I'm a diver

If you had told me a year or so ago that I'd voluntarily be signing up for a PADI Open Water Dive Course I would never have believed you. I was a fan of the seas surface & not of the deep depths of the big blue. Slowly my confidence has grown & I want to be able to play with the fish for longer than I can hold my breath. The challenge for 2008 was to face my fears & learn to dive. I signed up with a few conditions:
1.one to one tuition
2.patient instructor
3.to complete the course at my own pace. I knew if I was rushed or pushed to finish the course in a few days I'd panic & pack it in.

Albert, the Fijian had the unfortunate job of being my chosen instructor & he was fantastic. He got me through the fears & tears, removing my mask underwater is still not my favourite skill but I can do it – victory! We shared smiles when skills went well, & celebrated with ice creams after each completed chapter.

First few dives during the course were pretty boring. Dead coral & not too much to look at but I have the distinct feeling Albert was ensuring I didn't become distracted & concentrated on the job at hand, especially after I became less than impressed with the remora fish trying to stick itself to me whilst I was trying to complete a set of skills!

I passed the tests & returned to Barraveigh where my very cute boyfriend had blown up balloons, plastered them with messages as well as buying me two dives. We headed out the next morning with Bill & Linda from s/v Creola. I had a bit of a panic on the first dive but with Bobby on one arm & the dive master on the other I managed to descend & became a lot happier once I could see the coral we were heading for. Bobby knew how nervous I was & held onto my hand the entire dive. We swam around the pinnacle of coral slowly getting deeper. There were hundreds of fish of all sizes, tiny clown fish no bigger than your little finger nail, poisonous lion fish & stone fish, & beautiful soft corals. The second dive was better. I was off & away on my own, no holding hands & even spotted 5 or 6 white tipped reef sharks (they don't panic me any more after sharing many snorkelling spots in the South Pacific with them).

We celebrated my first dives back on board the dive boat with cold beers & then on board Creola with champagne, where we also toasted my Nan's 92nd birthday. Nan, I know you will love the fact that I completed my first dives on your birthday.

I couldn't have had a more amazing time & everyone made the day feel very special. I know I have a long way to go before feeling totally comfortable down there, but with more experience I'm sure it will happen. There is going to be so much to see in the next few months & many WW2 wrecks that I pleased I've done it.

To you Bobby, a huge thank you. You held my hand, literally, as I overcame my fears.