Day 7 of competition

This is my second day of rest in a row. I seem to have been expending more energy on my rest days than on my dive days, so decided it would be good to have another day off. I tried very hard to not get in the water today but it was so inviting, so I just had a lazy float around and enjoyed just getting wet. I finally climbed up the cliff today to take some photos of the magnificent view extending from the Blue Hole (now very blue) across the bay and out to sea. The waves on the other side of the wall that protects the hole from the wrath of the ocean were crashing in with enormous power and spraying high above the cliff, meanwhile the the blue hole was calm and unaffected. Sand sculptures seemed to be the theme of the day. While I didn't partake there was a dolphin swimming with a mermaid and a freediver (or course).

The diving today was fairly uneventful apart formt he Japanese, perhaps since they skipped the barbeque last night. Ryuzo and Tomoko both achieved their announced performances of 101m and 54m respectively in constant weight. A few of us scratched and the kiwi boys Will and Dave had trouble equalising both turning early, but still reaching pretty amazing depths. Karol gave up on her last dive before flying out, forcing Frank who was her deep safety to drag her up from 17m.

Yesterday I was the safety diver on the warm up line – it's pretty cold just hanging around the line for a couple of hours. I spent quite a lot of time mucking around taking photos, but unfortunately only got a few good shots. I played around at the edge of the hole after the diving was done and got to know the locals a little. Only managed to get a couple of nice fish photos though.

Fish around the side of the Blue Hole

Kerian in his descent.

Me doing warm up safety.

After diving we all went up to Chris's house for a barbeque. Chis owns a dive shop on the island. His property is right on the waterfront and has it's own gorgeous little private beach complete with soft golden sand, boat ramp, coconut palms and a big cave.

We sat around drinking, eating and laughing. My mocktails were lacking a little something (rum perhaps), but I got a nice wee sugar high. Charlie brought lots of fish to eat and there were lots of salads so we ate pretty well. After dinner the boys played beach volleyball. I had a quick dip in the water, as one must when they're presented with such a beautiful location and warm, clear, calm seas. Will's friends Mike and Nick took to running around zapping people with a little device that gave people electric shocks. A few people played horseshoes. It was a good evening. On the way up to the car Fran decided it would be a good idea to pee under a tree in the garden. Joy was a bit on the jolly side and decided to steady herself whilst waiting for Fran by grabbing hold of a random pole, which just happened to be a tall thin cactus. She got quite a few thorns stuck in her hand, which are still embedded. The advice from the pharmacy today is to urinate on her hand, then drop hot wax on it and pull the spikes out with the wax once it has cooled! I think she has yet to carry this out...