Another lap complete

As of about 8:30 or 9:30am (I can never reminder which) this morning, Australian Eastern Standard Time I have completed yet another lap around the sun. My 35^th lap is now complete and my 36^th has just started. Just in case you are a little confused by this, today is my birthday and I’ve just turned 35.

My birthday has come up extremely quick this year with the whole year to date spent focused on preparations for the wedding and then the move (and settling in) to Palau. I honestly can’t believe it’s mid-late August suddenly. 

The other day I was reflecting a little about my last birthday and what I had planned for the year ahead, none of the above had even been thought of. About the most we’d discussed was a one week trip to Osaka which eventuated in November (I love that city and can’t wait to visit again). If someone had told me where I’d be this year I never would have believed that I’d be living in another country let alone one that I’d hardly heard of and could not accurately pinpoint on a map. On top of that after spending 11 years at the same workplace (in a variety of roles) I’d now be learning a completely different job/skillset. I don’t think you can get much more removed from sitting in an office doing project management to hanging out 30 metres below sea level watching sharks & turtles and cruising around a tropical paradise on a boat. 

A quick update on the diving: I feel I’m very quickly getting up to speed, I completed my Advanced and Nitrox courses about a week ago and my Rescue Diver course is scheduled for this coming weekend. In less than two weeks I’ve clocked up 20 dives in Palau. Over the past three days I’ve been helping with two different Open Water Courses. On Sat & Sun we had a large mixed group of eight students who were awesome, they all picked it up easily with hardly any issues.

However yesterday we had two young Taiwanese girls who I’m not sure had any concept what they were getting themselves into. They were reluctant to get into the water and almost drowned themselves when attempting the ‘10 minute float’ requirement. (Despite being in salty water AND wearing a wetsuit). Note, it takes some effort to drown yourself with that combination as it makes you extremely buoyant.  Anyway they got better as they day went on but I’m still glad to have today off as they will be challenged again by the skill requirements they need to complete today.

So I’m now sitting in a Palauan coffee shop struggling with terrible internet (the whole country’s connection seems to be getting worse lately) enjoying my well-earned day off. 

With my 36^th revolution beginning and after all the changes in my 35^th jaunt I wonder what changes the coming year will bring. Hope you enjoyed more of the pictures from my phone.

Pictures of Paradise

After my comment in my last post about how bad the weather has been over the past three weeks we’ve suddenly had 3 beautiful days. Today while out on the dive boat I had the realisation that I may well be living in paradise. 

Without going into depth (pun intended) about my amazing dives at German Channel & Blue Holes/Blue Corner today I thought I’d post a few photos I took topside. Bear in mind these were taken on my phone inside a waterproof case. 

Today's dive boat

spotted a manta ray on the ride home

Mini Update Part II: Rock Islands & Jellyfish lake

Last Friday we had our best day so far in Palau. Unexpectedly we were invited along on a trip out to the rock islands & jellyfish lake (two of the major tourist attractions in Palau). We knew about half the people on the boat and quickly became friends with the others. The ride out from Koror to the islands was in overcast conditions with frequent showers and stayed that way until mid-afternoon. Despite the weather the water was calm and it was truly incredible to finally get to see just how many islands there are. They are seriously everywhere, from small little mushroom shaped islands to massive long ridge lines. I honestly don’t know how the guys navigate through then without a map or GPS, I had no idea which was we were going for most of the day. We saw all sorts of cool stuff like birds diving down into the water for fish to flying fish who seem to defy gravity for an unfeasible period of time. 

Our first stop was Jellyfish lake, an inland lake populated by thousands of sting-less jellyfish. After a short but steep walk up and down the ridge line we arrived at the lake. After a short swim out into the lake we started coming across jellyfish, after pushing out a little further we were completely surrounded by them. They are all over the place, they slowly move in every direction and are constantly bumping into you. And no they definitely don’t sting.

It was an extraordinary experience to be floating around with thousands of these creatures all around. I can’t wait to return with a waterproof camera and on a sunny day. One thing I quickly adjusted was my method of swimming around. Once getting in the middle of the jellys I noticed I accidentally kicked a few, so I ended up using a modified front-paw only, slow doggy paddle. Even then occasionally I’d send one spiralling away, at least I wasn’t wearing fins! I’ve heard people can actually kill them when belting them with fins. For some reason that I don’t understand the use of fins aren’t banned in the lake however they are quite particular about you wiping off sunscreen and washing your feet in a bucket (before walking up & down to the lake)…

Our next stop was having some lunch on a small beach in the middle of the thousands of rock islands. It was a great little spot but due to overcast conditions the couple of pics I took really don’t do the location justice.  

After lunch it was time for some snorkelling. We headed to an area called German Channel, I’m not sure when but at some point in Palau’s history (most likely prior to WWI) the German Navy bombed a long channel in the corral between various rock islands. The spot is now favoured by divers hoping to swim with Manta Rays. In my limited snorkelling experience this is by far the best spot I’ve ever been to. The corral was incredible and there were lots of varied aquatic life. The highlight was following a 1 metre+ white tip reef shark around for a good few minutes. Apparently Amanda had a turtle come within about a metre of her as well. 

All too soon it was time to head elsewhere, we checked out a significant sized cave that formed in one of the rock islands when a section fell in and another marine lake with only a small channel running out to the sea. Our second and last snorkelling spot was a place called the cemetery. There appears to be a lot of dead corral at this little corner off the end of a rock island. For some reason that doesn’t stop a huge amount of fish hanging around. Again I was lucky enough to follow around a very large Napoleon Wrasse for around 5 minutes or so. 

The day was amazing and I’m very thankful we were able to tag along on the trip. It’s reminded me that whatever I end up doing over here has to involve the water in some way.

Stay tuned for the next mini update about how I got racially abused (yep, really).