Diving Nusa Dua and Hair (Feb. 12, 13, 2015)

 Feb. 12, 2015

Today I got up early and waited for Yulia to come over for breakfast. We planned to eat together, with Reza, then she and I would leave to go to Benoa, about 45 minutes away, to meet the other people at the Dive Center. We got there and were the first ones there, so we just sat and waited for the others to show up.

The crew were all guys, and we were the only women, but everyone was super friendly and very inclusive. Since they were doing underwater construction and building, they were all very experienced divers so Yulia and I were buddies for the job. Our part was to take off the parasitic algae from the monuments underwater, so that the soft coral would grow there. If you leave the algae, it doesn’t allow the coral to prosper. It’s an interesting underwater job, because you have to stay in one place, hovering, with the strong surge pushing you back and forth, pick off the algae and then get it into a net bag, which keeps opening too wide. It was an amazing skill to work on, aside from helping them, and seeing all the wonderful fish. I didn’t take my disposable camera with me after all, because I felt I was there to work and that we were too deep for it to be of use. I think I will save it for another time, when I go snorkelling. Then it will be useful for sure. I did take some photos of the Dive Center and Yulia, holding the very cute doggie they had.

Yulia and puppy

Yulia and puppy

Dive Center

Reza's camera

One that Reza took that day

Reza's camera

We did two dives, the first one for 93 minutes to a maximum depth of 10.5 meters. The water temp was great, but the visibility was not that fantastic. I think it might have been about 5-7 meters, but I still saw a ton of lovely fish. The cool thing was, that every time you pull off the algae, it releases lots of yummy fish food, and there were millions of colourful Parrot Fish, Box Fish, and Lion Fish around the whole time, looking for something to eat. It was so peaceful and perfect, helping do something under the water, and sharing time with all my colourful friends. I love it down there, listening to my breathing and just ‘being’ in the sea. I saw some of the fish I included in Reza's photos from the other day.

Here we are on the boat going out

The crew on the beach before leaving

We brought back a huge net bag full of algae, and watched the 7 guys, strap up, attach a balloon mover, then force air from extra tanks they brought down, into the balloon so it could lift the heavy monuments to another location. It is really an interesting process to watch, but can be dangerous. Once they were in process doing this maneuver, when suddenly, the air went into the balloon, and the monument wasn’t as stuck into the bottom as previous ones, and the balloon, heavy monument and air tank flew up to the surface very fast. It was almost like watching and experiencing a bomb underwater. The guys are certified in this kind of activity, so they knew to be careful about this, but if you didn’t know, you could be carried up at that speed, attached to the air tank, and to ascend that fast is not safe for the body of a diver. You need to ascend slowly, taking a safety stop to allow nitrogen to be released from your body, for three minutes, at about 5 meters. 

After an appropriate amount of time on the surface, we went down again for the second dive. Yulia wasn’t feeling well, from being in the surge down at the bottom, so she stayed on the boat and I went down as one of the other guys’ buddy. That was pretty cool, because this was the first time I went diving that I was responsible for myself but had other, experienced divers nearby in case I had a problem. The guy I was a buddy with, helped to pick algae with me for a while, but then was needed by the team to help with the statue. I stayed where I was, safely far enough away from the action, and picked algae on my own. That was the time that the ‘explosion’ happened and there was sand everywhere and you couldn’t see anything after that. I didn’t see the guys, but figured that they were somewhere near, and had gone to get another statue to move. It was a good feeling to know that I was ok on my own, knew where the boat was, how to ascend properly, how to monitor my air, and was able to stay and mingle with the fish and help with the project. I did see the guys return in a few minutes as predicted, but felt good to be confident with my diving. This dive was only 63 minutes and was a lot colder as the currents from two bodies of water meet in that spot and it can get a bit chilly sometimes. It was still an amazing dive though!

It was a fantastic experience and I am so happy that I was part of this project. When we returned to the Dive Center, they gave us some lunch, that we all ate, sitting on the floor, with our hands. Thank goodness I had already learned how to do this fairly effectively, or I would have been embarrassed. They were all worried that the rice and chicken would be too spicy for me, but it was actually Yulia who found it too hot, as she doesn’t like chili that much, which is really funny because she’s the one who’s Indonesian. Everyone laughed about that and we finished our food.

The lunch scene

Yulia and I headed back and I had asked her if she might join Reza and I for supper. I told her I’d cook, but since she is a particular eater, she had to come to the supermarket with me and tell me what she’d eat. She agreed and we ended up buying some absolutely fresh and lovely tuna steaks, salad, and some other odds and ends. I cooked up the fish in the one frying pan Reza has, on the one gas element he has, and it was amazing. I made a dressing for the salad and the fish, which Yulia loved, and usually doesn’t eat vegetables, but with this dressing, finished everything on her plate….lol. It was really nice to cook for them and have them enjoy the food so much.

Oh, before we left the mall where the supermarket was, Yulia said that there was a Hair Salon there and we could stop if I wanted to get my hair cut. Here, you can see for yourself. The best part is, that I desperately needed a cut, and now feel much better and can see again. I inquired about colour and may go back another day to get the colour done, but didn’t do it then.

Me with my new hair cut

After Yulia went home, Reza and I decided to go out and see about a new Night Club that was supposed to be opening. I had accidentally found it when searching for that hostel I checked out the other day. The GPS had taken me to the wrong place, but I sat there for a while charging my phone, and a man came and sat down, and started talking to me. He pointed out the building in the next yard and said he was the project manager for this new Night Club and told me I should come to the opening the next night, which was tonight. Anyway, he gave me his name and told me to tell them I was on his guest list. So that’s what Reza and I did.

The place was called the Mirror Club and was gorgeous, but super expensive. We must have gotten there too early as there weren’t many people there, so we didn’t stay. Reza knew a couple of other spots in the area that were cool, so we checked them out. The first one was an open air bar/restaurant with a live band. We stopped in there, had a drink, I danced a bit, then we left when the band finished. It was really enjoyable.

The second place he took me was another bar/restaurant that had Salsa Dancing. I danced with a couple of people, then they changed the music, so we finished up and left. After that we just came back to his place and went to bed. It was a fun evening, and a great day. I was definitely ready to hit the sack by then, and don't even remember falling asleep.

Feb. 13, 2015

Today I got up late, didn’t do yoga until after my second cup of coffee, then just settled in to do some catching up with some laundry, computer, and other things. Yulia has a job interview  today and Reza had to go to the office to do some work. Some guests that he interprets for are arriving tonight so he had to see to some last minute details. 

I was happy to have the time alone to do my own things and just chill out. I will go to stay in that hostel I found the other day, tomorrow night and Sunday night, as Reza is having company those two nights. I am happy to see what that area is like to stay in. That is the area we were in last night, and seems to have tourists and some fun evening events. Plus it’s close to the beach so maybe I will go to do yoga on the beach at sunrise. That sounds really great. 

Yulia is coming over now, after her job interview. I will post the pics of lunch if we go out, tomorrow, as I want to send this now and she will be arriving soon.

Love to you all. More news later.