Delayed by Good weather!
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Sat 7 Jul 2012 09:37
It doesn't often happen, certainly not
since arriving in Fiji, that the weather's too good to sail. It's been hot
and sunny all week, but there's been absolutely no wind. The intention had been
to sail back to Savusavu to re-provision and refuel before heading west,
but it's about 50 miles and we didn't fancy the idea of motoring all the
way, so we're still in Viani Bay and haven't moved since
our arrival last Saturday (8 days ago). The Bay has been flat calm
virtually all week and looked a picture in the sunshine. It might not be
good for sailing, but the calm seas have been ideal for diving. So with my
leg having healed, a call to the local dive operator, 15 minutes away by fast
boat, resulted in me being picked up at 07.00 on
Tuesday morning for my first proper dives for a couple of years.
(I use the scuba gear quite regularly to clean the bottom of the boat and
did so just before leaving New Zealand, but it's not quite the same as
exploring down to 25 metres!)
The Somosomo Strait between Vanu Levu and
Taveuni is one of the top diving areas in Fiji, if not the world. It's
so good because the current runs fast through it bringing lots of nutrients to
the coral reefs on both sides. Although it's been calm on the
surface, getting the timing right to visit the different dive sites is
pretty key, especially as it's been Spring tides, with the full moon only a
few days ago. So going with a dive operator who understands the currents is
a good idea. It was excellent with lots of brightly coloured soft
corals and vast stretches of hard corals cascading down the underwater
slopes, surrounded by lots of reef fish. So, as they were diving
the famous White Wall the next day, and there was still no wind, there
were 2 more dives on Wednesday. That was supposed to be it, but as there
didn't look like there would be any wind until the week end, and a routine had
been established, there were another 2 on Thursday as
well. The skipper of the dive boat lives in the small village across the
other side of the Bay and has to go past where we're anchored to 'go to work' in
the morning and go home in the afternoon, so it was easy for him to pick me up
on the way and drop me off in the afternoon. So 6 great drift dives with
visibility around 20 meters or so. (With the currents here, it's all drift
diving - the boat drops you off at the start of the dive, you dive drifting
with the current and get picked up again by the boat at the end of the
dive.) The water was warm, but not that warm. I have a 2 mm
wetsuit and a 7 mm on the boat and not being one who enjoys the
cold, it was the 7 mm I tried. It was lovely! There were 3 other
divers in the boat, all half my age, and 2 had problems with cold
using 5 mm suits, so I chose wisely. The housing of the digital camera we use
for snorkeling is supposed to be usable down to normal diving depths, so I
used it, although it's only suitable for taking close-ups under the
water. Fish are difficult to take as they don't tend to hang around
if you get close for a close-up shot, but I did get few. Corals
are a lot easier to take as generally they don't move! That's not
quite true as they do sometimes sway in the current, and I have to try not
to sway in the current when taking them.
Before the pictures of the undersea world here in Fiji,
some of the stillness of Viani Bay this week.
Making bread - we haven't found a shop
for nearly 4 weeks, so have been living off our
stores.
The camera is only good for close-ups, but
at least this give a feel for the numbers of fish
around the reefs here.
Fellow divers - count the legs and divide by
2!
Another couple of Nemo's
relations!
Above and below - beautiful soft
corals.
A mix of soft and hard
corals.
Very small Cleaner
Shrimps.
A type of Lionfish, with venomous
spines.
More soft corals.
A mix of hard and soft
corals.
Brain coral, but with a pink hue. Not seen
this before.
A sea Fan.
More soft coral.
Another type of Sea
Fan.
A long range shot to show the corals
cascading down the underwater slopes. All the colour
gets lost on long range shots with our
camera and it all turns out blue.
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