SCUBA

I made a new years resolution to myself. This year, I will get my rescue scuba divers licence. I’ve held an open water divers licence since 2007 when school took us up to Cairns to get our qualification. We spent three days on land sitting our tests and practicing in the pool, then three days out on the reef in a little boat where all we did was eat, sleep and SCUBA. I came to love diving so much. I loved the silence as you descended, which forced me into my own head. I always have intense conversations with myself when I am under the water because I feel enclosed in my own mind. I loved how calming it was. Almost the only thing you can hear is your breathing (think Darth Vader style). It’s like a meditation being so aware of your breath. Breathing underwater is a very different experience and lots of people don’t like it. I can’t say that I found it the most enjoyable feeling either initially but you get used to it and after a while you stop having to concentrate on each breath and relax into a very slow and consistent pattern. The best state to be in is a very relaxed one so that you don’t use up the air in your tank so fast with puffing, short, excited breaths.  Having said that the underwater world is a very exciting one and sometimes it is hard not to start squeaking and pointing or rushing over to where someone else is doing the same. Sharks don’t help relaxed breathing, neither do sea snakes or eels or even just very large fish but that is why scuba is like a Zen test. “Be calm young one for if it decides to hurt you, you have no chance and so why bother worrying?” I have had shark encounters under the water. In Cairns they were just reef sharks but when I went to Fiji where I got my advanced divers licence we went on  shark feeding trips where I came face to face with 2 meter long bronze whalers and lemon sharks. I’m still more scared of sea snakes though.

When I finished year 12 I wanted to be a dive instructor up in Cairns and live half my days on a boat in the sun. But scuba diving licences are expensive to get and so I resolved to slowly build on my licence over the years. I did a few dives in Sydney; they were cold and sometimes gloomy with very poor visibility and after the Barrier Reef, a comparatively poor array of fish and coral. One dive was advertised to us as a ‘Wreak Dive’. The Wreak turned out to be a motorcycle with a beer bottle sitting on the seat. Disappointing. But the dives were fun for that feeling of still that came over me, the meditation of breathing and the thoughts that came under the water.

 

A couple of dives in Greece again proved to me just how lucky we are to have the Barrier Reef so close and accessible. I went diving off the island of Santorini and at least these dives had the wreaks they promised to us. Large boats, sunk at 15 meters and big enough for us to swim through the cabins and hull. But I was shocked to see the disaster site that surrounded them. Piles of rubbish covered the floor of the enclave the boats were sunk in, rubbish floated around us and was scattered as far as we could see. There was next to no plant life or fish which I suspect was due to the rubbish and when we were again above water I asked our instructor why nobody cleaned the area. He told me that they did, that at the start of every tourist season all the dive organisations on the island gathered to clear out the cove, but because of the cruise ships and tourist ferries that frequented the island and the tourists who deposited their rubbish straight into the sea, it quickly filled back up again. It was sad that because so few people see beneath the waves, they can’t learn what damage they are doing above them.

During my time in Fiji I got to use my diving for a purpose other than recreation. There was a cyclone and it had torn up the shallow reef and with it the buoys that marked the boat free areas of the lagoon. A few days after the cyclone some of us went out to replace them. This involved finding stable areas of the reef to tie our buoys to and making sure the length of the line could accommodate for high tides. I was also shown the clam farm and a few clams that had been disrupted in the cyclone were gathered back and placed back in the farm area. We also helped from underwater to dislodge some anchors that had become too wedged to be removed from above.

 

My next diving trip is organised for a few weeks. I’ll be heading over to New Zealand and doing a few dives at the Poor Knights Island above Auckland. I am hoping it will be a multi-coloured explosion with plenty of new things to see (there always are) but most of all I’m looking forward to the splash as I roll over the side of the boat, followed by the slow silence, the alien sound of breathing underwater and the calm as I descend.

Sail Away

Travel Questionnaire –

Alana at the Castillo de Gilbralfaro, Malgala, Spain

Hello! Who are you?
Alana, 21, Student, Likes; Reading, Photography & Travel

What do you travel for?
To see new places, meet new people…expand my horizons!

Last destination visited?
Canterbury, Kent to visit a friend that is in college there.

Hotel or Hostel? 
Hostel is the cheap effective option and a great way to meet people…but if you have cash to spare hotel is the way to go.

Favourite destinations?
Anywhere in Spain really but the region of Andalucía in particular…also Madrid & Barcelona.

Travel good luck charm?
Passport...ha!

Packing ritual?
Always done in advance, last minute packing is a disaster but I usually end up repacking several times regardless.

Destination you will not return to? Why?  
Fortunately I haven’t encountered one yet!

Destinations you dream about.
In general I would like to travel outside of Europe but in particular I would love to travel across South America but of course to the USA and Australia as well.

Must have in your carry-on luggage.
Music and a good book.

The best meal you have had away.
Hard to say but there was great food in Crete when I visited there, very fresh, healthy and tasty. I also LOVED tapas in Spain, small portions of delicious food.

Favourite travel quote.
“Not all those who wander are lost.” — J. R. R. Tolkien

How do you survive the flight?  
I read or listen to music and hopefully fit in a nap to pass some time!

That one travel story that you have told a million times, and will keep on telling.
Any story from my Erasmus (European exchange) semester in Granada, Spain. I think I will be talking about it forever!
 
What souvenir do you bring back?
I usually always bring back postcards to decorate my room with or little trinket souvenirs to remind me of each place.

Milk Beach

Looking for a small private beach today, I stumbled across a hidden gem. In the wealthy suburb of Vaucluse, east of Sydney CBD there is a small walking track called the Hermitage Foreshore Track. It only runs for 2.2Km and is dotted every few hundred meters with tiny beaches all facing towards Sydney CBD. I had been looking for some tranquillity and hoping for a little wildness and I found both of them on this walk. As I stepped into the bush the sounds of human life faded into nothingness and very quickly all I could hear was the chirping of birds, waves lapping below me and bees buzzing. As my hearing became uncluttered my sense of smell opened up. In the cool of the tree’s shade blossoms were opening and filling the air with an intoxicating smell so strong it made me think of the perfume counters at David Jones. Yellow and green finches flitted amongst the flowers and other native birds sang from higher up in the branches.

 

 

 

The trail wound above the beaches, some of them tiny, some littered with dingys, one even had grass, tables and fishermen sitting on a wall. The beach I stopped at was called Milk Beach and was situated between (very small) sandstone cliffs. I shared the strip of sand with a few other couples and watched the scenery. Yachts bobbed in front of us whilst smaller party boats with music blaring and raucous laughter meandered along the coast line. I watched sea planes landing and taking off, from Rose Bay I think?  In the sand glittered purple, green and blue with broken shards of mother-of-pearl and as the small waves lapped on the shore they tinkled as all the shells crashed into each other. Kayakers came andlanded on our beach for a short while and then continued gliding on to the next bay.
 

 

 

 

The sun was setting behind the Harbour Bridge as I left, ricocheting blinding rays off the sails of the Opera House as well as the water. As I walked back to the path I spotted crabs scuttling back under their rocks andstarfish basking in the rock pools. As the path broke from the bush and back onto the road and the sounds of suburbia settled back in around me I realised how relaxed I felt. For 3 hours I had had the perfect getaway and I felt refreshed from the city and ready to take on the night noodle markets!

 

 

 

 

Discover your home town.

Walk around. Walk slowly and walk in places you haven’t been before. Take a different route home, to the shops or to lunch.

Stop. Stop in front of buildings you have always walked past and look up. Notice how the clouds reflect off the glass and how when they race across the sky it makes it feel as though the tallest spires are going to come tumbling down on you. Find high up carvings in churches and window boxes full of flowers.

Look down. Watch your feet as they walk and notice the plaques in the sidewalk. Stop to read them. See the graffiti on the streets and the fish in the water. Notice where dandelions and daisies are springing up.


Take your headphones out. Hear church bells ringing and buskers playing. Sit on the pavement to relax and enjoy the music. Listen to other people’s conversations or the ferries horns or the wind in the trees.


Put your headphones in. Walk around your area with a rock ballad in your ears and watch everyday occurrences become part of an epic music video. Smile, because your world just got more awesome.


Go inside. That cafe, that shop, that art gallery, that church. Is there anything planned for this afternoon? No? Then go in.


Have your coffee in a different spot. Get a takeaway cup and sit at the base of a statue or in a park (hopefully it’s sunny) and watch the world.


Collect paper. Use flyers, magazines and websites to fill your diary with things that are on. If you see someone setting up a marquee or stage, stop to ask them what’s happening.


Go somewhere different. You may have your favourite cafe, bar or restaurant but there are others out there that are just as good and maybe better! Try out a different one each time and what’s the worst that can happen? Treat it as an adventure and review it with yourself afterwards; you will then be a great person to come to for recommendations.


Leave the house with wide eyes and an open mind. You won’t be able to help bumping into wonderful things.

Tourist in my own city - Markets

Sydney city comes alive on a Saturday morning. Young hip things are crawling out of clubs still pulsing with music at the same time as stalls with fresh produce and crafts are quietly blooming into being. As the club goers slink back to bed the markets are just starting to bustle. Food markets such as Eveleigh in Redfern and the Taylor square markets on Oxford St officially begin trading at 8am and craft markets like the Paddington markets also on Oxford St open their doors at 10am.

The Eveleigh markets are located in the old carriage works in Redfern, just south of the Sydney CBD. Corrugated iron walls shelter over 70 stalls selling artesian produce from all over NSW and the ACT, old machinery is scattered between the stalls. On one morning there I sampled apples, sausages, yogurt, port, juice, cheeses, olives, dips, cordials and oils. My breakfast was a bacon and egg roll, a staple of the produce market and I took home a marigold plant for just $1. It is best to turn up earlier in the morning to really see the market at its finest with all the flowers out on display and everyone’s stalls stocked to the brim.

Taylor square markets are quite different. It has closer to 10 or 15 stalls and feels much more like a local community affair. All their produce is sustainable and they are passionate about extolling the virtues of sustainable eating. If you are a local in the Darlinghurst or Kings Cross areas then the Taylor square markets are aimed at you, they don’t have much variety but you can pick up bread, fruit and veg, honey, herbs, meat, flowers and a coffee and feel like you are at a small country town market just a stroll from your house.

Paddington markets are up further on Oxford st, you will find them scattered around a church and the joining school yard. Over 200 stalls are here every Saturday. Mostly crafts, clothes and design stores. Jewellery abounds, as does vintage sunglasses, local designers and their wares, art works and ceramics. There is also a courtyard dedicated to foods and coffee so you can try some sponge cake or Himalayan cuisine in-between stall hopping.

If you are making your way up to Paddington markets I would also recommend stopping by the Paddington Reservoir Gardens located in-between the markets and Hyde Park. It is a section of the cities past that had been buried but has since been dug up and renovated into wonderful sunken gardens; take your camera because you will be inspired to take photographs. It has been described as a combination of the Baths of Caracalla and The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Old parts of the cities past water systems poke out from underneath ferns and are reflected in the water feature whilst families have picnics on the lawn framed by large stone arches. It is a tranquil hideaway from the bustle of the city.

Where do you go on a Saturday morning? Are there other markets in the city I should hear about? Let me know!

The Travel Companion

Have you been to the Lonely Planet website recently? They have a competition running to win $10,000 from Visa which is great and all, but we all know that only one person wins that and it’s unlikely to be you or me (So cynical Gemma!), enter the competition all the same I say but enter it for different reasons!

To enter you must create a Lonely Planet book of your own and submit a travel tip. Creating the book involves choosing your destinations, your budget and what kind of things you are interested in. The website then compiles this into a Lonely Planet book format and presents you with a PDF that can be saved onto your computer. I think that this is such a fun tool, of course it doesn’t give you as much information as an actual Lonely Planet book does but it does give you some suggestions and they are free and easier to carry around than a whole book! Anyone thinking of travelling soon should get on it as well because for every guide you create there is a $100 voucher that can be used at STA travel until the 31^st December 2012.

So enter for the sheer pleasure of creating a personal guide book for your upcoming trip and make sure to thank me if that voucher comes in handy. :P

As an aside note, how gorgeous is the background of the website? I would love to take a photo like that!