The dive!...

The guy with the blue glove is ME!

I am back and LET ME TELL YOU, this was a day to remember!

As they say in Australia, I am totally stoked! Yeah baby, high five and all the good things!

OK, some of you will put in in perspective: Melbourne Aquarium is not quite the Barrier Reef or the Maldives but for a first timer it's the thrill of lifetime. I soooo recommend it if you have not dived before.

But I am biased here. I love the water, I really like sharks and admire them even more, so I was really curious to get up close (but not too personal...). But it's not just the fish, it's the whole experience.

As I mentioned last week, the day started with one hour of theory which also did cover what could go wrong - not with the fish, but with the divers. That covered, we were off to a local pool (Wesley College) for our practice dive. We were helped into our vests and air tanks, then we learned some basic stuff: get water off your mouth when underwater and with the regulator on; get the water off your mask while underwater; hand signals; vertical dive to 4 metres.

After a lunch break, we met at the Aquarium at 3pm, had a briefing and got split into 3 groups of 4 or 5 people. My group had one instructor, 2 certified divers, a certified diver who did a refresher course and a first timer (me!). We watched the first group go round the tank, we waved at them, had a few laughs and then it was our turn!

As we took off on the surface to the drop point, a two meter long shark swam a meter undrneath us. The instructor led me to the bottom first at around 4.8 metres, then the others. We were resting on our knees and keeping still so that we did not scare the fish with too many movements. In a few seconds the normal traffic was restored (all fish going around the huge fishbowl) and we had all the inhabitants swimming past us! Tuna and whiting (ok, who cares) were in abundance, but as the stingrays start closing in, that's when you go 'yeah baby!' inside and give everyone a big nod and an OK signal :) The rays are cute as: you can touch them and it's like they're ticklish. They give a little flap to acknowledge the gesture... I had the really big one swimming only 40 or so centimetres above me and I watched its gills open and close. Great stuff...

The sharks are majestic but (my initial thought - just wait!...) uninterested. However they do swim just past you. As one fellow diver and I were heading towards the ledge before the 7 metre drop, a 2.5 metre or so shark swam past us to our right, very casually.

The 7 metre drop is located at one end of the tank, in front of a big glass window with a theatre-style spectators area on the other side. One by one, we were eased down the deeper area by our instructor. Unfortunately, due to a really bad head cold, my ears were a bit on the sensitive side so half a meter off the bottom I had to stop and really try to neutralise the pressure. It did not work so I sulked back to the ledge at a comfortable 4.8 metres.

But this was when the best part of the dive happened: A perky little shark spotted us from the surface and slowly but steadily started swimming towards us. Totally stoked! I took my time to watch his unique swim style and his not so pretty mouth. Then, half a meter away from my mask, he swam past me and off. To me, this was a totally unforgettable experience.

This was really the and of the dive - all 30 minutes of it and worth every cent - according to me, anyway!

So, a big thank you to my instructors Mick and Andrew from Dive HQ in East Prahranfor their excellent and fun coaching.

And again, a big Love You! to my Lesley for an unforgettable present!