A 05:30 start for a 06:15 collection.
Having obtained our gear from the Pro Dive shop in Cairns we were on the boat for a briefing by the skipper at 07:15 and the boat had set sail for the outer great barrier reef by 07:30. 2 hours later we were briefed about the dive site at Petaj Mooring on Milln Reef and at 10:50 I was in the ocean commencing my first dive.
The first dive at Petaj Mooring on Milln reef was good, comfortable, warm, the gear was good and easy to use and I weighted myself so I descended straight away! We chose to have the first dive guided as we haven't dived here before.
The second dive, again at Petaj Mooring on Milln reef, was a bit useless. We had a task to find a depth, which was tricky as it's so shallow here, due to Queensland law stating that if you dive deeper than your previous dive in a successive dive you can't dive for 6 hours. Ian and I were on our own as a buddy pair for our first time without a guide but managed okay.
Our third dive, at Swimming Pool I on Milln reef, was good with a lot of aquatic life. Skipper guided us to Skippers Secret Garden. It was very colourful with many coral growths. A great dive.
Our night dive, again at Swimming Pool I on Milln reef, was enjoyable. We saw six turtles through the dive which were sleeping, until two were disturbed anyway. There was no current which certainly made the dive better. There was no repeat terrifying experience of the Ellaidhoo House reef night dive of the Maldives anyway! I controlled my breathing and excited the water with ninety bar and found that my ability to equalise is improving. The water temperature is so pleasant, between 28 and 30 degrees!
After catching up with my journal from yesterday I retired for the night at 23:00, at least 30 minutes after the majority!
Copyright 2003 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.