11:16 a.m. March 19 - in Idaho.
I'm off to my day of diving. After reading the manual, I may opt out of the deep wreck dive. Still having a hard time deciding.
Ahhhhhh, I can't even describe how wonderful. I did go on the wreck dive and it was awesome. I didn't take a camera because I was too nervous. :( Sad on me! Another diver with a professional camera took some great pictures though. They are posted on my Facebook page under Paihia Dive.
On the wreck dive we saw Red Moki, Red Pigfish, Crayfish (Lobster - huge), Jewel Anemone (which absolutely looked like jewels - the colors were brilliant), Big Eyes, and Goatfish. The Anemones were a beautiful blue, but when Craig (Dive Master) shined his "torch" on them, they turned brilliant pink and purple.He said the red rays don't make it down to that depth, so when he shines his light on them it introduces the red rays.
I posted many pictures yesterday, but there weren't ones I had taken. I just googled the names of the fish and copied pictures but they were true representations of what I saw. But, my lovely little computer decided to shut down and everything was lost so I won't do it again because I can just google again whenever I want to see pictures of them.
The fish were beautiful and interesting, but the ship itself was also a treat in itself. We saw where the machine guns had been, even a phone box with a phone still in it (see Craig on the phone on Facebook pages). We went down 2 levels inside the ship. I could use the word "awesome" over and over when talking about this dive.
The second dive was called a "reef dive" but we didn't see any reefs. I think it was because I got soooo sick we didn't go far. The others went all the way around the island. I got the dry heaves and let me tell you, at 50 feet below, it is not a pleasant thing. After that was over, the dive was enjoyable. I saw an eagle ray, two types of sea urchins, mottled moray, speckled moray, Packhorse lobster, Sandagger Wrasse and Kelpfish.
These fish are so use to divers, they swim all around you. Crag cut open a sea urchin and fed it to the mottled moray, but the Sandagger Wrasse crowded around so thickly the poor eel couldn't get to it.
Ahhhhhh, I can't even describe how wonderful. I did go on the wreck dive and it was awesome. I didn't take a camera because I was too nervous. :( Sad on me! Another diver with a professional camera took some great pictures though. They are posted on my Facebook page under Paihia Dive.
On the wreck dive we saw Red Moki, Red Pigfish, Crayfish (Lobster - huge), Jewel Anemone (which absolutely looked like jewels - the colors were brilliant), Big Eyes, and Goatfish. The Anemones were a beautiful blue, but when Craig (Dive Master) shined his "torch" on them, they turned brilliant pink and purple.He said the red rays don't make it down to that depth, so when he shines his light on them it introduces the red rays.
I posted many pictures yesterday, but there weren't ones I had taken. I just googled the names of the fish and copied pictures but they were true representations of what I saw. But, my lovely little computer decided to shut down and everything was lost so I won't do it again because I can just google again whenever I want to see pictures of them.
The fish were beautiful and interesting, but the ship itself was also a treat in itself. We saw where the machine guns had been, even a phone box with a phone still in it (see Craig on the phone on Facebook pages). We went down 2 levels inside the ship. I could use the word "awesome" over and over when talking about this dive.
The second dive was called a "reef dive" but we didn't see any reefs. I think it was because I got soooo sick we didn't go far. The others went all the way around the island. I got the dry heaves and let me tell you, at 50 feet below, it is not a pleasant thing. After that was over, the dive was enjoyable. I saw an eagle ray, two types of sea urchins, mottled moray, speckled moray, Packhorse lobster, Sandagger Wrasse and Kelpfish.
These fish are so use to divers, they swim all around you. Crag cut open a sea urchin and fed it to the mottled moray, but the Sandagger Wrasse crowded around so thickly the poor eel couldn't get to it.
Craig kept trying to shoo them away to no avail.
Craig would clap his wrists together and the fish would come see what he had to offer. He cut open 
a c
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Sandagger Wrasse |
a c
couple of these urchins and gave them to us and we fed the fish with them. You just hold them in your hand and the fish come right to you and eat the inside. They are multiplying quickly so it is okay to use them for fish food.
Craig coaxed the speckled moray out of it's little cove so we got a good look at the whole eel and observed it's graceful swimming. The mottled moray, even when coaxed with black urchin, would not come out much. Probably because the Sandagger Wrasse were so thick he couldn't get to the urchin meat.
Virgil spent the day sleeping and walking around the neighborhood and talking with motel staff. He seemed to have enjoyed his day also. He is so social, anytime he can find someone to talk to, he's happy.
I arrived back at the motel around 2:30 and Virgil and I ate my lunch which was provided on the boat. Since I was seasick the whole time, food was not my best friend. It worked out well though, because we enjoyed the meal together. Later in the evening, we walked down to the Ice Cream shop and had Swiss Ice-Cream.
On our walk, we met a couple who have been here for 5 months. They came by way of ship from Seattle. It was a "repositioning" cruise, so they got a really good deal. They were on the ship for almost 2 weeks I think he said. Then, by staying in New Zealand for several months, they will again cruise with the same ship as it repositions in Seattle to begin it's Alaska cruise season. What a good life!!! I wish we had asked more about things they had done while here. They are Flordians who are moving to CA to be closer to children and grandchildren. Good reason!!
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