Thursday, July 15th: Diving 101

Okay, I'm not going to bore you with endless descriptions of wonderful life at Efate, I'll just focus on the highlights. If I leave out a big part of the day, that's because it was wonderfully uneventful.

A tale of turtles
The highlight of the day is the turtle preservation sanctuary, another initiative of  Tranquillity Island Resort. At a 5 minute walk North of the restaurant, Owen has put together enough resources to breed turtles until they're 13 months old, at which point they are tagged and released into the wild. The sanctuary lies a short beach walk beyond the restaurant, we visit right after breakfast. Not surprisingly we're the only visitors here, the Congoola will drop off the day trippers later this morning.

The breeding program relies on financial contributions from visitors, like so many others. What's pretty cool is that when the turtle you sponsor is spotted, you receive an email telling you where your turtle is hanging out these days, so you can follow its travels around the world. It's cute to see turtles grouped by size in different basins. They seem well taken care of. We're entertained by the beauty and charm of these creatures and read all the info displayed about them. Blandine's visibly excited and coos at each tank. I tell her to grab and hold one of the smaller turtles, but she's too afraid. Ha!

On the walk back to our bungalow I remember John, an acquaintance from the Philippines, once telling me that when he was a kid he'd go swimming in the sea and piggyback on turtles. The image of me relaxing on top of a turtle surely sounds cool, it would make a great blog entry to say the least. I entertain this thought for a while then decide there's no turtle big enough to carry me without me risking retaliatory "Cruel and Unjust Punishment" by the Marine Life Police. I'll be happy to encounter some turtles on my dive.

In the diver's seat
It would be silly to stay in an Eco-dive resort without at least attempting to dive, right?Yesterday we signed up with Steve and Sara for the Discovery Dive, a one day affair that will take us through the basics of diving this morning, class-room style, then reward us in the afternoon with the real deal, an instructor-led plunge under water.

I'm looking forward to this new experience, and Blandine, who has explained to me several times in the past that water isn't really her favorite element, has mustered up enough courage after the day of snorkeling to give diving a go as well. After Sarah's pleasant introduction, PADI (a well-known diving certification body) entertains us with a bit of cheesy  video material. Picture an overexcited, syrupy American female voice saying things like "With PADI you don't just learn to dive, no, you become part of an exciting new network of friends, sharing the same passion" while muscular men with permanent Colgate smiles help skinny exercise-video type girls into their diving gear.

In a tide spot
While we're having lemon juice and more steak sandwiches for lunch once again, Garth shows us his newest party trick.  He grabs a bit of spiderweb off one of the restaurant room's poles, wraps it around the band of his metal wristwatch and, without a flinch, lifts the whole thing up. He makes us touch the spider wire too, they're quite sticky.

We set up our gear and enter the water just off the beach in front of the equipment room, ready for our first underwater exploration. The sea's not very cooperative today: waves push us and our heavy equipment back and forth as we enter into shallow water. It's clear who's boss. "No worries," Sarah comforts us, "once we get under water, we won't be troubled with the current". Indeed, as soon as I get a few meters under water, the waves leave me alone, in  search for another play buddy. Where's Blandine? Ah, just under the surface, a bit back from me. With Sarah, who's fidgeting with something on Blandine's BCD (Buoyancy Control Device, the life jacket type vest divers inflate and deflate to help them stay at whatever depth the require). Huh? What's wrong? Blandine's too light! Didn't think I'd say this in Vanuatu after the big breakfasts we've been having, but it's true. Sarah's trying to fix something, and Blandine descends a bit. OK, we're cooking with gas, they're both coming toward me. Nope, Blandine's signalling she wants up again. I ascend and see her getting out of the water. Huh? Why? It's obvious something has got to her and she's calling it quits. No need to force her, she's done. Sarah escorts her back to the equipment room, helps her get out of her equipment, then returns to the water.

Holding back the ears
We continue with a few exercises under water, I manage relatively well, though it's all a bit confusing for me, but again, I manage. Equalising works okay for me, but it's not perfect; truth be told, my left ear's been bothering me for a while. Ever since I received a smack on it  during a basketball late last season, it feels like there's a tiny but constant filter on it. It doesn't hurt, I just have the impression my hearing's a bit different. I've had it looked at by a specialist, but he couldn't find anything. Am I supposed to feel a bit of pressure in my left ear under water? Within 20 minutes we stop for the day as well. I've been down a few meters under water and comfort myself with the thought that at one point both Blandine and I were completely submerged and been breathing from our air tank. This complete surrender to and trust in machinery has to be the biggest threshold to overcome, no? I feel good about this accomplishment. Just as when I drove a car for the first time, I emerge from the experience completely exhausted. My knees are shaky as I walk back over the beach, completely equipped, but I'm smiling the smile of success.

The hammock in front of the bungalow is a haven, a place to wind down. I hop in, Ipod in hand. I've got it on shuffle, yet the lyrics in Coldplay's somber "Trouble" catch my attention, so I replay the song a couple times, singing along to "Oh no, I see. A spiderweb, and it's me in the middle. So I twist and turn. Here am I in my little bubble. Singing I never meant to cause you trouble.  I never meant to do you wrong. Ah, well if I ever caused you trouble, oh no I never meant to do you harm."

Could the local spiders really weave a web that holds a human being? Ever since Gary's little demo Blandine makes an even bigger circle than normal around the spider traps glistening in the sun on the way to our cottage. I don't destroy them, we are in an Eco-resort after all.  It's a tad windy and I'm body's running on fumes from all this diving . It's only 4:30 and the sun's far from disappearing into the sea, yet goosebumps on my arms suggest I head inside and seek the comfort of a bag of cookies and our bungalow's bed. I touch the sheets and fall asleep almost immediately, into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Below talk
That night's dinner conversation starts off with a chat about our Discovery Dive experience. The excitement of diving, the cheesy PADI video material, Blandine's early quitting. To my surprise, Garth is more serious  about this topic and dishes out a few tips. He's been diving for a long time and knows what he's talking about. Soon the conversation changes subject and his wife Kim starts talking about her work with disabled children. An interesting topic, and I'd completely dig into it any other day, but my mind is drowned, preoccupied with the personal digestion of my whole dive experience. I've heard eve. I'm not sure whether I'll continue, the experience was quite draining and I wasn't completely zen either. A case of the jitters? I'll ponder it over and let Sarah know tomorrow.  The spaghetti bolognaise is quite welcome, nothing like a bit of comfort food to calm the nerves.

We make it an early night, reserving time to share the personal ups and downs of our diving adventure as pillow talk. Blandine tells me she didn't feel comfortable requiring an in-water adjustment during her dive. Having Sarah, anyone for that matter, fidget with her BCD while she was just trying to get her head around all the controls pushed her out of her comfort zone. The real tipping point came 5 minutes later, when she finally descended and couldn't equalise her ears. Her ears are quite sensitive to begin with already and equalising's a must for a good diving experience. Too bad, it doesn't look like she'll be diving any time soon. I confide that the whole experience was a bit intimidating at first for me as well. I wake up about an hour later, my pillow's got a wet spot. Something's popped in my left ear and a bit of water's come out. That's great news! I consider that if tomorrow I continue and Blandine's still freaked out, we'll spend considerable time apart from each other. And I'll have to hit the books for the next three days, not exactly how I'd planned this holiday.