As mentioned last week, we were unable to sail QuickStar over to Pacific Harbour due to the high winds that were against us. For Peter’s birthday, we took a cab (2 ½ hours) to our hotel, where we stayed for two nights. We rendezvoused with Anja and Scott from Beachhouse who met us from the other direction. The highlight of our stay was the world-famous shark dive.
Dive Shop
On the dive boat - Scott to the right of Peter
The first dive was pretty exciting as we saw nurse sharks, which we were able to pet, one at a time, as they were being fed. Next came the requim sharks (the aggressive ones): white tipped reef sharks, gray reef, silver tip, bull sharks and black tipped sharks. We also saw huge schools of large fish, including an 8 feet grouper that was almost 6 feet wide and what looked like massive dinosaur fish called Travalies. I actually thought they were sharks as they were that big. The big sharks attract the big fish, which attract the small fish, etc., so we were able to see the whole underwater food chain in action.
Peter and Anja during the surface interval between dives
Unfortunately, just after going to the feeding station and petting the nurse shark, my equipment mal-functioned. My regulator (where the air comes from) stopped working and I starting sucking in pure saltwater instead of air. After taking a few big gulps, I thought I was drowning. Very scary stuff! Peter and one of the excellent dive masters figured out my panicked signaling, so Peter thrust the dive master’s spare regulator in to my mouth (after purging it). The dive master and I then had to go slowly up together to the surface, with a safety stop for decompression, as this little incident happened at about 85 feet deep. The good thing is I didn’t totally freak out and bolt for the surface, but when I got to the boat, I was coughing up seawater and was really shaken up. I decided to sit out the second dive, however, as everyone was getting ready, I changed my mind, as they did have extra equipment to swap out and I needed to “get back on the horse”.
Tiger Shark (photo courtesy of Scott Stolnitz- Beachhouse)
I am so thrilled that I "cowboyed up" and went because not only did we see all the above-mentioned sharks again, but we were treated with a visit by the elusive tiger shark. These are amongst the most aggressive sharks in the world, and it is rare to see one (and live to tell the story). This shark swam right over top of us as we were sitting on the bottom. You could reach out and touch it (but that isn’t a wise idea!) By the time we got back to the boat, we were all talking a mile a minute and totally pumped about our adventure. Just fantastic.
Joyce on the dive boat
What was also amazing to me is that one of the divers was a lady named Joyce who was 83 years old! She only learned to dive when she was 65 and has since logged over 751 dives. She had to have help to get on and off the boat, but in the water she was the first one down and raring to go. What an inspiration!
Joyce and I getting our log books signed (751 for her – 52 for me)
Di and the guys goofing around
Scott and Anja heading back to Beachhouse to get ready for the celebrations!
After the dive, we spent a wonderful birthday afternoon in the garden of our hotel. Anja made Peter some authentic German potato salad and a birthday cheesecake and then we topped off this magical day with a birthday dinner. Peter is still talking about his awesome birthday!
Birthday celebration in the garden
Cutting the cake
Di helping Anja learn how to “cast off” her knitting. I know my friends will be killing themselves laughing to think of me teaching knitting!
During the dive, Anja brushed up against fire coral with the only inch of bare skin she had. Her entire right ankle is full of hard bumps (similar to chicken pox) and her foot is swollen. This is very serious, not only because it itches beyond belief, but because it is very hard to heal and is painful to walk on. She may take the advice of some of the old salts here and have Scott freeze her foot (he was a Dentist) and then Anja will debride the sores. I told her I’d hold her hand (and film it for posterity!).
Anja with an ice-pack on her swollen, painful ankle
We took the bus back to Port Denereau, where we are getting ready and now awaiting the arrival of Don and Martha from Ottawa on Monday morning at 5:30 a.m. On another happy note, Peter’s Dad is doing remarkably better and is likely to get out of the hospital soon.
Peter swabbing the deck
Celebrating a great week and Peter’s Dad’s major improvements!
Until next week….Happy Birthday to Peter’s sister Caroline
P.S. For some reason, I’m unable to post new photos on the sidebar, hence the reason for more photos within this copy. Hopefully, I’ll get it figured out by next week.
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