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

June 1, 2010 - Day 4 - Bali to Wakatobi - To the Peligan!

This was mainly a day of transit. We were at the airport by 10 am where Crispin met us to arrange for transit through the airport and to the plane. In the VIP lounge we met a number of the guests who would be on the boat with us. It was a 2.5 hour trip to Wakatobi where upon arrival we were whisked away to meet a dive boat that would take us to the Peligan.

All our expectations were exceeded when we boarded the ship! Oh what a room we have. King size bed, tons of room and a huge flat screen TV with a blue ray player and 'Planet Earth' waiting to be viewed!

The chef is excellent as he proved at dinner with a freshly caught red snapper in local spices, veggies and fried potatoes. Sounds mundane when I write it, but boy was it yummy when we ate it!

We trundled off to bed early, but here we are at midnight wide awake and writing this blog!!

Enjoy!
Cheri & John