Annual Dive Ball 2012

by Suzie Bodey

Masks, masks and more masks!! Who was everyone? As I stood at my “greeting pedestal” I embarrassingly couldn’t recognise quite a few of our valued customers! (No, I hadn’t already had some wine.) Watching everyone come in was just fantastic, we had some great costumes and gowns, amazing masks and some very swanky suits

After some light canapés, a few drinks, some mingling and the distribution of raffle tickets everyone piled into the Bribie room for the function to begin. The formal part of the night officially started with a choice of soups, and the first round of prizes which included the Snorkel Safari “Buddy of the Year Award” and the “Golden Fin Award” from Dive World. The lamb back strap and chicken main dishes were next out, by which time my mouth was watering, and within the first bite of my lamb, duty called, and we announced the next round of prizes. As I enjoyed presenting people with various prizes, including masks, snorkels, bags, stubby holders, boat trips, and courses, my boyfriend enjoyed eating my lamb with an evil grin on his face.

As I watched him feasting on my food, my 6inch heels pinching my feet, I was surprised to hear my own name called as the winner of the “Academy Award” and a underwater photography course. Aaron McAdie won “Best Buddy of the Year,” Niki Linton was our “Social Club Butterfly of the Year”, and Lauren Neilsen was awarded as our “Dive Journo” for her voluntary contribution to our newsletter.

To finish the night we had thank you speeches from the dive store owners, more prizes, delicious cheese and mudcake, and of course, Jeremy on the dancefloor with his classic boogie moves. It was an amazing and enjoyable night with so many laughs. We are looking forward to next year’s ball, I’m hoping for a superhero theme!!!

Shark Festival 2012

by Camila Gough

They say Grey Nurse Sharks are the puppy dogs of the sea. As far as I’m concerned, puppies have sharp teeth and boisterous ways. The good thing about them is that they come in huggable sizes, which sharks don’t. There’s a lot to be said for showing a healthy dose of respect for an animal twice as big as you and with enough choppers to turn an arm to mince with one bite.

Despite my light anxiety and my lack of experience - I had only logged 7 dives at this point - I signed up for Sharkfest at the end of July. I still wasn’t too sure about it by the time we anchored at Flat Rock, so I thought I’d take it easy on the first dive and see how I felt about the sharks from a distance before venturing any further. Not a chance. I had been at the bottom for less than a minute when a 2m long male came to say hello. He eyed me up, decided I was rather uninteresting as either food or playmate, and off he went.

Once I saw that first shark snout close up, my impulse was to get closer, not to swim away. The image of up to 30 sharks patrolling the alley made me think of the Queen’s Guard at Buckingham Palace and put a huge smile on my face. I still don’t think of grey nurse sharks as puppies, but as cool-looking rangers I need not fear.

Our downtime on land was just as good, with great food, games and shark education. The friendly staff made us feel very welcome and our intrepid leaders Jeremy and Damien looked after us in all possible ways, from answering our hundreds of questions with the patience of saints to ensuring everybody had a fun, chilled out time in and out of the water. (Besides, anybody who gets up at 6am to fix my breakfast is a hero in my book.) We even got to see a seal! Thanks for that, gentlemen.

Can’t wait for Sharkfest 2013!

Minke Whales on Spirit Of Freedom 2012

by Colin Young

Turtles, sharks, snakes, manta's not to mention Minke Whales – how better to beat the cooler weather than spending 7 days aboard the Spirit of Freedom cruising the Coral Sea.

The first half of our trip saw us diving the ribbon reefs, caves and walls on our way to the Cod Hole. Who could forget the Cod hole with six massive potato cod joining us for a feed. Day 2 & 3 in this beautiful part of the world bought what we were looking for, the Minke Whales.  How magnificent it was when they stopped by to check us out as we made our way up the mooring line for our safety stop.  An amazing experience which happened more than once!

Fantastic macro life, devil rays, cuttlefish, juvenile barracuda and sea snakes only enhanced the diving experience – to think this was still only the first part of the trip!  To round it off we were mesmerised by a Tawny Nurse shark playing alongside the boat with Captain Tony. Next came a half day on Lizard Island to stretch our legs before continuing on our way to Osprey Reef. We spent the next 4 days at diving the spectacular Osprey Reef. Words just can not describe everything we saw dive after dive. Drift dives along 90m walls, Manta rays, turtles, schools of  great barracuda. Night diving was just something out of the world, the giant Trevally schooled around us waiting for a torch beam to light up a poor unsuspecting fingerling then 'pow' a GT had dinner. The shark feed was just an amazing experience, which bought a horde of Grey Whalers, White & Black tip's Oceanic Slivers, even a hammerhead or two! Just when it couldn't get any better, we dived on a site that has an old 1800's admiralty anchor caught in a large swim through.

Congratulations to Maria for completing her Advanced Adventurer and Nitrox course while onboard. A fantastic trip with a great group of people....... it’s been so hard to come back to reality........ For those lucky enough to be on the 14 day expedition, you’ll love it!