First things first, whoever typed in "spanked by my wife" into yahoo and got our website must have been in for a bit of a shock...very very amusing...(the quote on our Blog refers to when Jen thrashed me at pool btw)

So we're back on terra firms - thank God. During the last three days and nights we have experienced everything from 30 knot winds (in the middle of the ocean) to the most amazing dive-site we've ever been to.

Just to start - I forgot the walloping we gave the wallabies...hahaha in your own back yard as well...

Anyway - to the trip. We set out and the first thing we were given (apart from our nice ensuite double room) was the weather report for the next couple of days - strong winds (up to 30 knots) and 2m+ waves...happy happy joy joy... Just how bad this meant things would be wasn't clear until the first overnight in which the boat rocked so much en route to the reef we were thrown around our room and Jen saw her tea for the second time...nice...

Arriving at Keeper's Reef we finally got in the water only for me to find that I couldn't equalise (my ears, not CM4) and thus I stayed on the surface whilst Pat & Jen buddied up for a few minutes. They eventually resurfaced some 10 mins later having lost the rest of the group - not a good start. Onwards and upwards, and after the mighty Sudafed had taken effect we completed our second dive. Good news in that my ears were fine and we completed the dive. I felt a bit rough and didn't do the 3rd dive of the day whereas Pat and Jen buddied up again and went back down. We all felt the first site was a little disappointing as alot of the reef was bleached and dead, and also there were loads of 'Crown of Thorns' which had killed off alot of the coral.

The following morning I lost my 'never been sick on a boat' virginity as it was my turn to see exactly what I'd eaten the night before...however once in the sea (we were now at a different reef - Wheeler's Reef) my sickness went and we enjoyed three good dives. In Shark Alley we saw (wait for it) a white tip shark - the first reef shark we'd ever seen. The coral was much better and a good day's diving was had by all. In the evening they managed to rig up a TV so we could all watch State of Origin II and the mighty Blue slaughtered the Maroons. The Captiain (Greg - a top bloke) was cheering for the Maroons and at one point threatened to crash the boat that night if we continued cheering for NSW...we all shut up and then a broad grin erupted on his face, so then we shouted for the rest of the game...(NSW won 27-4 for those who don't know - we'll be there to see if they can get a 3-0 sweep for only the 3rd time in their history on July 16th). So to today, we arrived at the SS Yalonga wreck at about 6am and were woken up, kitted out, and in the water by 6.45...some wake up call. The SS Yalonga was on the last part of it's voyage - the leg from Sydney to Cairns - when it went down during a tropical cyclone in 1911. All 121 passengers and crew perished. The wreck, still mostly intact but now covered in soft coarls, stands in the middle of nowhere - in about 30m of water on a sand bank. To get to it is more than a little tricky and requires a good leap of faith. You have to swim from the boat along a rope to the buoy line where you descend to about 10m before joining another line which goes down to the ship. You have to do it like this as a) the visibility above the wreck is so poor you can't see it until you're 3-5m away from it, and b) the currents (especially at 6.45am!) are so strong if you didn't hold to the lines on you'd end up in New Zealand. That said after a few ear problems (it's these early starts) we managed to descend onto tthe wreck. Having dived some great sites our expectations were quite high and we were not to be disappointed - an unbelievable sight greeted us. The shape of the ship itself is recognisable and a couple of the mast type things were at an angle they shouldn't be. The cargo bays were uncovered and you could peer in and stop for breathers, although penetration of the wreck is not allowed due to the fact that the iron is corroding and it is more than a little unsafe. Those in the know believe the wreck has about 30 more years before it collapses and forms a new artificial reef. The sheer variety and size of sealife was incredible - we saw Moari-wrasses (about 1.5m long), clownfish the size of your hand, and most fantastic of all, a couple of giant potato cod (one nicknamed V.W. - as it's the same size as a Beetle) which must have been all of 3m in length and fatter even than me...unreal. We enjoyed the two dives immensely, I can't imagine we'll ever dive a better site, even though we only amassed a total of 55 mins underwater - you don't half suck your air in those currents and depths...

So back onto the boat and a calm(ish) trip back before bading fairwell to our crew and new found diving buddies. Diving Dreams were excellent and I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone considering doing the Yongala and the GBR. We have some piccies - one of us on the wreck (well above it) and one of the Moari Wrasse, they should get uploaded tomorrow.

On arriving back at our hostel we found out that an English guy had pentrated the wreck today, whilst diving from another diveboat (twice - he was pulled out and bollocked once, and then went back in...). He now faces the prospect of being deported from Australia, or at least a few nights in jail and a whopping fine - serves him right.

Tonight is the last night we are a threesome - we're off to Airlie Beach tomorrow for the Whitsunday's (we're praying the winds will have dropped), and Pat's off home. After 8 weeks travelling together we've only had 2 or 3 rows all of which after we'd both consumed a few too many shandies and we've all got on really well. Believe it or not it's the most time we've spent together since I went off to uni some 10 years ago...Whilst it'll be nice to get some privacy back I'm gonna miss the old sod...we're going for a meal tonight and no doubt we'll raise a toast to our Aussie adventure...(just to rub it in Pat we've halfway through Aus and still have NZ/South America to go...tee hee!)