What an incredible turn-around!! The worst night of the trip turned into the best day. Steve, the crazy dive instructor, picked us up. Me and Sebastian (Germany) from Gilligan's, Donna and Andy (England) from Coastal, and Felix (Germany) from Paradise, along with a few second-day folks.
FYI: Cairns is pronounced "cans."
Emily Greeve (New Zealand) was our instructor, so that day we got schooled in dive technique and Kiwi euphemisms. She's 6'2" and as loud and laughable as she is tall. Very cool chick who constantly says "happy days" and "good times" to ask "do you understand?" Her acronym for the predive check was BWRAF: "Bush Will Ruin America Forever." Apparently, he doesn't translate as being any smarter internationally than he appears in the U.S.
We spent the morning in the classroom, talking, watching video, and taking quizzes. Sebastian, Felix, and I walked to KFC for lunch. Not the same selections as in the States, but filling. After lunch, we changed into our "jockeys," learned how to assemble our gear, and then jumped into the "swimmy" for training. Within a couple of hours, I had learned to breath through the regulator; flood and clear my mask while underwater; take off and put on my mask underwater; remove and replace my regulator underwater; regulate buoyancy; breathe off someone else's regulator; hand signal for a dozen different reasons; recover a lost regulator; and other things that I can't even remember now.
Instead of homework, we all chose to go to Reef Teach, a training held that night by a group of biologists who teach interested visitors and prep snorkelers and divers for their time on the reef. After learning the 8 major classifications of fish on the reef (2,100 different kinds but 8 types account for 80% of all fish on the reef), we learned about the types of coral. Then the last stimulating part of the session explored the vast realm of what creatures might cause us trouble. There were a lot of them. Things with darts, things that oozed venom, things that would bite, things that would suck, things that we shouldn't touch (many of which looked very similar to things they encouraged us to touch and pick up... now I know why Supertramp died in that bus in AK... some many things in the wild look alike), what we should do in case we saw one of them, and how long we would have to respond (or say goodbye) if they did something bad to us. It was completely cool, but afterward, we all agreed that we wouldn't touch anything unless Emily handed it to us. And lucky for me, with an odd number in the group, Emily is my dive buddy on the reef.
After Reef Teach, Sebastian, Felix, and Stewart (England, dove on the reef a few days earlier) stood around talking. The conversation drifted through the bottleshop (where a 6-pack of Tooney's was $15!!) and to the smokers' and puffers' balcony at the Paradise, where at least a dozen others joined us. Spelled phonetically as best I remember: Maria, Yjungon, and Atalina (Finland); Hyco (Germany), Edmundo (Spain); Mick (France); Mike (England); ?? (Australia); and I have already forgotten the other names. I was surprised by how close some of their ages were to mine and how much we had in common. They made fun of George Bush (several times); of the differences between Aussie Rules, Rugby League, Rugby Union, and Footy; of how long Gilligan's was (others had been there and moved also). Hyco brought out a couple of $5 bottles of Steigenstoffer (sp?), the same beer my brother brought back from Germany 15 years ago. Good stuff! Better than any microbrew wheat I've had anywhere. The time hit single digits, and suggestions were made to visit the bar at Gilligan's. I had no interest since I'd already overpaid them to give me a hard time, so I walked back to the hotel eating an orange and preparing myself for nightmares about killer sharks, sea snakes, and poisonous coral.
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