Hiking - (2016) T minus 32 days - PCT

So for the last few months I have slowly been pulling together a plan to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. As the date is getting close and a lot of pieces are falling into place I find I'm getting asked more questions from friends, family and potential hikers as well.

I thought I would throw together a quick post to answer some of the major questions and a bit of a checklist I ran through in the lead up.

You're going to walk how far!? For HOW long!!!!?

The current plan is to walk the entirety of the Pacific Crest Trail, 4,280 km. Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Eighty Kilometers. That's 2,660 miles (measurement and temperature conversions are still something I'm trying to get use too...) All in all this should take me roughly 5 months.

The Trail starts just outside a town called Campo near the Mexican border in California and then heads north, all the way into Canada. Halfmile Maps are the gold standard for PCT maps, he has an overview map you can view over here. For a bit of a reference for family and work mates, I made this google map showing the length of the PCT if I was to road walk it in Australia. It's a bloody long way!

How would you even begin to plan for something like that?

Reading. Lots of reading. Mostly on the internet in forums, facebook pages, blogs and pages dedicated to help specifically with PCT planning. There are a few books for sale that are designed to help with planning, some even intended for those with little previous hiking experience. Controversial at times (lots of opinions rather than facts) but that's basically what you get on the internet too.

For me the main sites that really helped are;

• The Pacific Crest Trail Association. This should be your first stop. Lots of FAQs, all the links and information for permits. They're responsible for the trail and issue the main permit, while also providing links to other permits needed (Canadian Entry, Californian Fire permit.)


• Craig's PCT Planner. Great planning tool with a lot of the resupply points. You plug in your expected pace and hours per day you want to hike and it will suggest the best stops for you. You can see my plan here.


• Plan Your Hike - Resupply Points. Gives more info about resupply towns, addresses etc. Honestly there are a few (As the Crow Flies, PureBound etc) that offer the same/similar information. Reading other hikers personal ones helps too, then you have to make your own. Often on the fly.


• HalfMile Maps. Those who have hiked with me before know I love having a map to read. I use maps all the time at work and I like the security of having them in hand. HalfMile are easily the best you can get for the PCT... and he has them up for Free! Some people have the PDFs only on the phone, which is fine too. When others might read a book, I'd read a map.


• PCT Water Report. One of the concerns on the PCT is water... or lack there of. The Water report is good to judge how long some stretches are with no reliable water source.


• "PCT Class of 2016" facebook page. Lot of other people in the exact same position, sharing their concerns, questions and advice.

• Halfwayanywhere.com has amazing content to help out hikers. They do a big hiker Survey at the end of each year and post really interesting results. Check out their PCT Resupply Guide and also their PCT Gear Guide

But what will you eat?

Honestly... probably food that isn't all that healthy. It's the same food that I eat on day hikes and 2-3 day overnight hikes here. On a thru-hike it's suggested that the average male needs somewhere between 4500-6000 calories, per day. If it's low-fat, low-carb, low-whatever it's probably not for a hiker. On average I'll carry 4-5 days worth of food, enough to get me to the next resupply town. Longest carry might be as big as 9 days. There are also some sites (Sonora Pass Resupply) set up to service hikers, which I may use sometimes.

Food variety includes Freeze Dried Meals (Back Country here, Mountain House/Backpacker Pantry seems popular over there) Beef Jerky, Chocolate, Lollies, Corn Chips, Muesli/Protein Bars, Dried Fruit, Trail Mix, Deb (instant) Potato (Idahonian over there?), Pasta Meals (usually sold as 'sides' with dehydrated sauce in the packet. Think Mac n Cheese), Pop-Tarts, Rice Meals or anything that can be eaten straight from the packet or 'cooked' with boiling water. Cheese and some salami's are good and can last a few days as well, to change it up a bit. Tuna/Chicken pouches are a little heavier but I throw in a few occasionally (usually to eat the first night/lunch) to add a little extra. Ready made meals (Heinz Big n Chunky) sometimes make the cut, but are rare (because they're heavy.) Condiments like Salt, Sauce, Parmesan Cheese and Olive Oil are in there too. Those 'Baby Food' squeeze packets are good for storing things like sauce.

For the luxuries I also take Milo on my hikes, with powdered milk. Nice warm drink for those cold early mornings. Sweetened condensed Milk gives a nice calorie/sugar boost and makes it  taste better too, also good to suck straight from the tube. Ideally you want to look for food with really good calorie/weight ratio.

For me, it's a little harder to prepare food. Some people box up a whole heap and have it send from home. It's completely impracticable to do that from Australia so I'll be buying on the go. Sometimes buying in a 'Big' town and sending on a food package to a little town up ahead. I think the first few shops are going to take a bit of time as I try to familiarise myself with different brands.

 What about things you don't want to carry the whole way?

I'm going to tackle this 2 ways. Sending stuff to a friend and a 'Bounce Bucket'. As I plan to do some travel in the USA after the hike (and try fit in some Diving too!) I'll have gear that I want in America, but obviously not want to carry. As it's much cheaper than trying to send it from here, I'll carry this stuff on the plane as I head over then mail it on from LA. Some gear that I'll mail the day I land includes dive gear that I definitely wont need until I'm Finished.

The 'Bounce Bucket' is for things I want on trail... but not all the time. So razor (gotta look tidy!) maps for further down the trail, spare Milo (research has lead me to believe that it's hard to find in the US, and it might be different anyway!) spare first aid stuff, some replacement gear, medicine (Brycinal) a Roll of Duct Tape etc etc etc I'll send it ~2 weeks ahead, catch up to it, take out what I need and send the rest on again.


I also have planned for 2 care packages from home. Gives me the chance to include any major gear replacements (Shelter/Backpack/Pad) which I have at home if I want/need and also get some more Milo (5 months worth wont all fit in my Bucket :o)

What about your gear? You're going to carry it all?

Yes, well except that which goes into the bucket above. Gear choice is something that comes up a lot in the discussion threads. Which is better, which is lighter, is this good enough, where can I get it cheaper, do I really need it etc etc. Luckily because of all the Hiking I do in Aus I already had mostly everything sorted. The only thing I bought specifically for the PCT was a good Down Jacket. You can see my full gear list here. If you do want your gear critiqued by others in forums, it's best to put it together in a nice readable list. Sites like milestepper and lighterpack.com help, but a good excel list will serve the same function.

Aren't there Bears... and Rattle Snakes!?

Yes, there is wildlife. Rattle stakes look aggressive in movies, we'll see what they;'re like in real life. A few months ago at work I walked past an Eastern Brown Snake, then a few weeks later walked past 2 Red-Bellied Black snakes on a hike... So I think I'm good with Snakes. Bears though, we'll see how that goes. The last death by bear in the 3 states I'll be walking through was in 1974, 42 years ago. I think I'll be ok. You're more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a bear.

Weather, that could be dangerous. Looks like it's going to be a 'average' snow year, but some of the rivers after that all starts melting are going to be high. Taking care while crossing weighs on my mind more than Bears, Snakes and spiders. Cold Snow, Storms, Raging Rivers, Lack of any rivers at all (one stretch is 30+ miles without water!), desert heat. All things worth more planning for. Weather is the only thing I worry about, and it's something that you can't always predict or plan for. Well, that, and being shot by a gun toting American! (I kid I kid, please don't shoot me.)

I think flora (plants) are going to be interesting too. Poison Oak, Poodle Dog Brush and other stinging plants are probably going to be a sore learning experience. I know what to avoid in the Aussie bush, I'll have to learn fresh with new species over there. Some portions of the trail have flourishing berries too (like huckleberries) that people pick and eat. I'll stick to store bought food, until I see first hand other people not die from eating the wrong thing...

Very toxic plant.

What about your Phone Battery?

When hiking I keep mine mostly off. I will use it (hopefully to keep this Blog updated!) and a few other items that need power (GSP Watch, Head Torch, Camera) and I'll be keeping them charged with a Battery Pack. External Battery with USB in and out, use it on the trail and recharge it when I get to a town. Some people take Solar, but for Hiking I don't think it's quite there yet. I actually have a small hiking panel, but I've concluded that it's not great when you're on the move all the time. Perfect for hiking into a camp or for hikes with small days though.

Are you doing it as a team / group / tag-along?

Nope. Just me. There will be hundreds of other people trying to do the same thing, maybe even a few thousand. All starting within a ~6 week window. There will be plenty of people to meet and hike with along the way. For a hike like this, for 5 months, you're going to have times where you want to do something different.No question. Maybe I'll want an extra day camped next to a great creek... or maybe I think this part is boring and want to smash out 40 miles. Maybe I want to do a side trail, taking me off the PCT for a few days. It's not fair to make anyone wait for me. Hiking with people works only as long as you share the exact same goals. Either way there will be a time where you want to do your own thing, even if for a few short days. There will always be a chance to see friends further down the trail.

What training are you doing?

Ummm.... none... realy... I try to run 5-10k a few times a week, though lately weeks have been busy/I've been lazy and I haven't kept it up. I am a little bit active for work and have some fairly active other activities (I still go hiking/bushwalking, Water Skiing, Scuba Diving) but nothing like training with a weighted pack. I know how fast I can hike currently and plan to go slower on the first week or 2 to 'ease' into it. Some train, others do not. In the end I think practice overnight hikes with all your gear and mental readiness are more important than physical training. Just don't over do it at the start.

Why the PCT, why at all?

Why the PCT? I honestly can't answer. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Though hiking is something I have only recently (~4 years ago) got back into, it certainly took up a lot of my weekends as a teenager and quite a few recently. With the sale of the house, long service leave ticking over from work, no current other commitments hanging over my head it seemed like a good time to do something. While looking for that something I found the PCT and haven't looked back.

As for why at all, Why not?

My Quick/Rough PCT Checklist;

• Gear/Clothes/Shoes: I already had all these things, sans Down Jacket which I now have.


• Plan: Mostly finalised, thanks to those helpful sites (listed above.)


• Passport: Had to check it wasn't going to expire (it won't until late 2017)


• U.S. Visa: Involved a flight to Sydney and a 50 minute wait for a 50 second interview. I got it a little early and got the 5 year B2 Visa.


• Travel Insurance: One cover. Make sure your policy covers the higher altitudes that can be reached.


• Flights Brisbane, Aus > LA, U.S.: I knew approximately when I wanted to start and hung out for cheap flights. Ended up with Qantas.


• 2 care packages from Australia: Left in the care of my Sister. Currently open in case I think of more stuff I'll ask her to add.


• Let banks know not to Freeze my cards: I still have to do this one actually....


• Bag to protect Pack in check luggage: Purchased a 'Laundry Bag' because Hiking packs have lots of clips/straps that could get caught and broken in transit.


• Phone Plan: Have settled on Cricket Mobile, seems highly recommended by past international hikers and it's on the ATT network (one of the better coverages.) Best of all, compatible with my current Australian (/Asian market) Samsung S5.


• First day in USA shopping/mailing list: This is going to be hard, not knowing brands etc. At least I'll have a generic list together. Includes Gas (from REI) for my burner, Food (Supermarket) Lighters and hitting a Post office at some point to send on food.


• First nights accom: Hostel in LA. HI in Santa Monica seems decent (any suggestions?)


• Amtrak Ticket to San Diego: Seemed better than a bus and cheaper than a flight.


• Second night accom: Staying at a Trail Angels in San Diego. These guys are awesome. They'll put you up for a night, feed you and give you a lift to ste starting point. Look up Scout and Frodo if you plan to do a hike.


• Lift to Southern Terminus: See above.


• PCT Permit: From the PCTA website. They start releasing permits early Feb, get in fast as some days get booked out quick.


• Arrange Bear Cannister: For international hikers, keep your ear to the ground for the Bear Can Loan program. Saves having to buy/rent a ~$70 piece of equipment you'll never use again.


• Permit to enter Canada: Can be done via email, so you can legally walk into Canada.

Hopefully this can give you an insight to what's been going through my head.

Diving - 2016 03 - Curtin (Clean Up Australia Day)

Friday 4th March

Very early start on Friday morning. I was heading in with James to save money on parking at the MiCat terminal ($20 a night...) which meant I was leaving home by 5:50 am... Made it to the barge with plenty of time to spare and reshuffled gear into the two 4wds present (Liz' Prado and Ash's Landy) while awaiting Linton (with his Prado) Got a call and they were stuck coming south on the Bruce. Dead stop. They stayed positive but it was looking like they wern't going to make it. Graeme was also stuck in it, but he had already decided that there wasn't much chance of making it so pulled off for a coffee instead. Liz was in the ear of the Skipper to hold back a little but in the end we had to head off without Lynn and Linton. Luckily we had a credit for 1:30 that afternoon so they swapped into that slot. Just after the barge took off we got a call from the people bringing the boat over, our boat wasn't starting! After trying their all the decision was made to drop into Wynnum Marine who quickly identified the solenoid for the choke was playing games and it was an easy 2 second fix, no charge!

Despite the lag to start the trip over went well with Croissants for smoko. Cruised up the low tide on the beach but hit a little soft sand as we turned into the Cowan bypass road. The Prado bogged down a little but was able to back out of it and head back in. Unfortunately in this time someone went around them and got stuck just off the beach, blocking the path... Bunch of guys in hawaiian shirts, on a fishing trip by the looks of it, who had a pile of empties on their table on the barge over...  Luckily they had other friends nearby and got out pretty quickly. We were creeping up on the Cowan turn off and then creped straight past it. Ash quickly pulled off to the side but John kept going straight past. Eventually we all made it to the house to find some very reasonable accommodation. Much better than I'm usually accustomed to over on Moreton.

After lunch we started to gear up for out first dive. Remember the old saying bad luck comes in threes? Well with the Traffic stopping people and the boat not starting it was me for the third. I forgot my single tank adapter! Woops. First time ever on a trip I have forgotten a piece of gear. Luckily as Mike was skipper he let me borrow his BCD so I could dive. As there will always be a skipper there should be one spare most dives. We dropped in for a gently drift dive on the pines. Heaps of bright orange Nudies and plenty of fish. A turtle some crabs and shrimp also were hiding amongst the coffee rock. Just as we started our safety stop we found a cool Couch Whip ray and a decent school of Cobia who hung about for most of the 3 min stop.

Back to shore and Linton and Lynn had made it over to join us. We went over the dive brief for the afternoon dive. Mostly a reckie dive, scouting sites and measuring wrecks. On the dive we also took the opportunity to start a little of the clean up. Amongst the scouting we probably cleaned 1.5 buckets worth of line, rope, lures and sinkers before heading back. Seeing a nice Honeycomb Moray and lots of other fish. I moored up the boat on the provided buoy and had a nice 100m swim back to shore.

Compressor was having some trouble with the release valve, what happened to the rule of three!? It all seemed to work out in the end. With 4 guys there, I was happy to sit back with a beer and watch. Alan D took D3's boat to pick up those coming over on the Tangalooma flyer which saw them showing up at around 7pm, just in time for the group dinner. Pete and John thought the steak was a little too much alive but managed to correct that with significant heat. With the salad, steak and sausages we weren't going hungry.

Saturday 5th March

I couldn't seem to escape the stupidly early mornings. I volunteered (why, I still don't know) to skipper the 6am dive on the proviso that someone else fetched the boat... Luckily Gary Snr and Alan D stepped up and I got my sleep in to the slightly less unreasonable time of 5:45am. Only slightly. Rolled out of bed got into my boardies grabbed a muesli bar and a can of V and jumped on the boat. Reports came back of a brilliant dive on slack high. A few buckets from the clean up to take back with us as well as more measurements looking for a suitable site.

Once back those scheduled for the next dive (quick turn-around) decided that Bacon sounded like a much better idea. I agreed, I jumped on the BBQ with an Assist from Nic to feed all the hungry divers. After our stomachs were full our attention turned back towards diving. It didn't take long to round up 7 divers and 3 snorkelrs for a trip up to Flinders reef. We headed off but as we poked our nose around the top of the island the call was made to turn back. Always better to err on the side of caution. With a little bit of wind and swell and a time limit for the arvo slack tide dive we doubled back and dropped onto the Combi Drop Off for a drift dive. We missed the wall at first but after 10 or so min of flying over the sand we finally saw some coffee rock. At this point James had already decided he was done with his dive (there was bad air in his tank) and he and Nic went up to the surface. Paul, the Garys and I followed the wall a little bit before The Garys went off in search of greener pastures. Paul and I stayed the course and found the main portion of the wall we were aiming for all along. We were heading pretty fast leaving little time to stop and capture a pic but we went past a few things including an Octopus swimming effortlessly through the current just after Paul deployed his SMB

As I hopped onto the boat I couldn't see Nic and James, they should have been up ~20min ago... Just as we finished securing the tanks Garys popped up nearby and we grabbed them quickly. Just on the edge of vision we could see a SMB fully deployed so we made a B-line towards it to find James and Nic very ready to get into the boat.

Just after we landed back Alan D returned  from a run to pick up the Crew (Reporter + Camera man) from 7 News. As we're doing our Curtin clean up in conjunction with Clean Up Australia Day 7 news had got wind and Liz organised for them to come out and grab some footage.

[facebook url="https://www.facebook.com/7NewsQueensland/videos/1121570991189085/" /]

I had a quick rinse in the outside shower, grabbed a beer and sat down for my tenure on the compressor. There was another dive organised, drifting on the pines, but I went quite a bit into deco on the clean up so I decided beer and a seat was in order for the afternoon. A few people started sifting through the mess that we all pulled up. Separating salvable (Sinkers, Anchors etc) from rubbish (line, corroded hooks, rope) and other general waste. Including a pretty badly rusted spear. Spero would have been upset when they lost that! A few hours passed, the harmonic hum of the compressor filling the air, as we retired to the top deck for cheese and biscuits with the sun setting over Brisbane. Watching a cruise ship float north as the smell of Garlic bread cooking in the bbq started to make my mouth water. Looks like we'll be eating well, very well catered by Liz.

Sunday 6th March

A bit more reasonable this morning, but not by much. 6:30 on the boat for a 7am dive. I jumped on diver making 8 divers in total + Skipper. We had some difficulties starting the boat. Blaming it again on the Choke that was stuck on Friday. After some careful deliberation we discovered the dead man switch was unplugged... once that was rectified it kicked over first go. The came the fun bit, deciding where we were on Curtin. 9 people in the boat, 5 staying very quite. Pete going off old shore markers, Linton giving bearings and Me saying "You know we have this mark in the GPS... right? All with Mike saying I'm not picking a spot you throw the anchor when you want. Eventually we thought we were on something and dropped it over. Landing about the middle of the concrete pipes north of Kos 1. Not too far off the Melbourne (which is exactly where the GPS would have put us...Just saying)

We finally jumped in for a dive a bit more scouting for a suitable site, as well as collecting surface marks. 2 buckets were taken down and got some rubbish in them, unfortunately only 1 made it back. The other was put down to collect some line and drifted off. No worries, we'll grab that in next years clean up ;) All in all we came back with 4 anchors and almost 50m in chain so it was a net positive in either case.

Back to shore for quick breakfast and another boat load out for a drift on the pines. I skippered and, remarkably, was able to follow the GPS and depth sounded and find the right spot to drop in. The current was pretty strong on some of the dive, As I followed bubbles above I lost them in the wind. Couldn't pick them up again so just drifted along keeping an eye on the sounder for the right depth. I made it all the way to the Bulwer wrecks and thought it was a bit too far. When I couldn't see any SMBs at the 50min mark I decided that I should probably get moving. Started driving back north and just picked up Jo raising her SMB, which was slightly thicker ( and a brighter orange) and headed to pick them up. In the end they drifted near on 1.8k, I went about 2.5...

Back on shore again for lunch. Some of us that were leaving in the arvo and slowly started to pack and sort out gear. Others went out to fit in a sneaky last dive which sounded like it was a pleasant slow drift on the Curtin. Little bit more rubbish returned, but it's a bit harder with the current. After that we loaded our gear into Dive Dive Dive's boat (which they had graciously rented out to us for the weekend, really came in handy!) and headed home to Manley. Wind had picked up and it was a bit choppy so we got a bit wet on the drive back. We also had a slight problem with one of the engines, fuel filter or pump possibly. All was well though and we were back in the marina by 4pm.

Huge thanks to Liz for organising and to everyone that helped with Gear, Filling tanks and Driving boats. It's truly a group effort to pull off one of these weekends and in my opinion we did all right. Here's too the next one!

Diving - 2016 02 - North Stradbroke Island

Friday
It all started as these things mostly do. Trying to squeeze into Kens troopy with other divers when Ken was transporting equipment over for the house. Today we had to compete for space with 4x G tanks, so he could fix his compressor bank, and a new (to Straddie at lease) BBQ. With our dive gear on the roof, there wasn't even legroom. Legs on top of the tanks and arms resting on the BBQ. Paul and John managed to squeeze into the front with Ken, but we were all glad it's only a short drive.

I was surprised how quiet the barge was, only being about a third full. We grabbed a seat inside and watched as the staff tried to pull apart the register to fix it. After a respectable go they eventually gave up. Started taking orders on a paper bag. We got to Kens and claimed our rooms and enjoyed a beer before bed. Hot night tonight, but the fans are running providing a needed breeze.

Saturday
We lost power about 4 in the morning, so much for the breeze from fans. Most people up and stirring around 6. We slowly pieced together gear, cooking breakfast and making coffee on the gas BBQ. Eventually we made our way towards the beach. A trailer wheel was making a bad clunk on the way down. Looks like Ken lost a wheel bearing. Still we made it and launched without issue. It was looking like a great day to dive but when we had just cleared the breaker's the engine stopped... not good. Fuel wasn't getting past the filter. We dropped anchor so we didn't slip further back into the waves and Ken got to work. Still dragging in the sand we hooked up an aux tank straight to the engine. Who needs filters anyway?

We eventually made it to Shag rock and I had probably the best dive I have ever had there. 15+ m visit,  27°c. We started off by dropping straight onto a peacock mantis shrimp who was out and about. Then right nearby was 3 slipper crabs 1 muddy 2 ornate ghost pipe fish 2 octopus and plenty of fish. On our way around the rock we saw 2 turtles another octopus and lots of fish swimming about. At the exit of the swim through was a pretty big school of fish to push past then back to the boat which wasn't far away.

While we were down Ken bypassed the filter on the main tank and we motored over to Manta bommie. Not long after we dropped in there were 3 Mantas cruising through the water around us. A 4th not too far away. We hung with them for a bit and they were pretty friendly, letting us get close and playing with our bubbles. We also saw some nudies etc before heading back towards the boat. In a short stop at shark alley we saw 4 shovel nosed rays some cow tail rays and 2 spotted eagle rays that were playing and twisting in the stronger current. Eventually it was time to return to the boat and head back to shore.

As we couldn't put the weight of the boat on the broken wheel we left the boat on the beach. Gear was piled up in the troopy and we all walked back. After gear was washed Ken and a few helpers got to the task of replacing the wheel bearing. With Ken +3 helpers already standing around the wheel a few of us headed off to lunch at the pub instead. Was really busy, at least a 45min wait. So off to the fish n chip shop instead. Remember the lack of house power this morning? Well everything up here was closed because of it. Power was back on now but they lost most of the morning. The one above the IGA was closed too so we headed off to finally find some lunch at the bowls club.

By the time we had done the run around and finished lunch the wheel had been fixed and they had already retrieved the boat. It was a hot afternoon at Kens place so I lounged about all rather unenergetic like. BBQ dinner was nice as always, thanks to Anton for cooking, and after a few drinks we all made our way to bed.

Sunday
Far less problems today. Power for breakfast made things easier! After a relatively easy launch . We made our way to Manta Bommie but with the higher swell and wind today it was a bit too much like a washing machine. Back to Shag Rock for another dive. Jeremy and I did the loop around the northern Rock again. Including the swim through. Not quite as much life as yesterday but the Ornate Ghost Pipefish were in the same place and the octopus were about in numbers again.

The Dakota is a small plane wreck not far from Shag and there was some interest to drop onto it so off we went. One misplacement of the anchor at first but we got close on the second toss. It was about 7m away from where the anchor eventually rested. Easy to see with the good viz.  Very small wreckage but some good life. Huge sweetlip, Wabby sharks, carpet sharks and a few other fish. A really big jellyfish joined us just as we left the plane. Biggest I have seen of its type. As it was a tiny wreck most people only had a 15 min dive and saw it all... twice.

Back over to Shag to use the remainder of our air. SW corner this time. It was pretty shallow so we cruised off slowly. More octopus and other critters and a shovel nose ray cruising inches above the sand.

We only stayed down for about 35min and felt it was time to end it. We snuck back to the boat and we're soon followed by almost everyone else. Marie had found a hermit crab playing chicken with an octopus and stayed for the show before eventually joining us on the surface.  Pretty smooth run back considering an uptick in the wind. There was one spot where we did get a bit shallow, but with some good driving (and a few encouraging adult words directed at the boat) from Ken we were soon on shore.

The usual clean and pack ensued as various people left for the bus/ferry or off to catch the barge. We had booked on the 6pm so a bit of a wait. Luckily with electricity on again the gelato shop was open for business. We had a good view of the now (ever larger wind and swell) pummeling Manta Bommie. Lucky there was no arvo dive today!

Kristie and Jeremy took Kristina for an afternoon swim at the beach when John and I lazed about in the heat. The others packed up slowly and set off in search of an earlier barge. I got a tinge of pink on my back, stupid sun, so I found a nice spot to lie face down. Uneventful drive back to the ferry only to find out that they had stuffed Kristie and Jeremy's booking! They were on the 6pm barge... but not until Tuesday! Luckily they were 2nd in line for stand-by and about 5 vehicles made it on. A little bumpy on the ride home but entertainment from Kristina made the time pass quickly.

Hiking - 2016 01 - Gibraltar Range NP

Saturday 23rd

Australia Day public holiday fell on the Tuesday this year so Thomas, Matt and I decided to take an extra Monday to create a long weekend and get in some hiking. With work still to be completed on Sat we made a fairly relaxed move south starting just after 3 in the afternoon… We pulled into Grafton with the expectation of a nice Pub counter meal for dinner but found they were in short supply! First pub only had a Chinese buffet and the second had already sent the chef home! The publican recommended the Services Club just down the road, so we went off in search for that. It was pretty easy to find, it was where seemingly everyone else in Grafton was parked. Carpark: Full. Vacant Lots (2 of them!) across the road: Full. Street: Full. With the expectation of a long wait for dinner we doubled back to a Pizza place seen on the drive through. Pizzas came out brimming with toppings and a good base, worth the run around we had for dinner.

We finally rolled into the Mulligans Hut campgrounds by about 8:30 pm and found a spot to make camp. After our tents were setup we made use of the provided firewood and built a decent fire. It wasn’t a big night for me after the long drive down and thoughts of a longer day of hiking I soon slid into my sleeping bag and drifted off. I didn’t have the best night sleep, developed a bit of a sore throat on Friday and was starting to feel it.

Sunday 24th

We had a short shower in addition to lots of condensation last night and with not much in the way of sun for the morning had a fairly wet pack up. Eventually we were all ready so I shifted my car around to the day use parking and we began the journey. It wasn’t long before we were alongside a beautiful creek with near crystal clear flowing water. We followed the banks on and off for a while getting glimpses of swimming holes. The thoughts of chafing kept me from partaking, ouch! We were only about an hour into the hike before we passed the first group heading the other way. They were heading to the Hut (where we started) and we spent the rest of the weekend trying to work out if they had camped on trail (not at a camp site) or left camp really, really, really early that morning. I almost stepped on a bright red little spider, very small little dude never seen one that bright before.

We climbed up a Rock Crag, a few hundred meters off the path, to find a good spot for smoko/lunch. After a little scramble we were at the top with a nice big overhanging rock for shade and good flat granite sections for seats. Perfect spot really. Just after we were reunited with the main trail we heard the distant voices of another group of hikers. We moved on before they could catch up and later determined that they must have been day hikers enjoying some of the smaller walks to do here.

A few precarious creek crossings on the next stretch, some had bridges, some had planks of wood and others were simply swampy/mud. There is lots of water about and plenty of low lying area to catch it. As we crested a pretty decent rise we heard a noise come from Thomas’ backpack, apparently we had found reception for the first time since 8pm last night. It was decided that this would be a pretty good spot for arvo tea… I had already turned my phone off for the hike, but as we were seated took it out for a look. Heh, no Optus service anyway. Oh well, no loss. Off it went again and to the bottom of my pack until we were finished. Truth be told I was thankful for the break, I hadn’t been feeling will with a bit of a stomach ache and coughing from the sore throat.

It was only about another 2km before we strolled into an empty campground. I was ready to collapse on one of the tables but Matt suggested that if we didn’t go to the falls now (~400m) we likely wouldn’t later… Knowing he was probably correct I dropped my pack and headed off down the path. We passed the day area on the way and saw another hiker group on the way to the falls. Down a flight of steps to the bottom and a very impressive creek, 30m along to a great swimming hole at the bottom of the impressive falls.

Water was a bit fresh (bloody cold!) but all 3 of us dropped in for a swim and it felt great. One of the hikers from the group in the day use had made his way down. He was taking some pretty good shots with his DSLR so we asked him to take a few for us. Was great standing under the falls, water was a little heavy raining down on the head but felt like a massage. The walk back to camp was a little slower, bare feet and trying to avoid chafing. I didn’t. Guess I’ll sleep it off.

We got to work on camp and getting a fire going. The wood was a little damp and it took a little before it was going but we had a good fire not long later. Late afternoon another hiker troupe turned up. Group of 6 young guys, around 10-16, with one leader. A caravan pulled in not too much later. Big camp site here so we were all pretty well spread out. The first group of hikers had forgotten their camping stove… and fire source, so one of their group came over and asked for a piece of burning timber. Of course we were happy to help out. He had taken some pics of us before with his DSLR so he took Matts email to pass them on to us when they got back to civilisation.

Not sure if it was the ~20km we did today or the fact that I felt sick but I was lethargic and only lasted until about 7:20pm before I turned in for the night.

Monday 25th

Had a brilliant sleep, barely stirring at all. I woke up with first light and was out of the tent by 5:30 feeling much better than yesterday. Had the morning to myself, for all of 20min, before other people began to stir… Except the couple in the Caravan. There was another short walk from here (3k return) and Thomas and I thought, you know what we need on this hike? More hiking! So off we set (sans packs) to see Lyrebird falls. These falls were significantly taller than Boundary falls and had a decent flow. No (easy) way to get to the bottom and the view was pretty far away and partially obscured by mist, but still worth the short jaunt out.

Arriving back at camp to see the young troupe almost fully packed and ready to move out. The other hiker group looked like they had ventured back to Boundary falls for some early morning photos, or possibly another swim and the Caravan still looked silent. We had a fairly quick pack up and were back on the path ourselves shortly after.

Yet another opportunity for more hiking! An offshoot to Duffer falls which were a mere 700m away. Just shy of 1100m on the GPS later and we found the falls. Track must have gone around a few more trees since the distance marker was put in… The falls were pretty impressive and again if it wasn’t so early in the day it would have been a great spot for a swim. Upstream offered a nice protected swimming hole and for the more brave amongst you downstream (little bit of easy climbing) would get you to a great hole near the cliff. Looked like it would offered an infinity pool type view, but with trees instead of tourists.

After getting back to the main track we wandered up and down some hills until we reached Grassy Creek Camping. For people taking 4 days to do the round trip this is a likely second night stop for us it made a good lunch spot. It offered 1 table, 1 fire pit some fairly level ground and 20m away a pretty nice flowing creek. Smaller than the ones offered at other grounds, but more than enough to get your feet wet. Just before we reached it the sky had opened up a little and we were starting to get a bit wet. We had stopped to put pack covers on and make sure the poncho/rain jackets were handy.

We were a little damp now but it wasn’t too bad. It was enough to make you wet but not soaked, with the warm weather hiking in a rain jacket can be more uncomfortable than being wet so I left the rain jacket in its pouch. Further along the path we came across a carpet snake sunning on a log, slithered off to the side when I went in for a closer pic. It had stopped drizzling and I thought I could see blue skies.

I thought wrong. Cloud cover came over again and it begun what you could actually now call rain. We were wet. We reached the bottom of a very long hill and sat near a creek for a bit to rest our feet. Not long now until camp. With the exception of a couple of side paths the next 1.5k was the first time we weren’t on a management trail. Feels a lot more like a bush hike on a thin winding path with rocks, roots and other obstacles to avoid… like leeches. We were definitely in the rainforest now and with the rain the leeches were active. I was pretty lucky and managed to get them all off before they dug in. I was surprised with the amount that dropped on my hands though. Usually they’re ankle biters.

We arrived at the camp grounds and it was still coming down pretty heavy so we took shelter under the registration hut. We were held up for about 30min before it started to ease up and probably about another 15min before it stopped. We took the opportunity to make camp and get out tents up just in case it started again. Luckily everyone had their rain protection in place. Thomas’ Osprey Pack cover worked perfectly, Matt had a full Poncho that covered him and his pack and while my pack had nothing, and got wet, I had garbage liners protecting everything inside though, so all my gear was safe and dry.

The rain held off for the rest of the arvo/night and Matt once again got to work on the fire. This one took a little encouragement (read: shellite and butane) but after a lot of perseverance from Matt it was roaring. Well… self-sustaining at least. Yet another early night for me, we covered 23km today so I think that’s justified.

Tuesday 26th

Only 10k back to the car… seemed a little short so Thomas and I decided to tack on an extra 8.5km loop. It was once again rainforest path and the leeches were out in force! Not a minute went by without having to pull one off my shoes or flick it off my shin. They were everywhere. You could see them dancing on the leaves, waiting for you to brush up against them. We ascended for what seemed like ages and finally came across a waterfall. Further up we went until we peaked and started on a descent, past some big red cedar trees and eventually back to camp. In the 8.5km round trip  to camp Thomas had counted over 80 leeches… and he wasn’t counting for the first kilometre or so… Not a walk I would suggest after they’ve had a bit of rain… Good waterfall though…

Matt had already packed up and headed off to the car. Thomas and I left out tents up to hopefully dry out a little more. Which mostly worked. We had a bite to eat and started heading to Mulligans hut. The road out from Coombadjha campgrounds was 3.3km of uphill. Some bitumen, mostly gravel road base. Unlike the other tracks/management trails this was an open road. The occasional car coming down the hill and much harder ground that leaf covered management trails. Not an enjoyable section. Half way up we came across a Red Belly Black snake sunning itself on the road, seemed fairly docile and stayed around for a picture. Unlike the Carpet snake yesterday, I didn’t go in for a closer picture this time…

Just as we reached the top of the hill (or so we thought) it started raining again. The info sign at the park entrance had a roof so we took shelter and had something to eat. The rain was short lived, thankfully, and we moved on. Crossing the highway and back into a more rainforest section on a management track. Heading uphill again but didn’t feel as bad as it wasn’t a road and not quite as steep.

Thomas spotted another Red Belly just of the side of the track just as we finally started to descend. By the time we reached the bottom of the hill my feet were asking for a rest and we took up a seat on the Twin Bridges. Short lived rest, less than 2k to go and we were ready to finish. As we crossed the final bridge at approx 1330, at Mulligans Campground, we saw Matt resting his feet in the stream. There was a short discussion about a swim but thoughts of home won out and we hopped in the Ute to head home. We searched the radio stations and eventually were able to get onto TripleJ so that we could listen to the remaining Hottest 100 on the drive home.

All in all a good weekend. Beautiful creeks and streams and amazing waterfalls. Probably could have done without the rain and the leeches though! I’d recommend the campgrounds if you’re in the area. All beautiful spots and many have short day trips from them, the total walk itself mainly followed management/fire trails so you could probably skip bits if that’s not your thing.

Diving - 2016 01 - Philippines

Quick Stats:-
Location: Philippines - Alona Beach and Cabilao Island
15 day dives and 1 night dives
Water Temp: 28-29°c
Deepest dive: 36.2m
Album (Alona Beach):  http://imgur.com/a/LiBpm
Album (Cabilao Island):  http://imgur.com/a/DDpuW

5th - Jet Set!

Started with a fairly early morning. My parents are coming along this trip to babysit my Niece while my Sister and BIL dive, as a result of my old man travelling it's a requirement to be early... just in case. We parked with Andrews, which seemed pretty well organised and shuttled to the airport to meet the rest of the crew. Fairly smooth transfer through the airport. Arriving about 40min before checkin was even open. After getting through all the various queues Alan R and I went to the bar when some others head off for some food before the flight. We left pretty much on time but hit some turbulence which delayed for an hour or 2. I was literally the last served on the plan and they had run out of Beef so it was just the fish. The guy diagonally in front was getting pretty grumpy with his lack of beef. Dude, it’s a flight, not like they can kill another cow for you... I ended up with some Noodle/Meat thing (not a fan of fish, Stewardess did me a solid.) So pretty happy. She also saved me the very last Asahi on the flight, it pays to be nice folks!



Kristina decided to expel the contents of her stomach onto Kristie as we landed in Darwin for a stopover. All her clothes were in her checked luggage so she borrowed a shirt from Jez to get out of stinky/sticky clothes. Was a quick turnaround, time enough for a pie and to stretch our legs before we were herded back onto the plane. Alan R did manage to find a PowerPoint to get a little more charge into his laptop. My travel battery left me with approx 10 hours of movie playing time on mine. Beautiful sunset just as we approached land. Smooth transition through customs and we were at Hotel Jen. Pretty well set up place. Nice rooms and decent par. Found the local beer, San Miguel. Goes down all right. Both the light (as in low carbs) and the premium all malt. Also had a sample of the Pilsner (though I'm not a fan of any, so not in a position to judge) and there was a darker draft too, which I'll probably avoid. Retired to the room by 10pm (local time, midnight QLD time) to watch some Filipino dubbed movies before turning in.

6th - Are we there yet?

Early start today 5:20am (all times from now are local) for a 5:30 breakfast and a 6am departure to the domestic terminal. However all of us were down by 5:40 so they herded us onto the bus early. Lucky I was there a little early as in the pre-packaged breakfast was an instant coffee/creamer/sugar mix. I was able to get hot water (for Jez/Alan/I) before we left... not sure how they expected us to make it on the bus trip to the airport.... Arrived and got through the 2 different security checkpoints rather easy then settled in the for ~3+ hour wait until out flight. The Domestic here actually had some fairly decent facilities. The girls all got a massage and free Wi-Fi kept most of us entertained (taking turns with Kristina) until the flight. Quick (55min flight time) trip until we were in Bohol! Short drive later, through typical island traffic, saw us to our resort. Looks pretty well setup.

We were all fairly keen for an afternoon check-out dive but due to a miscommunication with the Travel agent (Dive Adventures) the price for the additional dive was $40 (+Marine sanctuary fees) instead of a tank hire of $5... So we decided to snorkel. I actually had a pretty good one seeing a few pipe fish, new starfish, and baby catfish. To top it off a Cockatoo Waspfish, which was pretty cool.



After the dive we met up for a few drinks and headed off for dinner just down the beach. $5 for a pretty filling meal and $1.20 beers... a guy could get use to this. It had been a long day so I wasn't long for bed, thoughts of tomorrows diving made it difficult to fall asleep.

7th - Underwater we go!

Slept fairly well last night all things considered, AirCon in the room is a bit loud and we could head the band that was playing not too far away but I drifted off ok. Good breakfast, included which is nice, though it took a while to come out. Ordered by ~7:10 and it was probably 30min before we got out food. Met the boat at 8:30. All our gear went on to a little tender which looked very cramped. Thankfully that was just to transfer it to the larger boat before heading to our dive site. Very easy dive, extremely mild current. Good wall starting at about 6m heading down until about 22-23. Temp was around 28-29c and I was a touch warm in my 5mm. Marie, in a 3mm, felt a little cold. Lots of Nudibranch to see and a few other interesting things. The best was probably this little zebra shrimp in a Black and white feather star. Guide pointed it out, looked really cool.



For the second dive I decided to just go with my thermocore top (basically a thick rash shirt) and board-shorts. Marie borrowed another top from Alan D and my hood to keep warmer. Dropped almost on top of a huge black frog fish. Really hard to take a picture of as they're big/hard to focus/have no contrast but I tried my hand and got a pic that you could at least recognise what it is. Heaps more Nudi's and a pretty cool little Orangutan Crab. He was hiding behind an anemone so I couldn't get any shot off. Couple of Razor fish about too and another Zebra Shrimp before we popped back up.

Up the road back towards the main street for lunch. Heaps of different options for lunch but we settled on one that looked good and prices looked right (~$5 a meal.) As it was their Anniversary (38 years!) Chris decided to buy 'Lobster' (Cray Fish) for lunch. Reports are that it tasted good but was a little heavy on the Garlic Butter, it wasn't as cheap as the other meals, only slightly cheaper than what you would pay in Aus. Went back to hang out back at Alona Vida until it was time for the night dive!

I flooded my main torch (big and bright) fairly recently on a Cairns trip and haven't got around to replacing it... that’s cool. I have a backup torch. Tested to make sure all was good before we headed out and it was fine. 5min into the dive though it got really dim. By 10min it was pretty much non-existent... guess I should have used fresh batteries... That's ok though. I enjoyed the next 25-30min cruising round in the dark, relying on the ambiance of others diver’s torches. Pressure gauge was glow in the dark and computer had a light so I could still see the important things. Kirrily offered me her backup torch but I declined as I was still enjoying the dark. Ended up still seeing quite a bit, but I'm still getting use to the new camera at night. Got a decent shot of a Porcelain Crab. At about the 40min mark the guide insisted I take his spare torch, despite me still having about 40 bar more air than him at this point... We also saw a Spanish Dancer putting on a show. No chance to photograph that moving at night yet.



After we got back it was a quick shower then off to a place 50m down the beach for dinner. Amazing Spare Ribs, not something I expected over here. Fell off the bone, great marinate and everything. Kirrily got a Flower Salad + Chicken thing... which was pretty nice really. The flower Salad had some normal salad but was basically a bowl of edible flowers. All our salads came with edible flowers actually, some enjoyed them more than others. After dinner Coralie and Marie went off in search of shops while others returned to their rooms. Some for sleep and others to begin sorting through the many photos already taken.

8th - The 'Long' Boat ride across the sea

Same start as yesterday but with a different diving destination. Booked in for a triple dive over on Balicasag Island. Organised a packed lunch yesterday and after the normal "make sure you have everything" speech we were on our way. We had to take a packed lunch today because it was such a long journey out... all of 25min. What would they think about our standard runs to the top of Moreton? To be totally honest I wasn't all that impressed with the diving Balicasag had to offer. It had the same vis as the more local sites, a lack lustre ~8m, and not really anything new. Did see a Persian Carpet Flat worm though, love their colours. The first dive went by without anything really of note. During the surface interval Chris went for a bit of a snorkel, doing surface watch we lost her a few times as she ducked behind another boat.



 

The second wasn't really different. Saw a turtle and got a decent shot of it this time though, so that was nice. Chris went for another snorkel, this time into the beach for a bit of a walk along the shore. At one point she came very close to getting her head clocked by the outrigger of a boat, not sure if it was just the angle we were on but it looked like it only missed by millimetres. Thankfully the third dive offered up something new. Some cool big green Nudibranch (which were surprisingly hard to take a picture of!) We also saw a nudi with bright orange highlights, Octopus, Tiny little crab and to top it off just as we were about to start out safety stop a Warty Frogfish. This was at about the 58min mark and Alan R had got to a point where he didn't want to head back down (was ~8m deep for the frogfish) so Marie and I hung out for a while longer getting shots. I even ended up with a shot of its open mouth, which I think was pretty lucky.





 

Back to Alona Vida to clean the gear and have a beer. Alan R and I headed up the beach to the local 'backpackers' joint for a few drinks. 2 Beers a Rum+Coke and a Mojito for about $7... not bad. They did have some interesting servers though. One guy in DTs and a sports blazer, another in nothing but Board shorts with a bowtie and the third seemed normally dressed. This was until some female tourists walked by and he lifted his short and dropped his shorts to reveal a silver G-String. Not something I need mid-gulp of beer... After we finished our drinks we met with the others and headed off to dinner. Plans to head to the 'Aussie BBQ' were shot down when we found out it closed over a year ago. Despite the signs still point to it... Woodys in its place though provided great meals and some very tasty cocktails. Some headed for ice cream after while a few people sorted lunch out for their Whale Shark tour tomorrow and others still retired to their rooms. Alan R and I went to a local bar that had a band playing. They were actually pretty good... up until they invited a guest singer up on stage. That poor, poor cat. We also had the pleasant aroma of diesel wafting through the area every now and then. Even staying up the 'latest' we were in bed and watching Transporter by 9:45pm.

9th - Sea life putting on a show!

Split groups today. 5 went off to snorkel with Whale Sharks while Al, Al and I continued on diving. VERY glad we did. On the first dive there was Seahorses, Ornate Ghost pipe fish, Razor Leaf fish, Sea Moth/Pegasus Fish and heaps of other little things... Best of all though. FLAMBOYANT CUTTLEFISH!! These little dudes were awesome. Made better in that I found a tag team (2 together) by myself. They put on a very impressive show of colours for us flashing bright and changing quickly. I took some pics and a vid but I don't think they do it justice. We also found another one by itself later on the dive.



Second dive was also pretty good. In fact today shits all over the other days in terms of life seen. Alan D found another Flamboyant Cuttlefish, these things are Rare and we saw 4 today, very lucky. Some cool Nudies and a great Peacock Mantis Shrimp! The others have seen a few already this trip but this was the first we saw. To top off the end of the dive we also saw another variety of Frog fish, a Hairy one.



 

After the dives we met back with Kristie, Kristina and Rod to head out for lunch. As we were finishing the others came back from their Whale Shark tour and said that it was worth it. First time seeing whale sharks for a few of them so it would have been really cool. They then headed out for their dives, insisting they go to the same place we went this morning. Rod and Chris were on Kristina duty and the Als and I went up the beach for a beer. We soon found that for Al R's Rum and Coke they had run out of coke. A little while later someone else asked for a cocktail with cranberry juice. As the waitress went to open the bottle it burst forth, spewing 3/4 of the 1.5lt container all over the floor. Surprise surprise, they were now out of cranberry juice.

It wasn't long before the others had returned from their dive. The guide, now knowing where to look, found the cuttlefish along with the rest of the good finds. Was nice they got to see it too. They also had a pretty good time with the Whale Sharks from all accounts. Nice pizza for dinner at the place right next door before yet another early night.

10th - Shore leave

Shore day today. A few people (I think Kristie and Marie?) have organised a day full of activities to do on the island. It definitely wasn't a rushed start, due to meet the bus at 9am. I've seemingly been waking up at about 6 most mornings so far... First stop was a Pharmacy 'Mercury Drug' as a few people had come down with a few ailments. About an hour later and we were at the first stop, the Tarsier Sanctuary. These little dudes are amazing. Smaller than I expected and hella cute. You had to be quiet but in the group in front of us there was a 'typical' American tourist, who didn't seem to understand what 'quiet please' meant. Got some good shots and then we were off to the Lomboc River for a lunch cruise.



Beautiful water and some really picturesque river banks. Lunch was a buffet style and didn't totally impress, not for the cost. The river cruise almost made up for it though. After the cruise it was off to the Chocolate Hills lookout. There were a few warnings about the 216 steps to the top of the lookout... like it was a huge undertaking. When we got there it wasn't even steep steps... Never the less we passed a group on their way up as they were taking a break. They rewarded themselves when they made it to the top by infighting a cigarette... One thing I very much dislike about travelling some places. You get use to the awesomeness that is QLD, Australia. Banned smoking in clubs, pubs and anywhere food is served. Even in front of public buildings. It's awesome. Putting up with smokers is not. The hills themselves were partially obscured by rain clouds, but still pretty impressive.



 

After our panoramic shots it was back down from the lookout and onto the adventure park! They had a high ropes course here and the Sky-Bike which were both very cool to do. I may have tried to run across the second ropes segment... on wet, slippery, wobbly, wood. It might not have been the best idea. I did come off (the only person for the day) but harness caught me. Slight nic on my right pinky finger and I did develop a bruise just above my left knee where it caught a wood plank on the way down. Breezed through the rest at a more responsible pace... Fun, all be it short, zip line down to exit. We then climbed some more stairs to have a go on the Sky-Bike. Pretty short stint but it was really fun and offered a great view!



At the end of the near 2hr bus ride home, sun setting on the way, we got dropped directly at the Beer Garden restaurant for dinner. Great meals but it looked like the servers were run off their feet. Power also went out for about 5min at one point, looked like it was the whole area that went down. After dinner we headed back and I did a little bit of housekeeping, both with photos already taken and the room as we had a transfer day to look forward too.

11th - On the road again.

One last breakfast at Alona Vida before heading off to Cabilao Island. We checked out and then went to pay our sanctuary fees before heading to the boat for our 2 hour ride North Nor-West. The Pura Vida Resort looked amazing from the beach. Nice green grass, deck chairs, good gear wash bay. We got into our rooms, ocean front villas, which were pretty nicely setup. Only complaint is that the lights are pretty dim and a lack of bench space. Had to use a torch to see in our bags!

[caption id="attachment_279" align="alignnone" width="3080"] My Niece enjoying the boat ride[/caption]

 

We booked in for the afternoon dive and were soon on our way out with another 6 pax. Seems they only use the 1 boat here, so 14 divers all together... The other 6 dropped in first and we gave them 10min head start.. but then all 8 of us were asked to drop in together. This caused a bit of a traffic jam at the start, especially if anything interesting was found for photographs. Kristie and I bought a Tarsier Hat for some underwater posing that I got to take on the first dive. Exhale bubbles were getting caught in it, lifting it up and causing it to be a bit annoying, even under the mask strap. Kristie used up the last of her Camera battery (she had forgotten to charge after yesterday’s long day) to get a shot or 2 in.



Pretty cool wall dive. Heaps of pipe fish about, including a couple pair of banded ones. Some new Nudi's and interesting frog fish again. Marie found what looks to be a 'Hairy Octopus' but was unable to get the attention of anyone else. Would have loved to see it... maybe next time! The guide seemed very interested in showing us Bubble Shrimp, something not too hard to find normally, but I think after the 2nd "Yeah, whatever" look from our group he stopped pointing them out. Sign of a good guide. I had chosen to don the suit for this dive, just in case it was cold. The other guests had said it was 26c! Brrrr. My computer was reading 28.5. I did take an extra weight but with the ally tank I was a little floaty towards the end. Picking up a rock to make the safety stop easier.



The afternoon seemed to just fly by after the dive. I headed up to the main lobby/restaurant/common area as it was the only place to find Wi-Fi and was eventually joined by others until it was time for dinner. Food is pretty good here, though expectedly more that we were paying on the mainland. I was among the first to leave tonight, heading to the room around 8:45pm. While going to rinse out my mouth after brushing my teeth the bathroom taps stopped flowing... The Island runs on De-sal and Tank water and apparently they haven't had rain in a while. No phones either so up a flight of stairs to reception who informed maint crew.

12th - Who brought the magnifying glass?

Water was working again in the morning... for 1 flush of the toilet before it ran out again... Breakfast buffet here was great. Much faster than the 30min wait at Alona beach too meant plenty of time to dally about in the morning. We made our way around the northern side of the island for the first dive on a wall site. Dropped down to about 28m directly onto a fan where the guide knew a Pygmy Seahorse was. Pretty awesome, but tiny, little creatures. Very hard to get a good, in-focus, picture of. There was a bit of an issue with divers though. 15 divers (would have been 16 if Alan D wasn't out sick) all dropping into the water at approx the same time. There was a queue to take pictures... it wasn't fun. After the dive we had a chat to the guide and he agreed to drag out the drop times a little.



Geared up for the second dive, I was in group #2 of 5 to drop in. We let #1 get well underway and swimming along as we geared up dragging our feet... By the time Alan R (the last in our group) dropped in 3 divers from group #3 had already dropped in! Madness! Still they waited on the surface for us to go down and begin our dive, which meant that at some of the more interesting creatures (including another Pygmy Seahorse) they were just sitting their waiting for us to move on... Saw a bit more on the second dive and because we waited it didn't feel as crowded under water. I still think 15 divers on the 1 spot at the same time is still way too many.



We all decided to skip the arvo dive and enjoyed a longer lunch. Some went for a short walk into the village and others lounged about on the deck chairs. After sorting out photos and spending a little time on the internet I tried to catch an arvo nap. Unfortunately couldn't quite fall asleep and felt really groggy when it was time for the night dive. Downed a coke and geared up, still feeling like I needed about 12 hours of sleep. When I got into the water though, all was right again. Felt well rested. Glad I went on the dive too, saw 2 great small octopus, a white and an orange, as well as heaps of prawns, crabs, morays, nudis and other usual night dive creatures. Thanks to Alan D for lending me his torch (mine was still having difficulties, worked after a few knocks but liked to turn itself off.) After the dive Alan R took a little time digging out an Urchin Spine from his Knee, Ouch! Fairly quick dinner before everyone dispersed to bed for the night.



13th - Sharks? What Sharks?

Kristina was seemingly unwell (suspected teething) so Kristie opted out for the morning double dive as we headed to 'Lighthouse.' By all accounts on the internet this is where one would go to see Hammerhead Sharks. Big schools of them. By all accounts of guides and anyone that has ever dived here... good luck with that! We did actually get to see a shark though... a Nurse Shark... taking a nap under a coral bommie. Dive here was pretty good over all. More Frog Fish and a few small things (Hairy Squat Lobster etc) to look at. I found a cool little flat worm. Much skinnier than any I have ever seen before, it was moving pretty fast too, as far as flat worms go at least. Finished off the dive by seeing 3 Morays getting cosy in the same hole.





Second dive was around at South Point. Dropped and almost immediately saw a banded sea snake weaving its way through some staghorn coral. Couple of Nudis, couple of shrimp. We also saw another Warty Frog Fish which was nice. Sadly when getting onto the ladder Kirrily's GoPro got caught on something and snapped the little string she had on her wrist strap. She watched it float down. Marie was still mostly kitted up and in the water, but by the time she got her fins on it had sunken out of sight. Not a good way to end a dive :(

It seemed Alan R had also forgotten the cap for one of his strobes. The battery cover had a secondary O-Ring which seemed to protect it though. At least it was still kinda turning on and occasionally flashing...

5 Jumped in for the Arvo dive. I've been having a problem with my left ear, so I wanted to dry it out. Alan D is still feeling a little chesty and Jez was on Daddy duties. They headed down to the South Point again on a treasure hunt for Kirrilys GoPro. Coralie spotted it almost immediately! Was sitting on the bottom of the short wall at 33 meters. They continued on for the rest of their dive seeing the usual macro life. A few went for a walk through the village and saw Roosters in pens. All about 6-7 meters away from each other tethered to their individual roosts. Looks like they might be bread for cock fighting. As it started to get dark everyone started to gather for dinner, opting out of the night dive for tonight.

14th - Zoom! Zoom!

Normal morning start for the double dive today. After drying out the Strobe the afternoon before Alan decided to test out the strobe in the morning. It didn't perform awesomely and wasn't working most of the time. The first dive we were warned about a 'slight' current. It must have been about 4kn! It was fast. Super-Fast. I had fun though, it was really awesome just sitting out watching the wall zoom by at impressive speed. Those with Bigger cameras, not so much. Some barracuda and tuna to mark the passing but nothing too great to see. Have to risk the big current to see the big fish though.



After the current we ducked behind the wall over to a sand flat, still had quite a bit to swim against but were relatively calm once we exited that. I had burned almost 120 of my 200 bar by about the 20min mark in the current. Deep and finning against it works you hard. On the way to shallower waters we found a cool pile fish, which eventually sent me into Deco... Luckily at about 7m I also found an awesome Nudi, so taking pictures of it worked off any extra stops I needed. Despite using most of my air in the first 20min of the dive staying 2-5m for the remaining time meant I could see out a full hour. Found a few cool little things to see including a big school of juvenile Catfish.



As the current was still too strong over the western side of the island the second dive was don’t on the house reef. Moments after we dropped in there was a huge turtle that Kristie Chased away, wait, I'm sorry "Followed as it was already swimming away"... yeah right... As she /chased/ the turtle a big shadow formed above her. A massive Sardine Ball was flocking around, chased by the occasional mackerel. It was impressive to watch but we soon moved on to more exciting things. We saw a 'Disco Clam' (Ctenoides ales) doing it’s think and just below it an Awesome Peacock Mantis Shrimp. With all the people it had retreated back into its cave, far out of my camera range so I swam on. On the way back I made sure to double back to the same area and see it poking its glorious head out with all its majestic colouring. We finished off the dive over relative shallow sea-grass slope where we saw some Razor Fish and a couple of Nudies making babies.



I was still feeling a little crook and the ear was playing up so I ditched the Arvo dive to lounge about. Gave me a head start on drying my gear as well. The others came back with decent reports of Pygmy Seahorses and other nice finds and then we all converged for dinner and it was another early night to bed for em.

15th - Enjoying all the Fauna of the Philippines!

Still not feeling great Al D and I stayed back when the others went off to enjoy the morning dives. The first sight was more of the same (Pygmy Seahorses!) while reports on the second sounded awesome! Swim Through, Caves, Overhangs, Heaps to see. Sounded like a cool dive, pity I couldn't make it. It worked out well though, Kristie was having problems with her computer and her 1st Stage Reg, and so she was able to borrow mine when I stayed back. I also managed a nice lounge in the sun chairs and a quick snooze in bed.



Upon their return began the onerous task of drying out gear. Sun real-estate was a premium as people searched for trees to prop their boots against and chairs to lay out their wet-suits on. Given that I didn’t dive yesterday arvo today most of my gear (Sans borrowed equipment, including my Hood Marie used) was already dry and packed. The afternoon was more than enough for 1 hood, regs and my computer.



For dinner tonight Kristie had organised something special; a spit roasted pig! We were meant to consume it on the beach, but the wind had blown up so it was all done back near the restaurant. Mid-afternoon, mid card game, we heard the squealing of the pig as it was being 'prepared', this was enough to make some reconsider their choice for dinner. No me though. MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Roast Pig. A few of us spend the better part of the afternoon finishing all the duty-free alcohol purchased on the trip over while playing a few games of cards. Crackling was thin, but excellent! The Chef did an awesome job.



I was still feeling unwell so it was yet another early night to bed for me. It's not often I'm amongst the first to sleep, being sick sucks!

16th - Homeward bound

After yet another early night I was up pretty early. Greeted by an amazing sunrise. We had all morning to eat breakfast, dry out gear and pack so no-one was in a rush. By the time it came to check out it seemed a bit disorganised. Splitting up Bills (2 people sharing a twin room) proved difficult for the staff and even normal rooms seemed to take ages. They also Charged Kristie/Jez for Chris/Rods room by mistake... So Rod/Chris just paid the left over room and got the difference later.



Stopped for a final group shot on Cabilao Island before starting ~22 hours of transit home. Started off simply enough with a ~10min boat road to the next island. We landed and hopped into three vans to drive to the airport (this island had a bridge connecting it.) The Van I was in didn't seem to know the best way, so despite leaving first we quickly pulled over and let the lead vehicle pass. Our driver then did his best to ensure that at no time there was a gap greater than arms reach from the lead vehicle... I've been in plenty of places like this... where road rules are merely suggestions... but this is the first time I felt I was going to be sick. I made sure my seatbelt was on and held on for the ride. Thankful to arrive at the airport in one piece.



Then came the waiting game. The flight was late (they blamed traffic controllers) from the other end, so we had an extra hour or so (on top of the 2.5 planned...) in a regional airport. But hey, free Wi-fi. We took turns entertaining Kristina until it was time to board and start the next leg. Only ~1hr flight time until we landed in Manila, watching the sunset along the way. Not a great airport to be stuck in (about 3 hours.) Past the first 2 security checks and in the 'general' waiting area. Duty Free was more exy than Dan Murphys and food options were limited. I ended up with a hot-dog and a tin of beer. No bottled beer in the Airport (scared of glass maybe?)



Eventually we went through the 3rd security check (only for passengers going to places like USA or Australia) and found a space of cold hard tile to sit down on until our flight. Luckily we had scoped out this area earlier and waited to go through. By the time I was in it was only another ~10min before we were boarding the plane. Similar to the trip over there was a quick stop in Darwin... and yet another security check (by Australian Security staff this time) where they found and confiscated a camera screwdriver in Coralies bag....  Finally landing in Brisbane mid-morning Sunday. Customs had a very long line, but it seemed to move fairly fast and it wasn't long before we were home again!