June 4, 2010 - Night - MAGIC!

Well - one of the fish we have always wanted to shoot and have yet to have the opportunity is the Mandarin Goby. It is a magnificent fish that is often quite shy and very hard to find. Hence - 15 years of diving with no sightings.

This particular night we dove a place called Magic Pier - and boy is it! There is a colony of Mandarin fish and each night at dusk they mate! All one needs to do to see them is be at the right spot at the right time. We were there! It was one of the most exciting night dives we've ever been on.

Once the mating was over, there were lots of other great things to see too.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

June 4, 2010 - Day - More Muck Diving

This day we were treated to some species we had only dreamed of seeing...robust ghost pipefish, ornate ghost pipefish, popcorn shrimp and more. We spent our 3 day dives further exploring the muck dive sites.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

June 3, 2010 - Muck Diving

We motored from about midnight last night until 5.30 am this morning where we awoke in a bay. It was time to start muck diving! You'd think we were crazy flying half way around the world to dive on dirt and trash - but no! It's an amazing place filled with all kinds of cool, little critters. On the first dive, John shot some amazing video and images of lion fish. There was a pair, maybe mates, who were hanging together and he got some unbelievable shots! Cheri shot a little goofy octopus and a leaf fish amongst other cool things! Off in the distance was an eagle ray! John shot a great lion fish and a blue sea star!

Today was a 4 dive day....

Dives 1 - 3 were amazing and we were both getting pretty good with our cameras. Dive 4 was the night dive. Yes - we get into zodiacs (like Navy seals use to transport themselves) and motor off into the pitch dark. On the count of 3 it's over the side and descent into the murky darkness. Usually you are immediately filled with a sense of awe because night diving is so very different from day diving. A whole new set of creatures emerge from their hiding places. It's like a giant treasure hunt!

Unfortunately, this night dive was a failure - very murky and lots of current. Sometimes that's the way it is at night - so we'll try again another night.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

June 2, 2010 - Amazing Canon Cameras

There we were in London one day thinking about what to replace our trusty Olympus 5060's with, as they had died on our last Cozumel trip. We had taken those 8 mega pixel cameras and housed them with Ikelite plexiglass boxes and bought nice DS-125 strobes to go with them. We'd used them for several years until finally the button that takes the pictures had gone belly up.

Now, you all know what crazy photographers we are. I was all set to house my Canon 7D, but was dreading the cost of doing so; cost from purchasing the equipment and cost of carrying all the weight. You see, it would require a huge housing, two dome ports and more arms to connect the strobes. With all the airline weight restrictions, we might even have to ship it down under; a thing I was loath to do.

SO...we walked by this dive shop and saw the most incredible video playing. We wandered in and asked about the video and were told about this marvelous little point and shoot camera that the owners had used to shoot the video. They even had a book of pictures that were incredible. After a lot of discussion we decided to lighten our loads and buy this new system...although Cheri still had reservations, John was all in!

So - we bought: Canon IXUS 100 IS (in the US - 785), Canon WP-DC31 housing, an Inon S2000 strobe, a Nocturnal Lights SLX 800i lighting system (big flashlight) for the video, Inon adapter for additional lens including the wide angle (UWL 105AD) and the macro lens as well as some arms to connect it all up.

So with great trepidation we splashed in and tried out the new toys. The first dive was a bit rough and the pictures were so so. As we learned the system, we began to get spectacular results from tiny macro to wide angle and everything in between! Hopefully soon, you can check them out at www.cherylawarren.com/index.htm.

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

May 31, 2010 - Day 3 - Bali

The day began early as our guide was picking us up at 7:30 and we needed to be fed and ready to go! As we exited our room, we realised how beautiful the area was and wished for more time there. We saw two snails before we even made it to breakfast!

We started off for our adventure with the first stop at the local market so we could see how the people shop each day. The market opens at 4 am for the locals! By 8 when we arrived it was pretty well picked over. You can buy any kind of food there from fish to chickens to veggies...you name it!

Then to the rice patties. The Balinese are excellent farmers and have built magnificent rice terraces in many locations. When the light is right, these are lots of fun to photograph!

From there we headed North to see the volcano. It was a bit foggy/cloudy, but it lifted some before we had to leave that area. The volcano last erupted in 1973 and there were still signs of its destructive force!

We then headed through the countryside to see the scenery and along the way we saw a sign for a waterfall. So - why not?! We stopped, paid our 10,000 rupiah ($1) each and headed in to see the falls. We began down a set of stairs...and then more stairs and more stairs until we had descended about 1000 feet to the floor of the rain forest! All the way down, thinking, have I bit off more than I can chew? It was worth the climb!

After the hike, we continued through the country side and ultimately ended up at a restaurant overlooking some exquisite rice patties. We ate on the veranda...another tasty meal.

After that we headed off to try to see the fruit bats. Unfortunately, we got skunked on this one because it began to pour as only it can pour in a rain forest. We saw them briefly, but only got off a few shots. The we stopped at a beach for the sunset, but didn't stay too long as it was very crowded!

By the time we reached the new hotel in town, we were whipped again! A quick dinner at the hotel and off to bed. This time we both slept like rocks!

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

May 30, 2010 - Day 2 - The Bali Country Side

Bali is a part of Indonesia, but is pretty unique as compared to the rest of the country. It is upwards of 90% Hindu and you see signs of this faith every where. And it shows in the people - they are really. really nice from the heart. They pray every day, many times a day, and give offerings to the gods. You will see them all over the place.

Our driver, Ajik, was great! We headed out of Denpasar and up to Ubud. The traffic in Bali is scary at best with motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic at all times. And, despite the markings on the road, Bali traffic has a rhythm of it's own. People toot the horn to let others know they are near, they pull out where ever they feel like and the sea of traffic parts to allow them to do it, and you often think you are going to be crushed by a big truck....but alas, Ajik was an amazing driver and took all of this in stride as he expertly navigated us to see the sights.

First stop was the monkey forest! And oh what a stop it was! These monkeys are cousins to the Barbary apes we saw in Gibraltar and you will see it in their faces. By the time we arrived, it was nearing darkness and a rain storm was heading in. The light was tricky to say the least, but our trusty Canon 7D's were up to the challenge! We popped the ISo to allow more light to hit the sensor and grabbed these images.

After the monkeys, we went to see the white herons and then finally to our hotel. The hotel was spectacular and the food out of this world. We were so tired by this point that we elected to eat at the hotel for simplicity and were treated to a wonderful experience.

The torrential rain began around 2 am and much to our chagrin we found the one flaw in our gorgeous room...the roof emptied onto a skylight and it sounded like a whole rhythm section was practicing! yet again...not enough sleep!

Enjoy-
Cheri & John

May 29, 2010 - Bali Bound

With BA being on strike, we lost our connection out of Heathrow. Lucklily, as soon as the strike was back on, Cheri got on-line and secured seats from Gatwick to Amsterdam. Yeah! The trip is still on.

The bad news is that Gatwick is not too close to Paddington and with a 7 am flight we were out of the house at 3.45 am! No mind...we were going to Indonesia! So we got to Gatwick, faced off to BA agent who was clueless and asking things like, "what is the 3 letter code for where you are going? what class are you in - j?" She didn't instill confidence, especially when we got her to book our bags all the way through to Bali.

We hopped to Amsterdam without incident. Once there, we connected with a Cathay Pacific agent who was wonderful! She doubled checked our records and made sure all our luggage was destined to arrive with us!

We hopped onto the 777 from Amsterdam to Hong Kong. Oh la la! It was one of those 777 with herring bone business class seats. These have the most comfortable beds and a wide screen Tv with all kinds of movies and Bose cancellation headphones. Jackpot!

The good news - we could sleep. The bad news....well it was 2 pm our body clock time and sleep was elusive at best. So we both dozed and got a few hours, but not nearly as much as we hoped for.

We arrived in Hong Kong and popped into the first class lounge. Cheri sniffed around and found the showers. And what showers they were. Just picture us...we'd been up for the better part of 24 hours. These showers had giant heads and it felt like you were in a rain forest during a heavy down pour. So refreshing!!

After that - the final leg of the flights; a four hour and 20 minute flight to Denpasar (Bali)! We both slept alot on that flight.

When we arrived, we were met on the jet bridge by an agent from Wakatobi, our dive company. She cut all the lines and red tape, got us a visa, cleared customs and we were out in about 30 minutes. The average transit time is usually 2 to 3 hours. Yippee!

As we exited the customs area, we were met by our driver from Pure Bali and we were off to see the country side.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

Springtime Flowers

One great thing about London is all of her parks. This year Cheri has been playing with the macro lens and going back to her roots with black and white images. Hope you enjoy this sampling!

Let me know what you think of these....

To your good health!
Cheri