IFR Flight #1

Comet McNaught

As seen from Clearways (photograph totally stolen from Chris Hodgson of CP39 fame).
 

Diving 101: Pt. 11

This is the highly venomous Lionfish that I tried to headbutt whilst poking my head through holes in the hull of a wreck we dived. Very cool indeed. They come in many different colours and on other occasions we saw Lionfish that were bright yellow and also ones that were electric blue...

Diving 101: Pt. 10

SHARK!

Diving 101: Pt. 9

You can't dive on Christmas day without wearing a Santa hat!

Diving 101: Pt. 8

Jason being hilarious as usual...

Diving 101: Pt. 7

Diving 101: Pt. 6

Finally some decent diving photographs from Rarotonga. This is some kind of fish if I recall correctly. It may possibly be a Napolean Maori Wrasse. Or not...

What really happens in the Sim...

This is about one hundred times more professional than our sim sessions. Honest.

Ladyman Leaves!

 
The New Year, as exciting as it has been, has seen the departure of The Ladies' Man from New Zealand. At least 50% of the population is apparently ecstatic but I for one am sorry to see him leave. Allan and Matt are also leaving soon and i'm a little pissed off i'll still be here until March. At least i'll be here for Summer and the gigantor swimming pool (hopefully) outside Clearways. 

Professionals at Work!

 
Doesn't look that hard to me... 

Diving 101: Pt. 5

 
Not sure what this thing is. It looked very pretty but the decent pictures of it were ruined... 

Diving 101: Pt. 4

 
A sea cucumber, again the awesome photo of me molesting it didn't come out. Gutted. 

Diving 101: Pt. 3

 
A puffer fish, cool you say. Except the picture of the thing puffing up didn't come out. Bah. 

Diving 101: Pt. 2

 
Unfortunately due to a camera malfunction only five of fifty underwater photographs came out. Instead of sharks, turtles and lionfish I give you... One blurry photo of some kind of fish. 

Diving 101

  

Driving in Rarotonga

 
Everything in the Cook Islands is very laid back. On Rarotonga there is only one road (seriously) and the speed limit is 25 mph. If you need a lift then just stick your thumb out, it never takes more than a couple of minutes for someone to stop... 

Muri Beach: Pt. 3

 
Could be worse I guess... 

Muri Motu

 
Muri Beach is unique on Rarotonga as being the only part of the lagoon where there are Motu. These are three little islands situated in the lagoon which you can swim (or even walk) out to... 

Merry Christmas! (Have some man-tits).

 
My gift to you... 

Sunset

 
Oh, did I mention the sunsets? 

Jurassic Park

 
Rarotonga manages to combine sandy white beaches, a massive lagoon and a mountainous interior covered in rainforest. The overall effect is incredible and means that one day you can be sunbathing on the beach and only minutes later you can be in hiking through dense rainforest. 

Divemaster?

 
Never leave your camera with this guy on the surface when you are diving. Jason was our divemaster (leading the dives and crewing the diveboat) and despite being massively competent was a complete nutcase. Hilarious... 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

 
Dave emerges from The Deep... 

Dive Rarotonga

 
These are the guys that we were diving with pretty much every day. A thoroughly nice group of people and great fun to dive with. Plus, Jason found us some sharks so he rules... 

The Guy and Dave Show

  

Um...

  

View From the Top

 
This is what we had to wake up to every morning. I've seen worse...