January:
11_12_13_14_15_16_17_18_19_20_21_22_23_24_25_26_27_28_29_30_31_
February:
1_2_3_4_5_6_7_8_9_10_11_12_13_14_15_16_17_18_19_20_21_22_23_24_25_26_27_28_
March:
1_2_3_4_5_6_7_8_9_10_11_12_13_14_15_16_17_18_20_22_23_24_25_
Itinerary
Dan or Justy
The steam back to the ribbons from Osprey was an adventure. 12-14 foot seas slammed us most of the 12+ hours. God bless dramamine. I popped them like tic-tacs and never lost it, although there were moments when the world spun. Several others on board weren't so lucky. It all comes down the old saying, there are people who get seasick and those who haven't yet.
Ribbon Reef 5 has raised the bar on the quality of diving out here. A mind-blowing day of diving. We did 2 dives at the Clam Gardens and couldn't get enough. For a site the size of football field, you could probably spend a week of days on it. Chock full of diving goodness at every turn. I eventually gave up and kept the video camera on so I might catch more of the action without the distraction of turning it on/off.
A shallow site (max useful depth: 40), sunny and protected by a wall that rose almost to the surface, you just couldn't ask for a better day.
We left Osprey at the start of dinner, and prepared for another 10 hour steam. The weather looked dire and we needed to head out as soon as possible. This time I stacked up on the medicine and waitied for it to take effect.
Ribbon Reef 5, our destination presented a few beautiful dives. The first I skipped and cought up on the sleeping I lost during the night.
Clam Garden, a site where experimenting with clam growth habits has depostied man-sized clams is filled with coral and fish. We dove the site twice and each time loved it. Some interesting fish here like a clown triggerfish, cuddlefish, many nudibranch (snail-like creatures without shells), true nemo clownfish and many varieties of the species living in anemones, and the most interesting was a juvenile dragon wrasse, or rock-mover wrasse. It looked like a leaf and acted like it as well. Way cool!
| Itinerary Highlights | ||
| January |
20: Winery Tour 21-23: Moreton Bay Diving 25: Australia Zoo 26-30: Lady Elliot Island |
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|---|---|---|
| February |
13: Diving the Yongala 15-17: Cape Tribulation + Daintree Rain Forest 17-20: Atherton Tablelands 22-28: Coral Sea Diving Liveaboard |
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| March |
11-13: OzTek Dive Conference: Sydney 14: Fly to New Zealand 20: Poor Knights Islands Diving 31: Mt. Cook |
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| April |
2-4: Queenstown TBD: To Be Dreamed |
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Digital Pix Courtesy of Shimmivision.com
More Digital and Film Pix Coming Soon.