[Mishmash] FW: Welcome to Australia

[David Brown]

Hi dick,

I don't dive any more.  The kit is just too heavy for me now.  But I did it
a lot.  I logged some 200 dives.  Scuba is very different from snorkelling.
Because you have an air supply you can relax and smell the roses so to
speak.  I vividly remember diving on the reef and seeing two manta rays come
into my space.  I put my hand on a coral head and just stared in wonderment
as they went round and round me.  They were so graceful and so at home with
the environment.  

I have never dived with dangerous sharks but have seen a few species.  I
have played with bull sharks.  If you turn them upside down the go
catatonic.  Wobbegongs or carpet sharks are very pretty.  They usually just
sit on the bottom, often in caves or recesses.  This can be dangerous as you
might kneel on them and they don't take being squashed kindly.  They do
bite.  My all time favourites are grey nurse.  They are so magnificent as
they glide around but one flick of their huge tail and they are gone.
Incredible.

Another joy was fur seals.  They enjoy life so much.  On one dive I took a
small piece of rope and we played.  They raced in, took it and tried to swim
away. Then we had tug of war.  They will also hang in the water and stare
with big brown cow eyes.  Melts my heart.  But they will get upset if
cornered and they have big teeth like a dog.

I sometimes miss diving, but like you I now have other interests.  Scuba
cylinders are great for pumping bike tyres though.

Cheers

David

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mishmash-bounces at mishmash.net [mailto:mishmash-
> bounces at mishmash.net] On Behalf Of Richard Barth
> Sent: Tuesday, 27 January 2009 2:22 PM
> To: Mishmash
> Subject: Re: [Mishmash] FW: Welcome to Australia
> 
> Hi, David.
> 
> It's been years since I did any sort of diving.  Never used a tank,
> but I used to snorkel
> regularly off the south shore of Long Island (NY) when I was in
> college. Once I left college
> (and the NY area) I was too far from the shore to make snorkeling an
> easy trip.  Plus, I
> developed other interests.
> 
> Visibility was terrible -- a fact I came to realize when I went
> diving in Puerto Rico while
> on vacation and saw the difference -- but even at its best I never
> saw a shark.  Lionfish in
> PR, but that's it.  A fisherman once hauled a sand shark onto the
> beach off LI, but that's
> not exactly the sort of thing nightmares are made of.  :-)
> 
> Dick
> 
> At 06:47 PM 1/26/2009, you wrote:
> >Hi Dick
> >
> >I have lived here for most of my 57 years and am still on the right
> side of
> >the flower bed.  I see snakes and spiders from time to time, enjoyed
> scuba
> >diving with sharks and have looked at crocks from the other side of a
> fence.
> >I guess most things are ok if you use your scone.
> >
> >Cheers
> >
> >David
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: mishmash-bounces at mishmash.net [mailto:mishmash-
> > > bounces at mishmash.net] On Behalf Of Richard Barth
> > > Sent: Monday, 26 January 2009 5:44 AM
> > > To: Mishmash
> > > Subject: Re: [Mishmash] FW: Welcome to Australia
> > >
> > > A winner, David, and thanks for sending this gem along.  Never
> having
> > > been to Oz I don't know just how common these critters are, but
> Fred
> > > made it there and back in one piece so it can't be all THAT bad.
> > >
> > > (Can it?)  :-)
> > >
> > > Dick
> > >
> > > At 03:18 AM 1/25/2009, you wrote:
> > > >  The Oz tourist industry is in a bit of slump at the moment.
> Where
> > > > the bloody hell are you? Did not work very well but I think they
> > > > might be on a winner with this one.
> > >
> > > Richard Barth *** W3HWN(at)ARRL.NET *** Silver Spring, MD
> > >
> > >
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> >
> >
> >
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> 
> Richard Barth *** W3HWN(at)ARRL.NET *** Silver Spring, MD
> 
> 
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