up we went to Fiddle gardens to one of my favourite local sites.
Beautiful as always, my one disappointment is that the cleaner wrasse were so interested in munching on the masses of tunicates gathered in the water, that they had lost all interest in their usual human fare. No ear cleaning or mouth grazing for us today which was a shame.
The glass fish were still heaving around the pinnacles though, the groupers not having got too greedy just yet.

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Woodhouse Drift
Thursday, April 27th, 2006

Ah… it was lovely to be back in the water again after a few days dry with my mum.

As there was a chance she might have wanted to snorkel at Jackson, I decided to jump in and dive Woodhouse reef.

To be honest, it wasn’t a particularly lively dive… however there were just swarms of fusiliers munching on the bunches of tunicates floating around like grapes which was quite cool to watch. I did see a baby napoleon wrassed pottering along which was quite cool. And then for a split second, thought I had seen a couple of small sharks out in the blue, only to realise that they were milk fish!!! Doh! But funny.

Ged was my buddy, who amazingly lasted a whole 45 mins before freezing his butt off and ending the dive. Well he was in a shortie, and I got cold in my drysuit after 35mins! It was 23ºC, so I think I was being a bit of a wuss.

DiveBunnie Home

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Bid for Freedom!
Thursday, April 27th, 2006

OK, so we all knew it was going to happen, but when it did, it was a little bit of a shock.

The kittens have finally managed to clamber up onto the wall of the balcony and for sure will soon be jumping off and discovering the world at large, just like their mum. However the jump is a pretty big one, and I am not on the ground floor, so room for error is minimal!

So… inevitably 2 days after our first nailbiting moment as we witnessed tiny Tigger up on the balcony wall, I got woken up by some distressed kitten mewling coming from somewhere other than the balcony! Yes, there he was sat on our stairs somewhat shocked to find himself there. Mum was wandering around equally disturbed, but he is now just a little too big for her to carry him and jump back up at the same time. Hence the mewling… to bring in the human cavalry.

Thankfully in true cat-like fashion, he had landed on his feet, come to no harm and will no doubt be doing it again, but maybe in a little while, once he is a little stronger.

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Not again!
Monday, April 24th, 2006

Grief, we are sitting here watching news as it breaks of bombs in Dahab… not again!

Why on earth someone would want to bomb such a tiny, cute little town I don’t know.

Our thoughts are with all our fellow divers up there and those holiday makers who once again have found themselves in the middle of a nightmare.

So far, from what we can tell, once again most of the injured have been Egyptians due to the Egyptian holiday, and certainly all the staff at Poseidon divers are ok. As for anyone else, we don’t yet know.

Thoughts also go out to those here in Sharm who out of the goodness of their hearts, headed down to the hospital to help treat the wounded and comfort the bereaved.

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Kittens venture forth
Monday, April 24th, 2006

Those of you who have been following my blog for some time will be familiar with the tale of our adopted pregnant kitty… see the blog archive. Weeell after her hormonal moment with me, she did eventually disappear to an apartment across the road and gave birth to two very cute kittens (judging by the size of her we were expecting at least 6!). She then turned up at our flats all lean, svelte and calm managing amazingly to rekindle my trust.
It didn’t take her long, but as soon as her little ones were big enough, she turned up on my balcony with my new neighbours. Yes I have kittens living on my balcony… and very cute they have been too. Thankfully I have had advice a plenty from friends here well versed in kitten care, and they are turning out to be quite a robust little team.
Not quite sure what I am going to do with them as they grow up however…

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Mum’s Here!
Sunday, April 23rd, 2006

Well finally I get a family visit! Weeell… a visit from Mum. I think what finally swung the deal was when I offered to get the ticket for her, saving her the hassle of finding the right flight, place etc.

Unfortunately this very week, the weather decided to truly kick in for summer, so we have hairdryer hot winds, and the aircon is a definite necessity. Just a bit of a contrast with chilly England right now. But having said that, it is glorious, which can only be a good thing when you have been sitting in the cold for the last few months.

Hence I have had a few days off! It has been most odd, being in Sharm but being on holiday… we did very little on day one, just chilled out in the bakery followed by a bit of an aircon moment to cool down. Yesterday was spent at Shark’s bay on the beach, quite a cute place not unlike Dahab really.

Today we are out on a boat… which I must admit, I have missed over the last couple of days.

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In the office
Wednesday, April 12th, 2006

Hey ho… I guess it happens to the best of us… have been called in to help out in the office today.. great joy. Well, I shouldn’t complain really, I made the mistake of diving with a cold last week dosing up on the usual Clarinase and Afrin, (which works like magic at the time, I might add) and am paying the consequences this week with bunged up sinuses. Such is life.

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Good week had by all
Wednesday, April 12th, 2006

Well, once again I am on a boat with a heap of teenagers! What a great school trip eh… a scuba diving holiday! I guess we did have ski trips available when I was at school, but never diving. What a great way to learn about responsibility and trust whilst discovering a new world… very educational.

Archive for March, 2006
Hello world!
Wednesday, March 29th, 2006

Welcome to the DiveBunnie Blog! Bear with me whilst I just find out about the finer details of making my blog a little prettier.

Ok, so I am working from a slightly old, but loved lappie, which means that using some of the functions here on the deepstop is a little quirky. So for now, I am gonna stick with the basic theme here.

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It could happen to You…
Friday, March 24th, 2006

Well I had my first case of a guest with decompression sickness yesterday, and thank God for our training. Thankfully, she spoke up and told us within minutes of her first symptoms, so we could get her laying down, put her on 100% oxygen, reydration salts and call the doctor, all of which definitely helped improve her condition. I would like to say a huge thank you to the Sharm el Sheikh search and rescue team who came out to meet us within half an hour, which is pretty spectacular considering we were near the Dunraven wreck (over two hours away by normal dive boat speed) and another thank you to Dr Ahmed at the chamber here, who had our lady in the pot within 15 minutes of her arrival at the centre.
The diver will be fine and her first two hour recompression treatment was successful, however she does have a suspected PFO which will make her prone to decompression sickness and therefore preclude her from diving without further treatment, if that is indeed the condition.
I am just sooo glad that she did speak up enabling us to get her onto the important oxygen. Just seeing the improvement that a combination of that and rehydration did, was quite astounding. At least it held everything at bay until we got her safely to the chamber and back under compression.

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Eclipse!
Friday, March 24th, 2006

Well we have a solar eclipse on its way and I am not working. So… a group of us are headed for the beach with our special solar shades (being brought by Disco Dave) to view the sun’s disappearance. I did see the eclipse that hit the UK in 1999, however in usual UK style the sun was totally obscured already by the usual leaden grey clouds, so, whilst it was still pretty awesome, we were not able to actually see the shadow of the moon itself. Sadly I was not quite in Cornwall either, so it wasn’t 100%.
This time I did have ambitious plans of busing it up to North West Egypt to witness the full totality in glorious clear skies, however when I looked at the map, I realised with the slight lack of motorways here, the journey was likely to take around 30 hours!
So… Terrazzina beach it is for us. We will get 75% and the earlier clouds have done us the favour of departing, so it should still be pretty cool to see.

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Cat Fight
Wednesday, March 8th, 2006

So we have an adopted cat in our building… Betty. OK we resisted giivng her a name for ages, not wanting to acknowledge that she had become a part of our little family. We also made sure that she never spent the night in any of our apartments. Well she is essentially a feral cat, she just happens to have mastered the art of being friendly and cute, and we didn’t want her to become to dependent on us. I think she had realised that if she was friendly she would get fed. Well she is now very pregnant… hmm guess she got a bit too friendly with one of the boy cats around here. And, as a result she is totally hormonal, so lashed out at me when I tried to pick her up the other day to put her outside. I am very lucky she didn’t get my eye, as she ripped a bit of my eyelid. I now feel the guilty one though, as she has now been banished from the flats, but doesn’t quite understand why. Hence she has been miaowing outside my apartment for the last 12 hours! I feel dreadful, like I am going to be a part of destroying her faith in people. I guess once she has had her babies, she will calm down a bit and once again will be the lovely little cat we all came to know and love. At the moment, she is verging on the psyco scary cat! Of course things would be much easier if I was just at work so didn’t have to deal with any of this. We need some more guests so that all the instructors are working. Having said that though, I am quite enjoying a bit of a break for a change.

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The Bane of Technology
Sunday, March 5th, 2006

Why is it that when you have loads of time to kill, the internet decides to pack up for a couple of days and now, to top it all, the satellite on my TV has joined the strike and I no longer have daytime telly to watch!!
We are in the middle of a seasonal lull, work-wise, which often seems to happen just before one of the major holidays and as a result, I have had my first break in some time of more than a couple of days. Wow… on one level it is nice to have a rest, but on the other, it is at this point that I have realised that aside from diving, there is very little to do in Sharm. I guess I could do the real tourist thing, and go along to our pool do a bit of sunbathing, and swimming etc, or even the beach, in fact I think that will be my plan for tomorrow.

Archive for February, 2006
Off To Sea
Thursday, February 23rd, 2006

So a great opportunity arose this week… the chance to go on a mini liveaboard to learn the ropes and some of the sites that we don’t get to visit on our normal day boats. “Fantastic” I thought, the chance to broaden my scope as a guide as well as get in some good diving and experience. Of course the night before we left, I was filled in on all the horror stories… tales of waking up at 3 am to hear the mooring lines snapping and having to chuck kit on, jump in and re-tie in the dark, of the boat getting a bit leaky and possibly sinking (I have heard of that happening for real… though not on one of our boats!) Suggestions of spooky midnight night dives on the Thistlegorm wreck too, kind of fired my imagination a touch. That was just the tip of the iceberg.
As it turned out, to my shame, I woke up feeling a little off-colour on day one… warned George… and by the time he was briefing the first dive I was in our cabin hurling up breakfast! Thankfully it only lasted the day, but considering, I had been wanting to do the trip to gain experience and knowledge, it meant that I missed out on quite a chunk of diving.
The planning of the dives went slightly out of the window due to the fact that our boat was in fact a turtle, masquerading as a dive boat! The cabins, saloon and crew were fantastic… but the owner was on board, who ruled his staff with an iron rod and would not allow them to use full steam. I think the worst moment was when one of our day boats flew past us on the way to the Thistlegorm wreck! One of the real selling points of doing a liveaboard is that you usually moor up on this remote wreck, giving you the rare chance to dive it at night as well as meaning that you are already there in order to jump in at the crack of dawn, hopefully getting the site to yourselves. This couldn’t happen, as the owner would not allow us to moor the boat there over night, in case bad weather built up (which, I must admit it, often can).
Having said all that, I did get the chance to build up on my experience and knowledge anyway… and added to that, we had a great group of divers, so all in all had a good few days.
The only down-side was that I missed the IDC party. We had 4 of our new divemasters on the course this time, all of whom passed really well from what I hear, and due to the number of our staff who seem to have popped off to Thailand, most of our newbies got the chance to get in a good week of working for the college.

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Love your Ears
Saturday, February 18th, 2006

OK so I have no excuse to have been a little quiet over the last month, I have been out of the water for the last week! But… I guess as a result I also didn’t have a particularly vast amount of stuff to talk about.
I do have a little warning to share with all you dive professionals out there though. And I guess those of you who are so keen on the sport that you just keep going, even when your body is telling you to stop.
As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of pressure (mostly self inflicted) on instructors and guides to keep diving and accepting all the work that comes your way. Well, I had been doing this for some time, really glad of any work that I have been offered. I knew I had come back after a couple of colds a little early, but I could still equalise, so thought nothing more of carrying on. Well, it kind of hit a head last week, when I got one week of work merging straight into another and my ears started actually hurting. They had been feeling muffled for some time, but I had carried on… ooops. Against all my better judgement and any advice that I give to other divers!
When I eventually did get around to seeing the doctor I was so sure that he would say that I was being very sensible, but because there was no major pain, I was not to worry.
How wrong was I? I was told in no uncertain terms that I had given myself a chronic barotrauma and that whilst there was no perforation at present, I ran the risk of messing my eardrum up completely if I didn’t take some time out straight away. Ooops!
The good news is that I followed the doctor’s advice and all is now back to normal. I should be in the water by Monday. He did give me a few tips though, which I will share here:
Chew sugarfree gum, not only exercising your eustacian tubes, the xylotol acts like a natural antibiotic.
Drink warm drinks
Eat lots of protein
Boost your vitamin C intake
All common sense things, granted, but if they can help another diver avoid damaging their ears, that can only be a good thing.

Archive for January, 2006
Slack
Sunday, January 15th, 2006

Well, I am not doing too badly here… only 2 weeks since my last update.
So… Amanda sadly returned home yesterday after having spent a cracking month out here back on board with the team. And in true Sharm fashion she was sent off with a bang.
It all started very civilised at the new and funky First Floor bar… a great new addition here, as it is the perfect place to start your evening. We then ended up dancing till late at the Tavern with cheesy music and Jilly once again up on the speakers cleaning the blackboard with her arse! (I said a good night was had by all).
So today I am off, which is a little odd, with it being the first day of the week. But I guess I should make the most of a rare two days on the trot weekend! I suppose I can’t procrastinate any further and the time has come to clean the flat.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Sunday, January 1st, 2006

Here’s hoping you all had a spectacular Christmas and equally grand New Year’s eve party last night (in fact those of you on the US West coast may actually still be partying.
The majority of us were working all over Christmas with a whole load of people deciding to learn to dive on Christmas Day! So last night was a bit of a party night, with for once a guaranteed day off today (the dive centre, quite wisely, is shut today). There was much dancing and singing to be had, having done a little crawl from house party to funky new bar in town (First Floor) and finally ending up joining the jumping throng in the Tavern. I think I danced solidly for about 4 hours… actually, no I don’t think I danced at all, I think I actually got run over by a truck instead! I ache from head to toe!
But my highlight of the night must have been the dedication I got on the Trevor Nelson show last night on Radio One sent by my mate Keli. I was just getting over the joy of getting UK radio (having just downloaded the latest Real Player) when I hear my very own shout out all the way from London!
I hope your night was equally as good. For New Year’s day… we are all off to the races… camel races that is, held every New Year’s Day out in the desert

Archive for December, 2005
Record Breakers!
Saturday, December 10th, 2005

Well, as I have already mentioned elsewhere in the site… Leigh and Mark not only discovered and dived the long-lost Yolande wreck Yesterday (9th December 2005) but they ended up breaking a world record whilst they were at it!!! Leigh had found the wreck earlier this year half buried in sand over 130M below the Yolande reef saddle where it had originally sat since its sinking in 1980, until a hefty storm in 1987 had finally pushed it over the edge. The plan had been to return in August to dive it further, discovering the stern and hopefully taking some pictures. Sadly fate intervened and the project had to be postponed until this week. After several days of final training, the deepest wreck dive ever went ahead successfully (though not without incident!) yesterday. The dive actually went below 200M, as they swam under the stern, however computers give up at 200M and Mark’s depth guage imploded, so it is difficult to tell how much deeper they went! Both members of the deep team were checked out fully at the hyperbaric chamber afterwards… just to make sure, and to celebrate, half of Sharm together with the whole Yolande project team were out in the Tavern last night. Of course certain members of the team were necking back the water to ensure that no delayed DCS ensued!!

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IDC party
Friday, December 9th, 2005

Oooo it could have got so messy! Yes another successful IDC has been done and dusted out here in Sharm. Bizarrely Ocean College only had a few candidates this time and yes… all three of them found themselves totally trolleyed in the Camel bar that night… all of them celebrating their success!
Of course it would have been rude not to have joined in, and to be honest, I kind of whimped out a bit at my own IDC party , had a sinus infection at the next so felt that it was about time, I let rip and celebrated the success of all Instructor candidates around the world. The Camel bar was heaving, with just enough people in fancy dress (tarts, pimps, vicars and a few nuns thrown in) to keep it fun and just enough in normal clothes to ensure no one felt left out. Some serious flirting was going around… all a little alcohol fuelled I’m sure, but all great fun for those of us in the front row seats!!
Needless to say, I woke the next morning with a serious hangover from hell… only cured by several hours spent with my neighbours playing Nintendo followed by a Kentucky bucket delivered to our door! Oh the joys of the simple life.

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Fun diving
Thursday, December 8th, 2005

Grief, I am really not the best at keeping this blog completely up to date. I’m selling you guys short! Other sites get a daily flow of chit chat and gossip, whereas I get my act together once a month or thereabouts!
Well I can only apologise for my slackness, and fill you in on the latest. I can’t believe I didn’t tell you about my last day’s diving before going home in November. A cracking day out in Tiran! This is fast going up in my rankings as the area to dive, though not quite overtaking my love of Shark and Yolande reefs just yet, I really have had some great diving there.
This day in particular, I was with Del who had been my instructor for my Divemaster course last year, and video Mark (as he is known here in Sharm). We attempted the Woodhouse to Jackson crossing however sadly found the current building against us, preventing us from making it even to within site of the satellite reef. However, after fighting the current for so long, we had a spectacular drift back along the reef, seeing a couple of MASSIVE turtles along the way.
Since fetching my drysuit and warm clothes, ironically, Sharm has been basking in a bit of an Indian summer, with smooth calm waters, and temperatures unseasonably back up in the low thirties on some days! However having made the dash back and finally gotten used to the whole buoyancy and baggy sensations of diving dry, I have not bothered to return to the wetsuit just yet, in spite of the lovely weather.
I have been teaching pretty much most of the time since my return, so have been enjoying the wonders of Temple, Ras Katy and the Gardens over the last couple of weeks. However did get a random day in Tiran again with a very experienced group last week… great stuff! Seeing as the sea was spookily calm it would have been a crime not to have done the back of the reefs, especially as the skipper even suggested that it was fine to pick us up at the back, so off we went:
The first dive we did a semi drift along Jackson, flying past the porites lumps that usually signify the absolute end of the dive. And… joy of joys, we were joined by a lovely big turtle for the last ten minutes of our dive! Yay!
The second dive, with the weather flattening the sea even further, we simply HAD to do the back of something. It would have been rude not to… so the back of Woodhouse it was. And yet another spectacular dive ensued! We saw a baby white tip reef shark!! COOOOL. He (or she) was having a kip in one of the over hangs, however chose that moment to move off and swim alongside me for the next few minutes as we passed… really very cool. It was only just over a metre long and very shiny and new looking. Another great day’s diving!

Archive for November, 2005
Cool, but not in a cool way… Brrr
Friday, November 18th, 2005

Good grief it’s COLD!
After a fairly leisurely flight spent chatting, eating and snoozing, we stuck our heads out of the plane to find to our horror, the temperature in the UK has plummeted! I don’t know quite how cold it was, but there was lots of frosty stuff this morning, and last night our breath wast steaming out all over the place. Not my idea of fun.
Anyway, it is good to be back amongst family and friends, so that is a bonus. I have even managed to deal with the majority of the nasty financial stuff that needed sorting too, so a nice week lies ahead of me, although I am missing the sea, sun and diving already.

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New day New Plan
Thursday, November 10th, 2005

OK so… dawn of a new day, and new plan of action… I am finally braving the arctic and popping home!! It has reached that point where there are enough little bits that need sorting back home, and not enough warm clothes here, so something drastic has to be done! I had better brace myself for the chilly stuff.

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Brrr
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005

Oh yes it’s getting colder and colder! (25ºC and falling… OK so not quite ice diving just yet) The neoprene is not quite cutting it right now, and I am on the brink of going dry! Yes the time has finally come to pop home and get warm stuff. So far my fantastic friends here have kept me wrapped in warm stuff… I have been loaned a hat, a fleecie and two hoodies which have just about kept me alive (or so it feels!). I think a flight home may be on the horizon… now I really will need my fleecies then! Of course the water is still crystal clear and the sun still shining, I am just being a bit of a warm water wuss.

Archive for October, 2005
Getting cooler
Monday, October 24th, 2005

Good grief!! How did a couple of months pass by without me realising? Well live out here has been good.. however the nights are drawing in and getting a little cooler. The water temperature has most definitely dropped and in total wussiness I am now enveloped in yards of neoprene, wearing several layers of wetsuit together with a hood and everything! Of course I am getting totally laughed at by the guests, but… hey it keeps me from freezing my butt off!

Archive for August, 2005
Dancing again?
Saturday, August 6th, 2005

So another day at the beach! But… all is certainly not lost. I have had a bit of a business meeting… I must say, I can’t imagine a better location! Certainly a far cry from the usual UK stuff. Anyway, I digress. Basically as people start to trickle back into the Sinai for their holidays, the social scene is once again beginning to pick up and, as luck would have it, one of my fellow instructors is also a dancer, so thinking I should make the most of all my abilities, I thought I would have a little chat. Apparently, they do indeed need a dancer, and I start on Friday! Of course I may not prove to be quite what they are looking for, but, hey chances are I will be OK, and it will certainly help me out a touch. I guess Friday will be my audition, so fingers crossed, and I shall let you know how it all goes.

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Devastation
Monday, August 1st, 2005

Well, it has again been a strange week or so here in Sharm, after the devastation of last Friday night’s bombs we have been doing our best to get things back to normal.
Several of our instructors whilst not caught up in the blast itself, had found themselves first on the scene and dealing with the worst of situations imaginable… Tales akin to those experienced by some of the Tsunami survivors have trickled through, with people doing what they could to keep the injured comfortable using their own cars to take them to the hospital when there were just simply not enough ambulances to go round. Many instructors even helped out in the hospital itself.
Thanks go to those who were there doing what they could to help the victims, and prayers to the families of those affected by this disaster.
This is certainly going to be a tough time for all concerned, aside from the devastating injuries and bereavements endured many businesses too have been wiped out. I guess time will be the healer for all concerned here.

Archive for May, 2005
Here I am!
Sunday, May 22nd, 2005

So… the flight went well, and to my HUGE relief, I felt nothing but joy when I landed at Sharm el Sheikh international airport, suddenly I felt like I had made the right decision in coming here, I had come home. Once I was checked into my room I got some water and incredibly boringly went to bed! I have only got three weeks now in which to get myself well and truly ready for the course.

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Change of life
Saturday, May 21st, 2005

Well today is the day. For some reason I am still feeling pretty anxious about the whole thing… just a little disturbing, I must say. But, hey there’s not a huge amount I can do about it at this precise moment. I have been given this opportunity and would be mad to pass it by. I guess if it all goes horribly wrong, I can always get a flight home. I have been getting this awful realisation of the incredible responsibility held by an instructor . As a dancer, if you mess up, no one is really likely to get badly hurt, whereas as a diving professional, you have a completely different kind of responsibility!

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Birthday Present
Thursday, May 19th, 2005

So… the funding came through! I got the final call on Monday and suddenly realised that not only had I not prepared physically for this, I had also not dared to prepare emotionally for this in anyway! Where I should have been cheering and dancing for joy, I sat numb with shock, suddenly very aware that my life was about to change quite dramatically. I knew in my heart of hearts that this would be a good change, however there was an inner fear of it all that kind of overtook any joyous feelings I should have been having. I could not work out whether this was my gut feeling telling me this was a bad thing to do, or whether it was just me being a big fat coward.
The original plan had been for me to fly today, however after getting the final decision, I realised that that would have been cutting things just a little fine. And with this being my birthday, maybe it would be a good thing to spend it with my family and friends. This also gave me a little breathing space to get the practicalities organised. Needless to say, I also have my course notes to finish for the Pop Academy work I am doing in September!Eeek!

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Preparation
Sunday, May 1st, 2005

Well so far I have only reached the study stage of preparation… reading chunks of “the best of the Undersea Journal” in conjunction with the “Candidate Workbook”. My Instructor Manual is beginning to look pretty well-thumbed now, which does make me wonder how it will fare once it is actually being used for my work!

I still don’t know for sure whether or not I will be able to join this summer’s IDC as I have applied for funding from a charity that helps dancers re-train in a second profession. Those of you who know me or who have looked below the surface on this site, will know that I have had a pretty lengthy career as a dancer and am finally about to swap jazz shoes for fins and jump into a whole new life-style.

Watch this space for the latest news on the funding front. I find out on the 13th May, so if you all keep your fingers crossed and think positive, I should be successful.

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