You did not hear from me for a while now. That is not because I'm lazy. I just had nothing interesting to tell so far. But now I have. I did my Diving-Course. I'm a certified open water diver (allowed to dive down to 18 meters) now. The first two days of the course were filled with lots of theroy and training in a pool. Yesterday and today were the „real“ diving days then. To become a certified diver, you have to complete a theroy test first and then four dives in open water with an instructor. On every dive you (and your dive buddy – you never go alone) have to complete different skills. What to do if... this or that happens. If one of you runs out of air or if you loose your air supply from your mouth and so on... You train all that in the pool but have to show you can do it under real conditions then as well.


Before the dive – gearing up.


Buddycheck – double check all gear.

The first dive was a bit scary, of course... I was quite worried I would not be able to „equalize my ears“. If you dive, the pressure gets higher and higher. That is no problem for your lungs and for your breathing – the machine gives the air to you in the right pressure every time. But as the air in your ears gets squeezed, you have to equalize the pressure by holding your nose closed and gently blow into it. But I managed it very well, ears seem to be ok and I had lots of fun! We saw lots of fish, even sharks, sea-cucumbers, coral – pity I don't have an underwater camera!


After the dive – exhausted but happy.


I know, it loos like a pool – but it's the Great Barrier Reef!