We finish up with our last two dives, then head into Airlie Beach. We decide to forego another day of diving, and head north to Townsville for the night.
Weird Wildlife Sighting
The fish that bit Chris! It had a yellow stripe along its back, and purple and yellow stripes above its mouth, crossing the bridge of its 'nose'. Couldn't find a description of it anywhere in a fish book.
Our first dive is at 6:30am. Yawn! It's a deep water dive, down to 25 meters. It's not that much different than a normal dive, other than your air goes a lot faster (it's much more compressed for the same volume), and you might get nitrogen narcosis, a giddy like state. Well, that was me. It hit suddenly at about 22 meters--I felt very lightheaded, but not dizzy, and kind of spacey. I went up a few feet, waited a few seconds like I was taught, and it went away. Very strange. It's a bit like taking a hit of laughing gas.
On the bottom, we played around with some things. There wasn't any coral down that deep, just some mud and sand, and all the colors were greatly skewed towards blue. It looked like someone had taken the Photoshop blue filter to the scene. Our instructor had put an egg in his vest pocket, and surprise, it was still in the same shape down on the bottom. He cracked it open, and the egg white and yolk immediately attracted lots of small fish. Chris tried to touch one, but it thought his finger was food and he got nipped! It was enough to make him bleed a bit, and it was strange looking: the blood came out in a strange, string like fashion.
Our second and last dive was a navigation dive, where we were to follow a compass and make a square. With the tide surging, it was hard, and we had to come to the surface when we got lost. We finished it, though, and then got on board for the four hour trip back to the marina.
Once back, we headed back onto the road north to Townsville. We stopped briefly in Bowen, which has lots of peppy signs telling you what a great place it is and how you should vacation there, but it looked rather dry and flat and windswept. It did have the Big Mango along the highway, but that was a bit sad as well.
We tried to find a room as it grew dark in the town of Ayr, but the one decent motel we looked at was all booked, so we decided to drive the remaining 40 minutes into Townsville in the dark. Blech. It wasn't that bad, but the road cut through cane fields, and all the insects come out at night. It sounded like it was raining with all the bugs hitting the windshield.
In Townsville, we settled in at the Mercure Inn and Resort, where we got a very decent room for $63. I reorganized all the books and clothes in preparation for sending them home! Yay, more stuff to get rid of! And, of course, we slept.