I considered various camping trips across Alaska and the Australian outback, but then I remembered that I really liked diving. Much research saw me plump for Blue Ventures in Tioman Malaysia.

Good choice. Although still in its early days as an expedition, Katie, BV and the rest of the staff have really put a lot of effort into making this both an enjoyable and educational trip.

Our group was pretty small, only 4 diving volunteers (all advance qualified), 2 non diving from California and 4 Malaysia students (who were also diving). However, that mix worked really well.

The accommodation at Swiss is fairly basic, but with warm showers and comfy beds that’s all you really need. The big plus is the location right on the beach, steps from the dive centre, some great staff (Stella and Malik in particular) and easy access to Happy Alice’s local shop of delights and the duty free stores.

Learning fish, invertebrates and coral types took some time but it ends up being pretty satisfying being able to actually identify what you are seeing under the water rather than just concentrating on the big fish as I tended to do as a regular diver.

Surveys take some time to perfect but are equally rewarding.

After hours activities included volleyball games on the beach against the local bar side, mad games of musical chairs (many scrapes and bruises discovered the morning after), bonfire on the beach, partying at the Berjaya resort and trips to ABC for the best pizza on the island.

We assisted at the Marine Park camp for mainland school kids. Making complete fools of ourselves in a skit on preserving the marine environment.

The 3 day trip to Juara and the turtle sanctuary was really rewarding. Seeing hatchlings released on the beach (albeit at 6am) was fantastic and diving the other side of the island demonstrated the difference between the monsoon side and the calmer better reef sites on the Tekek side. The trek up the hill through the jungle was a hell of an experience. Make sure you are reasonably fit!

The two days we spent in Mukut a small fishing village in the South was a real eye opener, staying with local people, getting the chance to see how they live and eat. Helping out at the local school was great fun especially the train game.

I maybe haven’t decided what I will do when I return, but the last 6 weeks are an experience I will never forget (particularly the sight of Christian buried in sand with his ‘sand boobs’ set on fire).,

Pulau Tioman was treated to a little TLC on the weekend of the 16th – 18th of May, courtesy of the Marine Parks Authority of Pahang. Nearly 2000 Crown of Thorns were collected from the reefs by Dive Operators, University departments and Government departments.

Inspired by this clean-up, Reef Check Malaysia, Blue Ventures Malaysia and the Marine Parks department of Pahang decided to extend this to the beaches and local community. A school program, sponsored by Tioman Dive Centre, was run in Sekolah Kebangsaan Tekek on the afternoon of the 16th May. 38 children from the after school Nature Club, Klab Percinta Alam, attended. The program started with a presentation about rubbish and litter and students were asked if rubbish has any value. The dangers that litter presents to the marine habitat as well as how it detracts from tourism were discussed and reducing, reusing and recycling rubbish was presented as a solution to the problem of waste. Students and facilitators then headed out to the beaches and spent almost two hours collecting rubbish and separating it into recyclables and non-recyclables. On return to the classroom, children discussed the rubbish that had been collected and how it could be reduced, reused or recycled.

Then came the really fun part! Plastic bottles collected on the beach clean-up were made into rocket shapes and decorated. They were then launched from the school yard using an air tank and hose.

Hopefully, the weekend served as a fun, educational and effective conservation initiative for tourists, dive operators, the local community and the school students, that can be repeated many times.

Article orginally appeared on Greenfins Malaysia.

The thing I miss most from Australia would probably have to be my friends and that I cannot contact them. I also miss western food. Every morning each person has their turn at what food dream they had that night and what they made.

This adventure has definitely made me appreciate the little things in life and how lucky I am to live in Australia. Veloma.

We are almost into the last week of our expedition and I am starting to feel sad that we have to leave this paradise. For me the trip to Andavadoaka has been the best experience I have had since having children. My husband and I decided to leave behind the spoils of Australia and head to Madagascar where we could show our children how spoilt most Australian kids really are. I am extremely proud of how they have adapted. As I write I can hear them playing soccer outside our hut with the Malagasy kids and their laughter and giggles are much greater here than at home. They have their own pirogue (thanks to Bic) so now they have the freedom to explore the Mozambique Channel.

Every night I go to sleep with the sound of waves lapping at our hut’s door and I wake with the feeling I am on a yacht as I can see the tropical blue water from my bed. The morning begins with a run out to the phone point (approx 5km) to receive news from family and friends. Breakfast is at 8am (bok bok and a cuppa). We are usually up at the Bat Cave by 8.45, kitted up and ready to hear today’s dive brief.

Today we had our first recreational dive (no slates or data recording) at a site called “Recruitment”. After the cry of Raiky, Roa, Telo (which translates to 1, 2, 3 in Malagasy) our boat captain yells “DIVE” and over we go backwards; sometimes managing a perfectly executed backward somersault! Once in the water, my cumbersome equipment is forgotten and I am surrounded by peace and tranquillity. There is no sensation of cold as the water temperature here is around 24 degrees. The visibility is approximately 10 meters and the colours of the reef are amazing. This dive had loads of Tabular coral that sheltered both big and small colourful fish. My aim was to see a Clown Trigger fish as this was the one fish that had eluded us so far and everyone was keen to spot one.

My husband and I sank to 14 meters then levelled out and finned our way to the edge of the reef. We saw lobster, most species of Butterfly fish, a magnificent Regal Angelfish and masses of Big eye snapper and sweepers. Ten minutes into the dive my husband taps me and points very calmly to my left. I look eagerly but have no idea what he is so excited about. Then I see it! The magnificent Clown Triggerfish in all its glory. I am mesmerised by its beauty and stay with it for five minutes conducting my own little conversation. I feel sad as I know my 11 year old son Vincent, would give anything to see this favourite fish of his. Should we tell him or keep it a secret? He was out there in his pirogue with his sister trying to locate his triggerfish, snorkelling on any bombie he could find.

June 21st

Tonight Maggie (a BV staff member) organised the Miss Andavadoaka pageant to hopefully spread the word about contraception and family planning. The night was a huge success and finished around 1am. The next day was our day off so we hired a pirogue and sailed over to Nosy Hao for some snorkelling and exploring. There was not that much reef to see as most of it was dead but the trip was still relaxing and I met some local children (whom I gave all our lollies, coloured pencils and peanut brittle to as they were irresistible). The other volunteers chose to stay back and relax.

As I am writing Shawn, one of the BV staff members is teaching Olivia, my Year 9 daughter how to solve linear equations. The guy is an absolute legend and has taught us all so much, not only about Malagasy history but American history and socio-economics. All the staff have been brilliant and go out of their way to make you enjoy yourself. We only have 4 more dives left before our expedition concludes so we are counting down. It is going to be sad saying goodbye to everyone!!

We will all miss Bic’s homemade yoghurt, Georgie’s cooking lessons (cake and coconut balls made with the kids), Amanda’s amazing crazy sense of humour and of course those two friendly villagers in the techno house Charlie and Thomas!! Life in Andavadoaka will soon be a memory but one that will be treasured forever. Our expedition had only the 6 of us (an Aussie family of 4 and two U.K. residents) but we still managed to have a blast. The weather has been magnificent; only one day of diving missed due to strong winds. Every day is approximately 28 degrees so I really don’t want to head back to winter in Oz.

Strange things start to happen when you eat rice, fish and beans every day. We have all had dreams about food and imagine eating roast dinners and amazing desserts like apple and ice cream. Vincent (11) and Olivia (13) have even started a list of foods they are going to eat when they get home and have prioritised each item in terms of importance. Little things will certainly be appreciated!!!! School cannot teach them what they have learned here in Madagascar and I am sure they and the rest of us will all take something of value back from this incredible experience. Veloma !!!!!

The expedition started quietly, with volunteers trying to adjust to the climate, get over jetlag and get used to diving twice a day. But they soon found their feet and once diving training was done, we launched into the science training. Volunteers learnt 20 fish families, 85 fish species, 10 groups of benthic invertebrates and 14 species of mobile invertebrates. This knowledge was then used to conduct fish belts, invertebrate belts and point intersect transects. Volunteers mapped 6 survey reefs and identified 2-3 survey sites of each reef. Reefs were chosen based on type of reef; tourist pressure and depth. At least two repetitions were done per sites, so in total 26 fish belts, 52 PITS and 48 invertebrate belts were completed. A great start to the survey program.

During the course of the first six week expedition, volunteers used underwater cameras and ID skills developed to document and identify 24 species of fish not previously recorded on Pulau Tioman. This is an 8% increase to fish species inventories on Pulau Tioman and increases the known biodiversity, and therefore ecological importance of the island.

Volunteers also had the opportunity to star on the small screen as we made a ‘Crown of Thorns Pick-up’ video demonstrating best practice when carrying out COT clean-ups. The video was shown at the opening ceremony of Tioman Reef Clean-up 2009, organised by the Marine Department of Pahang on the 16th-18th of May. Check out the video yourself on You Tube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPboe-5D3OA

That weekend, volunteers picked up 95 Crown of Thorns and a total of 1600 Crown of Thorns were collected over the clean-up weekend by all the participants. Several more clean-up dives were conducted during the expedition and we managed to reduce the starfish-from-hell’s population by 302!

We also had two beach clean-ups, in partnership with two local schools on the island in Kampong Mukut and Tekek. School programs designed and conducted by students from the University of Kebangsaan Malaysia and aided by Blue Ventures Malaysia volunteers began with a presentation about rubbish and litter, after which we headed down to the beach for a clean-up then returned to school. The 3Rs of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle were taught and finally, bottle rockets, made from the plastic bottles collected on the clean-up, were then launched in the school yard. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more, the kids of the volunteers! The program was attended by 38 students in Tekek and 18 in Mukut and 29 sacks of rubbish were collected from the two clean-ups.

The first six weeks of Blue Ventures Malaysia, or Expedition primo as they liked to call themselves, has been one of the most challenging, entertaining, stressful, hectic and enjoyable six weeks of my life. There have been highs such as identifying many species not yet recorded on Pulau Tioman, dancing on the deck, first BVM T-shirts and learning the intricacies of the sand oven as well as lows such as boat engines breakdowns, leeches, reverse squeeze and eggs again for breakfast. But, overall, I feel we can call the beginning of BV Malaysia a success! And that’s not me blowing my own trumpet, it would not have been such a success if it wasn’t for the hard work, dedication (and often understanding!) of volunteers, students and Tioman Dive Centre staff. I’ll miss you all Thom, Jamie, Ed, Jack, Anika, Emma and Martin. Come back soon, but you can leave your sand sculptures behind…

Blue Ventures Malaysia; expedition 1 volunteers

Having passed our in-water fish tests, we’ve now all practised the fish equivalent of a coral PIT. Laying a tape measure out for 20 meters, we slowly swim its length, recording every type and number of fish we see within a five metre reach.  The task would be much easier if the fish would just stop still for 5 seconds, but for some reason they seem intent on swimming past us at a rate of knots. The really devious ones then decide to come around again for another look.  Trying to figure out which ones I’ve counted already, and which are new, is an entertaining exercise and I’m sure they deliberately try to confuse me. We have learnt 150 different types of fish and can identify them all within a few seconds. Thanks to the diverse nature of Madagascar’s coral reef, we get to see a great range of these fish on every dive.

Our afternoons have been busy with lectures and chores including scrubbing the boats to rid them of algae and prevent salt water damage.  On our day off, we headed to the baobab forest, about an hour’s walk away, our picnic lunch stashed on the accompanying zebu cart. We were fortunate to be accompanied by one of Madagascar’s leading field biologists (the kind of guy who arrived for dinner that night with a chameleon perched on his shoulder), so we had a fascinating field-trip through some of the region’s terrestrial make-up. 

As usual, there have been plenty of other things to keep us busy out of the water this week: lunch with the Andavadoake Women’s Association; more classes at the school; and football games on Sundays, played between local Andavadoaka and neighbouring village teams. These are fast, hard games. Most players are in bare feet, running the length of the compacted sand pitch in the heat of the afternoon sun, as we foreigners – and the goats – shelter in the shade of the trees. You don’t see too many illegal fouls in these games and no one argues with the ref, a far cry from the antics of footballers in the UK.

We are flying towards the last week or two of our expedition, with the slight change in weather indicating we’re experiencing Madagascar’s balmy winter, markedly warmer than the winters we’re used to in our home countries. The mornings and evenings have a slight chill to them, but the days are still hot, sunny and wonderfully rain-free. The idea of leaving this all behind in a few weeks is not sitting comfortably.

My first day with Blue Ventures as their first scholar. I was up at 6.15, excited and enthusiastic and looking forward to the 400m swim test at 7 which we had to pass in order to dive with the team. Qualified with a PADI open water certificate, I was as yet not a very confident diver and this expedition was my chance of fulfilling all those dreams of learning and being a good diver. After breakfast we all changed and headed for the shore chatting and sharing jokes. With smiles and encouragement the staff explained that if we were to dive we needed to successfully complete the 400m swim. I could feel a knot in my stomach, nervousness, staying in Suva for the last 3months with only occasional weekly swims, how in the world was I going to complete the swim. I was assured that there was no pace set or timeline as long as we finished the 400m. There were 2 buoys at 200m apart and we had to start at one and after touching the 2nd buoy, we had to swim back. Thus we started Tristan and Helen were leading the swim with a SMB with the faster swimmers, while with SMB’s in hand Ruth and Theo tagged along with intermediate swimmers. Making sure that nobody was left behind were Jo and Britt and not surprisingly I was with them as one of the slower swimmers. Howard was on the shore alert in hand in case there was an emergency. I managed to complete the swim but not without touching ground 4 times, as was the only condition, thus I was the only one disqualified. I was distraught yet instead of being told how badly I had done, I had words of encouragement and positive feedback on how I could do better, not only from the staff but the volunteers as well. It lifted up my spirits as I got hugs from Ruth and Helen for making the effort. Next we were divided into 2 groups and headed for snorkeling. Ah…with mask and snorkel it was so much easier. Watching all the corals, the different types and colours of fish and a vast array of tiny colourful marine organisms, it was like being in another world for nearly 90minutes. By then it was one time for lunch, the beautiful smiling faces of the kitchen staff had never been a more wonderful sight. It was not a wonder with everybody wolfing down their plates in no time. There was excitement in voices, everyone was sharing there half day experiences and it suddenly felt like nobody had enough words to describe what they had seen. After lunch at 2 we headed to the Classroom for our first lecture with Tristan. Here we were briefed of our expectations for the next 5weeks and were given a species list of Targeted Fishes and Invertebrates. We had to start getting back to our books and snorkel point outs as this was all going to be tested. Yeah, you couldn’t just guess what each different species; there was no room for inferences of fish with Tristan and Invertebrates with Ruth, you HAD to know them at some point. We were later also divided into groups and given a chore for the week. I was in Group 2 with Linda, Goergie, Tom and Katy, and we were on Dive Shack duty for the week. With a three and half hour break to explore the island before dinner, I opted to work on my swimming skills which needed my attention. After being in the water for 40 minutes, with Theo who was more than willing to help and encouragement, I felt much better than I did in the morning. After relaxing and catching up with the volunteers over the days events, we had dinner. The board was presented after dinner which outlined the activities of yet another exciting day with a visit to Bau Island. Wearing reef boots the day concluded with a Reef Flat walk holding torches in hand to explore the little creatures in the process of feeding and sleeping. Exhausted after an eventful day and eager about the promises of the next 5 weeks, I was re-living the day in my dreams.

07-04-09

The second day started with more eagerness, as I had to do a 400m swim with Britt, who had kindly agreed to help me with swimming, (though not out of only pure intention to help me but to train for his Divemaster test as well which required a lot of timed swims!!) It was not the best and I touched ground twice but there was Britt with words of encouragement whenever I felt like giving up. After breakfast at 10 o’ clock the group left for Bau Island all looking very beautiful and handsome in their Bula dresses and shirts to visit one of the Historical sites of Fiji. Access to Bau Island is deemed a privilege as nobody has a chance of visiting the island without an invitation. Bau Island is the home to Fiji’s chief and customary custodian of Leleuvia and surrounding waters, thus as a appreciation gesture the group went for a visit and the presentation of a “sevusevu” . Being fortunate enough to visit the island with the first expedition group, I opted to stay back with Ruth on Leleuvia going through the targeted species list of fish and invertebrates and snorkel point outs. Before we could realize the group were back on the island. The smiling and enchanted faces of Harry, Linda, Leah, Tamara and Peter as they approached and began relating their experiences of the day at once, assured me that they had had a wonderful day out on Bau, and I felt proud to belong to Fiji, with its rich cultural heritage, and the ability to share it with other people. In the evening we had lectures from Ruth on coral reefs and Benthic Invertebrates. The 5 types of reefs were discussed in detail, along with the Porifera, Cnidarians and Echnodermatas. The different types of sea urchins, the difference between Starfish and Brittle Stars and many more!!!!!!!!!These lectures are anything but boring as Ruth tries to mimick the specie or their behavior, where you begin to find it hard to keep a straight face. Thus with food for thoughts we head to the dining table for a bit of food for the stomach as the conch shell blows at 7.30. With coffee in hand, after dinner the group gets together as a Team with the staff and volunteers to go over the events of the day and plans for the next. CHORES!!Still needs to be done, it gives you a sense of responsibility and importance. Sweeping the sand out of the dive shack, putting all gears in their places making sure they are dry and properly kept, filling water in the drums to rinse dive gears after the next days dive.They may seem petty, but they are a lot of fun,it helps build a sense of part of a working group,it’s learning how to take care of your dive gear, which don’t come cheap. And there can be nothing more frustrating then coming back after a dive to find no water to rinse your gear. With the final chores done and shouts of “Moce Tadra” we all head back to our rooms.
08-04-09

At 7.00 my swim buddy is at the shore and I complete my first 400m swim without touching ground. Already in the water having their morning swim are Leah, Tamara, Asa and Muriel. I start to develop an easy and comfortable feeling in the water and my confidence increases, which are actually turning out to be more fun than I thought. Breakfast of toast, butter,jam and banana with fruit juices and coffee feel the best thing in the world after the swim. The PADI open water guys Peter, Kate, Georgie and Tom begin their skills training in confined waters, whereas other Open Water Certified Divers are taken for a tune up. I start to mentally prepare myself for the swim test with Tristan, swimming 400m and having a swim test of 400m somehow seem two different things and TESTS are meant to be scary, which I found out later in the afternoon that tests with Tristan are anything but scary. I had successfully completed 350m when it started raining and currents got stronger, for a moment I was reluctant to continue and felt panicky but with Tristan’s chant of “You can do it”, “You can do it” I passed my test. We also went through Shore Marshall and Boat Marshall training during the day. Shore Marshall’s duties included updating the dive board before each dive, being in touch with the Boat Marshall by phone on the status of the dive. One of the most crucial role is played by the Boat Marshall for safety reasons. The Boat Marshall is responsible for putting the extra kit, life jackets (enough for everyone on board), oxygen kits, protection materials, spare bottle of water, first aid, oars and GPS on the boat. Imagine reaching a dive site only to realize your Mask strap is broken or you don’t have enough weights!!They are also responsible for noting down all the important information about the divers and keeping in touch with the Shore Marshall on the status of the dive. Each volunteer is trained in both the duties.

Another Fish lecture by Tristan where he explains the different biology of fishes. From the bony fish such as the Emperor Angelfish to the rover predator such as the Trevally or Tuna to the Lie-In-Wait predators such as the Barracudas. We also look at surface oriented fish such as the flying fish to bottom rover fish such as the goatfish, bottom clingers the gobies to bottom hiders the blennies. From deep bodied fish such as Butterfly or Surgeonfish to Fish with scales such as the Parrot fish.

Relaxing on the sun lounges watching the Sunset on the West side of Leleuvia, chatting with Kate and Linda with Harry’s comments when he occasionally passes by compliments the ending of yet another comprehensive and exciting day.

At dinner table, Reef Fish Identification Book seems to be found with every plate as fish similarities and differences are discussed over dinner.
09-04-09

Passing my swim test has made me lazy or the sea is really a bit rough to swim!!I end up just having a huge breakfast. I bury myself in my Reef Fish Identification Book after breakfast for an hour. I am more of a giant clam and Cetacean person than a fish person, but slowly the different Damselfish, Butterflyfish, the colourful Anthias the pretty Angelfishes, Parrotfishes, Rabbitfishes and Pufferfish all start holding a fascination with the Groupers, Snappers and Sweetlips, the more I look at it. I am buddied with Ruth on my 1st dive of the expedition and on the 2nd dive of the day. As Ruth helps me kit up, she explains our recreational dive. I feel the same knot on my stomach which forms at unusual terms and then I realise I’m nervous and scared. As we finish our buddy check,on the boat and travelling towards our dive site, I can’t help feeling panicky and then I look up to see Howards encouraging smile, Ruth’s thumbs up and feel Duncan’s pat on the shoulder, I begin to relax. At the dive site on Asa, who is Boat Marshall for the day, on the count of 3 roll backwards. Ruth is by my side when I surface and after checking on all of us Howard, who is leading the dive, gives the signal to descend with our buddies. My breathing seems quiet heavy and I have problems equalizing. The maximum I’m able to go is till 6m and my 1st dive duration lasts for less than 10minutes before I surface and head back on the boat with Ruth. Well, it didn’t go to well but it was a start…

Back for lunch around 12.45, after lunch we headed back to the classroom for another lecture from Ruth on an “Introduction to Benthic Lifeforms”. We differentiated characteristics of algae and troll’s hair (cyanobacteria). If u wafted over it and it closed than it was a Tunicate and if it did not u knew you had just been in contact with a Sponge. The tentacles provided you with the conclusion on corallimorphs or zooanthids. Octocorals wafting in the wind were soft corals and the trees or fern under the sea were Gorgonians and Sea whips. Surrounded by anemone fish were anemones. Reef forming corals were the various types of hard corals. Something to look out for were Fire coral and the list went on.

Hooray!! Helpful Helen takes me for a dive tune up with Linda and Ruth at a sandy depth of 10m. We did Reg removal, mask clearing and mask removal under water. Saw Stunning sting rays and were surrounded by blue streak fusiliers.It felt so much better to be in the water again.

Feeling elated after a long day hit bed at 9.00pm.

We are now half way through our six week expedition. Last week, the few dive ‘beginners’ amongst us sat (and passed) our PADI Open Water exam. Three of us then carried on to complete the PADI Advanced Open Water course. This second course involved a series of five dives focussing on specific skills, supported by theory classes. It was a rather entertaining few days. Our first dive was Peak Performance Buoyancy, which was aimed squarely at our newly developed habits of crashing into anything and everything that was around us, particularly our surrounding environment. As usual, Axelle, our instructor, made the various exercises look easier they were. While she and Bic, the dive manager, hovered just above our heads, we thrashed and crashed near the bottom, trying desperately to control a small ascent and descent with just our lungs. The eruptions of bubbles from their regulators let us know we’d kept them entertained. Eventually, our patience tested, we managed the Holy Grail of the hover. Admittedly, it was more upside-down turtle than upright yoga pose, but close enough.
The next day was our deep dive to 30 meters. It was a beautiful site, full of diverse and colourful coral and much bigger fish. It was darker, slightly colder and had the feeling of definitely being ‘out at sea’.
Our third dive, Underwater Navigation, was always going to be problematic. I can’t navigate my way out of a paper bag. I get lost on a straight road. North and south mean absolutely nothing to me. A compass? You have to be kidding. As I struggle with navigation at the best of times on land, I had significant concerns about how I was going to cope with simple underwater navigation at 12 meters. Our exercises for this dive had us working to find certain co-ordinates and routes, counting fin-kicks and speed of swimming to navigate distance and time. There were several moments where we would stare at our compass, tap it a few times, stare at each other, shake our heads, shrug our shoulders. No idea where we were. Luckily, our instructors did. With a bit more patience and perseverance, and the occasional frustrated attempt to throw away my compass, (I’m sure it was broken) we managed to find our way. I say ‘find’ our way, as navigate is probably too euphemistic for what we did. Anyway, more practising, more perseverance, more blank stares at the compass. We learnt it in the end. I also learnt that it’s quite hard to swear with a regulator in your mouth.
The next dive, rather ironically, was Search and Recovery. Given how challenging I found the underwater navigation, the idea that I might ever actually be able to find anything underwater had me in stitches. But, armed with a range of techniques we had practised beforehand on land (including a knot tying exercise that took us all the best part of the morning to get right), we set about finding the newly hidden treasure. Luckily, I got to swim around in circles looking for mine. Quite appropriate, really.
Our last dive before we qualified for our Advanced course would be a night dive, conducted in the very early hours of the following morning. There we were at 3:30am, struggling into wetsuits, fumbling with BCDs and regulators, and stomping down to the boat with nothing but the stars to guide us. Night time really is pitch black in Andavadoake. There are no street lights, no house lights, no soft glow of far off villages or cities to guide us. It was pitch black. Torches in hand, we rolled into the water, swallowing the odd moment of fear with our air. The sea at night really is another world. Calm, quiet, eery. We didn’t see a great deal, thanks to us landing off the reef and spending most of the dive time looking for the right site. But we had a few fish to keep us company, and a barracuda followed us for a while, keeping tabs on where we were heading. Back on land, we took in the sunrise with coffee and bok bok (sweet, fried bread). And that was it – after that dive and a few more theory sessions, we were newly qualified Advanced Open Water divers.
The rest of the week has passed in a blur. In addition to passing our two dive courses, we have all now passed our two benthic tests (a classroom test, and a point-out test in the water). We’ve been learning our fishes (there are a lot!) and slowly getting ourselves ready to sit the fish tests. We are all now keen to get the science training out the way so we can start being a bit more useful on our dives.
In between all of this, we’ve had plenty of time to sit around, read, soak up a little sun (yes, Mum, I’m wearing sunscreen) and start to get involved in some of the other projects that the BV team has on the go. The main one, last Saturday, was the English lesson with a group of school children. BV has run English lessons for quite some time, but due to the lack of volunteers over the last few months, they’ve slipped away.
Thanks to the help of Liz, an ex-physical education teacher from Australia, we held an afternoon of tabloid sports for 75 kids. In the courtyard of their school, we divided the kids into groups, gave each group a station and ball game of some sort with which to score points. After 3 minutes, all teams changed locations. They loved it. We used the exercises to help teach them English words, numbers and phrases and to encourage teamwork, rather than individual competiveness. It was a great afternoon, if not hot and exhausting.
We’ve been the beneficiaries of lessons too, with Bic giving us our first Malagasy lesson and Chiara holding a lecture on coral reproduction. Today we have a session with Maggie, who is taking us through the family planning clinic programme and how BV is trying to help the village manage its extreme population growth.
On our day off last week, we hired two pirogues and headed to the edge of the reef, where 25-30 cannons lay buried in water shallow enough in which to snorkel. It was an incredible day. Pirogue is now my favoured way of travelling and the coral that lies just beyond the reef, to where we swam, was incredible. Huge valleys with soft sandy bottoms, steep coral cliffs and ledges hid all sorts of beautiful, colourful fish. We’re getting better at naming them. The Aussie family, fish experts including the kids, can name most of what they see. Rob and I are still staggering somewhere back at the general species. “It’s a fish, I know that much…”. But, hopefully, if we study hard we should be fish trained in the next few days and then the real work begins.

I have been on Leleuvia now for just over 3 ½ months; they seemed to have just flown by. There have been there ups and downs, a lot of laughs, a few tears, and tons of hard work; but because of these, it makes you really glad to have that cold beer in hand sitting on the sand at the end of the day, with new friends and old, looking up at the stars as you sit/lie thinking (through all the aches) how lucky I (in fact we) are to be in such an idyllic setting…I’m still finding that I have to pinch myself, even now and then, to make sure this isn’t all some cruel joke or dream which I have forgotten to wake up from.

So just to introduce myself- I’m the Dive Instructor on the island, and I love my job. I don’t think I have, nor will, dive anywhere in the world more visually stimulating than here in Fiji. Although I tend to choose sites to teach my courses that have more sand then coral cover (for obvious reasons) these sites, I have found, should not be dismissed as being boring – there are acres of garden eels, tons of little gobies that live in holes in a beneficial partnership with shrimps that are blind and use the goby as a signal for when threats are present; manta shrimp the size of my fist and fore arm (no joke on this one); such things can be found on sites that don’t look so much, so just imagine what it’s like when you go to dive sites such as those on the outer reef…fish soup, that’s what! I have never seen so many sharks, turtles, snappers (of all different species and of such substantial size either), barracudas, sweetlips…basically there are just too many to mention. And that’s just the fish! The benthic life i.e. coral and inverts blow your mind too. Lets for an example say you stop in a spot and were to put a 1m2 Quadrat down, you would still be down there noting all that occurs within that Quadrat long after your dive time would allow – stunning!

So that’s the diving, the people here in Fiji and on our island in particular, are the friendliest I have ever encountered, and I’ve travelled quite a bit. It has got to the stage now that the island staff are considered family by all us BV staff and any volunteer that comes to the island and vice-versa. They are sharp witted and very inviting, especially when it comes to learning traditional Fijian dances or their language, which we get 2/3 members of the staff to do once a week every week each volunteer group comes, and they love it…that is the local staff and the volunteers.

See I have started to witter already. Right I will close now, hopefully I have been able to portray in this little snippet of a blog how great, wonderful, special this place called Leleuvia really is…and maybe even tempt a few of you readers out there to come join the fun some day?

Moce – until next time,

Helen