Tuesday, July 25, 2006

A Fishy Weekend





Well, another weekend arrived (3 day weekend for some), and so did the need to get out of town for a bit. We had been talking about going for another dive for a while, and Cam and Lyn spent the better part of the week organizing it. The rain on Saturday morning didn’t look promising, but we hoped for the best and set off for East Cape and a little guest house run by Bernard (about a 1 ½ hour drive from Alotau).

We had a pleasant enough drive out, and stopped off at one of our favourite spots, Bewa, along the way. We arrived at East Cape in the afternoon, bumped into the Baptist Missionaries who live across the road from us (or the ‘Missio’s’, as they call themselves), and looked around the market. Lyn and I felt that the conditions were perfect for a lazy afternoon, so we retreated to the guest house for some reading and knitting time (yes, I still knit here – I think it is in my blood!), while Stan and Cam went for a snorkel. They had a good snorkel, and we found it quite enjoyable when they got out of the water and showed us the ‘treasures’ that they had acquired in the water – an old umbrella, and what can only be described as a vintage hat.



We had an interesting night with strange bumps and flapping sounds. The only other thing worth mentioning is the deep animosity I am developing towards roosters in the early hours of the morning.

The weather was a bit grey and the sea a bit choppy, but the decision was made to pile our extreme amount of stuff (including 9 dive tanks) into a 23 foot dinghy and head off. I think I’m still a bit new to things here, because I found the boat ride a little bit…adventurous. But those who are more experienced in the ways of boat trips in PNG didn’t seem to mind it. Thankfully the dinghy operator was really good, and we arrived at our destination – Hanakubakuba – in one piece. We went on our first dive and saw a sleeping turtle and lots of lovely and colourful coral. I was also using my new BCD for the first time, and that was very exciting! We surfaced to the sun peeking out from behind the clouds and the prospect of lunch. Needless to say we were all feeling much better by this point. Our second dive presented cuttlefish and blue-spotted stingrays, as well as too many different species of fish to write about here. So, good diving in a relatively untouched reef. It was pretty good.

And to add to the general fishiness, Cam and Stan both caught some. Cam left his run to late, and pulled in a Spanish Mackeral just as we were pulling into the bay to unload ourselves and our stuff from the boat.



Apart from the doxycycline (antimalairial) induced sunburn that we received, I’d have to say that we were pretty happy with how the whole weekend and diving went. To top it all off Cam, Stan and Lyn got to do another 2 dives with the local dive instructor on Monday (which was a public holiday – Rememberance Day). Due to an influx of children at EMB, aka a school camp, I had to work. But plenty more dives in the future I am sure! Anyway. Cam was happy coz he got to take plenty more photos of clown fish. Sigh.

Anyway. We are going to a volunteers conference in Port Moresby for a few days, so we probably won’t be blogging again until next week. But I’m sure we’ll have plenty more stories and photos to share then!

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

cam that fish reminds me of a baracooda! i have to talk to you about the freaking aquarium fish that i saw!
hope your great , got your postcards... we know your packages will be on their way very soon.. we are just waiting for mum... haha

7:11 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is that mackeral above legal size Cam?
Or did you pick it up from the market?? he he he

8:51 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That wetsuit is pure sex.

1:21 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it says probe on that suit!

11:34 am  
Blogger Alix said...

Yay! Nemo fish! I hope we see some of these when I'm there.

"Probe" Cam... He he he...

6:43 pm  

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