3/27/2007 - Best Lady Musgrave Trip EVER!

Ok - that is a big statement - but I wouldn't go there if it weren't true.

This time round -13 of us headed out of Bundaberg on Friday night for 3.5 days of diving, relaxing and adverturing, and we were not disappointed. One of the real highlights of this trip was the fact that only 2 divers were recently certified and I had dived with almost everyone else numerous times. We all had a very similar dive style as well - just cruising. I think because there were no Advanced or Rescue Courses happening it freed up the two instructors who run the dive club to just chill with us and have fun.

We did 11 dives, of which I did 9. Primarily we hung out at Musgrave Island with a couple of dives at Fairfax Island. The average dive time was 55mins. Some of the diving highlights included:

Biggest Mooray I have EVER seen - longer than me and a body thicker than my leg. It was almost brown underpants time when I pushed through the bait fish and came face to face with the monster. To those who have been reading my blog for a while know of my inherent fear of Moorays. OK - I KNEW this one lived here - I had even seen video footage. I just didn't think it would be so bloody big. Dive Site: Jacksons Bommie at Fairfax Island.

Turtle having breakfast - We can across a very relaxed turtle having breakfast as we were finishing up a dive. He didn't care one little bit about us and continued eating. So incredibly cute! Dive Site: Camping Grounds at Lady Musgrave Island.

Leafy SeaDragon - first time I have ever seen one. WOW WOW WOW. I can't even believe Shona (dive leader) saw it, but it was just fantastic! Dive Site: Smurfs Hut at Lady Musgrave Island.

Manta Ray-palooza - Mantas jumping out of the water and hanging out on the surface as well as being there in force! It always takes my breath away to see these wonderful animals and this time was no different. Dive Site: MataRay Bommie at Lady Musgrave Island.

Freediving! I suck at this so bad - but the Dive Master on the Venus II and I went snorkling again (we did this two trips back) while the bulk of the gang went to explore Lady Musgrave Island. I made it down to 8m without weights and he and I did a cleanup of the site - a popular mooring with sailboats. So many bottles and broken glasses - disappointing to see people treat such a lovely bommie with disrespect.\

Dramamine - Worst return conditions ever. The five hour trip took 7.5 hours headlong into a gale warning with wind up to 40knots but mostly around 30knots. The waves were so big, from my position within the main cabin - I could look back down through the kitchen and down to the ocean below... I kid you not - we are talking around 70degrees here people. The Venus II held together but there was a lot of bump and grind and some anxious moments when the tender started to question its integrity. I took a Dramamine early in the day (because I knew it would be blowy) and took two more before we left the safe haven of Lady Musgrave. Thank the gods for Dramamine!

All in all it was a great trip - knowing the dive sites now makes it a lot more enjoyable and less of a navigational concern. There were a few challenges though - nothing to do with the Venus II but all to do with my clumsiness.

Firstly, I badly sprained my right ankle on Thursday night while walking home (read jay walking and not looking where I was going) and also fell heavily on my left knee which left it stiff swollen and bruised. This made the 4.5 hour dive up challenging, but paracetamol is a great thing. It also meant that it was very difficult to fin against the current or for long periods. I mainly frog kicked (which is my preferred deal anyway) or pulled myself along the sand/chain to get to the site.

Secondly, on the Sunday I fell off the boat. Yes. I had finished up my dive and taken off the gear (all of it including wettie and booties) and decided to climb down the back ladder onto the duck board and dive in (like I had done stacks of times before). This time, I stepped onto my sore ankle and went to turn around and slipped before I could - thereby hitting all four steps to the duckboard and the two steps underwater - scrapping the hell out of my butt and winding myself. STUPID STUPID STUPID. I have bruises where the sun don't shine and I can't tell you how painful it was to pull on a damp wetsuit up over a grazed butt.

Even with these things, it was still the bestest trip ever and still such a fantastic experience. Check out www.divemusgrave.com.au for more information - and some pics of me and some taken by me before Sony decided to be a dick.

Happy bubbles!!