jo was such a blessing as she planned it all! starting with our accommodations; jo booked us at this super cool resort that felt a lot like a big family adventure playground. we stayed in a condo with 2 bedrooms and a full kitchen/living room area. it was so nice and perfect for what we were doing.
we met these guys there:
at first there were just a couple...
then there were more...
and then there were a lot more... (i think they liked the bread we were feeding them)
we even had a visit from this turkey... gobble, gobble!!
our first day of scuba training consisted of 1/2 a day of classroom work and 1/2 a day in the pool for practice. the pool time went pretty well aside from the fact that it was FREEZING!! i think we were all shaking and i had blue lips by the time we got out. the training went fairly well, though.. i had a freak out moment when i realized i wasn't going to be able to wipe my eyes after flooding and emptying our masks like i would have liked, but in the end i was able to do it without bolting to the surface. all in all, though, we did good!
we celebrated our successes that night with a few drinks and dinner out on the town. we went to a tapas place that was delish.
and here are our friends jo and keith!!! aren't they lovely... we love them.
group pic!
our second day was supposed to be more time in the classroom and pool, but our instructor decided to give us our first open water dive instead. so, out we went. unbeknownst to us we were with a larger group of people who paid for a tour to whitsunday island and the great barrier reef.
the only thing was that, again, it was FREEZING!!
since we were with a tour our first stop was at whitsunday island, which was similar to whitehaven in that they have the silica sand that's super fine and soft. the only problem was we literally got DUMPED on with rain. and, i mean it POURED. did I mention that it wasn't warm?
this is whitsunday island before it started raining.
the actual scuba training took place after the island tour and a really nice lunch. we put on two wetsuits (since it wasn't warm) and got in the water. we did all of our exercises; including, flooding our masks, removing our regulators from our mouths and replacing it, rescue breathing where you use your buddy's spare regulator, equalizing and buoyancy control. we took two trips out from the boat so we got two dives in. poor jim had to put on a third wetsuit for the second dive because he was so cold.
overall, it was really good. it was hard to fully enjoy all the beautiful fish around us because we were so focused on what we were doing, but i kind of expected that for our first time out. we can't wait to do more and more dives so we get more comfortable.
then, it was time to head back to the harbor, which was a 2 hour boat ride away. by this time the water had gotten pretty rough.... oh yea... and it was still really cold. the picture below doesn't really do it justice, but it was crazy. oxygen tanks were rolling around and i believe there were a few people with sea sickness... thank the Lord we took an equivalent of dramamine before starting the day.
by the time we got back we were so beat and ready to get home!! we changed into warm clothes (sweat pants never felt so good) and headed home. but not before we got a flat tire!!! thankfully, jo and keith were behind us and helped us out because it was pitch black and in the middle of no where. not to mention, the rental that we have didn't have all the necessary tire components so we had to borrow some from jo and keith.
i know it sounds like a crazy weekend, but we had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it again in a few weeks for scuba training - part dos (minus the flat).
Love your story. It was a fun filled weekend and can't wait for the next one. Xx JoJo
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