it's been a long time

Did my last day in the kitchen today (Friday). I was actually supposed to be done yesterday, but my original plans for scuba diving fell through because the place I was going to go to didn't have an instructor on site this weekend. It's been a long time since the last time I went scuba diving so I felt like I should start off slow. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I managed to make arrangements to take a refresher course in Byron Bay on Sunday. Byron Bay is about 3 hours south of Brisbane and it seems to be a big surfer and backpacker type town.

When people ask how long it has been since the last time I went scuba diving, I usually give them a vague answer of 6-7 years, but the more I think about it, the longer it gets. I got certified back in high school in preparation for a marine biology trip to Jamaica and you know, I don't think I have gone since. So that means something like 14-15 years. I keep meaning to go whenever I travel, but for various reasons I never get around to it. I was all set to go the last time I was in Australia. I had a three day, live-aboard trip arranged on the Great Barrier Reef and everything, and then I failed the dive medical because I was on some medication that had a low risk of seizures and the doctor wouldn't sign the form. So I went snorkelling instead.

And, of course, Canada is not really one of the top diving destinations in the world, what with the weather and all. There's some decent wreck diving in various places if you go looking for it and don't mind wearing a full body wet suit. Even if you get past the water temperature, it's not like diving in the tropics where everything is beautiful and colourful. Mostly it's shades of green and brown, heavy on the brown - the bottom, the water, the fish, the seaweed. In fact, the most colourful things down there are usually the other divers.

I'll let you know how it goes.