DiveMaster PADIwan

Apologies for the radio silence, it’s been a hectic few weeks, she said not entirely tongue in cheek…after a less than ideal three weeks in China it was with great joy that we returned to the islands off of Bali after a day stocking up, seeing friends and getting fantastic massages in Ubud.

The waters around our first stop in Gili Meno were as inviting as ever and we spent our week there diving and hanging out with friends and making new ones.

After an exhausting week of that (I know I’m funny right) we made our way back to Nusa Lembongan, just off of Bali’s North coast for me to start my PADI Divemaster program and for J to get down to some writing. You may recall that was the plan when we began travelling, he would write, which of course he hasn’t because we’ve been too busy exploring the world but now we’re relatively settled and while I study, he writes. Of course the plan at that stage was not for me to study a divemaster, being as oblivious to the oceans charms as I was but now a plan really has come together.

Three days ago I started my PADI Divemaster intern programme with John and Sue at World Diving Lembongan, the most professional dive outfit we have had the pleasure of crossing paths with. As soon as we found them last November I knew we would be visiting again and here we are not a moment too soon. It’s an interesting process, going back to school, I had terrible first day anxiety, wanting to do well and knowing I know nothing and then breathing through that and remembering that is after all why I am here, to learn and soak in as much information as I possibly can. HUGE bag of materials handed over and gone through and explained the panic momentarily rose again but you wouldn’t undertake to learn something if you already knew all there was to know about it, so I am cutting myself some slack and allowing my not knowing to be ok, and breathing through the occassional wave of fear that pops up. I am loving what I am learning and the people and environment I am learning it in, John and Sue are incredibly supportive, all of the staff are welcoming, friendly and helpful and it’s wonderful to dive again with Geraldi and Jack who were completing their DM last year when we were here. The sealife is SPECTACULAR, fields of corals and, another of the reasons I chose to study here, what can be powerful currents due to Lembongans location in the world, you’re just as likely to be flying along during a dive as you are gently finning yourself. So far we’ve seen a couple of huge tuna, giant trevally, too many schools of beautiful fish to mention, dolphins – albeit from the boat, the titanest of titan triggerfish and I’ll be keeping an eye out for the incredible oceanic sunfish and giant mantas that we saw last year and are known to frequent the islands.

Today we moved from our no wifi, tiny, slightly less than mould free room with an exquisite ocean view (I figure I’ll practically be living at the dive shop and on boats anyway so the view will come with the territory and it’s quiet and perfect for J to write at on our new little verandah) to a large, lovely, clean, tiled room a few hundred metres back and at a fraction of the cost, which will be our home for the next fifty nights, although paying before we discovered there was no hot water was yet another fine example of our incredibly crappy travelling skills, yes even after eleven months *sigh* Ah well at least the average daily temperature is mid thirties and YES I AM STILL KICKING MYSELF you really do need to be a bloody lawyer to travel and think of EVERY eventuality and we are simply too nice or just plain dumb, anywho, it is what it is, and paradise islands are still paradise islands, hot water or not.

I have to run for now, I need to be on top form for day four but before I do and as cheesey as this may sound, many things you thought impossible are not only possible but EXCEEDINGLY doable, should you so wish to do them all you need to do is have a little faith in yourself and take the very first step Xx