May 16, 2004

Location: Vatu-i-ra Passage (Bligh Water)

We had two fantastic dives this morning at Garden of Eden and Black Magic out here near Nananu-i-ra with Mike Trussel at Kai Viti Divers, who picked us up at the dock in front of our bure at Bethams. It was SO NICE to see as well that our luggage had arrived, so I was reunited with dive gear, toothbrush, and swimsuit. :) We had originally tried to book our diving with Crystal Divers at Bamboo Beach Resort, but we were told that they could not confirm our reservation unless we were guests of Bamboo Beach.

The coral growth is amazingly lush when compared to what we had been seeing over in Taveuni, and the fish here aren't very scared of divers. I crept up to within a foot of a good-sized titan triggerfish, and all he did was look at me warily as he continued chewing up some coral. On the boat as well was a Florida surgeon named Abbas, who also runs hyperbaric chambers as part of his work as a physician. It turns out that Abby knows the Abernethies in West Palm Beach! It's a small world out there, especially when it comes to the community of scuba divers. But I worry about Abby, because he told us that he has plans to take a deep dive down to 300' on normal air. Why? "Just to do it." I hope he makes it.

At 5:30pm, Mike picked us up in a little skiff and drove us over to Wananavu resort to have dinner with Abby. The staff there (as usual) learned our names almost immediately, and even sang a song dedicated to us (as "friends from the island") and the guests who were leaving the next day. Especially amusing was a drunken, pink-faced New Zealander who decided that he would sing along with the staff. It might have been more effective if he knew the lyrics, though. :) Anyway, the food was tasty, and the company good as well. After dinner, we motored back to our island under the darkness of the new moon, and enjoyed the Milky Way splashed haphazardly across the sky and the bioluminescent green sparks being thrown up in our wake.

James and I spent the evening hanging out with Jason, Neal, and Amy (two Irish guys and an English girl), who are bunking in the small dormitory next door. We had a bit of beer, looked at photos, and played a naming game where you pick names for boys & girls, a band, fruit or vegetable, country, car, and animal starting with a specified letter of the alphabet -- you know, the sort of game we might have played as kids. They were all a lot of fun to spend time with, and it made me remember what it was like to travel as a backpacker myself, wandering from place to place and meeting new people daily. The electricity went out shortly after 10pm, so much of our time was spent in the warm glow of lanterns. At the moment, I much prefer this to the air-conditioned sterility of a resort. Having said that, I'm sure the nice resort we're relocating to in a few days will be a welcome change.

May 17, 2004

Dives sites today: G6, Purple Haze, and the back of Garden of Eden

I slapped a +4 diopter on my 16-35mm lens this morning before jumping into the water, and I am *so happy* for that decision. I had thought that the additional distance between the lens and the larger Seacam dome port would alleviate the need for a diopter, but I was wrong. My photos are sharp, again. :) I'm also having some issues with shooting RAW underwater with the 1Ds. Some of my photos -- especially the ones that include sun balls in them -- look better having been shot as JPGs. I'll have to do more investigation tomorrow and write up something for Wetpixel. (It turns out that the Canon RAW converter also produces more pleasing blue-water shots than other converters do, so you can still shoot RAW, as long as you play around with the Canon converter in addition to Photoshop/Capture One).

Mike at Kai Viti Divers continues to be a fantastic dive operator, and his crew members Seci (pronounced "Sethi") and Iliesa have been great as well. The two Fijians are both pretty big guys, but play around on the boat like they are little kids, joking around and laughing constantly. I'm really enjoying the Fijian sense of humor (think of Jim Carrey, as opposed to complicated, obtuse humor).

We did our safety stop tied off to the Crystal Explorer (Crystal Divers' dive boat) behind the Garden of Eden, and had a little reunion with Ron and Suzie, with whom we had spent the last week in Taveuni. It was very nice to see them, and we have plans to go visit them at the Bamboo Beach Resort, assuming that we are able to make it into the premises. There are signs here at Bethams telling us that we are not welcome to visit Bamboo Beach.

Speaking of signs, there are notices posted all over the place here at Bethams absolving them of all responsibility for just about everything. The power outlets in the cottages say, "please speak with Rob before using appliances," and the little plank that serves as a bridge over a small crevasse warns, "Not a public bridge. Use at own risk." I'm finding it pretty funny.

May 18, 2004

Dives sites today: Golden Dream and Dream Maker

Mike took us out in a different direction today for some amazing topography. The water was really snotty, but I could imagine that the sites we dove today would be absolutely stunning if the water were clear!

Bethams were nice enough to let us check out after we returned from the day's dives. Mike had lunch with us before driving us back to the dive shop at Wananavu Resort, where our new taxi driver ("Sonny") was waiting with a station wagon to drive us to the Pacific Harbour Lagoon Resort. My God -- what a nightmare. The guy probably couldn't see at night or something, because I felt like we were going to die the entire time. "We made it here with only one fatality," James later summarized. Yep. Sonny killed a dog during the 5 1/2 hour drive. It was very sad. :(

Needless to say, we were both very, very happy to have made it to the south side of Viti Levu. Pulling up to the resort was surreal, because the reception area was completely deserted -- at 8:30pm. After about twenty minutes, we managed to get checked in, and walked into the old-school colonial "bar" area for a fish curry dinner. I'm glad to be here, but it's very strange compared to the bare-boned comfort of our backpackers' accommodations the nights before. I can't wait to get in the water with sharks tomorrow!