Diving - 2023 06 - Moreton Clean Up

The Club (ok, a lot of it was Nelly...) was organising another Clean Up trip over on Moreton Island. We arrange a bunch of diving, mostly on Curtin Artificial Reef, to go down and collect marine debris. A lot of it is fishing related junk, lines and sinkers that have snapped off, but we'll try bring back anything that doesn't belong.

On Friday morning I met Paul, James and Craig at the Club to pick up the boat and drive up to Scarborough to launch. Good run with the traffic and the weather outlook was great. We got away with James at the helm and pulled up on Curtin a little early so we could just chill on the boat.  

When it was time for high tide we geared up and dropped in on the Transfield. Quite a bit of junk to collect including some huge Sinkers. Massive Sinkers for fishing 14m deep. We had a few Grouper hanging about interested in what we were up too. Making our way over to the Pt Lookout barge for a bit more junk before circling back to the anchor. Craig and Paul headed up when Nelly and I spent another 10min grabbing some gear from the Utah.

On the way back we cruised by Tangalooma so Nelly could check off a Geo-Cache before heading up to Bulwer to anchor up. Dropping the boat out I donned my diving fins to swim the 100m back to shore. Luckily the current was still pretty chill. While waiting at the boat ensuring the anchor was holding and watching our unloaded gear Nelly ducked up to the store to order up burgers for lunch. The remaining URGQ crew, making their way over via the vehicle barge, came up the beach after an hour or so of waiting.  

Went up to claim a bunk in the very fancy 'Castaway' glamping tents and sort out the gear in the trailer etc. Also jumpped at the opportunity to have a good hot shower. It wasn't long before it was time for sunset drinks and Dive planning for tomorrow. Mozzies were out in force the second the sun kissed the horizon. 

Photo from Diana

Catered weekend and the food was great from 'Castaways' (Bulwer shops.) After dinner we sat around a communal fire for a while but I ended up turning in fairly early.

Slept OK in the Glamping hut. My mattress was a little thin but the facilities on the whole are absolutely fantastic! Back to Castaways for a feast fit for an army for breakfast and then started gearing up. Paul kayaked out to retrieve Diver 1 and we loaded up for the mornings dive.  

Dropped in at the Bulwer drop off straight out the front and immediately found a huge green Turtle. Moments later there was a big anchor with a nice clean 3m of chain. Which was good because on Kristies 10lt tank I felt a little light... 3m of recovered chain definitely sorted that!  

You could tell we haven't hit this spot for a clean up before as there was heaps of Sinkers and line. I even found a fishing rod, reel and all. Back to the boat and then a bit of a break for lunch.  

A brilliant lunch to chow down before it was time to get ready for the third Dive. I was skipper and took the others down to Curtin. Got there a little bit before the tide so sat around a bit to wait it out. Eventually they went down onto the Rock Driller. Checking out the statue, tram and other close by Wrecks. Over 14kg of lead retrieved on just the one Dive.  

This was another drift on the drop off. Just 3 of us dropped in and we were on sand for a while before eventually reaching the wall. Still got 2 fishing rods and half a bucket of junk, t-shirt and all. 

Another great sunset as some of the last remaining tanks got some air into them before retreating off the beach. As soon as the sun drops behind the horizon the temp plummets. Got the fire ring going to warm us up before heading in for another fantastic feast for dinner. 

An earlier start, breakfast at 630am, so that we could make the slack low tide. Great surface conditions and a smooth ride down to find a dozen or so fishing boats already on the reef. We made good time and were a touch early but just short wait before divers went in.  

Dropped them on the south end of the Transfield again but this time they headed off south from there. Great morning to sit on the boat and watch the mist slowly disappear from Moreton. Really easy to follow divers bubbles with a smooth surface too. Lots more line and weight brought back. Surprising how fast it all comes back between clean up trips. It was another short ride back on smooth water before switching out divers for the next dive.  

Straight out the front again at Bulwer Drop off. When we got to the drop we were missing a set of fins but the first wave of divers were ready so they headed down and we made the very short return trip to grab some fins.  

Out again in mere moments before the second wave went in. I thought I was doing OK collecting with my big bucket but it wasn't long before SNR taps me on the shoulder with a small bucket overflowing with waste. So he decanted into mine and started filling another. 

Along the way he got a towel and a pair of board shorts. While the rest of us still collected heaps of fishing waste. We were also seeing a few QLD Grouper, which I've never seen on the drop off's before.

 

I popped back up before a few others and got a clean pick up from Craig as skipper. We headed back to the others and found a boat, only hanging about directly over the divers. The woman was lying on the bow, go-pro in hand, reaching down to video these "amazing bubbles". Apparently she had never seen such an occurrence before. She asked us if we thought it was a big whale. She was a little disappointed when she found out it was just divers...

Set the boat up for lunch and headed in for fantastic wraps. Bit of time to kill before the third Dive at slack high water. Everyone was on time (in fact most people have been really good this trip, I think every launch has left on time.) Only 1 boat left on Curtin so we had the pick of the spots. Haven't done much on the south end so we dropped anchor on the Barrambin.  

A short 8min before the slack tide so we geared up and dropped in. Current still had a little bite near the surface but by the time we hit 10m it had mostly dissipated. Lots of long line here, running the length of the ship and back in one case. Heaps to clear up. 

After a while we made the jump over to the Hustler and Kos II. Castaways (out generous hosts for the weekend) had recently lost an anchor. We knew it wasn't theirs but we found a great one to retrieve so Craig and I got to work lifting it. I put my SMB with a smidge of air, just enough to counter some of the weight.  

Craig then put his on the end of the chain and made a controlled release to let it go up. By the time we had sorted that out it was time to return to our own anchor and head up. With a bit of air left to go Craig and I circled back to the big anchor. With some rope Craig found we added that to his SMB so there was plenty of length to reach the surface. With that done we headed back to Diver 1.  

With everyone safely on board we swung by the float to raise the anchor which came up real easy with mine attached directly to it. We still dropped on at Castaways mooring to search for theirs but inky found a cheap plough, lucky we got the bigger one. Set the boat on the main anchor for one last night and paddled to shore. 

By the time I got back off the beach the cleaning and sorting was well underway. Many hands make light work. There were still a few buckets to get through though so I put on some gloves and got too work as well. Forming various piles as we pulled apart the tangled line to separate what we had collected into reportable units. 

Photos from Ruth

In total over the weekend we collected:

• 56kg of Lead (Sinkers) - Perfect for melting down into Dive Weights,
• 2 Anchors (1 Plough and 1 Bruce, donated to Castaways for their boat),
• 13m of Anchor Chain,
• 122m of Rope,
• 850g of Line,
• 390g of Hooks/Swivels/Lures,
• 1 Burley Box,
• 1 Towel,
• 1 pair of board shorts,
• Some broken netting,
• 3 Fishing Rod,
• 1 Sock and
• a some hats.

Once all that fragrant work was completed I jumped straight into the showers. Another thing that the Castaway's resort does very well. Nice hot water and good pressure. When all was said and done the sun was already setting and the decision was made to skip the Sunset drinks and head straight to the fire for nibbles. Before long it was dinner (fantastic roast beef and pork, with crackling!) then straight back to the fire. The night didn't last long, with most heading off to bed by 8pm. Long days of diving definitely tire you out :o

Last morning on the island involved another great breakfast followed by a fairly quick pack up of the room, dropping my dry bag with a vehicle to be taken home, as I got Diver 1 prepared for our return journey. We did have favourable conditions predicted at the beginning of our trip but over the last few days the wind predictions were ever increasing, to the point of 20+ knot Westerly Winds being expected. Which meant we would be ploughing directly into the chop as we headed back.   

The others who were also travelling on Diver 1 weren't far behind and we were able to make it away a bit earlier than planned at 8:40am. This gave us additional time to take it a bit slower in the rough conditions and possibly even avoid some of it (as it was getting worse over the day.) In the end the trip wasn't too bad. We were definitely going quite slow at the start but with the new engine it was easy to cruise safely. By the time we were 2/3rd of the way across we had protection from most of the wind in the lee of the mainland. This meant we could open up the throttle a bit more and ended up putting into the Scarborough Marina not long after 10am.  

A good run in the traffic back down to the club house before cleaning the boat and putting it safely back in the shed. I had offered Paul a lift home but Craig was heading more in the same direction so I was able to head home to rinse off the salty air and sand, until next time!

Thanks again to everyone from the Underwater Research Group of Queensland (URGQ) who contributed to the weekend. It really pulls together with a great group to help wherever and whenever they can. From organising, filling tanks, collecting marine debris, skippering, sorting and collating collection data and just generally helping out (often as simple as zipping up your wetsuit.) We're lucky to have such a helpful and pro-active crew!  

A special thanks also to our hosts on Moreton; Castaways. Their 'Glamping' accom was excellent and their food was delicious with generous proportions.

Hiking - 2023 06 - Sundown

I found myself with a rare full weekend free so I decided to embark on a short off trail hike I have had in the "to do" list for a while. I invited a few mates and originally had some bites but as the date drew near Covid took one out and life got in the way for the other (understandable in this busy world.) 

I packed my gear Thursday night so I could start the long drive down right after work. Traffic was pretty good, just an expected slow patch at Goodna, but relatively smooth the rest of the way. I made good time to Warwick and stopped in for Subway dinner. I got an extra 6 inch sub while I was there. With the predicted 1°c night I thought it would keep fairly well for breakfast.

Getting to the front gate around 830pm I decided to begin the 4wd in. It's not far, only 8 or so km, but I had the time now so might as well set myself up for an earlier hike. I found a great camp spot just off the track a few min past the Red Rock Gorge T Junction. As I was drifting off to sleep, warm in my bag, I heard a few other 4WDs making their way into the park, probably also heading down from work to make the most of the weekend. Sound travels pretty far through the cold air but it sounded like they were off down to Burrows Waterhole. 

Had a really good sleep, too good apparently, only stirring from bed just before 8. By the time I packed, ate breakfast and drove the rest of the short distance to Red Rock gorge it was already 9am. Later start to the day than most of my hikes...

The start of the hike up Mt Lofty was fairly open scrub and I thought it might be an easy summit, those hopes were dashed not too far in where I started to push through fairly overgrown under-scrub. Every now and then I got lucky, finding a small gap to bash through that would have been a tight squeeze for a rock wallaby... 40 hard minutes later and I reached the summit to a fairly unassuming post and decent views through the trees.  

 

After a short break and removing grass seeds from areas they had no right to be I pushed on. Down the other side was just as overgrown but it was only a shorter 15min of bush whacking before I made it onto a forestry fire management trail. Much easier walking and it was nice not having branches trying to steal my hat. Pretty steep down hill here with lots of loose rocks, so you really have to watch your footing. 

 

 

Dead on 12 o'clock dropped onto the Severn River. Lots of rocks and a few sandy/rocky banks. Constantly up and down over ridges in the rocks planning where you can possibly head next. I pushed on for another 40min to Nundubbemere Falls where I finally stopped for lunch. 

 

 

Despite the fairly short distance so far, 10km, I definitely have had to work hard for a lot of them. Scrub bashing and hopping down rocky rivers slows you down significantly and overworks the legs. The next 5km to camp, at beehive waterhole, took 1.5 hours. Finding a nice spot up away from the waters edge, a little patch of flat grass. There are a few other spots dotted around the bank so you could have a few people here easy. Sadly no water views from the tent, but being right near the water makes for a cold night. 

 

After setting up the tent, still damp from the morning dew, I set off down to the river. Perfect reflection and the sounds of some rapids not far away made for a very peaceful spot. After a short while a water rat (possibly a Rakali?) caught my eye on the other side of the bank. It was moving fairly fast and with the distance I wasn't able to get a shot. Can't remember ever seeing one before. Today I also saw heaps of wallabies, a few dear, a goat and even a squirrel glider. Plenty of bird life buzzing around and surprisingly no snakes. Perfect country for them, but I guess they're all tucked in for winter.

 

 

It wasn't long by the river before it was too cold to stay and I retreated back to my tent. A fairly early dinner at 530 in the fading light before hopping into my warm bag. It might be a long night... lucky I have snacks. 

I slept really well, if a little too warm in my -5°c bag. Apparently it only got down to 6°c in my tent last night. I woke a few times during the night but found it fairly easy to fall back asleep. Eventually pulling the pin (letting the air out of my mattress) around 7am. The joys of putting on wet shoes and socks...  Quick breakfast and a hot milo before packing up and getting on my way by 7:40. I must have been a bit thirsty over night, from the 2lt I filtered yesterday afternoon there was barely a mouthful left (after the milo.)  

 

I was straight back onto a rocky creek bank. It wasn't too hard going, but it's a lot of rock hopping and picking good foot placement, so it's more work than a standard hiking trail. Good way to massage the bottom of your feet... It wasn't long before I had to cross to the other bank again, so the wet shoes paid off. No point trying to keep them dry... so you can wade straight through. By the second crossing I had been going an hour and had long since finished the mouthful of water so I stopped near a nice little side trickle and filtered some more water. The sun still hadn't hit me in the valley yet, but it looked great coming down the hill at the end of the gorge. A bit chilly, but ok on the move. 

 

 

It wasn't long past the break where I turned up Red Rock gorge. Narrower walls, bigger boulders and a switch to elevation gain slowed my pace. I had 5km to go up the creek line before turning up the hill. Shortly after the turn the rocks required some scrambling and the poles were more an annoyance. So I took a 5min break and packed them away. Several spots required some easy bouldering to navigate up the creek line.   

 

As the walls became steeper the undergrowth changed to more rainforest. This meant the reacquaintance with an old friend; Gympie Gympie and his sidekick; Stinging Nettle. Luckily over the course of the rest of the day I only had a light brushing by the latter on my forearm and a small hit on the shin. Nothing of like the which I have seen in Main Range NP (thankfully!)  

 

 

It was really quite a scramble over some spots now and my pace slowed further to just over 1km/hr. Very slow going, using vines and fig tree roots to help pull myself up. Eventually though I made it to the turning point. Directly below the Red Rock Gorge Lookout. Anyone who has stood at the lookout will attest that it looks like a long way down. I can assure that goes two fold when you're looking up...  

Slow, and not very steady, I was stopping for a short break every 10-15 steps. They were big steps. Most stepping up about knee height. I can assure you it wasn't because I was sore, tired, weak, no sir. It was for the view! The beautiful view is what had me frequently stopping and taking long deep breaths...

 

 

While there was some more stinging nettle it was sparse and easy to avoid. The climb up is a Z pattern to avoid a few sheer cliff faces. Clumps of grass and any substantial tree that managed to take root were welcome hand holds and after 45min I was finally level with the Lookout. Following the contour at the top of a cliff was nice, but I felt a lot better when I stepped out onto the graded, formed, lookout track. 

 

Can you see the lookout at the top of the cliff?

I took a moment to enjoy the view before setting off for the last 200m back to the car. Despite the short distance it felt twice as far with the legs still recovering from the climb. After changing out of my hiking clothes (covered in grass seeds) I started the drive back to the Sundown gate. There I put some air back into the tyres and continued on the long drive home.  

 

Despite doing quite a few off trail hikes, I still overestimate my pace. Thick scrub to push though, rocky creeks to hop down (and UP!) and heading straight up steep slopes certainly take a lot more effort than walking down a formed hiking trail. So next time you see a trail maintenance worker, thank them for their efforts, because it really makes a difference! That said, off trail hikes and being in the middle of the woods hours away from anyone, has it's own special rewards.

Diving - 2023 04 - Munda (Solomon Islands)

 

Day 1 - Travel

Long day of travel today with an early start. 9am flight so I aimed to get to the airport 630. Mum was going to take me to the airport but was feeling unwell so dad took up the task. He wanted to be on time, so arrived at my place 2min after my alarm went off.
I wasn't yet ready. 

Hardly any traffic, surprisingly given it was Good Friday... Check in opened just as I arrived and there wasn't a queue yet. A few others already here so we grabbed breakfast and 'supplies' (duty free scotch) and hung about for a while. 

Then the flight was delayed (almost 1hr total) so we hung out for a while more. Flight was with Solomon Airlines and it went well, despite the initial hick-up. Food was actually really good, beef curry and rice, with kitkat for desert. We landed and were slapped in the face with 35° heat and a stroll across hot tarmac. The customs building wasn't much better.

When we landed we got rushed through Immigration as we were already ~20min past boarding time for our next domestic flight. Small bus to take us from the International shed around to the domestic shed (and shed is generous) but really friendly and helpful staff made it easy. We got through pretty quick to a small plane that needed much better aircon.  

 

1hr later touched down again and then we got to hang out on the plane, in the heat. A few hopped off a few more hopped on. Then 12min flight time, yes, twelve minutes, and we arrived in Munda! Gotta love the puddle jump travel getting to dive sites. The accom was about 300m away from the airstrip so our gear was loaded in a ute and we strolled down. 

Still hot from the plane and tin shed arrival gate we got a brief intro to the dive team and given our room keys. SNR and I together in a room we ditched our stuff, got changed and jumped into the water to cool down. The 28° water... Still with a cold SolBrew (local beer) it was quite refreshing. 

The others trickled in over the next hour some down for a swim, others just for the beer/wine. There was also an American traveller who's bag came off at the Gizo mini-stop... so they were making calls and apparently sending a boat (2hr boat one way) to bring it out. Not much choice except the resort menu so I had a pork curry for 150 Solomon dollars, about 30 AUD. Beers are about $5 AUD each. Good serving size and all the service staff are really nice. 

 

Off back to the reasonable but basic room for one of the worst showers I have ever had the displeasure of standing under. Beds were firm but seemed fairly comfortable and the small wall mounted aircon seemed loud but up to the task of keeping us cool. Set the alarm for an early ish rise and fell asleep pretty quickly.

Day 2 - Diving!

Up fairly early in the morning for a good breakfast before getting down to the dive shop at 8am for our briefing. Pretty comprehensive dive brief, apparently we're the first big group here since covid close downs. 

Split us into 3 boats, I jumped in with Gary x2, Marg and Tracey. Short boat ride out to Eagles Nest for our first dive, along a wall. It was a checkout dive so the guide was over cautious checking air etc. After 15min he asked for my air, I replied 180 bar, basically full (if you get a hot fill...) Which prompted surprise in his eyes. The others were much the same (or better.)

The rest of the dive wasn't too bad but definitely not the most exciting I've ever had. A few Nudibranch, possibly a new one. 1 black tip reef shark that seemed to keep hanging around us and a sole Eagle Ray which disappeared into the blue. 

 

Surface interval on an island with some fresh ish fruit. Watermelon, banana, cucumber and pomelos. Before long we were back on the boat to Patu GoGo for another wall dive and much of the same. Few nudis some fish etc but not overly exciting. They are the easier / closer dives for the check out dives so hopefully things can only improve.  

 

 

Back on the main island some of us took a stroll into the 'shops' which were 3x convenience stores with much of the same load out. Some knock off Sour Cream Pringle's were pretty good though. Good sunset and a nice dinner before turning in for bed.

Day 3 - Moar diving!

A bit of an easier start this morning as we didn't have an overly involved pre-dive brief. It still took a little while though, and when people started to get into a discussion about preferences for dive weight setup I interjected asking when we were heading out. I was happy with the 'Right now' answer from Belinda.

First dive we dropped on Barry's Breakfast which is a good plateau sitting around 18m deep. We swam around a bit looking at a few cool schools of Barracuda before following an underwater Ridge towards an island. At one point I was off the edge into the blue a little and had an Eagle Ray swim right by me.  

 

 

Surface interval on the island with some fruit before heading out to Blue Pajamas for the 2nd dive. We did have another site picked out but the weather was *horrible* (5kt winds and 200mm, yes millimetres, chop) so we went to a protected site. Not seeing many Nudibranch this trip but a few Morays kept this dive interesting. I do like a good wall to gently follow along with though, so still enjoying the dives.  

 

 
Because of the /strong winds/ and an apparent wind warning the third dive for the day was panned. Looked like a mirror surface from after lunch for the rest of the day... Still we filled in the time with a few beers and many fun rounds of 500 (card game.) A fancy yacht pulled up and a dozen or so people came in for dinner. Provided a bit of a comedy show watching them get to/from their yacht on Stand Up Paddle Boards. There was also a band that played for Sunday night. 

Day 4 - The depths continue

First dive was out on Haipe Reef on the ocean side of the island. They had some bad storms 3 weeks ago here and you could tell which direction they were hit from. Lots of broken coral etc. A few different Nudi (for this trip) but nothing new new for me. 

 

 

While scouting for Pygmy Seahorse (of which we found none) I located a cool pipe fish. There was also apparently a turtle that I missed out in the blue. Near the end there were a few more Nudi and a nice Painted Cray.

Different island for the surface interval today to the island that was the operations base for J.F.Kennedy during WW2. They had a small museum with some rusty trinkets and a few little markers for old bunker and watch sites. Our dive boat anchors used to hold the boats for our surface stays are fairly interesting, just the largest chunk of metal they can find. Heads of sledge hammers, big cogs from trucks or any other random bit of steel. 

 

The next dive was a bit deeper, 28m down for a very short dive on the Airacobra plane wreck. Not too much to see so time limited wasn't an issue. Then off to the Douglas Bomber for a residual air dive. Again small plane but there were some cleaner shrimp, more nudi and another pipe fish. 

Back for lunch and yet another dive brief as conditions have changed so significantly since the morning... We eventually headed back to the boat to get out to Munda Bar. A man made channel for the bigger ships during the war. The Arvo dive was off to another pretty but nothing spectacular wall dive. A good cow tail Ray, a few nudi, an eagle ray and a few white tip reef sharks... maybe we're just spoiled...

 

Some bad luck happened for Boat 3. An extra solo diver who has been along with us on the dives followed a shocking depth profile (only been diving 6 months) got low on air, tangled herself in a failed SMB launch and bobbed up to the surface.

New to diving she started thinking she had the bends (no physically visible symptoms) Munda Dive took the (suitably) cautious route and put her on oxygen. By dinner she was fine but going to skip the morning dives as a precaution.

Day 5 - The dark depths

Another perfectly calm morning to head out for some diving. First up today for our boat is Aussie Point. A great wall with clear blue ocean to dive along. Spent a lot of time looking for pygmy seahorse with no luck but I did see a new nudi species, didn't get a clear pic but I pointed it out to Tracey and it looks like she did, I sure couldn't with my setup. 

Swimming along there wasn't much off out into the blue today but we did see some bump head parrot fish and a bit more soft coral on the wall injecting some much needed colour into the trip. As we were approaching our surface stop SNR spotted a small flat worm that was really motoring along. 

 

 

Surface interval on Ndokendoke Island. Which was only 200m away from our second dive. Cave time! Kustom Shark Cave is a small sink hole that starts a short 20m walk into the island. We geared up and were very careful as we descended to 20 ish m. From there we followed along a crack in the island. About 4m tall and 2m wide. 

 

Still on a slight decline down to 34m before a sharp up-tick. Near vertical ascent before it opened up into a cavernous area at about 19m deep. From there you pop you out towards the ocean. I'm not sure why it is, but I always feel at home/peace in those sorts of confined environments. Luckily everyone was on their A-Game so there was also very little silt kicked up.

Back to the main island for lunch and a bit of relaxation time. Some people looked at wood carvings, Nelly tried to get some work done, others went for the short walk to the shops. Some read, some napped and some just stared at the calm blue water. No arvo dive today, as we were all saving ourselves for the Night dive. 

Heading out for the night dive with some dark clouds off in the horizon. We dropped in on Susu Hite Reef and I got a bit concerned at the start as it was just bare sand. 4min later and we were on a bit of reef structure and the real dive started.

Quite a bit of night life out tonight with a few octopus, crabs and crocodile fish getting about. Highlights for me were the rather large cuttle fish and the spanner crab that I found. Dive was a bit short with a 40min bottom time but the real adventure started when we hit the surface.  

 

Pouring rain  meant that we couldn't see any lights on the mainland... or any island... The skipper took a bearing to the island behind us and set off. It wasn't long before we were bouncing the bottom of the boat over reef. We eventually made it past that and found a marker (still no lights in sight) and sat, waiting for boat 2 that was stuck, having to walk it over the reef. 

Eventually the rain eased up and we saw the lights on the horizon, guiding our way home. Rain the whole time waiting but at least it wasn't cold, we almost doubled out bottom time before we got back. To be honest the worst part was probably the solo diver, who was on with us for the night dive, deciding to serenade us. She didn't have the best singing voice.

Day 6 - Rusty fun

We headed off on a 45mi  boat ride NW of the resort. Along the way we passed the Tuna processing plant which necessitated blocking the noses for a good 2min. Not too much later we made if to the first site. The Wildcat plane wreck was sitting around 16m upside down. Not a whole lot to see on the plan itself but it was funny to see the wheels pointing towards the sky. From there we continued on the reef on a site called Alice in Wonderland. 

A lot more Nudi on this dive, even if they were mostly the same. Heaps and heaps of Lettuce Leaf coral, which felt a bit like leather. Snr found a nice white nudi which posed for few pics. This site was alot more colourful too as there was a bit more soft coral about.  

 

 

Surface interval was on as island near the next site. A nice little jetty build on the steep steep bank. There was a pretty mangy puppy hanging about begging for scraps. His mum was over too covered in sores and constantly scratching. Most avoided giving it any pats... 

Second dive was a Japanese support ship, the Kashi Maru. We dropped in right off the jetty as one of the smoke stacks was poking out of the water. Top of the wreck at 3m and bottom about 19m. A bit to see on this one but I was most excited by the engine room. JNR joined me as we penetrated a bit into the wreck to get a closer look. We didn't get too far before it was beyond what was safe to continue so we backtracked out.  

 

On the deck was a nice whip coral shrimp and a few anemone. Back up the steep slope to the surface. After the rain  last night and today the top 2m was at least 3°c cooler than the ocean temp which felt /really/ cold. On the boat in cold gear, wind and rain the whole way back. We were definitely feeling the cold. Our (local) guide was shivering and covered in goosebumps.  

Arvo dive was called off because of the wind/rain. It was probably still less than 5kt winds again and the rain was barely spitting... better safe than sorry I guess. We passed the time with more cards and maybe a few beers... 

Day 7 - Last day diving.

Saving the best for last we headed off to Shark Point. On the outside of the island chain a deep wall promising lots of pelagic and great visibility. Well at least we had great visibility... 

The dive was a nice calm drift along the wall. Some saw a shark or two early off in the depths, likely a black tip reef shark. I was tail end Charlie for much of the dive so didn't see those. I still spent a bit of time looking for nudibranch without much success.

Eventually we got to the point and a few of us with reef hooks locked in and sat in the, now moderate, currant. Sitting for about 15min and I saw 1 white tip reef shark. Eventually it was time to move on and more of the same around the point. Great diving and fairly good coral just a hard time finding anything that would make the diving special.  

 

As were flying out tomorrow it was only the one dive today. To fill in some time we had pre-arranged a trip to Skull Island. This was a burial island that included the skull of one of the last kings of the Munda Provence area. A practice discontinued after the arrival/spread of christianity.

Some of these skulls were trophies from inter-island conflicts back in the day but others were tribute/memorials to revered friends and families. One skull was the great grandfather of our main dive guide. A pretty sombre location.  

 

 
From there it was off to another island for a traditional lunch. BBQ fish was the main but it was supported by some nice creamed banana, they have oner 100 varieties of banana they regularly eat, most of them fantastic! Best one was the one with an orangish tinge in the flesh. Some cassava root and sweet potato to round out the banana leaf plate.

Back to the main island to rinse and dry gear... so of course it was overcast with scattered showers. The Guides rinsed all the gear and hung it up to try dry but there wasn't much luck. When we took our gear out of the dive shop to hand at our rooms most found a bit of water still in the bladders. Enough to fill a drink cup in mine.

The group used a bit of the spare time in the afternoon to run up to the hospital and deliver our "Pack for a Purpose" items. We chose mostly useful consumables. Simple items but supplies that can be included easily to an understaffed hospital. Mostly testing kits etc. The Doctor (one of only 2, that run a 24hr hospital) was very thankful. 

 

Thanks Coralie for the pics.

Back at the hotel there was more cards in the evening before our last dinner. They had a BBQ going and most got it with plenty of Painted Crayfish on the plate to go around. $30 aud for more than most could eat. After finishing off the remainder of our duty free grog it was time for bed. 

Day 8 - Homeward bound

Last day on the island so a bit of a sleep in before breakfast. Then it was time to settle up our dive and restaurant bills and pack the gear. Due to the unfortunate wind warnings (which seemed to be set off at anything over 5kt winds) I didn't get in many extra dives. Only the night dive. However there was also the reef tax and fuel surcharge, which was the same regardless if it was a 15min or 45min trip on the boat... with 12 people it's a drawn out process.

Total extras for me:

• Alcohol - $650 SBD
• Food - $1820 SBD
• Diving - $310 AUD

After the lines (and slow eftpos machines) it was a speedy pack before loading the truck with gear and following it for the short walk off to the airport. When we arrived we found the first 40min delay of the day, it was amazing to wait for 1.5 hours in the extremely modern departure lounge. 

 

Puddle jump flight to Gizo was as expected, aircon struggling to keep up. Only 15min flight time so no snack. Another long wait on the plane sitting on the tarmac with struggling aircon and some jostling for seats. 1/2 the plane has assigned seats but not the other half, so you just sit anywhere... some people struggle with the concept. The coconut biscuit for a snack wasn't very exciting.

Into the newly renovated Honiara international (departure) airport to glorious aircon. Nelly got pulled up at security because of a 50ml bushman's roll-on and a few had water taken but the rest made it through without too much fanfare. Because the first flight was delayed and we took a bit of time getting checked in and through security/immigration we only had ~10min in the departure lounge before our flight home was called.

Another huge group rushed the gate, so that they could be stuck on the plane for an extra 10min.. I guess? Flight went well and the food was good again. Landing only 20 or so min late we got our bags and said our goodbyes before making our way home.

All that's left is to unpack the still damp and very smelly dive gear, give it a good vinegar soak and wash/rinse... but that can be left until tomorrow. 

Another great URGQ trip, smooth sailing thanks to the great organisation by Nelly and everyone helping out as we went!!