Better to have it and loose it...

The best thing about travelling is that you continuously meet a lot of very nice people. Even though you might not spend much time with all of them they often mean a lot to your experience of a place. It is sometimes difficult to say goodbye to the new friends you have made. I often wish I could just stop time for a while, I do not feel ready to go on yet. Sometimes I even wonder if it is worth the effort to get to know new friends if you just have to say goodbye and probably never see them again. But at the end of the day what you gain is so much more and it is better to have it and loose it that not to have it at all. And you never know, you might meet up again somewhere, sometime.

To all the new friends I have made in Australia: I will miss you loads!

Spirit of Freedom

The Spirit of Freedom. Photo: Andy Durrer

Last week I had the good fortune to be diving the Great Barrier Reef on the Spirit of Freedom. It was an intense week with a total of 27 dives including 3 night dives. When we were not diving we were eating or sleeping. The chef fed us great food constantly.

Unfortunately we did not make it out to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea due to the weather. We were hoping for good visibility and possibly some hammerheads and other sharks. Instead we continued to dive the Ribbon Reefs. The diving was easy, mostly fairly shallow and none or weak current. The corals are amazing and it was mainly small stuff we were looking for. There was the occasional white tip reef shark and turtle but otherwise we focused on nudibranchs, flatworms etc. My favourite dive sites were Cod hole, which is known for it spectacular coral formations and the potato cod (huge, ugly fish) and Steve's Bommie, a pinnacle that has lots to look at on depths from 5 to 30 m. Unfortunately on the pinnacles it becomes very crowded when 25 divers gets in the water at the same time...

Deep talk with a Potato Cod. Photo: Andy Durrer.

Beautiful nudibranch. Photo: Andy Durrer.

We found this sleeping pufferfish on a night dive. Is he not adorable? Photo: Andy Durrer.

This liveaboard was different from others I have done. The biggest difference was that there were about 25 divers (a lot!) and that the dives were not lead by a dive master. The navigation was not very complicated so it was no problem to dive on your own. I was lucky though and got my own personal dive master and instructor. My buddies, Birgit (dive master) and Andy (instructor) were simply the best. We had lots of fun both in the water and on the boat. I will miss you guys!

Having a well deserved glass of wine with my buddies, Andy and Birgit.

Apart from excellent diving the crew and the other guests made the trip unforgetable. I had a spectacular time and will never forget this lovely week.

Me! Photo: Andy Durrer.