Hmmm an early start at 0600, why are we getting up so early? Might be something to do with the promise from Tata that we will see Whale sharks 100 an 10%! So a journey to Oslob which we ummmed an ahhhhed over due to FOC advicce not to go, took almost 2 hours!  They even packed us a picnic breakfast to stuff our faces on the journey. However, when we arrived to a lovely area with huts, table and chairs along with our chef Helen and Edna the helper to look after us for the day, and they soooooooo did us proud! Treated us like kings and Queens with amazing food, and service second to none! 

Sooooo to the diving………..well we had to walk in off the shore over Rocks and smallish waves, but our brilliant dive guides Alex and Tata and some other guy carried, yes carried our kit and helped us kit up in the sea!!!! 

Brief swim out to the site at a max of 8-10 meters to where to fishermen were feeding the Whalesharks, also where the boats were taking the snorklers (poor wee knobs). Suddenly, there was 1,  then 2 just cruising by, OMG everywhere you looked, Whalesharks had to batted off with a stick! Close encounters of a fourth kind were had by most of us, Malc was finned around the head as i was too! We were not allowed (Sorry, brief interuption due to our  last night in Kasai  hilarity going on in the bar at the moment, Much meriment with Albin and Rannessa, blog tomorrow for this)  to touch or be within 5 meters of them shark things, try telling them that! We were threatened with 6 months in prison if we did! 😱😈

7 Whalesharks for 7 SBSAC divers, just amazing, beautiful and gentle creatures.  

Appologies for my photos, but they are a memory that will live with me forever!! 😍😍😍

Well, we did a 2nd dive without Malc, no he was fine after his encounter with wally whaleshark, just had enough of em! Another kit up in the sea with even bigger waves, and a 17 min swim out to the site where another exciting hour was spent ogling snorklers bottoms, oooops i mean observing the large fish over our heads 😉

The day ended with the trip home and a stop at several local  Pharmacies to get some ‘lughole’ soother for Richard and me due to pain and deafness! 

Back at Kasai, Cocktails in the pool in the shape of Bannana Rum were enjoyed by all!!

After another great breakfast our first dive was back to Copton Point and a hunt for the Pygmy Seahorse, we had to explain to Malcolm that the clue was in the name (his comment was “I didn’t know they were that small” – we found 2).  After an hours surface interval we went back in on Dolphin Reef, we could have named this site as Turtle City – they were everywhere.  We also saw Ghost Pipe Fish, Nudibranch and Banded Shrimps.

After lunch (they just keep feeding us) our third dive was Talisay Point just off the village of Panagsama, a wall drift dive, more turtles, a small Frog Fish and then at the end of our dive lots of fish life in the shallow reef.

A late afternoon dip in the pool followed by drinks at the bar and the Christmas Tacky T-shirt Competition, expertly judged by Ranessa (spot the new member with his t-shirt).

Following dinner and a few more Red Horse beers it was off to bed knackered!

Gordon Sumner, the humble Dumbledore and the nettle patch at the end of the garden. What could they all have in common with today’s diving?

The turtles?…No. The black and white banded sea snake?…No. The octopus that ran off with DO’s pogder?…No. The huge sardine bait ball that dominated the sea-scape? NO!
BLOODY STINGS! Where they come from, what they are for or where they are going is a mystery. What we do know is, without warning, we all swam into a cloud of stuff. Hydroids I think they call them. Small, less than a jelly fish but with family connections.

First I know, my arms are tingling. A first mouthful of curry type of tingle, disguising the full burn that is sure to follow. Well, the heat followed. The second half of the dive was spend trying to scrape the buggers off, albeit without success.

Uncomfortable but not debilitating; diving in shorts and a T-shirt I seem to have got off lightly.
Keith , similarly atired, fared less well with a face looking like Elf had slapped it again. DO had minor grumblings about his legs (never much to write home about…) but the star of the show was Mrs. B. Welts on her neck like Jack the Ripper had a go and lips that Pete Burns from Dead or Alive would have wanted (ask your parents kids).

Special mention goes to Tata, our senior dive guide, who completely de-kitted at 25m then used his pointer as a back scratcher to try dislodging the offenders.
Vinegar flowed from the first aid store as required but only succeeded in getting Malcy all out of sorts.

Diving. It’s like the Blue Planet, just with a rash.
Sx

It is beautiful here… 

Everything is so nicely designed and kept up together. 

The dive centre is large enough to house the ten of us and other divers. Everything has its place. 

We did three dives today. 

DIVE 1 – Kasai House Reef

A wall dive just off the jetty from the dive resort. 

An abundance of life was to be found including nudis, shrimps, all sorts of fish. A red mantis shrimp. 

DIVE 2 – Dolphin House Reef

Another wall, very slightly sloped. 

We saw lots.

Yellow ornate ghost pipefish in a yellow featherstar

A flock of squid

A shoal of very blue anthias

DIVE 3 – Kopton

A plane on a sandy bottom at about 20 metres.

Rough on top and a fair bit of unexpected current on top.

As well as the plane, ornate ghost pipefish and various shrimps and crabs we seen. 
After the dive we met in the beach bar where it was Red Horse beer for most.  
Others however had cocktails.

We went for our dinner. Foid is amazing and no one is expecting to lose weight on this holiday. 

After tea… 

Tony won the Spanky award for a number of gear failures. This is not something we expect to be repeated.
And just to make sure that you are reading to the end….

… 
… 

Here is a video of Malc doing his grandad dancing…

We have arrived! A long old trip. Pretty much all went according to plan although one of our party wasn’t up to their normal bubbly self. 

I think it all started the night before the trip. Yes have another drink, you’ll be fine, was the order of the evening… And so things were, at the beginning. The quick nip into the bar before boarding, followed by unlimited free drinks on the Heathrow to Dubai fligh, took it’s toll on some in the party. But a teetotal Dubai to Cebu flight and a nap sorted things out.

A variety of films were watched, the most popular being Life and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

We waited a while at passport control which meant that our bags were all ready in baggage reclaim, so no waiting.  Outside the airport, Tata was waiting to whisk us off to Kasai Village Resort.

A quick three and a half hour transfer meant we arrive at the resort in time for dinner. Food was lovely. Can’t see any weight being lost on this holiday. Red Horse Beer, at 6.9% vol was the beverage of choice. 

Nipped in to the beach side bar before bed. Beautiful. Sandy floor with the occasional hermit crab moving across it. 

The resort is in the middle of nowhere so apart from the lights in the Resort everything looks very black. Can’t waiting to see what it looks light on the daylight.

The rooms are huge. The double bed in about seven feet across. The shower is about the size of a family saloon. 

Goodnight. Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings. 

After much planning and waiting, the day is finally upon us, no more sleeps, this is it.

All bags packed and ready to roll. Next stop LHR!

Airport bound in the taxi with our man IBO! 

After a good nights sleep we went straight from T2 to T3 to be at our departure terminal. Having failed to locate “subway” for a breakfast bap (we left a perfectly operational branch of the same establishment back in T2) we ended up at Burger King for a breakfast which was mediocre at best (Jo said ‘disgusting’ so bad she made me eat it)

After that, knowing that we still had a moment to spare we went around the butterfly garden where Jo was immediately attacked by a ferocious looking beast!

See, she’s even sweeter than freshly sliced pineapple 💟

Finally managed to shed the beast!

Now sat, waiting to board, flying in 45 minutes 🛫🛫🛫🛬🛬🛬🚖🚖🚖🍜😴😴😴😴😴😴😴

The flight back from Singapore was smooth and uneventful. The extra legroom we treated ourselves to was lovely, they served Old Speckled Hen in tins and the food was surprising good. The practice of watching six movies back to back made the 12.5 hours fly by (see what I did there?).

We arrived LHR almost an hour early, got our bags and were meet by Ibo (our driver) and whisked away, back home by 5.30 pm. 🚕🚕🚕🚕🚕🚕

Having spent less then 20 minutes in the house we headed out to Selsey to enjoy BBQ feasting 🍔🍗🌭🍲🍝🍜🍛 with friends before finally giving in to the whole sleep / Jet lag thing and were asleep shortly after 9.00pm.😴😴😴

So there I am, 03.30am and wide awake 😱 I give it another 20 minutes but it’s no good, no more sleep for me it would seem. The good news being that I have completed most of the holiday unraveling, got some washing on 👕👙opened my post 📥📩, dealt with all emails 💻 and am now awaiting the awakening of the rest of our party (who seems to have less problem sleeping than I do) 💤💤💤💤💤💤

We have eeked the holiday out as long as we can. No packing done yesterday at all, trying to believe that it is not all over. So, up early, as is always the case when on holiday with Richard and having breakfast by 6.00.

Before we leave, I believe that certain things must be admitted… It was me!  Any increase of acidification in the Lembeh Strait during our stay, was me.  I understand that that I may have added to the destruction of the sea, but if you’ve got to go… 

For the whole dive… 

So be it. 

Actually, I think Richard is partly to blame too!

First breakfast and packing done… Only three hours to spare. Phew! Thank goodness we got up so early, otherwise we really would have been pushing it.

A little sit by the pool before second breakfast… 

Well, we made it. Ready to go at 10 o’clock. Some music was laid on, Detmon (one of the guides) on guitar, Chef on the box drum and the security guard on the big double base thing. 

 

 

After an hour and a half of beep, beep,  Beeeeeeep, we made it to the airport. Checked in and now looking at the not vast array of shops.

 
Well that was kind of creepy… Just spotted a man taking a photo of me.

I know that white folk are quiet rare in this area of the world, so you kind of expect it. Still creepy though. 

Even creepier… Just spotted him taking a picture of Richard.

And creepiest of all… Here is a picture of him! See I can be creepy too…  MWAAAH HA HA HA HA HAAAAA!!!!  (Think Vincent Price…again. ) (BTW-that is the correct spelling, googled it!) 

 

Flight to Singapore went smoothly, although I did notice our stalker on the plane. Once we got to Singapore we checked in for the Singapore by night tour. Basically a trip by bus with two stops, one to the Gardens by the bay and the other to see the Merlion…

Gardens by the Bay

Merlion

Such a beautiful city. 

Back to the airport for food and sleep, in a comfy bed, I hope. Just hope the alarm works… 

Well, here it is, our last diving day of our Indonesian adventure. 

Woke up early this morning and have been providing artistic guidance to Jo on the selection of various photos. Over 10,000 in the bag, apparently I can’t keep all of them 😞. Early results looking good, Jo must have a really good computer!

Jo wants to take me to the doctor when we get back to take a look at my trigger finger😷🤒🤕😵

On a related note, Jo’s ears are much better and with the holiday drawing to an end we are reminded of Simon’s Sulawesi Fat Foot. We are pleased to confirm that there are no fat feet here however, we have both been diagnosed with Sulawesi Fat Belly.

🤒🍜🍝🍛🍿🍲🍱🍘🍕🍟🍔🍗🍖🌭🌮🍤🍣🍭🍯🍩🍧☕🍾🍸🍺🍹🍳

Cameras prepped for the last day of dipping, chargers and dive torches are being put away along with anything else that will no longer be needed 😔😖😞😖😔😞

 

On a more positive note, the next dive is my 1500th, the cake is baked, champagne chilled and the speedos left behind (ooh, see what I did there, cheeky! Ooh there I go again).

Dive on Angels Window complete, nice and bright and better vis than last time. I went wide angle, Jo macro and much disappointment was caused when another dive guide barged in on a picture that she was trying to take, dive guides with cameras, let me think about that for a moment 🤔😠😡

Breakfast #2 under the belt, we head out for dive 2 of the day, our last dive of the trip

 😭😢😭😢😭😢😭😢😭😢😨😰😧😭😭😭😰😰😰😰😢😢😢

Hairball II, a dive that lives up to it’s name. Hairy Frog Fish and Ambon Scorpion Fish (also hairy), also seen: loads of leaf fish, robust ghost pipe fish, cuttle fish, shrimp fish, flamboyant cuttle fish as well as a seahorse fish. 95 minutes (96 minutes for Jo) of muck diving excellence to end the trip.

Jo and I took it upon ourselves to draw the dive briefing complete with perfect storm waves and a treasure chest.

Gear broken down, washed off and hanging out to dry, cameras all in pieces, nothing to do now but drink beer, play crib and wait until the next meal (this will not be very long).

More fresh Rambutans delivered to our room today, nice.

Hairy fruit, careful how you swallow them, can leave a bit of a tickle in the throat!

Two games of crib, I drew even – Yippeee!

Then Jo regained her lead 😧😧😧

UPDATE: Apparently I should have used the word “trounced” above.

Just had another monster dinner and to our surprise it seems that the cake really had been baked as this was just presented to me:

Fortunately I was able to share it with the other guests, a problem shared etc.

So… last full day of diving today. 🙁🙁

I am still battling the sore ear but it would be unfair to leave Richard in the clutches of the Japanese folk… We don’t want any international incidents… Some headlines come to mind..

(Headline were removed in final editing – Sorry) 

Did you know that Olympus are bringing out a new range of cameras for the Japanese market?

Olympus I am Really Sure This must Be The Last Shot

Olympus In Your Face Shot (this can be upgraded with the Kick Up The Shit Extension Kit) 

Olympus You’re Really Getting On My Tits Shot

Olympus Be Everywhere, Take Everything Shot

With the view of making this blog interactive and whilst we are on the subject of cameras, I thought that a competition might be appropriate… 

Some of you have been hear (typo but left it in for effect) but for those of you who haven’t, here is a couple of pictures of the camera room… 

Here is our stuff… (stick with me on this, it could prove funny)  

You may notice that apart for our stuff it is almost empty… almost…

Just to be sure… Here is a picture of the other side of the room… 

Now where do you suppose the Olympus camera charger has been plugged in?

Answers on a postcard…

 
DIVE 38 – Tanjung Kubur

Great dive on Lembeh Island by the cemetery. Just us and Detmon. The Hawains and the Japanese with Nomsix. 

We saw lots and took lots of pictures.

Chromodoris nudi

Pickachu nudi

Two large brown stripey nudi.

Banded sea snake

Sexy shrimps

 
One of the Japanese ladies surfaced away from the boat, and the rest of the party.  She swum back to the boat on the surface and then went under the boat to the ladder rather than swimming round.  In fact she was so close to the bottom of the boat that it reminded us of Jen’s spiderman impersonation. 🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️

 
At breakfast, there was no little packets of butter. This has happened twice now and although it really isn’t an issue, Richard was asked by the staff to go to the office to complain. As I was coming back to the hut he went to the office door, I heard him knock and open the door, shortly followed by many young women laughing very loudly. Now, I don’t know what he said, or if indeed he said nothing at all, but from a distance he looked very pleased with himself.
So I’ve considered this and as a newly married bride I think  I should try this at home… So every time he walks into a room, I am going to laugh, no not just laugh, but fall about in a fit of the giggles… Let see how that works for him…

He on his way back now, time to try it out…

Hmmm… Think I might need to work on my giggling technique. I doesn’t come naturally, more sinister than charming.  I was thinking Tinkerbell but it was more Vincent Price… 

 
Me… 😄😄😄😄

Richard… ☺️😐😕🙁😨😰😱

Anyway, he calmed down enough to come diving with me…

DIVE 39 – Nudi Retreat 1

Beautiful dice site, viz a little murky…

We saw:

• Yellow pygmy seahorse 
• Other divers
• More  other  divers
• Even more other divers

Things we didn’t see:

• Manners
• Diving etiquette

Nuff said!

 

DIVE 40 – Aer Prang 2

Us, the Japanese and Hany.

Had a quiet word with Hany before the dive and he did an excellent job of making sure that everyone was catered for. No pushing in, no shit kicked up.

Very enjoyably dive muck dive. 

We saw crazy shrimps and beautiful nudis.

 

DIVE 41 – Jahir 1

Last night dive of the holiday, and what a great one it was…

On the house reef, just the two of us with Hany.

We saw:

• Wonderpus
• Octopus
• Shrimps
• Nudis
• Squid
• Bobtail squid
• Upside down jellyfish

Nice long dive too, 95 minutes.😊😊

 

I am pleased to say that we both did the four dives today, so looks like my ears are on the mend.

Completely shattered now!

Dinner and bed calling…