An Update

I've been thinking about deleting this blog but it seems to still be getting visitors over a year after it's been completed. Thank you to everyone who has come on by to read my tales - why not leave me a comment to let me know what you think?!
Anyway as I mentioned in my last post I would maybe post a link to what I've been doing since and so finally, here it is. I am now a working dive instructor in Grand Cayman - yay!! :D There have been ups and downs along the route but it's all about the journey, right?
I hope some of you readers will drop by and perhaps leave me a comment or two there. If you're specifically looking for info on BVI then it probably won't help, but if you like diving, dive pics, general gossip/shenanigans along the lines of this blog then come on over!
Thanks again
Hugs to all
& Happy Bubbles
H xx

Day Thirty

Ok so I decided to do one last post. Tom picked me up bright and early at 530 this morning after a totally sleepless night thanks to my neighbours playing "Eye of the Tiger" on repeat til gone 3am. As Courtney was still feeling a bit sick she passed out pretty early and slept right through it. Lucky $@@%^&!!! :) Still she was a total sweetheart and got up with me to say goodbye. Vicki also stopped my last night to say bye and give me a little leaving gift - some playing cards from Norman island with pirates on them. Lots of interesting nuggets and snippets of pirate lore - very cool. Thanks hun and I'm sorry I broke your watch too :(

So Tom gives me a ride to the airport and there is already a pretty big Q of people waiting to check in. So much for the airport only opening at 6am? I got my bags checked in (completely in shock that they were still under the weight limit!!!) and went to pay my exit fee before going through security. Bit of a shambles at security as there seemed to be only one woman doing all the work even though there were another 6 people stood around in uniform! Didn't have long to wait before we started boarding and as it was a free for all regarding getting a seat I think I was lucky to get in the front row and have no one next to me! Was hoping to get some good aerial shots of Tortola but it turns out I was sat on the wrong side. Ah well. Still I got a couple when we were coming into land at St Maarten.



The same beach as above but from the ground!

I was hoping that the Air France desk would be open when I arrived but there was no chance of that happening when the flight wouldn't be taking off for another 7 hours!! So I had to sit in the airport for about 3 1/2 hours waiting for the desk to get organised. Watching them trying to set up the lanes for passengers was quite entertaining as really it was yet another shambles. I think I could have done it myself in about 10 minutes and it took 6 of them about 25 minutes! Oh dear. Anyway I finally get my bags checked all the way through to Manchester and then head out of the airport to a little mall about 10 minutes walk away. Just round the corner from the mall is the beach above and it was really lovely, well if not for the fact that it is right on the flight path and if you stand in just the right place (about 20 yards across) you'll get blasted by the engines as they rev up to take off! Quick way of getting a "tan" if ever there was one. Hehe

So I have a mooch about the pretty much closed mall and gape in shock at the prices of some bikinis in the one shop that was open! Over $120 for a bikini brand I've never even heard of?! Is that just St Maarten for you? Then I walk down to the beach and sit there for a spell trying to drag the hours out. I suppose I look pretty daft sat on the beach in jeans and hoody while everyone else is in swim togs. Still maybe they thought I was a local and was cold as really it is still winter?! Ha! I manage to not rip my clothes off and go for a swim in that beautiful blue water and drag myself back to the airport for some food. One Quizno's sub later I am sated and head for security (memories of my first time through SXM security running through my head). Surprisingly there are very few people (in comparison) waiting in line so I sail through (after practically stripping off) and find a comfy spot for some Z's.

I was hoping to have the seat next to me free for the return leg but no such luck. The flight wasn't even full either and the guy knew someone closer to the front so when I saw that I thought he'd head down there to sit nearer her. Still no luck. So I had to put up with him coughing and being "fragrant" all the way back. Could not sleep so I watched Wall-E (FAB!!) and a couple of other not-too-memorable movies. Arrived in Paris to a drastic drop in temperature and after a bus ride pretty much all the way around the airport I was deposited into the correct terminal. Confronted by lots of premium brand stores after security was too tempting to not have a browse, not that I would have been able to buy anything! So then I hauled myself to the furthest gate possible to take off from and finally managed some Z's for the 1 1/2 hour flight to Manchester. Thankfully Manchester was not to type and was actually sunny! Gosh will wonders never cease?

An hour's drive (thank you Mr Taxi Man from Gold Line) and I was pulling up to the hotel a full 24 hours of travel later. Boy is it weird being back home. But luckily I am tanned and glowing and have apparently dropped a few pounds so all is good. Now I need to organise selling my car and some other of my accumulated worldly goods so I can partake in this dream of mine. Let's hope the credit crunch isn't too harsh that it takes forever to happen.

Thanks to everyone at SCD for making my time there fun AND educational. Massive thanks to Courtney for being a fab person to room with and share the month with. (Already miss you hun). And finally thanks to you readers for visiting. I hope you've enjoyed my tales and hopefully if I get my stuff sorted I may link you to another blog about becoming an instructor and what happens after....?!
Love n hugs
H x

Day Twenty-nine

Caught a ride into town with Steve this morning so I could buy some gifts for people back home. Then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get everything I've accumulated here into my small suitcase. Quite the task. Just barely made it really!! Then spent my last few daylight hours catching the last sunshine rays I could. Slowly baked. Courtney was sick all last night from who knows what?! She spent the day at Norman today so hopefully she's had some time to recover.

Took a quick trip down to the shop to make sure I'd handed everything back in and to confirm what time I'd be getting picked up in the morning - 530am!! Oy. Not sure if it'll be Tom or Melie driving me to the airport - let's hope no one sleeps in - including me! Hehe :)

Am sad to be going home as I've had a really good time here - although I won't miss the midgie/mosi bites at all. They seem to love my feet/legs. Can't say I'm looking forward to going home to the cold weather but apparently it's been quite nice the last couple of days so maybe spring is on its way? Have so much to sort out when I get back - with selling my car and getting kitted out, never mind organising flights and actually finalising exactly where I'm going to do my IDC/IE. Cyprus is looking like a good contender but I'm wondering if I can find a cheaper deal elsewhere?

Anyhoo as I fly back home tomorrow there probably won't be another post. Sitting in an airport for 7 hours is hardly likely to be much fun to write about (never mind live it!) so I hope you've enjoyed my little blog about SCD and the BVI. If you're looking to dive there I would definitely recommend SCD as they are very safe and well organised. And of course everyone is really fun and friendly too which is the whole point of diving, right?

Hugs to all and thanks again for reading. If you have any questions about doing an internship with SCD I will answer what I can.
H x

Day Twenty-eight

My last work day! Went over to Norman island with Jason and Neil for a group of 3 certified divers and 2 Open Water referrals. Turns out that one of the CD's hasn't dived in 20 years and one of the O/W's hasn't got all the correct paperwork so they end up doing DSD's on Norman beach with another young guy who is on the same boat. His mom also came along for the ride when we went diving. Neil was hoping that I'd be able to do all the dives when we were headed over there but as plans changed when we arrived he had to lead their first dive. We went to the Indians and is was a little choppy - so much so that the father of the family group slipped off the back step and his tank slammed onto it - missing my toes by cm's!!! Crikey - that would have great wouldn't it? Trying to travel home alone with broken toes - not good.

A couple of the group decided they'd like to do a second dive so I did manage to get wet today. Yeah - my last dive in the BVI and it was at Ring Dove Rock. There was quite a strong current too so that was a bit of a challenge for the new diver. Still he did really well.

Went to the chinese as well for dinner with a bunch of peeps - never been there before (opposite the Mexican!) and it was pretty good. Apparently there is another chinese towards or even past Road Town which is better but I never got there during my month. That's the thing about Tortola - you have to have some transport!! Sat and had some drinks outside the shop though first as not everyone could make the meal.

In the pic - right side from front: Vicki, Me, Kitty, Neil

left side from front: Ria, Steve, Courtney, Rob, Jason

Dale and Harri turned up later (thanks Harri for taking this pic!) :)

Day Twenty-seven

Today was again all about diving. There were about 6 divers on Discovery this morning and again we went to the Rhone. One of the guests had asked Courtney to dive with her even though it was her day off so she came in to hold her hand as we dived. There were lots of lobster today in all sorts of nooks and crannies - but no seahorse! :( We did however see a turtle on the bw section feeding which was way cool. He was pretty big too!

The booze cruise last night was great. Very mellow just sailing in the channel. We went over to Peter island and had a tack and gib through the bay then headed back to Hodges Creek. Very cool with no lights out at sea - there were so many stars. Definitely way more than you can see from land. Very starry starry night! :) Took some photos but I haven't had a chance to look at them yet so will try to get them uploaded tonight and will add here asap (EDIT - DONE).
From left: Kitty Chang, Marc Easton, Jeff, Jason Chang, Vicki, Gilbo Simpson, Emily Parsons, Courtney Hansen.  Missing from the pic but also on the boat are Steve Ellefson, Rob and Jeff's wife Rain.  Not sure what Jason's looking at?
This is Marc and Kitty. I really don't know what Marc is making the face at but perhaps those lime tortilla chips aren't so tasty?!  Kitty doesn't look too impressed either does she? :)
This is Rob and Jason (doing the driving!).
This is the band - A Type of Toad - Neil, Courtney and Gilbo!
Me and Vicki

So tomorrow is my last work day. It's an early start for me too - 7am - and I think we are heading over to Norman island. Not sure how many divers there are or where we are going but hopefully it'll be a good day. I'm thinking of having a little goodbye meal/drinks thing as well at the chinese which I haven't been to yet. I hope it's nice. I'm supposed to be having my exit interview today with Tom but he's still teaching the EFR course so it will have to be another day.

Got Monday to pack and get things together. Hope all is well with everyone.
Hugs
H x

Day Twenty-five & -six

Yesterday I was off and so Neil and I took a drive around the island a little so I could check out other areas. We drove all the way out to Long Bay which is over on the west side on the north coast. It is absolutely gorgeous as you will see below! There is a lot more surf on the north side and we sat for a short spell watching the pelicans feed. We then drove up along the north coast for a while and then up the mountain into Sage national park so I could take a look at the view. From there it was back down into Road Town for some errands and then back to the apartment.


Last night there was a power cut, thankfully not long after I had made dinner for myself. Luckily I had some charge on my laptop so I could watch a movie as Courtney was working on the night dive.

Today has been my second day off and I booked to do a DPV (diver propulsion vehicle - those fun-looking scooters you see in James Bond type movies!) course.
Neil ended up being my instructor so we had a fun couple of dives on the RMS Rhone. I borrowed an underwater camera as well and I'm so glad I did as you will see from the pics below!


We saw the seahorse!! And I saw Fang and his buddy under the bow sprit too! YESSSS!!! I was beginning to think I wouldn't see them before I leave as my last two work days are both dive/dive and maybe I wouldn't end up on the Rhone again?!


This is the lucky porthole we tell all the divers about - you rub it three times and make a wish! See how it's all shiny from the rubbing?!

Tonight is the booze cruise on Jeff's yacht and so I will hopefully have some pics to show in the next couple of days. Sunday is my last work day and so that leaves me Monday to pack and get some gifts for home and say goodbye to everyone I've met.

Day Twenty-two, -three and -four

Monday and today have both been cruise ship days. Today was good as I got to dive both bow and stern sections of the Rhone although the first dive was way short!! I had 5 divers and two of them are married. As we are about to descend down the line to the wreck the wife says to the husband "did you tell her about your ears?" He of course hadn't so I figure right we'll take our time down the line and be ok. Well he drops down the line just fine. I get half way down and look around thinking why do I only have 4 divers and when I look up the wife is still on the surface. Turns out the last dive she made she had a cold (NEVER DIVE WITH A COLD!!) and so she ended up getting a nose bleed and it freaked her out. She of course was now somewhat freaked at the memory and so we went down nice and slow and she was fine. I get to the bottom of the line and my 3 other divers have disappeared. They have decided to follow Jason (the other leader) around the back of the wreck even though I told them to wait for me at the bottom!! I haul ass to try to catch them and tell them to stop, wait for me and finally reach them as they are about to head into the swim thru!!

So finally we get on with the dive and I take them through the wreck. On the other side of the swim thru I ask for all their air and the husband is down to 1100 psi! We head for the line again at 1000 so I'm like "right where do I take them now for a couple of minutes that will leave him enough time to do his safety stop and not blow through the tank?!" So we rode the current over the top of the wreck and headed back. Shortest dive of my life - 18 mins including 3 minutes safety stop. Oy!!

So after the surface interval of almost an hour we head back to the stern section and there is quite a strong current there which I knew was going to be difficult for this group, especially going through the air so fast. We manage to get about 28 mins on the second dive and still I ended up having to send up the husband early. I didn't do that on the first dive because I wasn't too sure whether I could just leave him hanging on the line. Because the visibility wasn't so great either at the bow even if I knew I could have sent him up, I probably wouldn't be able to see him and that is something I need to do!

I was so bummed about the bow section because the other divers got to see the seahorse that has been hanging at the coral nearby and I of course totally missed him! Boo hiss!! I also never saw Lobzilla on the stern or much else.

Afternoon was snorkelling which I enjoy but no one else seems to! And we made good tips today too which is always fab! :)

The previous two days were of a similar vein although I didn't have as many problems with ears or air blowers. One dive was just me and a guy who's an engineer on one of the cruise ships! Very cool dive and we got to see lots more than normal. Still no camera for me though as I'm not allowed when leading. I have the next two days off and so I'm hoping to be able to dive on one of those days so I can at least take a camera down there with me. I'm also hoping that some of the other staff are going to email me some of their pics so I can post them on here for you all to see. :)

Anyhoo not sure what else I'm doing on my days off other than on Friday night we are having a booze cruise on one of the instructor's boats. Should be a good laugh and hopefully some pictures will be taken so you can see the people I'm talking about!

After that there are two more days then I'm gonna be pretty much heading back home. It's been fun and has flown by so fast! I would so recommend you come out here if you can. But make sure you organise transport if you plan to stay on Tortola. I would definitely say you should charter a boat and a captain too if you can't sail. The best way to see everything here, most definitely!

Hope everyone is well
Hugs
H x