Finally a return to diving

2 08 2009

It looks like Nemo found his way into a wind tunnel

It looks like Nemo found his way into a wind tunnel

We finally got back in the water.  Monique has her new gear and I got a replacement camera and a new wetsuit since I was tired ot freezing my ass off.  Good news is the problem was indeed the camera and not the housing so we’re back in business.

 

We went diving with Tusa T5 and a friend of ours, Tim from Koh Tao, joined us.  The visibility was pretty mediocre and I couldn’t equalize on the first dive because of my cold/flu/whatever it was (104.5° fever… my new personal record) but other than that it wasn’t bad.  Mostly, we were making sure all our new gear works and we’re happy and ready for more diving in a couple of weeks. -jp

 

 

Am Sonntag waren wir mal endlich wieder tauchen. Hatte sich ein wenig hingezogen, da Justin ne Grippe hatte (keine Swine Flu!). Wir waren zusammen mit Tim, dem Tauchlehrer von meinem Bruder Sandro und meinem Dad in Koh Tao. Er ist gerade auf Australienurlaub und wollte es sich natürlich nicht nehmen lassen das Great Barrier Reef zu tauchen. Leider war die Sicht aufgrund des trüben Wetters nicht so gut, aber wir haben supersüße Nudibranches gefunden. Ganz mini kleine wunderschön farbige Schnecken. Ich liebe die kleinen Kerle und die gibts in tausend verschiedenen Formen und Farben – ich will sie alle sehen!! -mk

 

Gallery:  http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100740


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Emperors Wings – Whitsundays

7 07 2009

 

 

When we got on the boat, before it even left the dock there was a briefing.  One thing Harry the Kiwi skipper said was “if you’re here for a party boat, you’re on the wrong boat.  Get off and go get your money back.”  I liked that.

For the insanely low price of $345 AUD we were on a three night cruise on a brand spanking new sailboat called Emperors Wings that would take us around the islands then out to the Outer Great Barrier Reef for diving.  The boat was completely full but it was never really a tight fit.  The food was good and the staff were excellent.  

On the first day we went to Hayman Island and dove Blue Pearl Bay.  After that we sailed to Whitsunday Island, arriving after dark.  The next morning we went to Whitehaven beach.  What a fantastic place that was.  Easily one of the best looking beaches in the world.  A perfect example of pristine, tranquil beach, far removed from civilization.  Which is exactly why we were sharing it with 200 other people from various other tour boats.

After that it was out to the reef for a couple of days of diving.  Good stuff, that was.  We even did a night dive.  The camera is still broken but we took the G9.

At the end of the trip we sailed back to the mainland to spend the last night in a protected bay.  It was just around the corner from Airlie but it was so empty and quiet that it could’ve easily have been 1000 miles away.

If you’re going to Airlie Beach then we highly recommend you take a trip on Emperors Wings.  Unless you’re a 19 year old drunken backpacker dickhead in which case Spirit of Airlie is your boat. -jp

 

 

Endlich, auf gings zum Segeltrip. Das hieß 3 Tage segeln, 3 Tage Great Barrier Reef tauchen und wunderschöne Inseln und Strände dabei anschauen! Einfach genial! Wir haben nen super Preis von Rose in dem Tourist Information Center in Airlie bekommen. Das Ganze hat uns 345,- AU$ gekostet – exkl. tauchen.

Wir haben uns Mittags getroffen und sind zu den Whitsundays gesegelt. Auf Hayman Island waren wir dann auf unserem 1. Tauchgang in der Blue Pearl Bay. Sehr schöner Tauchgang, doch es sollte noch besser kommen! Am nächsten Morgen haben wir einen Inselspaziergang zum White Haven Beach unternommen – der mit am schönsten Strände der Welt mit unglaublich feinem, weißen Sand. Riesig – Strand wohin das Auge reicht! … Doch natürlich konnten wir es nicht erwarten danach endlich wieder ins Wasser zu kommen um das Äußere Great Barrier Reef zu betauchen. Am Bait Reef bei den South Stepping Stones gings dann in die Tiefen des Meeres. Als ich so die Luft aus meiner Tauchweste gelassen hab und somit langsam abtauchte, fühlte ich mich wie im Aquarium! Nein ehrlich, es war so unglaublich klare Sicht, dass es einem tatsächlich vorkam wie in einem frisch geputztem Aquarium. Wir hatten einen tollen Tauchgang, wo ich 2 Haie entdeckt hab und gerade noch Justin zeigen konnte, die andern Taucher waren wie immer schon weit voran geschwommen – selber schuld! Es waren nur kleine Haie – ein White Tip Reef Shark und ein Black Tip Reef Shark. Da war ich natürlich sehr stolz auf mich!

Die Rückfahrt am nächsten Tag war etwas schaucklig, aber wir haben das gut überstanden. Alles in Allem der Trip war sein Geld auf jeden Fall wert, wir hatten ne Menge Spaß! -mk

 

Islands gallery/Insel gallerie: http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100725

Diving gallery (still using the G9, no flash): http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100732


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1770 / Lady Musgrave Island

24 06 2009

 

 

The Town of 1770 is less a town and more like a street with a little marina.  But the marina has boats and those boats go to the Great Barrier Reef.  We went to Lady Musgrave Island on one of those tourist snorkel pontoon boat things and it was a lot better than I was planning on.  On the way out to the reef we saw whales jumping out of the water and dolphins swimming around the boat.

We did two dives at the island, one on the outer reef and one in the lagoon.  During the first dive we could hear the chatter of dolphins the entire time because they were following us.  The camera stuffed up again on the first dive but the second dive was so shallow that we got some photos.  We hope you enjoy them. -jp

 

 

Town of 1770 ist mehr oder weniger ein Strand mit einem winzigen Hafen und ein paar Häusern. Trotzallem echt schön und vorallem tolle Strände. Wir haben dort eine Tour unternommen welche uns zur Lady Musgrave Insel am Great Barrier Reef gebracht hat, wo wir natürlich tauchen waren. Auf dem Weg dahin durften wir sogar ganz aus der Ferne Wale beobachten und einer ist sogar 2 mal komplett aus dem Wasser gesprungen – naja, aber leider ziemlich weit weg, was uns jetzt dazu motiviert hat eine dieser Waltouren zu machen, wo sie direkt zu den Walen hinfahren und man diese dann ganz nah sehen kann.

 

Der erste Tauchgang war am äußeren Riff, wo ich mir echt schon fast in die Hose gemacht hab, weil sich die Wellen riiiesig am Riff gebrochen haben und ich meine RIESIG! Doch während des Tauchganges wurden wir von den Gesängen der Delphine begleitet – leider haben die Burschen sich nicht gezeigt. Der Tauchgang war dann auch ein wenig strömungsbelastet und anstrengend, doch wir hatten ja noch unseren zweiten Tauchgang in der Lagune. Der war echt schön! Da die Ebbe schon ziemlich weit vorangeschritten war, war das Wasser ziemlich flach und wir haben das ganze schöne Sonnenlicht na unten bekommen. Da sieht man die Korallen und Fische wirklich am besten. -mk

 

Fotogalerie/Photogallery: http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100688

 

This is where 1770 is.  Notice on the map the next town is Agnes Water.  This is the only town in the area with a grocery store and it’s about 8km from 1770.  I walked there and back to get a steak and some shrimp to grill.


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Mooloolaba (HMAS Brisbane) and Noosa

12 06 2009

 

 

We went to Mooloolaba so that I could dive (it was too cold for Monique) the HMAS Brisbane.  Mooloolaba is a cute little town with a beachfront main drag of shops and cafes.  But the main reason to go there is to dive the Brisbane.  It’s a destroyer that was used in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars before being decommissioned in 2001 and sunk as an artificial reef in 2007.  It’s already attracted fish and soft corals to it.

During the dive I saw little clown fish, a couple of octopi, some kingfish, a few porcupinefish, and a couple of other fish of note.  The dive itself was around and over the outside for the first dive and then through the middle for the second.  There were consoles and toilets and silos and cannon still in place.  A very nice dive.

Unfortunately, I can’t show you any of this stuff because my camera stuffed up.  In fact, the photo at the top is the only one I got before the camera decided not to cooperate anymore.  How annoying.  

 

After Mooloolaba we drove to Noosa which didn’t impress us at all.  It was too expensive, too pretentious, and the pies tasted awful.  Seriously.  Worst pie EVER.

After a stroll around there for an hour or so we decided to leave the pomp and circumstance and go to Rainbow Beach to get ready to go to Fraser Island.  On the way we got routed onto a 4wd track by the navigation system and passed some controlled burning.  -jp

 

Gallery but no diving photos:

http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100672

 

Mooloolaba is here.


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Julian Rocks – Byron Bay

31 05 2009

 

Wobbegong Shark in Byron Bay

 

We finally got back in the water!  Unfortunately, the water was still a mess from the storms the week before.  It was extremely poor visibility and the water was green and soupy.   And cold.  21C!  But we saw some stuff we’ve never seen before.  More wobbegong sharks than you could shake a stick at, a huge loggerhead turtle that must be approaching 100 years old if he isn’t already, and the friendliest porcupine fish ever.  

Unfortunately, Monique only got to do one dive and I did two.  We’ll try again at the tail end of our trip when we come back through Sydney.  Then we can also dive South West Rocks which we also missed because it was completely cut off due to the flooding. -jp

 

 

Endlich wieder tauchen!

 

Wir waren endlich wieder tauchen! Hab mich so darauf gefreut und es war auch wirklich schön, nur so kalt… 21Grad – brrrr!! Das mag jetzt warm klingen, für die lieben Leute von Euch, die schön gemütlich an der Oberfläche rumschwimmen, doch beim Tauchen ist es echt kalt! Hab deshalb auch nur einen Tauchgang gemacht, naja und die Sicht war nicht so hervorragend, wegen dem Sturm der die Woche zuvor über die Ostküste Australiens gezogen ist. Trotzallem ein sehr interessanter Tauchgang, da wir Dinge gesehen haben, die wir nie zuvor bei einem Tauchgang gesehen haben, z.B. Wobbegong Haie, Loggerhead Schildkröte (die wahrscheinlich 100 Jahre alt war – man, sie war RIIIEEESIG!) und einen Shovelnoseray. -mk

 

Galerie:

http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man/100634

 

und hier noch ein paar Fotos von Byron Bay city / a few more photos of Byron Bay’s center:

http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100642


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A lesson in underwater photography

26 03 2009

I’m not going to pretend like I know a lot about the subject of underwater photography (and I’m certainly not going to get all highfalutin and say crap like “digital darkroom” or “digital film”… sorry just a pet peeve) but I do know a couple of things about it.  And by “a couple” I mean “two.”

1. You know all the blue in an underwater photo?  That’s water.  You know how to take it out?  Okay, those of you who said “Photoshop” aren’t really on the right track.  All you do there is try and color correct.

The right answer is “remove the water.”  Get closer to your subject.  If you are taking a shot of something far enough away and find you have to zoom, then it’s going to be a bad picture.  No amount of color correction will help it.  Maybe some clever Photoshopping but who has time for that?

If you find you can’t get those subjects in the frame, get a wider lens.  If you don’t know how to go about taking the water out, go find some anemone fish and practice on them.  They pose for you.  They don’t leave.  They’re great subjects.  Stick the camera in their faces and go to town.

See if you can figure out which photos in the linked gallery I used the zoom on and which ones I didn’t.  But if it comes down to getting a single shot of something really cool, then do it.  Better than no photo at all.

2. Buoyancy is your friend.  If you’re a new diver trying to take a photo and you’re bouncing off the coral or standing on the rock (this is about 85% of you so pay attention) then consider leaving the camera on the boat for a dive and learn how to properly hover and then how to hover at angles including upside down.  Then learn how to move into and then away from something fragile like a coral outcropping.

Here’s a hint: don’t just start kicking away from it, ffs.  The displacement your fins put out is already screwing up the coral and whatever is on it.  Imagine the poor anemone fish or nudibranch thinking to itself “shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit it’s a tornado!”

Oh, remember that black tip gallery I was talking about?  Here it is.  The shots were taken with the G9, ISO 400, no flash. -jp

http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100461


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The lack of updates…

20 03 2009

Yes, there’s been a lack of updates.  We’ve been busy.  And honestly, it didn’t occur to us that we could make entries without photos.  It’s the lack of new photos that have been holding us up.  So here’s an entry sans photo.

As far as my DM training goes, I think I’m about done.  I have to do a physiology test, the rescue assessment, the mapping, and the emergency action plan.

I’ve done all the other stuff, as well as the gas blender and equipment maintenance specialties and DAN O2 provider and will do the photography and deep dive specialties.  In all it’s been a pretty busy time. It’s almost over though.  After that… Australia!  -jp


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Trying a new camera underwater

14 03 2009

So I got a new camera.  Well, it’s new to me.  I got my dad’s Canon G9 off of him since he upgraded to a G10.  It’s really cool because the underwater housing is like $120 and you can take it to 40 or 50 meters.  Pretty nice set up for not a lot of money.

It’s a lot smaller than the other camera and, while I’m not going to pretend that they’re in the same league, it takes good shots.  It’s really nice that it shoots RAW (which is why I wanted it) and it’s much easier to tote around than the other one.  Maybe I’ll put up comparison photos.

Here’s an example from this camera.

Gallery is here: http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100453


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Faszination pur – ein Walhai!

21 02 2009

Dieses Glück widerfährt wohl nicht jedem Taucher!

Whaleshark / Walhai

Erst war da nur dieser Schatten, doch dieser Schatten endete mit einer riesigen Flosse – ein WALHAI!! Unglaublich dieses Gefühl. Als ich realisierte, diesen Riesen des Meeres wirklich und wahrhaftig zu sehen, fing ich an meine Luft nur noch so aus meiner Taucherflasche zu saugen. Bis zu diesem Moment dachte ich immer, ich werde Angst haben, wenn ich einmal einem so großen Fisch begegne, aber dieser Walhai war einfach nur Faszination pur!! 

Hier könnt Ihr Euch selbst davon überzeugen:

http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100386

Übrigens, Walhaie fressen vorwiegend Plankton, also keine Monique’s und Justin’s:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walhai

-mk  

 

WHALE SHARK!  Every cleverly compiled dive plan falls apart when you see the shadow of a whale shark above you.  Ours was about 4 meters long but they can get to 18 meters. 

It’s not every day you see the biggest fish in the sea so when you do, it’s a big deal.  I sucked down all of my air in record time and we got a few shots.  Check them out at the gallery link above.

-jp


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Advanced Open Water Diver!

18 02 2009

Yaha! Ich darf mich seit gestern Advanced Open Water Diver nennen. Was das bedeutet? Hm, ich darf nun auch offiziell tiefer als 18m tauchen, hab gelernt wie man unter Wasser navigiert und verlorene Dinge wiederfindet. Solltet recht hilfreich sein, falls mir mein Buddy mal verloren geht – haha!

Hier sind noch weitere Fotos die ich während des Kurses gemacht habe:

http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100375

-mk

Monique finished her advanced open water course.  Yay!  That meas I don’t have to leave her at 18 meters to go look at deeper stuff.  Also she can navigate which means it’s now her job to find the boat since I’m totally rubbish at it.

Photos in the gallery link above.

-jp


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