dannygoesdiving

40th Birthday !!

dannygoesdiving — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:21:00 GMT

Firstly, I'm not really sure how this happened - there are certain age milestones during life, but I'm not sure how this one snuck up on me !

I don't remember what happened on my 18th so it must have been a pretty drunk affair (kes may remember - I remember his better as I had to pull him out of a police truck that he climbed into thinking it was a taxi !!!)., I know that I celebrated my 21st in Leicester at a club called 'The Fan Club', it was a Tuesday and both shots and bottles of Becks were 40 pence. I spent my 30th at the Queen Victoria public house in Northampton which we hired out for the evening, about 50 people were there and much drunken and disorderly behaviour ensured, but 40?

It doesn't feel like a milestone now that it is here, I don't feel 40, I don't look 40 and I most certainly don't act 40, so what the hell I had better just keep enjoying life.

I knew something had been planned for the day by Josie as I had been booked off work, and being told to take my diving gear home from work provided a clue, but I was pretty much in the dark as to what was happening or who would be involved.

My first surprise was a VR3 dive computer - now this means nothing to the non divers out there, but for those in the know it is a great present, especially for journeying down the realm of technical diving - nuff said.

Jo disappeared at an ungodly hour, I was just told to be ready for 8am, at which time Eric turned up to collect me a take us to our first destination, this turned out to be Big Blue (where Jo works), as she had months earlier pre booked a dive boat just for us and friends for the day. Waiting there were Jo (obviously) and other key friends on the island Steve, Nik, and Deb, so the only noticeable absentee was Lynne who could not get the day off. With Jo at the helm we headed out for a day at West Caicos, laden down with dive gear, kayaks, food and alcohol.

The sun was shining, the seas were calm and a it seems it was going to be a memorable day when as we came around the point at West Caicos we were joined by a pod of about 30 Atlantic dolphins, which included a number of young. These are normally shy and soon disappear if you try and join them in the water, however, we thought we would chance it and amazingly they continued to hang around, even swimming up to us and around us. In the end we spent about 10 minutes swimming and duck diving with then before they got bored of us and headed off - there could not have been a better start to the day.

We moored up on a dive site called 'Elephant Ear Canyon' for the dive and all jumped in. The water was crystal clear and I quickly dropped to 180ft hung around for a minute or so, savouring the solitude and having the opportunity the look at the wall rising both above and below me. Jo and I then headed shallow where we pottered around before heading back to the boat - the total dive time was of course 40 minutes.

The dive over and it already approaching late morning, it was time for brunch and corona !

We then headed towards the dive site 'Yankeetown' where we dropped anchor close to the shoreline and swam to West Caicos. The dive site is named after a settlement of the same name, which is situated just a few hundred feet inland. It was once a sisal plantation and existed from the late 1800's - 1920's, I have wanted to explore the remains of the settlement and the surrounding vicinity for over a year and Jo knowing this had led to her choosing West Caicos as a destination. Suitably protected from mozzies we wandered around the settlement, saw the remains of their hand dug cistern, some of the remaining buildings and abandoned equipment (steam train and sisal press) before heading inland to the lake. We followed the old route of the rail line which ran across the length of lake Catherine to the other side of the island - the embankment would have been hand built and must have been a real feat of engineering.

We headed back to the boat and moved along the coast towards the dive site 'Brandy Wine' where again we swam inshore to see the remains of an old crane which had been left there decades earlier - I have passed it on the boat many many times so it was about time I went and had a closer look.

It was now getting towards early afternoon so we chose to head back towards the point of the island where we had passed the dolphins. The kayak was now in the water being pulled behind the boat and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss - Steve and I jumped in and were introduced to 'speed kayaking', whereby we were dragged behind the boat bouncing in its wake and getting truly soaked to the skin - great fun, but the novelty does begin to wear off once you are truly blinded by salt water and have also had mouthfuls of the stuff.

We dropped anchor, ate rolls, crisps and cheesecake and drank a number of Erics infamous margaritas. Fully replenished we jumped in the kayak and using them in the traditional manner headed over to some small caves/inlets on the shore. We all then snorkeled around the site, explored some of the cave mouths and generally chilled.

The journey back was very relaxed (thanks to more margaritas) and the day was topped off with more drinks on Debs boat watching the sunset.

It was a brilliant and memorable day spent with some great friends - it could only have been bettered if I had got to see my family and if I had got to enjoy the day with a couple of absent and much missed friends - you guys know who you are.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and those that I missed on my birthday I hope to see again soon.

USA 2008 - Road trip to New Orleans

dannygoesdiving — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 21:31:00 GMT

This was to be a mini road tour compared with our USA road tour the previous year, with our final destination being New Orleans.

After Graceland we headed through Tennessee and into the State of Mississippi, briefly entered Alabama and then re-entered Mississippi, our destination being the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile long parkway, in the form of a limited access two-lane road, it commemorates an ancient trail that connected southern portions of the Mississippi River, through Alabama, to salt licks in today's central Tennessee. It is a National Scenic Byway and All-American Road, devoid of billboards, fast food outlets, buildings etc. Their are various stop offs en route to view 'points of interest' though in fairness they were scraping the bottom of the barrel; stopping to view an area of grass that had 'once homed some people' was about the best of it. The countryside was similar all afternoon, with low lying land, lots and lots of trees and very little traffic. We had to leave the parkway to find a motel for the night. The evening meal was a ‘dry’ one, it being Sunday and not a day when alcohol could be sold !

The following day we continued along the parkway, stopping off every now and again to enjoy the tranquillity and the countryside. The problem for us after a while was that it was all ‘same, same’, it reminded us of an English country lane, but one that goes on for hundreds of miles. We left the parkway and headed cross country with a final destination of Vicksburg. Upon leaving the park, we started to see wooden houses (complete with rocking chairs), mobile houses and lots and lots of Baptist churches. The countryside started to vary, although inevitably it was low lying and so not really dramatic. We stayed on the outskirts of Vicksburg, in a ‘Scottish Inn’, which was cheap, but damp. We were starting to find the state of Mississippi very humid.

In the morning we headed to the Vicksburg National Military Park. The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War- a war which was the deadliest in American history, caused 620,000 soldier deaths (more deaths than all other wars combined that involved the United States) and an undetermined number of civilian casualties, ended slavery in the United States and restored the Union.

The park provides a wealth of information for both the Civil War buff (which we were not) and the uninitiated. There are numerous cannons; points of interest where major battles took place; monuments and obelisks commemorating the dead; the salvaged remains of the USS Cairo (an iron clad gunship) and the inevitable military cemetery. In addition to it being a very interesting place to visit, it is very peaceful and the drive takes you through some beautiful countryside and wildlife (we even saw wild turkeys). We spent a couple of hours in the park, then headed into Louisiana with the aim of reaching New Orleans by the evening. We were obviously not sure what to expect as Hurricane Gustav had hit only 10 days earlier and millions of people had been evacuated from its path. As we got closer we started to see the devastation caused by the hurricane - lots of fallen trees, damaged power lines and many buildings either damaged or destroyed by falling trees. At the outskirts of Baton Rouge we saw queues of people waiting for handouts of food and water, all being overseen by the National Guard. We crossed bridges spanning the swampland (swampland has a distinctive smell !) and into the outskirts of New Orleans. We had real trouble finding somewhere to stay with many hotels either being closed for hurricane repairs or full of displaced and homeless people. Tired and irritable we finally found a hotel about 10 miles from the centre of New Orleans and headed to the bar. We got chatting to a couple of people and before we knew it we were steaming drunk - on reflection with events back home and a long day, it was much needed and left us hungover but reinvigorated.

As a consequence of our drinking binge, the following day was a hangover day - we sought out a 'Dennys' for an American 'All Slam' breakfast and then shopped at Best Buy where we get a new laptop, an external hard-drive and 3 Ipod Nanos - all for under $1000 !!! After dropping off the hire car we found a hotel near the French Quarter in New Orleans for the following 3 days and then chilled in the hotel for the remainder of the day.

We caught a taxi into New Orleans and booked into our hotel - one benefit to us of the hurricane was an absolute lack of tourists, hence we ended up staying in a $495 a night room for $99 - marvelous. We were only 3 blocks from the French Quarter and so set out for voyage of discovery. We instantly warmed to the French Quarter and the surrounding area, it encompasses quite a large area (which keeps you occupied) and has a safe feel to it and a good vibe. We went to Jackson Square, saw St. Louis cathedral, walked around the quarter enjoying the architecture and the near empty streets - there were probably more National Guard than tourists ! Finally we ended up on Bourbon Street and found a restaurant called 'La Bayou', where we ended up with some fantastic Cajun food - fried alligator (very tasty, like chewy chicken); red beans & rice; Jambalaya (seasoned mixture of rice, meat and vegetables cooked in one pot); gumbo (a thick soup) and crawfish. The food was some of the best we had all holiday. After that we booked a swamp tour for the following day and then caught a tram to give us a chance to see a bit more of the city - there is alot of urban decay as you leave the tourist hub, as well as many houses still boarded from the hurricane.

The weather picked up over night, as Hurricane Ike (which had already struck Turks & Caicos) was heading towards Texas, being on the fringe of the hurricane New Orleans got heavy winds and very heavy intermittent rain. We walked along a deserted waterfront, which overlooks the Mississippi. We had to keep dodging heavy spells of rain (one 'dodge' was spent under a covered area trapped with a mad local dude, certainly no younger than 65, who sang a song of your choice for whatever cash you wanted to give him. As Jo and her youngest sister Charlie both love Dock of the Bay we chose that one and were pleasantly surprised to hear a very good voice, though the consistent snapping of his fingers was a bit weird........We checked on the tour and were not suprised to find out that the swamp tour had been cancelled. We ended up going to the Audubon Insectarium which was suprisingly interesting and passed a few hours. We then caught a tram out to see some of the city's many beautiful cemeteries and their distinct above-ground tombs. Later on we wandered down Bourbon street, I found an Irish Bar that served guiness properly (and in an imperial pint glass) and then we wandered into the very touristy Voodoo shops. In the evening we headed back to 'La Bayou' where we had some great crawfish fishcakes and blackened redfish. We then headed down Bourbon Street - it may once have been the home of jazz, sadly now it is the home of stag and hen nights and reminded me of Blackpool ! There were 'gentlemens Clubs', strip bars, karaoke bars, '3 for 1' drinks offers and the street was packed with gangs of lads and the innevitable drunks. It seems really sad that a street with so much history has become such a tacky place. We did however find an oasis on the street, 'Musical Legends Park', which has a cafe called 'Cafe Beignet'. We sat in the couryard, drinking and enjoying a jazz band called 'Steamboat Willie', who specialised in 1920's jazz. Weird how Jo was able to sing along to what felt like some quite obscure music, grinning as each new song came on and eyes lighting up with recognition.

Our final full day we fortified ourselves at a great breakfast place (we just can't get enough American style hashbrowns), then went on a shoping spree, interspaced with drinking coffee and listening to jazz bands on the streets and in open bars. We bought lots of unnecessary things as well as the obligatory voodoo dolls, sent postcards and then chilled in a bar listening to a truly insane cajun/bluegrass band (and enjoying the Corona 2 for 1 offer !). In the evening we ate fried oysters (obviously an acquired taste - very mashmallowy) and then headed for Preservation Hall for what we hoped would be a memorable evening of jazz. Preservation Hall is a noted jazz performance hall, it has limited seating, no power (hence no microphones etc), no bar and is only opens for 3 hours per evening (8pm - 11pm). It is usually crowded so we arrived early and despite the low number of tourists in the city, we still ended up sitting on the floor. The band was out of this world, they were a 7 piece band (drums, double bass, piano, clarinet, saxophone, trombone & trumpet) and we sat through all 3 sets, I vow anyone not to be moved when they played 'Saints'. This was what we had come to New Orleans for and was probably the most memorable music of the holiday. After the last set we headed back to the Irish bar for guiness & jamesons (well for me anyway), walked back along Bourbon Street to catch another set of 'Steamboat Willie' and then headed back to the hotel.

The final morning was an opportunity to indulge in more hashbrowns before heading to the airport. A flight to Miami, then onto TCI and we were home.

We had another great trip, there were highs, namely the music (Tootsies, BB Kings & Preservation Hall) and the food (alligator, gumbo, crawfish & fried dill pickles), as well as lows (the hurricanes and uncertainty back home & finding out Kes & Sarah were planning on leaving the island).

Overall it only went to enhance our appreciation of the diversity of America and the general friendliness of the American people.

The only question to ask is - where to visit in the States next ?

USA 2008 - Nashville & Memphis

dannygoesdiving — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:24:00 GMT

The plan was a simple one - Jo loves food and music - so why not combine her two loves by visiting the Southern States which are renowned for their food, whilst taking in the 3 cities famous for music - Nashville for Country music, Memphis for the Blues and New Orleans for jazz. So began the formation of a plan !

We awoke in Turks and Caicos on the morning of our departure to the ongoing heavy rains and winds of what was then Tropical Storm Hanna (later to become hurricane Hanna) and wondered not for the first time if we would even get off the island. The flight was delayed and then we sat on the runway for a long period waiting for a break in the weather to enable us to takeoff – out the aircraft window the fire engines sat, lights flashing, just in case ! The take off was hairy with a steep ascent and heavy turbulence as we attempted to get above Hanna – and the fire engines following us down the runway didn’t improve confidence one bit ! However, we were off the island, and would later discover we were the last flight off the island for a number of days ! The delay meant we missed our connecting flight to Nashville, so instead flew to Washington (we spotted the National Mall and Capital Hill from the airport in the distance and then flew over it) and then onto Nashville.

We were staying not too far from the main streets for music and in the evening walked the couple of blocks, taking in ‘Printers alley’, ‘Downtown’ and the Honky Tonk bars, all of which had live bands. We wandered into a honky tonk at random, called ‘Roberts Western World’, where you guessed it they had a Country band. We soaked up the atmosphere and concluded that they sure spoke funny in these here parts, and there was an overabundance of cowboy hats and boots.

After a few beers and a healthy dose of music, we headed to BB Kings as we had heard good things about both the food and music – we were not disappointed with either. I had my first taste of deep fried catfish, which is great when seasoned properly, although it tastes slighty muddy (BB’s served the best catfish I had) and Jo had pulled pork which was amazing. We then sat back and enjoyed the resident 5 piece Blues Band. All in all a good start to the holiday

The following day we walked back to Downtown. We had not really experienced an American City before (in Vegas we stayed on the main strip). There were a weird and wonderful assortment of people on the streets, quite a few down-and-outs, and ‘panhandlers’ (beggars), I still think one of the more bizarre sights was seeing a man sitting on a bench with a small mirror and scissors cutting his own hair ! It soon became evident that there was more to do in the evening than during the day – we walked along the waterfront, window shopped (there are lots of stores selling cowboy hats and boots of varying styles) and saw the Tennessee state capital building. We then caught a bus to Opry Mills ( a shopping Mall) and window shopped before heading to the Grand Ole Opry for the Tuesday night show.

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music radio show and concert broadcast live on WSM radio in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the oldest continuous radio program in the United States, having been broadcast on WSM since October 5th, 1925. In many ways, the artists and repertoire of the Opry defined American country music and as such is a mecca for country music fans. The show ran for 2 hours, during which we saw 8 acts (15 minutes each). This is great because if you don’t like an artist, then 3 songs later they are gone ! We experienced a range of music, including traditional country, Cajun and bluegrass.

Day 3 and our first stop was the library (great for free internet) to check on Hanna, which had now become a hurricane and was battering Turks & Caicos with heavy rains (and hurricane Ike following in its path).

This was our last day in Nashville, we booked our Greyhound bus tickets to Memphis, then headed back out to the Mall, saw ‘Hamlet 2’ at the cinema, shopped for clothes (Levis 501 $37 !) and were left speechless when we found the boardgame ‘Bibleopoly’ (Players start 'In the Beginning' and journey through Bible cities, 'Meditation', 'Community Celebration' and occasionally 'The Abyss'! Players earn a 'Cornerstone' by helping a fellow player, or doing 'Community Service'. They then make offerings in order to earn the bricks and steeple required to build a church. Instead of ‘Go to Jail’, there is 'Go Meditate'. Good deeds are rewarded, but look out for the 'Faith' cards - you might end up as the new caretaker of Jerusalem...or be swallowed by a great fish !).– well we were in the Bible belt! We spent the evening in a great bar called ‘Tootsies’, which had a great country band and a real good vibe, although too many ‘John Deere’ t-shirts.

The Greyhound bus was an icon of America travel and freedom, so I thought it would be great to travel on a greyhound bus, I should have remembered that the world moves on. The station was crowded, full of people from all walks of life (there were a couple of Amish families, traditionally dressed which caused a few stares), who used the greyhound out of necessity and not nostalga. There was a long queue of impatient people waiting to get on the bus, made no better by the fact that it had been overbooked so that not everyone got on. Jo sat between a large, mad black women (who mumbled at her continuously) and a redneck whose 4 front teeth were gold – it made my day, but I did think Jo was going to kill me ! The countryside during the journey reminded me a lot of the UK – it is very green with lots of trees. We passed a lot of single storey wooden houses, either in need of repair or boarded up. The journey to Memphis took 4 hours and we found our hotel and chilled. We ate at a diner on Beale Street (officially declared as the 'Home of the Blues' by an act of congress in 1977), called 'Pigs on Beale', it had good reviews, however, both the food and service left us underwhelmed.

We spent our first full morning in Memphis orientating ourselves, we made good use of the trams, which are cheap ($1 per journey) and a great way of seeing downtown Memphis. We went to the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jnr was assassinated on April 4^th, 1968. It is now the National Civil Rights Museum, the exhibits of the museum tell the story of the struggle for African American civil rights from the arrival of the first Africans in the British colonies in 1619 to the assassination of King in 1968. The museum was well laid out and quite an eye opener. The museum also has its own controversy - the last resident of the motel was forcibly evicted in 1988, in order that the project could go ahead, and has been protesting this decision ever since, maintaining a vigil near the museum.

We headed back to Beale Street and ate at the ‘Blues City Café’ (which I highly recommend). We had a local dish called Timpala, a kind of savoury mince wrapped in suet and steamed, they come wrapped in baking parchment and can be served with Chili. Ribs followed, which just fell off the bone, and finally fried pie (served in a sizzling hot skillet with butter and ice cream) Mmmmmmmmmmmm. The evening was spent in Beale Street, which we found to have a confused identity (in comparison to Nashville), the music was generally not of the same quality and the area generally had a different vibe to it. The place is definitely busier than Downtown Nashville, more of a weekend party place, emphasised with police operating at both ends of Beale Street. We got on the tram to head back to our hotel to be approached by an old black guy offering to draw our picture, he then showed us his bone carvings around his neck, before finally standing on his head ! As our days progressed we became more and more aware of the obvious poverty in America and a very real feeling that America only looks after those who look after themselves !

The following morning was a lazy one, we ate at BB Kings, where I had a deep fried shrimp Po Boy (sandwich). We then took a cruise on the mighty, muddy Mississippi river. In the evening we went back to BB Kings, where we had the most amazing fried dill pickles (they have to be tried to be believed) and the pulled pork. This was the night that Ike made landfall on TCI, we had made the right choice by returning to BB Kings as we were rewarded an amazing Blues Band. We raised a toast to friends on the island then spent 3 hours drinking, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the music.

We came to admire even more the resilience of people, all the bands we saw over the entire holiday play for tips only, and it is amazing what many people will do to try and earn a living. In BB’s there are attendants in the toilets, they turn on the taps, pass you paper towels etc all for tips. Yes we are all quite capable of doing this ourselves, but you have to admire there work ethic - their paychecks are your tips, and nothing more. I am sure we all know people who simply choose not to work because it is too demeaning a job or too poorly paid (hell you can live off the State in the UK) – maybe they should take a leaf out of the books of some people we met !

The following morning we got a call from Kes & Sarah to let us know that Hurricane Ike had passed and everyone was safe. The hurricane changed course at the last minute, sparing Providenciales its wrath, sadly its path took it over Grand Turk, Salt Cay and South Caicos, all of whom took considerable damage. Though saddened by the damage we were greatly relieved that our friends, dogs and home were safe. The holiday 'lifted' a little at that point, now that the threat had passed.

Once we collected our hire care, we headed for Graceland – the home of Elvis Presley. The death of Elvis made an impression on me as a child, as it is the first time I remember by mum crying as she heard the news of his death on the television ( I was 8 at the time).

Graceland is the second most visited house in America, with over 600,000 visitors annually. Elvis purchased Graceland in early 1957 for approximately $100,000, the Graceland grounds include a museum containing many Elvis artifacts, like some of his famous Vegas jumpsuits, awards, gold records, the Lisa Marie jetliner, and Elvis's extensive auto collection. Graceland was not as large as I was expecting, nor was it as oppulent, however, I appreciate I am viewing this from a 2008 perspective, back then it may well have been out of the ordinary. Elvis Presley has an amazing (albeit brief) story, from paying $4 to have his first record pressed, he became (and still is) the highest selling artist of all time, in addition to staring in 31 hit films. His generocity is legendary and there are walls and walls of cheques that he wrote to a wide range of charities and institutions during his lifetime. We walked around his home, his car collection (including the pink cadillac), his jumpsuit collection and also his final resting place, known as Meditation Gardens. He died at the estate on August 16th, 1977, aged 42, and is buried along with his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, his grandmother, and his stillborn identical twin brother.

Graceland was our final stop in Memphis, before commencing our roadtrip to New Orleans.

Every cloud has a silver lining

dannygoesdiving — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:11:00 GMT

Time seems to be moving at an ever increasing rate, it is already August and yet it seems like I have only blinked since the beginning of the year. This year has been a busy one, with many changes taking place,as well as a couple of great trips off island.

This has meant that I have become rather lax at keeping in touch with people, not out of laziness, but rather that I have been caught out by how quickly time has passed.

Three days ago I managed to turn my ankle whilst carrying scuba cylinders - the result is a crack and chip out of one of the minor bones in my ankle. This means that I am currently in a cast and confined to home for a week to rest and keep it elevated. It is frustrating being so confined, as well as rather painful, however 'every cloud has a silver lining' as it is allowing me to catch up with people and finally update the journal with what has happened this year, as well as post a few more photos.

So, how has the year progressed so far ?

January saw a New Year spent with both old and new friends. 12 months earlier we had only been on the island a few days and spent it in unfamiliar surroundings wondering what the year would hold. This year we drank beer and champagne, sitting on out decking with Kes & Sarah, as well as some of the good friends we have made on the island, namely Nik, Steve & Eric. A great evening, resulting in sitting on the beach watching the various New Year firework displays from the various resorts. Work wise, I was beginning to follow one of my main goals for the year, that of learning to drive the boats. Its been a while since I have to learn so much on a daily basis, luckily I have a good teacher, Deb, this still meant that I was getting home exhausted (both mentally & physically) for quite a while - every time I thought I was getting to grips with it, something new was thrown at me, reminding me how little I knew. Jo also managed to adopt a second potcake, 'Whiskers', so now we have 2 dogs !

February most importantly saw the birth of Ruby Read (the daughter of Jo's sister Heloise, and brother-in-law Terry). She was born on February 17th. There were big changes at work, with 4 members of the team leaving, shrinking the team drastically. This meant more work for the remaining staff and saw my boat driving being 'stepped up', to try and get me upto speed sooner rather than later. The month also saw a great trip to Cuba with Kes, where we met up with one of my best mates, Giz - this has been one of my highlights of the year to date - nuff said as there is a separate story on this in the journal. Finally the month saw one of my best diving experiences to date - having a 40ft humpback whale swim right by me in 40ft of water and no further than 30ft away. The whole experience lasted no more than a couple of minutes, but the memory will remain with me forever.

March saw Jo leaving Beaches and moving to the dive centre Big Blue (www.bigblue.tc). They differ from the other centres in that they are also an eco centre, offering kayaking, mountain biking, and island tours. All those who know Jo, know that this sort of diversity is ideal for her and she has enjoyed the variety of work ever since. They are also slightly more exclusive operation, often undertaking private charters and catering to some of the more famous visitors to the island - Jo has even managed to take Tom Cruise diving (and yes apparently he is a very nice bloke). We finally gave upon the jeep ever becoming a reliable form of transport (its now a project !), so we bought a Ford Explorer which has made a big difference to our lives to date. We also managed to escape the island for a day, along with Kes & Sarah, by visiting North Caicos (again a separate story exists). Finally and a significant milestone for me was finally driving the boats without another Captain to be there for guidance and reassurance.

April is a busy time of year here, the team at Dive Provo was thankfully back at full strength and not too much took place outside of work. We managed a visit to the Cheshire Hall Plantation on Provo on one of our days off, this is one of the best preserved on the islands, at its peak it covered approximately 5,000 acres. When the plantation was finally abandoned,384 slaves were left behind, these are believed to be the people from whom the 'Belongers' (native population) have descended.

May saw further progression for me at Dive Provo, as I was offered, and accepted the role of Operations Manager. The month also saw both myself and Jo returning to the UK (separately) to see our respective family & friends. It was great for both of us to be home for a few days after having been away for 18 months. It was especially special for Jo as she finally got to see her new niece, Ruby. Whilst away Kes & Sarah moved into the apartment beneath us - who would believe that your school mate and best mate, that you have known for 25 years (since that age of 14) , would not only also become a Scuba Instructor, but end up on the same island as you (some 4500 miles from the UK) and also be your next door neighbor - small world !

June saw Jo starting to drive boats at Big Blue and continue to fit in well at work. For me work was taken up continuing with my new role, whilst still driving boats & diving on a daily basis - challenging but fun. The waters continued to warm and saw the shortie wetsuit being hung away and the rash vest taking its place.

July saw another busy month at work for both of us, with evenings being generally relaxed and days off dealing with the mundane. The day out on 'Scot-Free' (see 'following your dream'), being the highlight of our free time.

So finally to August, Jo is now driving the boats unaided and enjoying every minute of it. We both still love being on the island and are in the great position of both enjoying our work generally. The ankle has laid me up for a few days, but is allowing me to catch up with all the things that have have been putting off this year - its easy to adapt to island time !

We are off on holiday in September (hopefully I will not be in a cast), with a 2 week road trip through the American Southern Sates of Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, visiting Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans - so watch this space.

Live the dream

dannygoesdiving — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:24:00 GMT

Everyone has a dream, however, some dreams are easier to follow than others. I thought that ours was ambitious, however, once I met and became friends with Deb, one of the instructors at Dive Provo, I decided that ours paled into insignificance. Deb has done the same as us - left a good job, sold up, left behind family & friends, and persued the life as a dive instructor. This however is just a stop gap ! Debs true dream is to spend 2 years sailing around the world and this dream is set to become reality in July 2009. I cannot even begin to describe the planning that has gone into this, or the planning and preperation that still needs undertaking. She bought her boat 'Scot-Free' and sailed her from Florida to the Turks & Caicos, this is no feat in itself, but it is the tip of the iceberg in comparison to whats she plans.

The vessel is beautiful, sleek and elegant, whilst fully equipted to undertake her planned voyage and is definately Debs pride and joy.

Jo and I have already had the pleasure of seeing her and had been invited to go out on her for a day - now how could we turn down such an opportunity.

I have never been on a sailing boat before and what struck me most was the tranquility and the feeling of peace being out on the open sea - now I know its a different story when at the mercy of the weather, but I am sure that the feeling I had was what draws people to sail.

Whilst we only sailed up and down Grace Bay, it was a great day and also a great experience, helping to raise and lower both the genoa and main sail, getting a quick go behind the wheel, but mainly having the opportunity to relax with one of our new friends and get a small insite into understanding why she wants to follow this particular dream.

We hope to go out again at a later date this year. Next time though we plan to head to West Caicos, stay overnight on the boat and head back the following day - this could very easily become addictive !

A trip home to see family & friends

dannygoesdiving — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:19:00 GMT

18 months seems like a long time, yet at the same time it passes in a blink of an eye - 18 months is how long I have lived and worked on the Turks & Caicos and also the last time I was in the UK, and the last time I saw some of my family and most of my old friends.

I took advantage of the direct overnight BA flight from TCI to the UK (no Miami airport nightmare or stopovers - hurrah !).

Arriving at 11am in the UK, I was greeted by traditional British summer weather - grey skies and drizzle, luggage retrieved I met up with my Dad who was collecting me. Although it had been a year since we last saw each other, it was if I had not been away, as we chatted away over a Starbucks. The journey home was an experience, its been a while since I had been faster than 40 miles a hour in a car, let alone seen such volumes of traffic. The real thing that I realised was how much I had missed 'greenery', even the motorway verges were lush, with trees galore and rolling fields and countryside, hedgerows and just so much 'green' ! As planned a stop at a country pub was a must and I savered my first of what I intended to be many, pints of Guinness. I also enjoyed some traditional UK food - sausages, mash, gravy and English mustard Mmmmmmmm.

I arrived back at my parents and caught up with my mum, had a cup of tea and then waded through 18 months of mail ! My sister arrived for a reunion, then off to a pub (a theme will develop), for steak & Guinness pie, followed by cheese & biscuits, all of course washed down with Guinness. I certainly slept well that night.

The following morning involved a Morrisons breakfast with my dad - proper sausages and bacon, fried bread, mushrooms, beans, eggs and toast. I then headed to catch up with an old work colleague and friend Pete for a couple of hours - plans always collide and he and Gelda (his wife) were off to Romania the following day for 10 days. Pete had set up and maintained a website for a Romanian orphanage for a number of years and they were both travelling to stay there and see all the children that they had seen grow up on the net.

Wednesday saw my dad heading off to South Africa on business, leaving me to keep an eye on my mum and be forced to drive around in his BMW Z3 ( a little different respect levels were required as I am used to driving a 1987 jeep wrangler !). I started to take advantage of being in the UK with comprehensive shopping at the £ shop !!! Lots of cheap goodies which normally cost an arm and leg in TCI, as well as a jacket for the hurricane season, books and various replacement diving gear parts so that I can get my scuba gear serviced when I return. A trip to the dentist and opticians was fitted in, giving me a clean bill of health for the next 18 months. The evening was rounded off in another traditional English pub, with gammon, egg & chips and you guessed it - Guinness.

Thursday was spent with my mum during the day, a invigorating walk in the countryside, tea at the Buddhist retreat and then in the evening a chance to catch up with one of my best mates, Grant, over Guinness and then a good old British tradition - Curry. If there is one thing other than family that would tempt me home, then it is curry. I have had a couple in the Bahamas in the last 18 months, but you can't beat a curry in the UK. Kingfisher lager, poppadoms with lime chutney, samosas, lamb dansak and mushroom rice - manna from heaven.

Friday was spent clearing out - when we left the UK we stored a lot of things in a lockup garage in case things did not work out as we didn't want to have to replace alot of basic items. I had sent out an email before I came back with a list of things for sale, so first they went, then a trip to the tip to bin a lot of crap and finally about 20 trips to the charity shops saw the remaining items from our old life dwindle away. I spent the evening catching up with an old friend Baz who I had not seen in about 5 years. We shared a place during our time at University and then kept in regular touch for a number of years before loosing touch (he got married, has kids etc).He travelled down to see me and we spent a few hours chatting over Guinness, it was great to catch up again and hopefully it won't be another 5 years before we meet up again.

Saturday was lunch at the Picturedrome - All day breakfast and Guinness. I caught up with alot of old faces - Blonde, Glenn, Grant & Sue, Rev Andy, Greg, Rocket & Ruth, and Cath. It was a great few hours and a chance to find out what had been happening in Northampton.

Sunday meant only one thing - Sunday Lunch in a pub - Guiness, roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, gravy & horseraddish sauce, followed by rhubarb & raseberry crumble with icecream and custard. That evening I caught up with my old business partner and his family - Martyn, Carol and their lads Sam & Matthew. We had a good meal, and I caught up on their diving escapades of late.

Monday was lunch with my sister - All day breakfast and Guinness in a pub and then in the evening a farewell curry with Grant, John, Greg, Glenn, Cath, Rocket & Ruth. Dad returned to the UK during the day, and so Tuesday we had a pub lunch - fish & chips before I headed back to Heathrow to spend a evening close to the airport - a final pub meal of sausage & mash, washed down with Guinness before bed.

The flight to Miami was painless and I caught up with Sarah & Eric (2 friends from TCI who happened to be flying back at the same time) for a couple of beers. Eric had been in Canada for the last 2 weeks and like me the time away had reminded him that life on Turks & Caicos is good.

This trip has basically focused on the few things that I really miss about being away - Family, Friends and English food & drink - that said I would not change what I do for the world.

A day in North Caicos

dannygoesdiving — Mon, 3 Mar 2008 01:50:00 GMT

The New Year saw a new service arrive on Providenciales - a ferry to North Caicos. Previously the only way to visit the island was to fly, which was expensive and inconvenient. The ferry service (only $40 return), combined with the completion of the causeway between North and Middle Caicos in October last year, makes these islands ever more accessible for development and tourism.

Myself, Jo, Kes & Sarah caught the new passanger ferry (large speedboat)and 30 minutes later we arrived on North Caicos. We had booked a car for the day, which was waiting for us, and off we set on a day of exploration.

North Caicos is more developed than Middle Caicos (which I visited in 2007), its the third largest island and is also known as the 'Garden Island', it's probably the lushest island in the archipelago. It comprises of 4 villages, Bottle Creek (the district capital, with a population of 907), Whitby, Kew (the unofficial capital of the Caicos Islands)and Sandy Point. North Caicos has a total population of about 1500 people.

There has been evident recent progress here, the marina is new and the roads are in better shape than many on Provo. Our first stop was the Wades Green Plantation and we soon left the 'newer' roads, finding ourselves on dusty bedrock roads and then barely travelled tracks. The plantation was established in 1789 and one of the most successful plantations of the loyalist era, the remains are also far better preserved than those I had seen on either Provo or Middle Caicos. We wandered around the remaining building whilst dodging spells of rain, then headed back to the shelter of the car. We continued through North Caicos, stopping at Flamingo pond, where in the distance we could just make out large flocks of pink flamingoes - North Caicos is the only island where you are guaranteed to see them and they were the first I had seen in the 15 months of being here. We left North Caicos and headed over the new causeway to Middle Caicos, where we travelled as far as Mudjin Harbour, as Jo, Kerry & Sarah had not seen it before. We wandered along the beach for a while then retraced our steps to North. We visited 3 Mary Cays National Park and after a stop for refreshments (Corona !), we made a final stop at Cottage Pond, which is a fresh water sinkhole, surrounded by lush vegetation. We headed back to Provo on the ferry and ended the evening at a new and very good chinese restaurant.

A great day overall, the first for the 4 of us, but most definately not the last !

Mojito Madness

dannygoesdiving — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:54:00 GMT

I have 2 ‘best’ mates, Kes (who know works on Turks & Caicos) and Giz, who has lived in Spain for 7 years. I have tried to see Giz at least once a year since he moved, and 2007 was the first year that we did not manage to catch up. So when I received a mail from him to say he was flying from Mexico (where he was on holiday) to Cuba for 2 days, it seemed to good an opportunity to miss. Kes and I both booked time off work and set out to book flights, which is easier said than done. There used to be a direct flight from TCI to Cuba, but American pressure put pay to that, the best option was from TCI – Bahamas (3 hour stopover), then Bahamas – Cuba (Habana). Various flight issues meant we would arrive day before Giz, leave a day before him and have to spend one and a half days in Bahamas – it was still 2 evenings and one full day to catch up. We arrived in Bahamas with no trouble, then went through the farce of Cubana airlines, which meant having to queue at 3 separate desks (one to check ticket, one to issue boarding pass and one to check in luggage) which took about 2 hours. The Cubana plane was like something from a horror movie, you had to crouch to get through the doorway, the seats were broken (if you pushed the seat in front of you it fell forward), it made horrific noises as it lurched along the runway, to top it all the cabin filled up with smoke ! Luckily there was free Habana rum on offer to settle nerves. Landing and breathing a sigh of relief, we passed easily through customs, changed currency (you cannot get Cuban currency outside the country and it is a tourist currency – there is a separate one for locals), jumped in a taxi and headed for our hotel.

The journey into Habana revealed derelict factories and buildings, lots of revolution billboards, 1950’s cars, Russian ladas and masses of people by the roadside trying to travel to and from their destinations. Once at the hotel, we checked into our room and chilled for a while. The hotel was old and weary looking but our room was comfortable, during our stay one of the 2 lifts broke down and the separate annex where Giz and Lidia stayed had no working lifts or hot water during there stay.

Due to a lack of preplanning, Kes and I had no idea where we were in relation to anything, so randomly wandered around the backstreets for a couple of hours. The streets were dirty, smelly and dark, this said at no time did we feel in any sort of danger, in fact Cuba is meant to be one of the safest countries in the Caribbean. There were apartments directly onto the streets, a smattering of poorly stocked shops, ‘hole in the wall’ places where the locals bought cooked food, some amazing vintage cars , and to remind you of the poverty old men and women going through the bins looking for bottles and cans to sell. We ended up back near the hotel, sat down in a bar and proceeded to consume far too many Mojitos and ‘Bucanero’ beers. There was a mix of tourists and locals and live music all night, this seemed to be typical of a lot of bars we saw.

The next morning we went for ‘breakfast’, which became an experience everyday. Firstly we found ourselves locked out by a ‘bar’ inserted through the handles on the inside – this was to control numbers having breakfast ! Once in it was a gamble whether there would be plates, cutlery, glasses or cups, in fact I think I ate without cutlery each day. Breakfast itself consisted of fruit, black beans, potatoes, bread, omelettes and strange meat paste sandwiches.

Fortified from our hearty breakfast we set out to explore Habana by daylight. As blokes we felt no need for a map or advice and so spent 2 hours wandering around wondering where the hell everything was (not that we even knew what everything was). Finally conceding defeat, we asked the question, and on advise jumped into a taxi and headed to the Plaza Cathedral to start our day of sightseeing. It was only a 10 minute taxi drive away (about 45 mins walking), however, we did now find ourselves in Old Habana, a real hive of activity. We wandered through a tourist market selling the generic tat, before reaching Plaza Cathedral and the impressive Catherdral. The square itself was full of hawkers selling cigars, musicians, artists and tourists, the atmosphere and architecture reminded me very much of Barcelona, an impression that only grew over the two days (albeit a run down Barcelona). We wandered down backstreets, enjoying the whole atmosphere, hussle and bussle of life, the people are so friendly, the colonial architecture is amazing and you never get used to vintage cars passing you buy. We bought some cigars (under the counter at $1 each) and then headed to the Museum of the Revolution. To be honest it is probably a ‘must’ when here, the amount of material is impressive, but it is presented in a very ‘dry’ format, which means you soon lose interest – the corner of the cretins, featuring caricatures of Bush, Reagan & Batista and the words of ‘thanks’ to them for helping the revolution is very amusing though ! Hungry and dehydrated (mid day and still no water consumed!) we found a local eatery and then went to the famous and popular Club Habana, to enjoy a Mojito and live Cuban music.

We spent the next few hours leisurely wandering back towards the hotel, enjoying the sights and sounds. It is evident that this is a beautiful city in decay, and despite the friendliness of people we met, there is very evident poverty here, bought on by a great extent to the American embargo. There are often old women on the pavement selling toothpaste, razors etc, ‘luxury’ goods to them. The children come up to you, asking for the soap from the hotels or pens so that they can go to school ( education is free and illiteracy is the lowest in the Caribbean), and old people try and sell you the local currency as a ‘souvenier’ in exchange for £ or euros so that they can shop at the black market shops. There are often queues outside shops, with people being restricted inside (bar across door on inside) for what we would consider basic products, and there are very large spaces on the shelves in many shops. We wandered along boulevards full of local artists, plazas with outdoor markets, and side roads with people sitting in their doorways, getting on with everyday life.

We eventually found our hotel, and waited in the bar (with a mojito) for Giz and Lidia to arrive. It was great to see them both (even though Giz had a stupid beard) and we spent the evening drinking mojitos (notice a theme developing), smoking Cuban cigars and catching up with life in general, its always great to catch up with Giz, within 5 minutes you feel like its only been a day since you last got together.

The following morning we headed back to the Plaza Cathedral and followed a similar route to the previous day, we visited the Capitolio Nacional (seat of government until 1959 revolution), before heading back to Club Habana for more mojitos and music. We left there for ‘El Floridita’, an old haunt of Ernest Hemmingway and the birthplace of the daiquiri. We had said drink, sat next to a life size cast of Hemmingway and listened to more live music. The walls are adorned with photos of Hemmingway, pride of place being one of Hemmingway and Castro shaking hands. Next stop was Edificio Bacardi, an amazing art deco building, which now has a small restaurant with great views of Habana. For the equivalent of $10 each we had 2 cocktails, a starter, main course and coffee. We then took a lift and then stairs to the top of the building which offers breathtaking panoramic views of Habana.

Jumping in another taxi we headed to Revolution Square, where some of Castros greatest speeches and rallies took place. The Che Guevara image on the Ministry of the Interior building is world famous and impressive, however, the square is dominated by the Jose Marti Memorial. That evening we drank (you guessed what) and finished the cigars, enjoying good company and a great day generally.

The following morning we left Giz and Lidia, headed back to the airport and flew to Nassau, Bahamas. We just chilled for the day and a half, taking advantage of fast food chains (which don’t exist on TCI), and the curry house I tracked down during my last stay. We did a bit of sightseeing, before heading back to TCI.

I had an amazing time in Cuba, I fell in love with the city during my brief visit. It reminds me so much of Barcelona, which is my favourite city in the world. The people of friendly, the atmosphere is vibrant, the people enjoy free education and medical care, but there is poverty wherever you look. Within a week of returning, Castro announced his retirement after 49 years in power, I may have visited just before the change of an era, only time will tell.

Lastly, catching up with Giz and Lidia was the reason for the trip, and certainly made the trip. The thing about great mates is that even after not seeing them for long periods of time, within minutes it feels like its only been an evening since you last met.

Old friends, new job & a potcake !

dannygoesdiving — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:49:00 GMT

We have now been living in the Turks & Caicos for a year, time seems to have flown and yet so much seems to have happened. The island has gone from a unfamiliar place, to a place we call home with a circle of very good friends.

The last few weeks have probably seen the biggest changes since our first hectic months, thankfully all the changes are for the better.

Firstly (and highest in prioriy), Kes and Sarah got work as diving instructors, here at Beaches. For those who don't know them, Kes is my best mate, having known each other since the long distant age of 14 & Sarah is both our friend and Kes ideally suited partner. Kes arrived a couple of weeks ago, it has been great to catch up with him, it had been nearly 2 years since we last met up. That last evening resulted in us getting extremely drunk on rice wine in Hanoi. I know that the Turks & Caicos takes time to adjust to and I know it will take a while for them to become settled, hopefully we can help smooth that process to some extent. We have had a few good evenings so far, and hopefully many more to come. Sarah arrived a couple of days ago (her luggage eventually followed), so she is still adjusting to the heat and the island ! It is going to be great spending Xmas and New Year with them.

The second event, is that I have changed jobs, moving from Beaches to Dive Provo. Beaches has been great experience, I have learned alot about resort centres, diving from boats and teaching large numbers of courses and discover scuba divers. I have recently been looking for a change though and the new job opportunity arose. Dive Provo is a pure diving centre (as opposed to part of a resort), there are 11 staff (including owners) and the centre has a good reputation. Everone has been very friendly and helpful, the majority of them are either from the UK or South Africa, and I seem to be fitting in well. I have only been there a couple of weeks but am enjoying being back at a dive centre, where you are constantly busy, everyone helps out and there is more socialising outside of work hours. We have already had our Xmas party, so they already know my true colours ! Time will tell, but I think it has been a good move.

Third up on the list, we now have a potcake (dog). He was found lying in the road where he had been hit by a car. Our neighbour Nikki helps out at the TSPCA (like our RSPCA) and brought him home to look after. As she was going away for a few days she asked if we could keep an eye on him. We moved him up to our balcony to keep a better eye on him and he has been here ever since ! At first he could not even lift his head to eat and drink, let alone walk and noone knew if he would survive the following days, due to the head traumer and fit he had subsequently suffered. Progress has been slow but remarkable, he is still wary of new people, but is very lively and we even had him swimming in the sea today (much to his disgust). Anyway, his name is Jasper and I think he has well and truly landed on his paws !

Finally, we have the jeep on the road ! It has been a long (and sometimes painful process) but the rebuilding is finally complete. It still only has one seat at the moment, only one headlight works, the exhaust has a hole in it so it sounds like a tank, but hey its an island car! The rebuild would certainly not have been possible without Eric and Steve, left to me the engine would still be in boxes and I would be scratching my head wondering what was the starter motor and what was the battery ! Anyway, they both know it, but I can't thank them enough for their help and patience.

So, it's Xmas eve day today, and as opposed to last year where we had just arrived, knew noone and spent it sitting at home wondering what we had done, this year should be in complete contrast, spending it with some great people.

Hope everyone has a great Xmas and New Year.

A few days in Nassau, Bahamas

dannygoesdiving — Sun, 2 Dec 2007 17:58:00 GMT

As I am about to change jobs here on TCI, the law requires me to leave/return to the island between jobs (odd I know). There are 3 realistic destinations - Miami, Dominican Republic and Bahamas. I chose the Bahamas as Glen North (friend/instructor I used to work with in Gozo) works there. He managed to get a couple of days off work, so it was a great opportunity to catch up with him.

I flew out on a small 21 seater plane (still can't get used to seeing the pilot) and an hour and a half later arrived in the capital, Nassau. I had booked a guest house downtown and caught a taxi there (10 miles). The first thing that stuck me was how much more fertile the island is, with lots of trees, plants, grass verges and far less of the scrub I have become used to. The island is also far more structured, with a proper town centre and better laid out infastructure. It is evident that it is geared to tourism and Americans, with all the usual fastfood joints featuring.

I booked into the guesthouse (dump but cheap) and wandered the old town. The town exists due to the vast number of cruise ships that stop here, the main street shops are a mixture of Gucci, Cartier, Versace, Rolex etc etc. I watched the hive of activity at the portside, there was a constant flow of snorkel & beach trips, dolphin excursions, and other tours.

The highlight of the first day was finding an Indian restaurant (not having had a curry in nearly a year since last in the UK), where I had a great Madras, washed down with Kingfisher lager - Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

The next day I headed to Stuart Cove to go diving. I was picked up and after 40 minutes arrived at Stuart Cove. The place is at the opposite end of the island to everything else and completely self contained. It is a hugh operation, appears very professionally run, offering everything including after dive burgers and beers. I had gone for the Shark Adventure dive and was not disappointed. We jumped off the boat and there were probably 10 sharks swimming beneath us. The first dive was a wall dive, with the sharks in constant view. We swam along the reef wall, around a couple of wrecks and back. It was great to see the sharks, the reef was nothing special, certainly not as nice as TCI (less coral and fish life). The second dive was the shark feeding dive. We descended, sat on the bottom and then a guy in chainmail (?) arrived with a box of fishheads. There were sharks everywhere, probably 40 - 50 in number, swimming all around us (and nudging into us). Check out the youtube link on this journal entry. It certainly was an experience, something I am glad I did, but would not feel the need to do again.

That evening I met up with Glen and we spent the evening drinking and catching up (until we got kicked out the bar because they wanted to close). The following day we chilled, shopped abit, ate and then spent the evening following a similar pattern to the previous night.

Glen left the following day, so I took the opportunity to sightsee, wandering around the straw market, parliamant square and generally enjoying the sights.

It was great to catch up with Glen, for those who know him, he seems pretty content with his lot here, although he still drinks like a fish (my poor liver).

As for the Bahamas, I only saw a part of one of the smallest (although most populated islands). It was more of what I had hoped & expected TCI would be like when I first arrived in this part of the World. There is lots of colour, activity, and vibrancy about the place and all the people I met were friendly.

I am awaiting some dates now from Glen, with a view to meeting him next year in Andros (another island in Bahamas) and spending a week diving the inland and sea blue holes - now that will be sweet !

Final word : America & Americans

dannygoesdiving — Mon, 5 Nov 2007 21:27:00 GMT

We all have preconceptions, and none more so than about America & Americans (amongst the people I know). I include myself in this statement.

We all comment on how Americans don't really travel the world (in the main), many don't have passports and holiday in the States or countries that don't require a passport.

In a month, we barely scraped the surface of 5 out of the 50 states. Yet what we experienced was both diverse and eye opening.

We travelled through major cities and ghost towns; deserts and snow capped mountain ranges; praries and vast agricultural plains; 9 lane highways and single track roads. We visited 5 diverse national parks, seeing amongst other things volcanoes, geysers, canyons, beaches and tropical rainforests, to name a few. We saw plantations of coffee, pineapples, bananas, citrus fruits and corn. We saw life both beneath and above water, including manta rays, wolves, coyotes, elk, moose and bison.

We travelled through 3 different times zones (in each direction), spent 26 hours flying, drove thousands of miles and never left the States.

With all this diversity, no wonder Americans never leave America. For our next holiday, we are now planning on returning to the States.

Also, prior to this trip the only Americans I had met where those on previous travels or the holiday makers on TCI.

The former I had usually found to be brash, overpowering and opinionated.

The ones at TCI usually where financially well off and had high expectations and demands. Whilst they were friendly, I witnessed amazing changes when things did not go their way.

So ............ I also had preconceptions of Americans.

These were shattered during my month of travels. I have never met such genuinely friendly, helpful and open people. In an entire month I met one unpleasant person and I went away with a new opinion of Americans.

To conclude, few people have America on their list of places to visit, opting for Asia, South America etc. Now America may not have the history of some of these places, but in my opinion its a place that you need to add to your list - you won't be dissapointed.

USA Roadtrip

dannygoesdiving — Sat, 6 Oct 2007 16:51:00 GMT

It was time to leave Vegas, easier said than done with hangovers, blistering heat and an unwilling Jo (who did not want to get out of bed). Finally, car collected and packed we set off on our 9 day roadtrip, 10 minutes later Jo was asleep and I was driving on a busy highway through endless miles of desert - not quite what we had imagined. A couple of hours later, fortified with junk food, it was decided if we were ever to leave the highways then we may need to invest in a roadmap, transaction completed we left the highway and headed through more scenic countryside having decided to head to Zion National Park.

As we approached Zion, the canyon started to loom around us. We entered and drove to the tourist information where we left the car and took the shuttle. In an effort to reduce car pollution and congestion a regular shuttles (every 6 minutes) head through the main road pass of Zion (cars are now banned). This is not only environmentally friendly, but it also allows you to relax and enjoy the views, as you travel, a prerecorded guide tells you where you are and what you are seeing. For me, the joy of Zion was travelling through the canyon and seeing its walls towering above you. This was in stark contrast to the Grand Canyon, where you are looking down into the canyon. Its gives you a better perspective of the size and beauty of the canyon. We travelled on the shuttle to the end of the canyon (about 35 minutes), walked around and then headed back, choosing to jump of the shuttle at regular stops to enjoy the scenery and take advantage of some of the shorter treks. We were limited on time as we needed to find somewhere to spend the night, so after a couple of hours we had to head back to the car. The route we took, then proceeded to take us through the Zion National Park, further allowing us to enjoy its beauty, we stopped several times, either to enjoy a specific view or to enjoy the wildlife. We saw a number of mountain goats and as the sun set, monk deer grazing along the side of the road. As hunger started to dominate the brain (well Jo’s), we chose to stop at a small diner in a pretty remote area – the hope was for some good local homecooking. We both chose the Beef Stew, sat back and waited. It took a while to arrive, but we were still hopeful until it arrived ! It came in a bowl and consisited of beef chunks, frozen vegetable, and potatoes in a beef instant gravy mix – we reckon the only reason it took so long was because they had to boil the potatoes ! We had a laugh about it, left no tip and jumped back in the car. It was dark by now, so we headed off looking for a motel, 20 miles later we found one in a small settlement, $50 later we were in a first roadside motel.

We awoke early and headed the 20 odd miles to Bryce Canyon, on the way we passed through Red Canyon, the rock formations and colours were spectacular, enhanced by the early sun. We entered Bryce, and with only about a morning to spare, so chose to see the 4 most popular viewpoints. The approach was similar to that of the Grand Canyon, you drive through woodland, then suddenly the road ends and an amphitheatre appears. It is difficult to describe Bryce, it is an array of stunning rock features called ‘hoodoos’, created from a combination of wind and water action (just check out the photos to see what I mean). I can only express it as breathtaking, possibly one of the most amazing scenic views I have experienced. We marvelled at the viewpoints and whilst Jo sat and contemplated life, I chose to walk down through the hoodoos to get to the floor of the canyon. The walk was strenuous, but well worth the reward as you really appreciated how the hoodoos dominated the landscape. For us, Bryce was one of the highlights of the holiday, surpassing the Grand Canyon for a number of reasons. Firstly, the size is significantly smaller and so easier to appreciate and get into perspective. Secondly, it is easier to explore and walk through. A 20 minute walk and you are in the canyon, whereas in the Grand Canyon it’s a half day hike. This coupled with the distinctive hoodoos, the colours and fewer visitors, makes this place unique and it was almost a crime that 4 hours later we had to move on. As we left, a final treat was a herd of deer grazing close to the roadside.

We had to put the floor to the pedal after this and travel some serious miles to keep on any sort of schedule. We drove along the less populated roads for a number of hours, again choosing to stop at a local eatery. As soon as we entered we knew we had made the right choice, a family run café with proper home cooking. We ate the meatloaf, which was top notch, Jo then finished off with homemade cherry pie. Talking to the owner we learnt that a diner was more ‘instant’ food, whilst a café was traditionally ‘homecooked’ food. Full and happy we set off, re-joining the freeway, passing through Salt Lake City before eventually leaving and finally finding a motel. We learnt that day that we needed to find a cut off for stopping as we were both tired and a little irritable by the time we stopped. We had been hearing weather reports of a cold spell and snow over the coming days and even the motel owner asked us if we were prepared when we said we were heading for Yellowstone, so a few warning bells were also starting to ring. The evening meal was at ‘Taco time’ (!), a chain that served fast food Mexican, but seemed unsure of its ‘theme’. That said, we made the servers night, once he fund out we were English, he told all the staff, got them to ‘look at us’ and generally seemed chuffed by our arrival – very strange really.

The next day was overcast but not too ominous looking, after another hearty breakfast, we continued to head north, going through forests, before entering Idaho and mountains covered in trees in the full glory of fall (Autumn). The colours were beautiful, reds, oranges and yellows in abundance. We passed smaller and smaller settlements as we continued towards Wyoming, passing wildlife as we went, including amongst other things a raccoon.

We reached Jackson (50 miles South of Yellowstone) by mid afternoon and checked into a motel before walking around the town. Reaching the townsquare we were greeted by 4 archways to the square (not too wierd you may think), made entirely out of Elk Antlers ! There was a store opposite with a stuffed Bison outside, we wandered in to find we had walked into a taxidermy and fur shop - you name it and it was there, from small animals to a full sized grizzly bear. The smaller animals were even in amuzing poses (?) - a racoon dressed up and paddling a canoe - it was all too sureal and we had to leave. We awoke the next day to find that overnight they had had the worst October weather since 1980 - there was 6 inches of snow. This was not ideal for our attire of t-shirts and flipflops, so after heading to a store for warmer clothes we headed to the Teton National Park, which leads onto the south entrance of Yellowstone. We arrived to find that Teton was open, but the whole of Yellowstone was closed due to snow. We spent the day enjoying Teton, with its huge open plains, crystal clear lakes, impressive snow capped mountains and the brisk weather - coupled with snowball fights and sighting of several Elk and a Moose, it turned out to be a pretty good day.

The following day was cold, very cold, very very cold - 27 degrees F, and there was more snow. Still ever the optimist we set off, driving slowly through the Tetons, watching herds of Elk, deer, bison and then to top it off, a coyote. Jo also saw a bear (actually a rock) and another moose (actually a sign). We got within sight of the Yellowstone entrance this time, just to be told we would need snow chains to get any further. Disapointed we turned round and hoped our luck would turn as the weather was meant to be improving. The next day was the same at south entrance,however, we found out the west entrance had been opened, a mere 130 miles and 3 hours away - we were off and at midday we finally crossed into Yellowstone.

It was as if as soon as we crossed into Yellowstone, then someone pressed the wildlife switch ! We almost immediatly passed a herd of grazing elk, they were next to the road, much closer than we had been so far. Then a mile or so down the road, our first real close view of a herd of Bison. We parked, took photos, and then had to back off as they decided to wander around the parked cars - now that was a closeup ! We decided to head straight for 'Old Faithful' and take it from there. In addition to spectacular scenery, and lots of wildlife, Yellowstone boasts 70% of the worlds hot springs & geysers (over 300 in total). As we arrived there was a small crowd waiting to see Old Faithful errupt, low and behold several minutes later and it was off - blasting thousands of gallons of boiling water into the air. It was a pretty impressive sight and an indication of what was to come. We then wandered around the geyser hill springs, there are about 50 different springs here, bubbling, boiling and hissing. Everyone is slightly different, from the very small, through to the impressive Castle Geyser. The variety and uniqueness of the whole experience makes progress slow. It took several hours just to cover this small area, so we got back in the car and headed north taking in more geysers and boiling mudpits along the way. We also had to stop several times as deer, elk and bison were frequently crossing the road - this started off as an amazing experience, but did eventually become a bit tiresome, sitting in a car for 20 minutes as a herd of 30+ bison decide that they want to walk down the road as opposed to cross it ! In the main, the first day (well half day) was spent enjoying the variety of geysers and the wildlife that lives within the park.

The following morning we awoke early, cleaned the ice off the windscreen and prepared to spend our last day in Yellowstone. We arrived with a mist hanging over the park, as the sun appeared the mist started to disperse and we saw clear blue skies for the first time in days. This time of day is one of the best times for seeing wildlife (before it gets too hot), and we were treated to herds of deer, elk and bison, so much so that you eventually stop pulling over to watch them and eventually don't even point them out ! We had decided to head to the North Entrance, to see the impressive mammouth hot springs. The scenery was breathtaking, taking us over high mountain passes and affording us spectacular views of valleys, plains and lakes. The springs were completely different to what we had seen the previous day, with terraces of hot springs and the resulting deposit structures that had been created (terraces basically). We continued to the northeast entrance, stopping as there were a cluster of people with binoculars and cameras, we asked what all the fuss was about, to be told they were watching one of the 4 known packs of wolves within the park. We were priveledged enough to see one of the wolves in the distance, then heard the haunting sound of wolves howling, carried by the wind - it was a real experience. We continued to the Lamar valley, which is a very open plain, good for wildlife, especially bears (at the right time of day - we saw none), then retraced steps and headed to Canyon village, visiting the 'Grand Canyon of Yellowstone'. This is effectively a canyon, with 2 huge falls, again impressive, and reminds you of the diversity of Yellowstone.

The day ended too soon, we were dissapointed that the weather had impacted on our time here, but felt priveledged with what we had seen. We both agreed that we want to come back to Yellowstone, spending a minimum of a week here to explore and enjoy more of what it has to offer (there are over 1000 miles of tracks and trails alone in the park).

We now had 2 days to get back to Vegas, day 1 was a long 10 hour driving slog, stopping only to shop at Old Navy (Jo) & Best Buy (me). We broke the back of the journey though, staying just outside Bryce Canyon.

The last day started with a second visit to Bryce, choosing to do one of the walks through the hoodoos, then we headed to Vegas, stocked up at Walmart on the way and once back, spent our last evening at Hard Rock cafe.

We boarded the flight to Miami, where we temporarily went our seperate ways, Jo stayed to do her freediving course, whilst I headed back to Turks & Caicos.

I was picked up by Steve and arrived home. The holiday seemed to fly by, but it was nice to unlock the door and know I was home and had a couple of days to unwind before heading back to work.

Vegas (again) - Resistance is futile

dannygoesdiving — Mon, 1 Oct 2007 16:57:00 GMT

After landing and checking in, we went for a ‘quick’ margarita, several drinks later it was 3am and we were in McDonalds ! After a lengthy snooze, the following afternoon started with a visit to the ‘Star Trek Experience’ at the Hilton (Kes I can see you have your head in your hands). It is the largest Star Trek museum in the world (stop crying Kes), as well as having an authentic ‘Quark’ bar and restaurant, various ‘characters’ walking around (Klingons etc) and two 4D ‘experiences’/simulators. Having survived assimilation by the Borg, and being blasted out of the sky by the Klingons, we jumped on the monorail and headed down the strip. We visited the Lions at MGM, before heading to ‘Hooters’ to see the young ladies in their attractive orange shorts and yellow tops. Needing a sit down after that, we headed to ‘Coyote Ugly’ bar. This didn’t help as the all female bar staff kept jumping up on the bar and dancing ! A quick (very slow) escape and Jo chose to head to M&M world (!), 5 floors dedicated to M&M’s (which I don’t understand), where she hugged (and would not let go of) a giant blue M&M. We continued up/down the strip, watched the fountains at the Bellagio (again), before heading to Caesars to the ‘Pussycat Dolls lounge’, huge queues prevented us getting in (damn), but still saw more young ladies dancing in cages in the ‘Dolls Casino’. Finally we revisited ‘Margaritaville’ and watched a live band, before catching the monorail back to the hotel. All in all an action (and alcohol) packed day.

Aloha from Hawaii

dannygoesdiving — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 06:11:00 GMT

Hawaii is in the middle of nowhere and thats a fact. We left Vegas and spent about 45 minutes flying over mainland USA, comprising mainly of barren land and snow capped mountain ranges, then we hit (not literally) the sea, for the next 5 hours that was all you saw from the plane ! Upon landing I was slightly confused, I was here, but where were the girls in hula skirts waiting to adorn me with flower garlands (leis) ? I had seen it on all the movies, maybe they got the flights confused ? Oh well, better put my watch forward another 3 hours, get the luggage and catch a shuttle to the hotel.

We were a couple of blocks from Waikiki Beach with a view of Diamondhead (extinct volcano crater), so it could have been worse. We wandered to the beach. Waikiki Beach is very much like the beaches at Bournemouth: packed, but without all the fat people and white sun starved legs. Instead there are hundreds of healthy looking people falling on and off surfboards. We walked past 'Dukes' restaurant (famous surfer person) to the 'Royal Hawaiian'(Pink Palace), chilled, window shopped, drank a jug of Margaritas and then slept.

The following day we took a bus to Diamondhead, and walked the 45 minutes up to the top, which provides the most breathtaking views of Honolulu, the mountains of Oahu and the coastline. The remains of the army fortifications are still here, with gun batteries, passageways and bunkers. The irony is that 60 + years since the 2nd World War, the Japanese have finally invaded Hawaii ! I would estimate over 50% of tourists are Japanese, with everything being displayed in dual languages and a large variety of restaurants/bars etc catering for them, oh well, shows if you wait long enough you can usually get what you want ! The rest of the day was spent relaxing, shopping and laying by the pool.

The following day, whilst Jo went shopping, I set off to see Pearl Harbour. The first stop was the Arizona Memorial. The Battleship Arizona still lies in Pearl Harbour, partly submerged, partly exposed, a tomb to over 1000 men still entombed within her. A memorial platform spans the Battleship and after a 15 minute documentary which includes actual footage of the Arizona being hit and sinking, you are taken out on a boat to the memorial. You walk onto the platform and look down on the wreck, watching oil still slowly escaping over 65 years on. There is also a huge monument bearing the names of all those lost, it includes brothers and a father and son, both lost that day - imagine that families grief. I then headed to the Battleship Missouri Memorial for a guided tour, you can take it or leave it really, historically it is interesting as it was on this ship that the treaty to end the war was signed by the Japanese, the Americans and allies, there is a plaque where the signing took place. Also the bow of the Missouri faces the bow of the Arizona, symbolically the battleship that brought America into the war (well its sinking) and the battleship that ended the war for America, rest together. The Missouri is of course also famous for the song 'if i could turn back time', where Cher straddles the 16" guns, surrounded by sailors - how the mighty have fallen (I obviously meand the Missouri). To complete an action packed day, in the afternoon I took my first ever surfing lessons (well Waikiki beach is one of the most famous surfing beaches). After 5 minutes of being told how to get on a board and stand up, off we went ! I managed not to disgrace myself too much, did not get hit by anyone or hit anyone, which was a result. It was great fun, I rode a few waves that felt metres high and full of power, but which were probably 2mm high - but hey you have to start somewhere. If nothing else it was a good workout as I was knackered and at least you look cool sitting on the board waiting for a wave, even if it ends as soon as you find the wave !

Suddenly, we were back on a plane and heading to the Big Island, we flew over many of the other islands on the way and landed about 50 mins later, the day was spent chilling and booking diving for the following day with Jacks Diving Locker. We booked 4 dives in a day (the 'Animal' package), 2 day dives, a dusk dive and a Manta night dive (yes I know a night dive !). The diving we did was pretty shallow, a stark contrast to TCI, very rocky (like Gozo) with all hard corals and no soft corals, water was cooler but visibility was excellent. It was a nice change, lots of marine life we have never seen before and a mecca for macro stuff (nudibranches everywhere), however, I would not have wanted a week of it. The Manta dive was touristy but well worth it. They set up lights to attract the plankton (and so Mantas), you dive in with torches to add further light, sit in a circle and wait - low and behold Mantas appear ! There is a 80% success rate and one of the best places in the world for sightings with over 130 recorded manta in the area. They are quite amazing (and huge), performing 360 degrees loops and swooping over you, so close that they actually brush over you, it was an amazing 45 minutes of constant Manta action (we had 3, but there can be upto 20 if you are lucky), the rest of the group then did a dive, whilst we exited out the water !!

The next day we headed to Ka Lea (most southerly point in USA) to check the views and then to Punaluu Beach Park. This is a black sand beach, which is quite bizaar to see, as a 'Brucie bonus', there was a green turtle making her way up the beach to sunbathe (well maybe), anyway it was a sight I have never seen and a real privelege.

Next was a visit to the Volcano National Park, unfortunetly there was no active lava within viewing distance/access, however, we did not let that deter us. The area is vast and has such extreme 'zones', one minute you are travelling through tropical rainforest, the next you are in a desert, its difficult to keep up with whats going on and where you are ! We saw plenty of active steam vents (like a sauna), sulphur pits (smelly) and lava flows dating from the 70's through to just a few years ago (including the last one that swept over the road), as well as huge rifts, craters, lava tubes and 'lava trees', which are lava moulds left behind from when lava flowed through and over trees. Although there was no active lava, there were plenty of volcanic fumes, which apart from the smell, got into your lungs and made breathing painful in certain instances. It was a hot day anyway (92 degrees), but walking over black lava flow made the day even harder work, so we cut the day short and headed to Hilo. Our last day on the Big Island, was spent in a more relaxed manner (mainly due to heavy rain), we walked through rainforest, saw some waterfalls and shopped at Walmart !

We flew back to Oahu and spent the final day driving round the island, took in the North Shore to see proper surfing, before spending a final evening in Waikiki.

Hawaii is a beautiful set of islands, very diverse, it has mountains that rise to over 13,000 ft, beautiful clear waters, great diving, clean beaches (of varying colours), tropical rainforests and barren deserts, not to mention 2 of the most active volcanoes in the world. This diversity leads to an amazing array of vegetation and a huge variety of produce, we saw banana, pineapple and coffee plantations, as well as mangos, sugar cane and citrus fruits. To top it all, its closest neighbour is over 2,000 miles away.

Next stop: Vegas (again)

Vegas Baby !

dannygoesdiving — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:07:00 GMT

Having arrived on TCI 9 months ago, at night, it was great to leave during the day, allowing us the sight of the islands from the air and the reef structure surrounding the islands, we also passed over the Bahamas, before finally arriving in Miami. After 9 months on an island, which is 35 miles long and has a population of 30,000, Miami looked daunting even from the air ! The airport etc was fiasco free ane we soon found ourselves on a plane, flying to Las Vegas. It is at this point you appreciate the size of the States, 5 hours to fly from Miami to Vegas, the same time it takes to fly from the UK to Egypt. We arrived in Vegas slightly worn, adjusted watches to the 3 hour time difference and caught a cab to our hotel - Circus, Circus. 10 minutes and $30 later and wiser (catch a shuttle for less than half the price), we checked in and crashed out.

We awoke, gorged on a $10 all you can eat breakfast and headed out onto the strip. Circus Circus is almost at one end of the strip (only the Sahara & Stratosphere are further), so we took a leisurely walk to see what all the fuss was about (the strip is about 2 miles long). After walking around the Venetian we realised we were in a world that defied reality - walking a mall, designed to look like Venice, with the ceiling designed to look like sky and actual 'canals' of water running through the place, complete with people being transported by gondola whilst being serenaded - truly wierd. Walking past several more hotels/casinos, all seen in one film or another, we arrived at 'Paris' and took the elevator up the scale model of the Eiffel Tower, providing great views of the strip. We then headed to the Tropicana where there is the 'Titanic' exhibition, which in addition to replicating parts of the Titanic to walk around, provides a great deal of historical information and over 300 artifacts recovered from the Titanic. It was an amazing experience, looking at personal artifacts recovered from one of the world most famous shipwrecks was quite moving. We continued down the strip, passed MGN, Excalibur (castle with turrets), to the Luxor (complete with Sphinx and Pyramid - the latter lights up at night and the beam can be seen from the Space Shuttle). Here we saw an IMAX 3D show, 'creatures from the deep', the 3D was so realsitic you felt you could almost reach out and touch what you were watching. Heading back to 'New York, New York', we jumped on the rollercoaster. OK, so we have all been on rollercoasters, but I have never been on one that goes through and round a hotel, where you find yourself upside down looking at a road with passing traffic - wierd again. We slowly wandered back to 'Circus Circus' to find that a whole day had passed us by.

The following day we took a more relaxed approach. We wandered around 'Circus, Circus', took in the 5 acre indoor adventuredome built into the hotel, watched a couple of circus acts (the largest permanant indoor circus in the world). We then headed to the 'Stratosphere', which has the tallest observation tower in the USA, which provided some amazing views of Vegas and the surrounding area. We caught a bus down the strip to the 'Mirage' where we saw the erupting volcano (!), drank Margaritas at 'Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville', watched the fountains at the 'Bellagio', before heading in to see the Cirque de Soleil show 'O'. Now this is not my sort of thing, but Jo had wanted to go and at $150 per ticket I wanted to be impressed, I was not disappointed. The whole thing was out of this world, the show is based around a theme of water, and has to be seen to be believed. It is best to ask Jo to explain it if you want more detail, for those that know me, if I think a show with dancing, aerobatics and synocronised swimming is worth the money, then just take my word for it.

The following day we secured our hire car, successfully negotiated Vegas and headed to the Grand Canyon. About 45 minutes outside of Vegas, we reached the Hoover Dam, had a walk over it and had to be impressed by the feat of engineering. Then on we went, arriving at the Grand Canyon South Rim after about 6 hours (total time from Vegas including stops). The place just appears out of nowhere, you drive through a forest, turn a corner and there it is ! Although you are looking at it, your brain cannot really comprehend what you are seeing. It is 10 miles across, several hundred miles long and 6000 ft down - the statistics don't do the place justice though. We drove along, stopping at regular viewing spots, walking for a while and generally marvelling for the 3 hours before the sun went down. The only dissapointment were the vast number of people doing exactly the same.

The following day, we headed back, choosing a less popular route, and this provided what we had been looking for - absolute solitude. At some of the view points, we were the only people around, whilst at others if you walked 10 minutes or so down the tracks, then there was nothing around but nature and stunning views. 3 hours passed in a blink of the eye, it was time to head back to Vegas. We took a detour along part of Route 66, drank in the Route 66 'Roadkill Cafe' and got back late at night, just beating a massive storm.

Conclusions:

Vegas - 2 days is too much time and yet too little time. The strip soon becomes a blur and you can only take in so much/ walk around so many hotels/casinos, however, at night it is a spectacle with shows, bars and entertainment that you would be hard pressed to fit it in in a month.

Grand Canyon - Get away from the crowds and it really is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. We would love to come back, but fitter and with more time and actually spend a couple of days treking down to the Colorado River.

Next stop: hawaii

A trip to West Caicos

dannygoesdiving — Sat, 8 Sep 2007 23:51:00 GMT

It has been a while since any activity outside of work was organised, so when Ben (one of the instructors) arranged to hire one of the dive boats for a Sunday (our day off), we jumped at the chance. There were 14 of us, some instructors, some friends, the plan was for a couple of dives and a BBQ on the beach – the cost $50 each for boat and food – a bargin.

We set off from Beaches at about 8:30 and headed the 2 hour journey to West Caicos. The first dive was ‘Spanish Anchor’, so named because of the ancient anchor embedded in a coral swim through. We had a relaxing hour dive, down at 60 metres looking up at the wall and down into the blue, set us up for the day. There were no sharks, but it was nice to relax and dive with no one to worry about but yourself. Jo chose not to , opting to free dived instead. It was a bit bizarre being at 18 metres and finding Jo swimming next to me, with snorkel, fins and mask instead of scuba gear ! Back on the boat we headed for ‘Boat Cove’, where we dropped anchor and swam to shore, jumping from the rocks into the clear blue waters.

We then headed to North West Point, on route we had a small pod of dolphins, so a few of us jumped into the blue, the boat went past us, to and fro, allowing us to snorkel and watch the dolphins swimming past us at the bow of the boat. This was one of the highlights of the day, not just the dolphins, but being in the blue and looking down into nothingness. We reached North West Point and next dived ‘Hole in the wall’. This is named as at 18m there is a large hole which you can dive down and through, exiting the wall at about 30 metres.

After the dives, we took the boat close to the beach, ferried the BBQ’s, food, drinks etc onto the beach and relaxed, sunbathed and ate. The heat finally drove us into the sea, where we threw a football around and generally played silly buggers. At 6pm we headed back home, we had planned a night dive but the weather had picked up, preventing us from doing it, so instead we watched the sunset, before finally arriving back at the jetty at about 7pm.

We got a lift home with Steve and Nik, the 4 of us chilling on our balcony, drinking red wine and eating cheese and biscuits.

All in all a great day.

Our new home

dannygoesdiving — Fri, 7 Sep 2007 23:48:00 GMT

After just over 8 months on the island, and several false starts, we have finally moved house. We moved to almost the opposite side of the island (so no nearer work), to the quieter and more local area of Blue Hills. We have a small studio apartment, the place is compact, but has everything we need, including cable, internet and a gas BBQ. Its main strength though is that it has a very large surround balcony, providing a magnificent view of the ocean. The sea breeze also keeps the place cool and the outside mosquito free, so that you can sit out at night and relax without being eaten alive. A private path leads the 20ish steps required to reach the beach. There is little development on this side of the island and aside from the odd bark of a potcake, the only noise we hear is the sea. To get to work, we walk about 2 minutes along the beach to the road and either get the free bus to work, or if we want more of a lie in, we get a jitney. The bus brings us home at the end of each day. We are no nearer most of the shops etc, but we are only a 5 minute walk along the beach to ‘Horse-Eyed Jacks’ and the ‘Conch Shack’, our local bars and eateries. Things should also become easier when we finally get the jeep back on the road.

New Artificial Reefs

dannygoesdiving — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 11:22:00 GMT

After months of planning, artificial reefs have been built and located in two areas outside the dive centre. They are in 2 - 3 meters of water, making them ideal for snorkellers and DSD's. The reefs comprise 'reef balls', which are concrete molds, hollow, with lots of holes to allow the fish access and protection. Living coral and anenomes have been grafted onto these reef balls to start encouraging marine life. Although they have been down for less than a week, squirrel fish have already made them home, along with various juvenille fish, yellowtail snapper and blue tangs. I plan on publishing photos of the reef each month, showing how the reef is progressing. In the meantime check out the video footage and photos.

North West Point

dannygoesdiving — Sat, 4 Aug 2007 23:50:00 GMT

A good start to the day, in a bar at 9am, eating a full english, drinking a pint of guiness and watching the Charity Shield.

Hottest part of the day and another roadtrip with the usual mob to explore North West Point - the 4 wheel jeep was needed to tackle the road, but the journey was well worth it. A deserted sandy beach and good snorkelling. The question though is where to next week ?

A day on the beach at S.W Bluff

dannygoesdiving — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:29:00 GMT

A great afternoon spent with friends made whilst on Turks & Caicos Islands - along with myself and Jo were Nik & Steve, Lynne & Brett, and Sarah. We travelled to S.W point, a 20 minute journey along a dusty track that led to a very secluded are of the island. We chilled, ate, drank, snorkelled, explored, played and basically had a great day. Nice way to spend your Sunday off.