Hi everyone! Guess what I'm back from sailing the Whitsundays and have passed my open water scuba diving! How great is that! And an added bonus for not losing any limbs to sharks during the process! Basically I've spent the past 4 days in and out of the water training to go out and dive independently in the wide open sea! Had to have a theory exam and full medical too which was all a bit daunting but turned out to be rather easy in the end and I passed with flying colours! Bit I was most worried about though was the actual practical as I was having real problems obtaining "neutral buoyancy" with my BC and weights, basically I kept floating even though I had no air in the jacket and had four weights on. Had this twattish instructor who kept having a go at me, then I changed instructors and he noticed straight away that my BC was faulty and it was all okay after that, (grrrr k*** first instructor). Anyway, I did four dives out in the ocean off various islands we sailed too in the course of a day and a half so I'm totally knackered now! Saw some really cool fish and absolutely spectacular coral, didn't find Nemo though. :( However, did get to feed and pet this gigantic bass called Elvis, seriously he was the size of a Doberman though a lot more friendly. Was really cool and I swam through huge shoals of fish, the photos don't really do it justice! We dived down to 14metres, visibility wasn't that great, only 5 metres max so I can't wait until I get to Fiji where it's supposed to be crystal clear all the way down. So I walked away from the boat a full qualified SSI Open Water Diver, oh and also with begbugs. Gross. Have had to debug all my stuff and typically the one day I do this it decides to rain! So am currently sheltering in internet café in the last outfit I have, (aka very short shorts and a flimsy tshirt) to avoid getting hypothermia. Also the young man is playing silly b*****s so that's more drama! Shall set my army of bedbugs on him as payback! Still am now diver extraordinaire and mustn't let such things bug me when I can just sink to the bottom of the ocean and swim with all the fish! Also a big thing conquering my fear of giant man eating sharks! That's Jo 1, Sharks 0. Hope all is hunky-dory back home, enjoy the photos! Jo Xxxxxxxxxxxxx (plus a love bite from the bedbugs)