Prodive Coogee and Fish Rock

The Fish Rock scuba diving weekend really rocked! Our Dive Master Amber Kennedy had dived earlier that week and was so excited to go back and after doing 4 dives at Fish Rock I'm in total agreement!

I must admit I've never seen so many fish, sharks, turtles and rays all in one place. It was like were were swimming in a fish aquarium (coincidentally one of my fellow divers Jack actually does swim in Oceanworld's aquarium in Manly).

My nephew Kenichi loves sharks - well he'd be so excited to learn that his Ee Masa dove with a dozen wobbygong and grey nurse sharks! It was so surreal to be swimming around with all of these sharks! And I must admit to staring into their beady little eyes I was so close. We were at 80-90 feet and surprisingly the visibility was very good in spite of how deep we were and dark it was.

In the movie Finding Nemo there's a scene where there's a highway of fish traveling all together. I was reminded of this scene because at certain points I was swimming with thousands upon thousands of fish and then at the outskirts of this school of fish I'd see these sharks lurking around.

And the wobbygong (I still love saying that word) were everywhere too and blended in so well with the rocks that if you weren't careful you might fin kick one of them.

We dove the two same dive sites on both Saturday and Sunday (March 18-20) - they were called Fish Rock and Fish and Chips.

Fish Rock is this cave is 108 meters long and 24 meters deep. We start on the right side of the below diagram and navigate through with a torch (flashlight) and up this "chimney" and then traverse to this bubble cave where at this exit are tons of fish and sea life.



We dove with Southwest Dive Centre. The second dive site is called Fish and Chips because that's where all the sharks hang out!

Since my brother's going to buy me an underwater camera for my belated birthday, I've been paying particular attention to the underwater camera's my fellow divers are using. Amber, our dive master, was taking photos with her Canon G12 underwater camera and as you'll see in her photos below (with her permission I'm sharing them with you - thank you Amber!) she's not only got a great camera, she's also a terrific photographer as she took some AMAZING photos of Fish Rock!!!

Here's the Dive Master and Master Photographer Amber Kennedy from Prodive Coogee:















This is a wobbygong or carpet shark - a fun word to say that reminds me of the word "jabberwocky" from Alice in Wonderland



This is me!



And this is me hanging out at the anchor line doing my 5 minute safety stop.











Here's what you see upon coming out of Fish Rock Cave. This is where I saw that gigantic turtle the size of a coffee table, right at the exit to the cave!









And here's Fish Rock!



On Saturday after our dives we checked out the sights of South West Rocks.



Amber's from the UK so was very keen to stroke (pet) and feed a kangaroo. While she and others tried many times (all in a very respectful way without getting aggressive) it was not to be. We did have some fun with the attempts to feed a kangaroo to the point in true Aussie fashion a challenge was set - with the prize of a beer of course!



We had a great panoramic view of Fish Rock from the Lighthouse



This is the hand-sign you use underwater when you want to tell a fellow diver "there's a shark".



Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil...





On the drive back home after an amazing weekend of diving, we stopped off at Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. I had a taste for a vanilla milkshake and yet couldn't find it listed as one of the choices. There was this Golden Gaytime Milkshake though - and upon asking I learned it was a vanilla milkshake - so I ordered it. But when it was served up - it looked more like a carmel shake with black dots and not very appetizing so I exchanged it for a chocolate shake.

James later explained that Golden Gametime is actually an old time Aussie favorite ice cream popsicle that's vanilla ice-creme with honeycomb biscuits on the outside. Evidently Golden Gaytime goes back to like 1940s so not a product named in recent times...



I also learned a few cartoony phrases for my nephews and nieces. It's "cockney" which mean's they're originally UK phrases (probably like words you'd expect Oliver Twist to say) but since Australia's a commonwealth of the UK you often hear them here.

I asked James to let me Flip him going through these saying as I felt it was important you hear them directly from an Aussie.

Scooby Doo (rhymes with clue) - Don't have a clue.
Mr. Magoo (rhymes with poo) - Take a poo
Barney Rubble (rhymes with trouble) - I'm in trouble

I love this swim...

I love swimming in the Sydney Harbour. There's just something about stroking, turning your head to the side to breathe and seeing the Sydney Opera House.

Just before the 2K swim, this fire boat put on a water show (I suppose they do this to show the Australian taxpayers that they can not only serve and protect but also distribute large amounts of water in a fireworks-like display).



I seem to be consistent in this swim - last year I did the swim in 32:34 - and this year I did it in about the same time 32:22. Well, at least I’m consistent even though my goal is to improve.

My friends Christina, Colin and Melanie placed in their age groups - congrats!



It was a gorgeous day and after the swim we went to the Sydney House Opera Bar Cafe for brekkie.

Baby Buzzerina: Space ships and Calculus

Nadia and I hosted Lisa's baby shower on March 12 and in the invite there was only a one "request" and that was no pink (red was acceptable).

Yes, Baby Calypso Susan's Mom has "out of this world" aspirations for her and they include learning multiple languages (Chinese and French), being smart in maths (as one of her honorary Auntie's my responsibility is to teach her algebra and calculus by age 3), eating rice (oops, that's actually Auntie Nadia's wish for Baby Calypso) and traveling into outer space like Buzz Aldrin (this is where I'd insert the photo of Lisa and Buzz Aldrin).

Among the games I planned for the baby shower, one included a "Space Quiz'. And did you know that Buzz Aldrin's mother's maiden name was Moon? This was one of the quiz questions...

Without knowing this, Lisa's cleverly incorporated a space theme into her daughter's name - Calpyso means "moon of Saturn". Maybe this'll mean a spaceship flight to Saturn for Calypso some day...

Missed Mardi Gras...

Did you know that Sydney is the second most populous city for gays after San Francisco? One proof point of this is the HUGE Mardi Gras parade that Sydney hosts every year and that everyone checks out. The Mardi Gras Parade is even re-broadcast that evening on one of the major TV channel.

Last year I missed it as it was on the same weekend that the North Sydney Masters had their Mollymook Swim Weekend. But this year, Matt and his partner Thomas were having a party at their place in celebration of Thomas' party. And in the invite they said that since they lived so close to the parade route, we'd pop out and go see the Mardi Gras Parade.

But everyone was having so much fun, they didn't want to leave the party! So I missed it again this year.

Here I am on my way home from the party, running into all the parade-goers heading back from the parade.



The next morning, I supported Melody's Freshwater Surf Lifesaving Club which hosted the Barney Mullins 1.5K swim. I did the swim last year and am happy to report that I beat my time. Last year I did it in 29:56 and this year I did it in 28:11. The tricky part of this swim is that the current was strong so I was almost pushed to shore so had to backtrack a bit to the orange buoy before I could swim to shore and the finish line.

Terra Cotta Warriors and Sydney's Convict History

China's still on my list of places I'd like to visit someday. I got a taste of one of China's great historic treasures at the Art Museum of New South Wales (March 5) when I checked out the First Emperor Exhibit. The highlight of the exhibit was several warriors, horses and carriages that were almost lifesize. Each was unique and very realistically posed to "protect" the Emperor once he'd been buried in the tomb that thousands of Chinese workers had built.

Afterwards, I wanted to check out The Mint where I was going to host a work event later that week. Right next door was The Hyde Park Barracks Museum which is a museum about its own history. Having gone to one museum already, I was in the mood to check out another.

The Barracks was built in 1819 to house convict men and boys. Then in 1848 it was like Ellis Island (NY) and Angel Island (California) whereby immigrants were processed into the country and then later in 1862 it was used as an asylum.

The Hyde Park Baracks Museum is listed as a World Heritage Site - Interesting that everything from national parks, islands (Lord Howe Island), reefs (Great Barrier Reef) to former jails can be listed as world heritage sites.



I read this museum exhibit description which says that Australians "treat their convict past with pride" and it didn't ring true - especially the word "pride". What I think might be more accurate is that Australians acknowledge their past and are instead more focused on the beautiful country and the great quality of life they enjoy today.



This part of the museum was about the punishments that were lashed out to the convicts. What's most shocking about these descriptions is how detailed yet unfeeling the observations of the punishment are.

Rock'n and Dancing with Ric and Jacqui's Band

It's great when you find a band that plays music that's fun to dance to and it's even better when the band members are your friends.

George's mother from Perth was still in town after Paul's birthday so we went to check out Ric and Jacqui's band which was playing at the Monkey Bar in Balmain (March 3).

Happy 50th Birthday Paul!

The Victoria Room, a richly decorated Bombay-style restaurant, was the place Paul selected to invite all of his friends to celebrate his 50th birthday (Feb. 26).

And it was a brilliant choice because The Victorian Room also had the setup necessary for Georgina (Paul's wife) to showcase her Aerial Silk Dance that she's been practicing on for months. For those that have been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I took a few trapeze lessons with George. Well, while I "paused" from trapeze, George continued on with not only trapeze, but bungee trapeze and aerial silk dancing.

The best I can describe aerial silk dancing is like Cirque de Soleil - ballet and trapeze all in one!

And what a special show it was - Paul was in the front row and just beaming with delight at this very special birthday present! The party itself was a blast with great champagne, wine, food and friends. The party continued on at George and Paul's place where you'll see the birthday boy commemorating his special evening.