Day 16: Dive Class #2 in Cairns

I checked out of the Holiday Inn and sat with my stuff on the steps awaiting my 8:55am pick up. It was Emily this time, and there were 2 new first-day people. The Deep Sea Divers Den accepts new diver trainees every day, so small classes are great!

We had an addition, also. Phillip (Denmark) was doing a PADI refresher course because he hadn't been diving in a few years. We reviewed everything we did the first day and added some new skills also. I still can't believe how much I've learned in 2 short days.

Sebastian and I walked out to lunch before the afternoon classroom time and final exam (I scored 45/50, silly mistakes but no errors on the dive tables). This time, to the strange mall across from my hostel. He's a finance math major at a German university near his hometown. Very excited about his courses and finishing, but not crazy about the idea of putting his skills to action in a "real" job.

After getting to know the people in my class, both Sebastian and I have decided to stay with the others overnight on the dive boat. That means that we'll get to do a fun dive, where we can take photos, and we'll get to snorkel as much as we want after our dives and on-boat training. Meals, linens, and entertainment (Felix) included, so very much worth the $95 upgrade. Everyone other than me will be staying on the boat 2 nights. I tried to change my flight to leave for Auckland a day or two later, so I could stay and do the night dive and the 5th day deep-water dive (to 30 meters) which would count towards advanced certification. But no luck. It would have cost $200 to delay, which would have been ok if not for the $300 blown on the Gilligan's/Holiday Inn fiasco. Even though I have the funds, I'm trying to stick to a strict budget... minimal purchases, reasonable food/drink, although I'm splurging more than I should on those $3 cokes.

FYI: Bob Dylan's Hurricane is playing on the sound system in the internet cafe. Live version. Excellent recording!

NOTE: I'm telling you, these people don't forget any songs, any bands. It's great!

I moved into the Cairns Central YHA tonight. Clean, 6x dorms instead of 8x, and somewhat quiet... the Grand Hotel next door has live music from 3pm until close, but it's great music (see note above). I've already set aside everything that I plan to take on the dive boat. I'll check out in the morning before my 7:45am pickup, and I'll leave everything else locked up at the dive shop.

In case I haven't mentioned it lately, so far I packed really well for this trip. I was worried in Surfers Paradise because it was so hot, and I had limited warm-weather clothing, but the layering habits of my inner hiker made it do-able. Then the jackets and scarves worked well in Sydney. Now here, the tanks lightweight pants are perfect. My only concern is the cold weather in NZ. I'm leaning towards renting a car instead of a camper van, but I'm still wavering. I'll decide after I return from the reef on Tuesday. Today I learned about the flying-after-diving decompression illness rule, and I'll be just over the minimum "no fly" time of 18 hours but not the 24 hours recommended by the Queensland authorities. I got the ok from two dive masters, so I'm excited to get this show started!!

And my converted Aussie money is spending well, too. After a reef dive t-shirt for me and a shark t-shirt for my nephew, I'm down to about $100, which will be food and transport to the airport on my way to Auckland and "breaky" in the Sydney airport on August 7 morning before leaving for LAX.

Walking to the internet cafe today, I met Pete from Sydney who is working a 2-month job in Cairns. Very nice and chatty. Kept asking to let him buy me a beer, but it's ok, mom. I passed. I may talk to strangers on hostel balconies, but I don't have drinks with them... unless they're REALLY "fired"! :) I'll let you figure out that meaning and which country it comes from.

I'll walk back to the YHA for a few restless hours of sleep and anticipation. Leaving for the first reef dive day bright and early in the AM, and I'll be incommunicado for a couple of days. In my next post, I hope to have lots of great stories, amazing photos, and a PADI dive card in hand.