June 8, 2010 - Day 11 - The last dives and a party

The end of a dive trip is always a sad affair, even though you are almost nearly on the last ability of your ears to take any more punishment from the constant equalisation. John's ears had failed two days before and Cheri's were quickly following suit! But, Cheri wouldn't have traded the last two dives for anything. They were at Roma and another great site; two very beautiful sites that were loaded with both fish and healthy corals. Cheri shot and shot, blinding the fish and fogging her housing from all the heat from the flashes.

That night was celebrated Thomas' 40 something birthday! He and Marius were the life of the party as we had drinks on the jetty bar at Wakatobi followed by dinner. It was one heck of a party that won't soon be forgotten by any who were in attendance or nearby!

After dinner it was back for one last night on our beloved Pelagian with the gentle rocking of the waves!

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

June 2, 2010 - Diving at Last!

Well - the long awaited day finally arrived. Wake up at 6 am...toast if you like and then into your gear and onto the zodiacs! Once you arrive at the dive site, you finish suiting up...fins, mask, regulator, weight belt....1...2...3...roll over backwards and splash!

As you descend into the deep the magic begins! You are surrounded by the sea and all the critters who call it home. This first day was full of wall dives with large gorgonian fans, anemone fish, soft and hard coral and little fishes! We dove 3 times and elected to skip the night dive.

Today was the first time we used our new cameras, housings, strobes (flashes), and nitrox computers; it was a big learning day!

The first dive produced alot of crummy pictures, with some flashes of brilliance, as we were getting used to the equipment and getting the settings correct. The second and third dives yielded better images and videos. So far the cameras are performing pretty well and offering a lot of flexibility for shots from macro to wide angle all on the same dive.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John