Okay so I'm officially sitting back on UK ground and in the comfort of armchair in my front room connected to my internet eating a big beans, egg and bacon toasted sandwich. Ahhhh! I feel very relieved to be back in the comfort of everything that is familiar, I've done a good job of creating a comfortable cave for which to frequent so it is a joy to cocoon myself back in to all my creature comforts that said, I'm sad that I have left Malta behind, especially as the weather here is well typically British yet dry.
First off big thank you to Karen Hyde who was kind enough to actually offer to pick me up from Luton Airport when I arrived back yesterday afternoon. It was great to see you Karen and great to have a royal catch up. Always good to see true friends you haven't seen for a while and both talk non stop for hours on end about well everything.
So..... my last week in Malta at Divewise. I was lucky enough to wear my equipment while doing quite a bit of guided diving on some of the amazing wrecks the Maltese coast line has to offer. I took some more guys from Swed Tech out and we dived the Um El Faroud (check this link out as it is 3D tour of the wreck from the 4th Element website.) What a wreck she is. Which to the non divers probably sounds like a bad thing but when a diver says that, he usually means it is a good dive. The wreck is massive with big long swim throughs and some good opportunities to practice some safe penetrations on a younger more intact wreck. What a fantastic end to my time in Malta.
I have to say Divewise have gone above and beyond the whole way. I wasn't the easiest person to teach and I'm sure at times the guys were pulling their hair out but thank you everyone for being so accommodating. Big thank you to Nev, Howard and Sarah (who I nearlly killed on land on the last night, again I'm so sorry Sarah : ) ) for being patient with me. And an extra specially big thank you to Viv and Alan who put me up for the last few days, it meant more than you can realise. Thank you.
I hope to go back out to Malta and would definitely return to Divewise some time in the future.
Things learned above;
Check a vehicle isn't in gear before you turn the ignition on to close the window while standing on the outside.
Take a walk around your hotel when you arrive and find out what is there. Something I did on the last day only to find an outside swimming pool.
When someone wants to have a moan about GUE to you (as a GUE diver) take it and don't wait 5mins until they stop to breath and then give them a perfectly constructed, conformed and concise response this will only lengthen the conversation you don't want to be having. (Not aimed at you Andrew just in case your wondering.)
Malta is a really good holiday destination. Perfect for diving, relaxing and walking/running. Good food, reasonably priced and they drive on the same side of the road.
Things learned below;
I can dive with a lot less weight. I had to give a student 3kilos off my weight belt underwater. Admittedly I was cold and wouldn't choose to do it but I can if for any reason I need to.
It still gets me a bit scared swimming in mid water leading a group with them behind me, with no visual reference other than my D timer. Which is weird because ascents in mid water don't scare me but swimming aiming for something does. Anyway I man up and get on with it but I still feel a certain arse clenching.
No comments:
Post a Comment