My Life by Heather

Photos - Just General

2009-12-31T15:19:00.003Z

I thought I should maybe post some more photos on here as I haven't done any for a while. Although to be honest I haven't really had much chance to get out and take a lot so you will just have to put up with the small selection I have.

So this is me, with a tan and slowly going blonder hair!
This is Aaron - with his haul of lobsters (see earlier post!). Notice how cloudy it is behind him - see it's not all sunshine in the Caribbean!
This is Matt - with a noose around his neck which he planned to use to catch the lobsters with.
The lobsters the two guys caught. Apparently they were delicious!! :)

That's all for now. Hope you all have a good New Year. Will write more when I feel better (had a yucky day yesterday and was sick all night!).

Hugs

H xx

Christmas in the Caymans

2009-12-26T21:18:00.002Z

... was a damn hot day! Christmas Eve was very busy with divers from various cruise ships. Matt, Pat and I had two trips with Aaron and Jolinne joining us for the second ride out. Lorikeet can take up to 16 divers and each trip was full. The first group were great but the second group had a few issues. One of the guys in the second group found a piece of broken sponge coral and proceeds to put it in his pocket. I saw him and managed to stop him just as another guy tries to ride the little turtle who was munching nearby!! Crazy people - I have no idea what they are thinking when they do stuff like this?! Why would you want to take a piece of the reef, its a living thing? And riding a turtle that is barely bigger than my forearm - how is something that size supposed to pull a big diver along? And really why would a turtle want to do that?
I wonder what kind of instruction these people received when they learnt to dive. Or perhaps they just believe that the reef is to be plundered? I've seen so many divers lately that really need to work on their buoyancy - especially those with cameras in their hands too. It's like the camera becomes the most important thing and they forget they have feet with big fins on that can do a lot of damage. In the last week to ten days I've seen at least 3 tube sponges ripped apart by fins. It's so annoying and frustrating because all it takes is some conscious thinking about your body position in the water and a little healthy respect for a system that takes decades and centuries to grow to full magnificence.
After the craziness we got back to Beach Club and had a few drinks at the tank shed. We were joined by the snorkel boys too and so a good laugh was had by all. Aaron left earlier than the rest of us, then Jolinne not long after while Matt and I joined the snorkel guys at Aqua Beach bar. Got home around 1230am to an empty house.
Got a text at 3am from a friend at home - yes I know its past 8am at home, but really?! Then Mom called not long after 7am for a quick Merry Christmas before I managed to sleep late. Called Mom back later on while opening my presents (mostly books I'd asked for! Yay!!) and then just chilled out until around 4pm when Pat (one of the snorkel boys) picked up me after Matt so we could go for food at Neil and Avalon's place (Neil is another snorkel boy and Avalon, his girlfriend, works for the shore excursions). Avalon did a fantastic job with the turkey and veggies and so much food I'm sure they will be still eating it all days from now! We then just hung out on their deck overlooking the ocean and watched the few fireworks displays along SMB. Really quite a good Christmas Day.
Back at work again today with another full boat on Lorikeet and then tomorrow Matt and I are off as there is a night dive on Monday which we'll be working. I haven't done a night dive in years and haven't even brought a dive light with me so I'm hoping I'll be able to borrow one from somebody. I think this coming week is going to be quite busy and we are due to work on New Year's Eve and Day so no big parties that night.
Hope everyone had a good Christmas.
Hugs
H xx

More Time Off

2009-12-21T22:26:00.002Z

Today Matt, Aaron and I went in to work for 7am and we were done by 1030am! This isn't boding well for the rest of the week. We again were due to have cruise shippers but this time for the North Wall and Stingray City. Well as the weather is still pretty yuck Stingray has been "closed until further notice" - presumably they are going to check again every day until we can go back. The office offered the 6-7 divers who were due to come with us a trip off the South coast but they decided against it. The 3 of us were already down at Red Bay (where the boats get docked when south trips are running) and so all we ended up doing was fixing a mooring line (which was mostly Matt) and heading back to the office.
We spent the rest of the day getting lunch at Quizno's, looking at a couple of other scuba shops for a wetsuit hoodie for Aaron, SLR cameras for me and Matt and then heading to the beach so Matt and Aaron could go "lobstering" - ie catching some lobsters. It's lobster season right now so they can be caught in certain areas but you can't use scuba to get them or gloves and various other bits and pieces. Jolinne went for a beach walk and I just sat on the beach hoping it wouldn't start to rain and waited for the guys to come back with their catch.
A couple of hours (almost) later they haul back 6 lobsters!! One got put back because he was too small to be caught and there were a couple of others I probably would have put back myself but the guys kept them. They are cooking them right now with a pasta alfredo after giving 2 of them to Matt's IDC Course Director, Ash for Christmas. Nothing like a personally caught pair of lobsters for Christmas eh? Hehe!!!
I'm hoping that we have some work for the rest of the week but as the weather is looking pretty hoke-y for the rest of the week I'm not sure how that will happen. Fingers crossed there are enough hours for me to make rent this coming month!
Hope all is well with everyone.
Hugs
H xx

Another Day Off

2009-12-19T12:46:00.002Z

...although this wasn't planned in any way. We were supposed to have the Aida cruise ship in port today but due to the weather they are apparently unable to transport their passengers to the dock. A Nor'wester has come in so the waves on the west side of the island are quite high (although nothing like a typical Blackpool Beach winter day!!). Usually the ships would moor off in the south side of the island but apparently that is quite choppy too. Matt and Aaron took Lorikeet (one of the smaller boats) around south yesterday and had some trouble trying to get it through the cut of the reef (about as wide as the boat is long - ie roughly 30 ft). Aaron said this morning that they ended up with their lifejackets on such was the pounding of the waves against the boat and the general "oh shit" nature of the adventure!! According to Aaron's description they wore their scuba masks (to save from the wave spray and the pounding rain!), rain jackets with the hoods pulled tight around the face and then the lifejackets on top. Quite the outfit :)
Anyway... so because the passengers can't get off the ship we have no one to take on the dive boats and consequently we have nothing to do today. We were told to come in at 7am (the earliest start time yet) but it's now 745am and I'm back home about to curl back up in bed. This however may prove difficult as some doofus has started a lawnmower already and I can hear them whizzing about with it. Grrrr!
So now what to do with the rest of the day? There's a possibility of another BBQ but with the weather being so pants that isn't likely. I could try to get to the cinema to see Avatar for the first show at 1pm (still a good 5 hours away). Saturday TV tends to be a bit crappy so it leaves me little choice but to snuggle up for a few hours.
A week today and its Christmas...will the weather be so poor this time next week? In a way I hope so because it means we'll most likely be off but then with yucky weather what to do?
Ah well , hope everyone is well and ready for Xmas!
Hugs
H xx
PS I've updated the hotel website so please take a look at it and let me know if you think it can be improved/tweaked in any way or if there are things I've inadvertently missed - La Tour Hotel

A Day Off

2009-12-16T19:15:00.002Z

It seems like ages since I had a day off although it was only last Tuesday. Still as that was given purely because of the crap-ness of the day before it wasn't exactly a relaxing time. So today I have done all the random bits and pieces you do on your days off. Such as laundry, food shopping, writing postcards to send home (in place of Christmas cards as I'm sure some people at home would prefer to look at a bit of sunshine!), giving myself a pedicure and general looking-after-myself-stuff.
We had the BBQ I mentioned on Sunday. Was a pretty good day and very funny watching Matt getting more and more hammered as the day went on. There are lots of cabanas on the public beach and everyone seemed to have the same idea as us as each cabana was being used. By the time Jolinne and I arrived with Aaron, Matt had got the BBQ going but all the cabanas were taken. Matt had made some burgers so we cooked those and just generally chilled out. Although saying that it was pretty darn hot so we soon retired to the ocean to cool off. Spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and chatting in the water, watching Matt and his friend Joel (Aussie guy who used to work for Beach Club too) try to pick up these 2 American girls on vacation. Fun-ny!!
Watched the sunset and then headed home for some pizza slices and to watch a movie. All in all a pretty good day and one I think we're going to try to repeat each Sunday.
Anyhoo, hope everyone is well and ready for Christmas.
Hugs
H xx

What a Week...

2009-12-12T00:50:00.003Z

... this has been. Without going into detail (which for those that know me, yes I know this is a departure!!) there have been a couple of pretty major incidents this week. It all started on Monday with the worst work day I've had since arriving. Then on Wednesday my dad calls me (whom I haven't heard from in years) to say that my grandma had passed the day before. Then yesterday mom calls me to say that a family friend (whom I've known since I was about 5) is in the local hospice and has only a few days left. Work since Monday has been pretty quiet and I am really hoping it isn't going to stay that way.
Other than the above I fell off the boat on Thursday while trying to get on to the jetski. I was precariously trying to balance between them and then either the boat or the ski moved (or both) and I ended up in the water. With my clothes on. And my bag wrapped around me (and practically strangling me as I tried to keep it out of the water!!). So I am covered in scrapes and skinned knees and feet from Monday and bruises from Thursday. Just wonderful. At least the tan covers up the yellow-ness of the bruises.
Anyway I can't believe that it will be Christmas soon. It's quite strange being in the sun and having snowmen adorning people's palm-tree-covered gardens with no chance of any snow likely to fall. Although this isn't my first sunshine Christmas it's been a while since then. I don't know for sure yet but I may end up with Christmas Day off. Not sure yet about New Years Day either. Oh to have a schedule. It would be lovely to be able to plan something in advance rather than only knowing the day before if I'm off the next day. Saying that though Matt and Aaron are planning a BBQ on Sunday (presumably in the afternoon/evening as again we don't know if we're working that day yet) so that should be fun and hopefully a good way to round off the yucky week.
Hope everyone is well
Hugs
H x

Just a Little Tidbit!

2009-12-03T19:38:00.002Z

Today I saw my first spotted eagle ray. She was so beautiful and she swam right towards me, over my head and then just hung there above me for a while. Gorgeous!! I also interrupted what perhaps could have been some lobster loving! I was at the back of the group we had today (cruise ship guests) and they totally missed these 2 fantastic big lobsters! I stuck my head down under the crevice they were in and their antennae were very close to each others (in fact kind of entwined) and as I got closer I saw them pull apart and slink back into the depths of the coral. Today is apparently the start of lobster season so those two would be great catches - lets hope no one gets them so I can find them again soon.

Hope everyone is well - let me know what you think of my video and photos and so on by leaving a comment.

Hugs
H x

Feeding Frenzy!

2009-12-01T20:11:00.004Z

Today was my first day of feeding at the Stingray City deep site. It's not actually all that deep (only about 2-3m) but you obviously can't touch the bottom as a snorkeller, so scuba gear must be worn. I've only been to the site once before and watched the others feeding the rays - who've become so accustomed to fisherman throwing bits overboard as they clean their fish that they are quite tame and not afraid to approach divers/snorkellers. There are also a fair number of fish that hang about (mostly yellowtail snapper and sergeant major's) trying to get the squid we feed the rays. As they are smaller and dart about everywhere they can sneak in and grab the squid from right out under the ray. You have to practically punch the fish out of the way to get space for the rays to come into you.

Still its not like the rays are shy in any way. They will come and rub up against you. If you happen to have rubbed your squid-smelling hand against you mistakenly then they will attach themselves to that area and start to suck you. Mostly because they can't really see so good but their sense of smell is fantastic, so your squid-y hand or thigh or butt (due to the aforementioned rubbing yourself) will be tasty smelling treat! :) I'm hoping that Jolinne got some good photos/video of me feeding the rays so I can post them on here for your peelers! (see below - that's me getting molested!!!)

I have to say that the rays feel so wonderful and soft. I suppose its sort of rubber-y but its beautifully soft and firm and quite difficult to describe until you feel one for yourself - just don't put your hand in their mouth! And keep any dangly bits secured (ie like your hair) as they will fly in over your head and under your legs and generally surround you trying to get the food. Ah fun!

All photos taken by Jolinne Surette - thanks roomie!

Anyhoo otherwise all is going quite well I suppose. I've been working every day since last Monday. Have had an advanced student and 2 Discover Scuba's. I worked my first Aida cruise ship (all German) and was lucky to not have to witness the removal of Speedo's (although the Speedo's themselves were quite the eyeful!!) as is often the case. Tomorrow there is a party for all dive instructors/staff from all the dive ops in GC at Divers Supply. Apparently it's really good because they give away a ton of gear including BCD's, regulators and wetsuits and so on. Fingers crossed I win something. Most of all I really need a tank banger or a shaker as my current banging with a metal key fob thing isn't having the desired effect. Maybe I should try my horn thing again but it was so pitiful the last time I tried it I just felt like throwing it in the bin!

Alrighty hope everyone is well. Stay in touch, peeps.

Hugs

H xx

Just Another Day At The Office...

2009-12-01T23:32:00.003Z

Short but hilarious! Watch Aaron (one of the other instructors) punching the fish out of the way! LOL

All photos taken by Jolinne Surette. Thanks roomie!! :)

More Photos from Where I Live

2009-11-27T20:29:00.003Z

I wanted to show you some of the sites on my walk back home from work.

A couple of the many iguanas I walk past who like to hide in the grass and only come scampering out when somebody (ie. Me) walks nearby. They come in various sizes and some are very green (like almost neon) and some are extremely tanned. I will try to get some shots of the variety. There are also a ton of little geckos too - very cute.
The canal that lies between Palm Heights Drive and the Britannia Golf Club (Jo and I were looking at a few places on the canal and that would have been great to have our own boat dock space for FREE no less, but with no boat it seems a bit of a waste!). PHD is the next but one street south of Jennifer Drive - where I am.
One of the fab houses just around the corner from my place.
And another one!
My street - Jennifer Drive - off in the distance is the North Sound.
The stairs up to my apartment and you can see the nook too behind them.
The main house and the top 3 windows are mine!!

So there you go. Not too bad eh? And look - the sun is shining. Yay!

Hope everyone is well. Leave me a message.

Thanks

Hugs

H xxx

Sunset

2009-11-22T19:53:00.002Z

Hi there, I just wanted to post a quick photo of the sunset from a few nights ago (before I moved) at Beach Club Colony Resort. The first boat that you can see there on the water (closest) is Lorikeet which is the one I've mainly been working on. The one in the distance is Galleon (I think) which is mostly used for snorkel tours but can also be used for diving. And how do we get to work on the boat? We ride a jetski from the beach over to it!! Sometimes a bit precarious getting on and off (mostly off) as when there are 3 of you sat on it, the person in the middle tends to get the worst deal. This has been me on a few occasions and I've done some fancy twist-y type shenanigans so I don't end up face down in the water (although that did happen once!) when arriving back at the beach. Oy!! Good job I still had my bikini on and not much else.

Anyhoo, hope everyone is well.

Hugs H x

Photos of Where I'm Living

2009-11-22T19:41:00.003Z

The view from the porch/front door
The porch area - there is also a lounger
The little nook area with a hammock and some chairs/sofa
The living/dining area - looking from the front door
The living/dining area - looking to the front door
The little kitchen
The dinky bathroom - washing my hair here is quite the task as my head is above the shower spray
My room
My room from the door

The view from my room

So there you have it. Haven't shown Jolinne's room but its next to mine and a bit smaller. So that's what $1900 a month gets you (including all bills!).

Hugs

H x

I've Moved!

2009-11-21T03:38:00.005Z

I have moved into my new place to live today. It's a cute 2 bedroom affair that is actually the whole attic space of a house in a little area called Snug Harbour. There is a nook outside with a hammock and some chairs and a sofa (all screened off to protect from the bugs!) and also a little porch area with a table, some chairs and a lounger. You walk through the front door and you're straight into the living area. It's open plan to the dining area and then in the eaves (I guess?) is the kitchen, a little office space(it has a desk in it right now), a laundry area and the bathroom. My bedroom is the larger of the 2 and has a window overlooking the side of next door. The second bedroom is slightly smaller but there is no window. It's pretty cute and quirky and I will try to post some photos of it all tomorrow when I get back from work.
Jolinne and I had today off so we could move. We also went to Fosters (supermarket) to get ourselves sorted for the next week or so food-wise. My selection came to $111!!! Since I've gotten everything back home it doesn't seem like I actually got all that much but I guess there are things in there I won't have to buy again for a while, like butter (well actually squeezy butter substitute is probably more accurate!!), peanut butter, caesar dressing, mayo and cheese. We also had to get laundry cleaner, washing up liquid, loo roll and the like so I paid for some of those. I'm hoping what we've got will last us till the end of our contract here (3 months).
We decided on 3 months because the "shop" is supposed to be moving further up the beach sometime soon. We don't know when exactly but I was told that we should be in there for Christmas. As the place still isn't finished being built yet (still no roof!) I don't see that happening to be honest as Christmas is now about 35 days away. So we figured lets take 3 months and if it moves then we can move not long after so we are still within walking distance from work. If it doesn't move then we can extend our time here or just find another place anyway. I think we're also hoping that as this place is quite expensive we'll be able to see whether we can truly afford it on our wages and if not then we haven't committed ourselves to too long a time to fork out a wodge of cash!
Anyhoo the last few days have been pretty good workwise. The guests we've had from the cruise ships and the hotel have been great. Not too many problems with buoyancy and people floating off to the surface. I had an Asian girl who was just recently qualified in DC and so I was pretty much hand-holding her throughout the 2 dives she'd booked. She was very sweet and kept squeezing my hand every time she saw something cool (turtles!!)/scary-ish (barracuda) which was funny. In a way it was quite nice to concentrate on one person but as we've had a new instructor join the group who doesn't really do any work, I still had to keep checking on the other divers. Every time I had to turn around to check on those behind me (I was in the middle of the group) she turned around too. I was like "you don't have to worry about them honey, that's my job!!" One guy's tank had slipped out of his BC and as I had to let go of her hand to fix it for him she kind of grabbed me. When I went to hold her hand again I had to kind of coax her to let go of my BC. :)
Alrighty, best get myself sorted out for work tomorrow. Hope everyone is well.
Hugs
H xx

Pics from Pirates Week Parade on Saturday 14 November

2009-11-15T21:59:00.003Z

Just one of the many bars in Downtown that was totally heaving for the parade.

There were some fantastic costumes (and all the floats were being judged).

The Pirate boat that comes ashore and kidnaps the Governor! Hilarious!!!
The opening of the Parade - click to play the video.

Hugs, H x

Pics of Beach Club Colony - where I'm currently staying!

2009-11-15T21:51:00.003Z

The room I'm sharing with Jolinne.
View from the other side of the room - the ceiling could do with being repainted, the TV put back in the room and the phone line/internet connection reconnected!! Still it's free and includes food (as long as we're there at the right time to eat) so that's enough complaining! :)
The view - 20 steps from my room door!!

See other posts for more pics. Hope y'all are well!

Hugs

H x

I'm Here!

2009-11-11T16:10:00.002Z

I finally arrived in Cayman last night at 530pm local time but that's 1030pm UK time and boy was I knackered!! I got up at 245am to get to the airport and catch my first flight - which was delayed by a good 30 minutes, just sat on the tarmac waiting to get clearance to take off! Still, thankfully I got to Heathrow in time for my connection so I had a very quick mooch about the Terminal 5 shops (all Prada and Harrods and Burberry and the like!!) but didn't buy anything (having 1 quid to my name at the time probably didn't help matters!).
Took off a little late from Heathrow too and it was a pretty full flight. There were some decent movies to watch so although I was totally zonked out I couldn't really get to sleep. I watched Up (fantastic and a total tearjerker), GI Joe Rise of Cobra (quite good FX but not great on a dinky screen) and Ice Age 3 (quite funny and cute as per the previous two). There was a 2 year old with a family on the seats next to me and boy was I about ready to throttle that child. Scream, scream, scream was all she did!! There was also a new born (or at least only a few months old) on the other side of the plane and she was as good as gold - not a peep out of her! And cute too - she had little afro ringlets, adorable! Thank god for Bose noise cancelling headphones (at least it drowned out some of the screaming and wailing!).
We landed in Nassau to drop off some people and refuel and then set off again about an hour and a half later. Finally got into Grand Cayman (from here on in GC) and was picked up by Albert who works for Resort Sports as the "tank guy". He's been here 7 years and I think he's leaving soon.
Got to the Beach Club Colony Hotel about 10 minutes later and waited for the boat to get back so I could meet the rest of the team. Paul M (the owner/manager/guy in charge - not sure which title is right?!) came over with Jolene (Canadian) who I will be sharing a room with for now. Didn't get to meet anyone else yet but should do later today when the boat gets in again. We took all my bags to the room and I had a quick change so I could head out with Jolene to get a SIM card for my phone (I now have a local Cayman number) and some food - talk about starving! Sim card cost $5 with $3 credit and I got a spaghetti marinara and 2 litre 7up from a little takeaway opposite the hotel for $10. I've got to get my US$ changed into KY$ asap so I'm not boned with the exchange rate in various establishments. I think it's a set rate of KY80c to US$1 at the banks but I don't know about little restaurants and so on.
Anyway Jolene and I talked a lot last night about finding somewhere to live and what the operations of the company are like and so on. She seems like a nice girl (not sure of her age) and she's quite a new instructor too so we'll be (literally and figuratively) in the same boat! There are supposed to be 2 others joining us soon, one next week and the other who knows when (I understand she's having probs with her permit). Hoping we can perhaps all share together and get a good deal on rent.
Woke up this morning at 5am - ugh! Saw the time and thought screw that, I've got to stay in bed til at least 8am. Jolene got up at 7 and I ended up getting up not long after. Have had a bit of a walk about today - gone past Subway, Quizno's, Burger King and Wendy's. Found a big dive store and another sports store (maybe I can find a little electric scooter?!) as well as taking in the what looks newly built Camana Bay shopping centre. It's very modern and funky looking and I think there are apartments there too. There is definitely a cinema which I'm pleased about and at $10.50 a ticket I don't suppose is too bad. Had a lovely breakfast at a place called Cimboco for $5 plus drinks. And I am now sat in a net cafe typing to you lovely folks. Will need to head back to the store soon so I can meet everyone else and find out what the deal is about when I start work and where I'm going to be living. Must stop off to grab something for lunch tho - I think Quizno's is calling!!
Oh yeah and by the way...the weather today is lovely. Very sunny and warm - probably about 78 degrees. Although it has apparently been raining the last few days due to the tail end of a hurricane (remember season doesn't end til Nov 30!). Let's hope it doesn't come back this way anytime soon.
Will post pictures soon. Oh yeah my current room is count them...20 steps to the beach! YESSSS!!!
Love to all
Hugs
H xx

Cayman Bound

2009-10-30T14:12:00.002Z

Hullo y'all! I am completely astounded to see my hit counter is over the 10000 mark! Who are all you people who visit me...? Please leave a comment or 2!

So I had my tooth out. After much huffing and puffing by the dentist and much uurrgghhh-ing and gargling by myself it was finally extracted and examined. Boy did it look well, yuck to be frank! Had so many issues with that tooth it really should have come out earlier than it did. Have been slowly trying to get used to the gaping hole in my gum and am regularly tongue-ing it. Haven't been able to eat on that side of my mouth for a few weeks now and it still feels kind of odd to me.

Anyhoo, my permit for Cayman has finally been processed and approved. I've booked my flight for 10 November and decided to go with BA as it had the best price and meant I could travel all that way in one day, rather than stay over en route. Although saying that I think there is a short stop in the Bahamas to refuel! Not a bad place at all, if only I was able to get off the plane and mooch about!? Still I'd rather just get there and be done with it. I am quite annoyed with BA though in one aspect because they have reduced the baggage allowance on the transatlantic portion of the flight from when I originally started looking at flights. You were previously allowed 2 bags but now it's just one! 23kg for all my scuba gear and instructor stuff, clothes and so on for at least 3 months worth of working (fingers crossed it'll be extended after the trial!?) - I don't think I can manage that! So now I have to fork out over £100 for additional bags for each sector - not the total flight as one charge but each bag for each flight! What a racket!! And to top it all, my mom said she saw on the news that BA are planning on striking soon... wonderful! Better not be when I intend to fly or I will literally go off my head at them. (Rant over).

So with less than 2 weeks to go till I leave these shores I have lots to do. I'm off out tonight with one of the dive guys and have also to head to Manchester to pick up some stuff. Besides deciding what to take with me in the bags I also want to pack some bits that I can mail over when I'm settled into an apartment or "condo" as I believe is the term there?! I want to take my jewellery making stuff and also my cardie things too, especially as it's been ages since I made any cards and I actually really miss it. Still I don't want to send it on until I know how long I'll be working each day and whether I'll have time to get crafty.

I have 2 students this weekend to finish their Open Water course and then I think that will probably be it for me in this country for now, at any rate. I've been waiting for some PIC's to be delivered to the dive shop so I can get them sent off. It's been a right nightmare with the postal strike as the PIC's are supposed to be sent in to PADI within 7 days. That hasn't happened as a. I'm waiting for photo's from students and b. I don't have any PIC's to send in and c. I need another instructor to sign off one of them from months ago as it was inadvertently forgotten about and this person still hasn't received their cert (obviously!). Shenanigans!! Once I've got those certs done that means I'll have done 6 students! Woohoo. Not much really considering the time since I got my instructor card, but as it's been all at weekends and not even every weekend at that for one reason or another, then I suppose it isn't too bad.

Alrighty that's all for now. Best get my ass in gear to get to Manchester.

See ya

H x

What's New Pussycat...

2009-09-30T15:24:00.002+01:00

whoaaa, whoooaaa, whoa! Anyway... I've done a wee bit of research about setting up my own website and I think it may be quite a good idea. Still with moving away soon I'm not sure how it would work if I actually got some sales. Not like I can rely on my mom to do all the packaging up for me and mailing and so on. So it may have to wait a while. I think if I do at some point go ahead with it though I'll probably use Mr Site as it seems an easy enough piece of kit to use and is very reasonable in cost too.

Last night I went to see Surrogates at the cinema. I'd seen the trailers and thought it looked pretty good. Well I guess it was ok. The FX are decent and I quite like the idea of a surrogate in some aspects but in other ways it freaks me out. The story line is kind of like the debate I was having with myself over whether (if the technology was actually available) I would get one. But there are some confusing moments in there and you're thinking "who is that?" (am trying not to give the end away!). It does make me wonder if it's related in any way to the culture of celebrity and perfection that exists now. The surrogates are perfect - smooth skin, glossy hair, everyone is slim and attractive - so it's like you can live how you want to look (even if that means changing sex) and no one would be the wiser. The real people on the other hand though are haggard looking in comparison - lots of blotchy skin, bad teeth, lanky hair, overweight and so on. The real people really don't look good at all and it's quite shocking when you realise that you now kind of prefer/think as normal the "airbrushed" look the surrogates have, even if it's all fake!

Alright, movie review over... although in other movie news I can't wait to see this and this.

I finally received my police clearance certificate which means that my work permit package is now on it's merry way to the Caymans. Hopefully they should get it by tonight (6pm their time) so perhaps I'll have my permit in a couple of weeks? This means I need to get checking flight prices and the various options of where I fly through. BA looks like it might be the best option as I don't then have the hassle of flying through the US and all that extra security malarkey! Still I did get myself an ESTA processed so I could get through that way. The best price I can get so far is £661 (approx) with BA. I think Continental's price is about the same (if i remember rightly!) but it means staying over in Newark/New York for a night as the Cayman flight doesn't leave at a time that means I can fly in from Manchester and fly out again the same day. I can get a hotel in Newark for about $60 and the shuttles back and forth are normally free so that's not much of an extra cost. What worries me is the temptation of hitting Manhattan and having a wee spree (not that I could necessarily afford one but you get my drift?). The main thing is that I can't really get my flight until I've definitely got the permit confirmed and then I don't want to have to pay any extra because I'll be departing within a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed it'll all work out hunky dory.

The only remaining issue is how I'm going to get all my baggage there within the weight limits - 23kg per bag is not much, especially considering scuba gear is gonna take up a big part of it! If it's cheaper to pay for an extra bag than it is for me to mail it with FedEx then maybe I should just do that?! It's just a bit of a nightmare hauling bags around isn't it?

Anyhoo other than that, there hasn't been much else going on. Just been making a few other bits and pieces of jewellery. And having strange dreams again. It's a year on Friday since Jon moved out of our place so maybe that has something to do with why he's appeared in some of these dreams? I dunno, they are quite vivid for about 5 minutes after I wake up but then fade fairly fast afterwards. I do wonder what he's up to nowadays and whether he ever thinks of me at all. All I do know is that his brother is apparently in Afghanistan right now. Oh and that even though Jon told me he was single again (this was months ago now) he is actually part of a couple. Doubt whether they ever did break up, or if they did, it can't have been for long! Am pretty damn sure the girl I saw him with in Preston is the same girl with which he cheated on me. They certainly look similar if not.

Oh yeah and finally, I cracked my tooth. A whole chunk of my tooth came apart from the rest and so now I need to have it removed. I've had to demand an appointment to get it done otherwise they would have left it until my original 6 monthly appointment that isn't until the end of October!! What a shenanigans. They took an x-ray and it seems the root of my tooth has practically fused with the bone of my skull so it could be difficult to extract (oh joy!!). Roll on next Tuesday afternoon (NOT!).

Hugs

H x

It's Been A Long Time...

2009-09-23T20:03:00.002+01:00

since I last wrote on this blog. So much has happened since I left Egypt. I'm now a PADI Instructor and am getting ready to move out to the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean in the next few weeks to teach scuba diving. I can't wait to get there and get back in the water again on a daily basis (like in BVI!).

I decided Egypt was not for me, mainly because of the food situation (the people I met were lovely and of course the weather was hot which is dandy for me!) but also because every time I looked over at the instructors teaching I just thought "that's what I want to be doing" and it kind of hurt being there and not being able to do it.

So I left and came back to Blackpool to start studying like a mad person for my Instructor's course and exams. I spent 3 weeks reading my manuals, retaking Divemaster exams as practice, taking more practice instructor exams and helping out at BAD to get more experience actually teaching students. Then I went up to Newcastle for about 10 days to do my IDC, some specialties and the EFRI course with Gary Mawston at Aquanorth (just fab, definitely recomment you take your IDC with them if you're thinking about it!) before heading down to Rugby for the 2 day IE.

Boy was that stressful! Although to be honest in hindsight it was a fun two days and the examiners did everything they could to make it as stress-less as possible. I'm pretty darn pleased with my scores on everything and have been working since then back at BAD, getting more experience.

I found the job I'm about to start on the PADI website and am really looking forward to getting there, finding myself an apartment, perhaps a new man in my life and if all goes well and I want to stay on there for a spell, then hopefully a couple of labs. (as in labradors, not a laboratory!) I'm also hoping to ship out all my jewellery making and cardie stuff so that I can still get my creative thing on! I've been having a mad couple of days lately making more bits and pieces and am seriously considering whether to set up a little website for myself (Jon said I should when we were together!) although it can be a fair bit of work keeping it up to date, you know? Still it would be good if I could sell my stuff all over rather than just locally. Maybe I'll check out some prices/costs and so on before I commit myself to anything? Take a look at my other blog - hksdesigns - to see what I've been doing. I've still got some pics to add of the latest makes.

Anyway I'm sure I'll be posting more as I get closer to my departure date and obviously I'll be writing stuff while I'm away so my peeps around the world can keep up with what's going on.

Love to all

H x

Welcome!

2009-06-07T13:16:00.000+01:00

Hi there!

This blog is written by me - Heather Sayles, currently of Blackpool, UK. However I'm about to make a big change in my life and move to Taba Heights in Egypt to start work for Red Sea Waterworld. I'll be working on their counter/reception and am then hoping to take my scuba instructors exam a few months down the line.

I can't wait to get there, especially as this past few days the weather here has been terrible - very rainy and a lot colder than you want it to be in June. So bring on those 40 degree days of a summer in Northern Sinai Egypt. Still in the meantime I have a lot to do before my flight on 16 June, so much packing up and organising of things to take with me; deciding whether to mail things out now or have them sent later; basically closing down my life here and transporting it to a whole new place.

This blog has been set up mainly so my friends and family around the world can keep up with what I'm doing there, see pictures of where I am and what I'm doing and generally check up on me! :D For all those people who do know me I would suggest that if you haven't already, you download Skype so that we can chat. My username for Skype is hksginger. Please add me to your contacts and obviously if I know you I will add you back. As I understand it Egypt is 3 hours ahead of the UK, 1 hour ahead of South Africa, 8 ahead of the BVI's and East Coast USA and 7 behind West Coast Australia. That may be wrong but it's a good guess if you're looking to chat. My work hours are due to be 8am to 6pm approx (Egypt Time - ET) 5 days a week and I'm guessing I won't be available during those hours, but that may change.

Anyway my hopes for this trip are threefold - 1. that I enjoy myself and this new life I have chosen. 2. that the people I know will stay in touch with me and hopefully even come visit. 3. that I learn not only to become a great scuba instructor but that I can also perhaps learn to waterski and windsurf (and teach those too maybe?).

I have plenty to do beforehand so I'd best get on.

Hugs
H
x

Packing

2009-06-14T12:08:00.000+01:00

Oh dear! I have packed my bags with everything I would like to take with me and I am way over the weight limit!! I've paid another £60 for an additional 15kg on top of the 20kg I get as standard and the 5kg I get when I show my dive cert card and I think I am still over that limit!! I have what feels like almost 10kg of dive manuals which I'm hoping I can either not take with me or have posted out to me nearer the time when I'll potentially need them. I really can't understand how an airline thinks that a diver will have sufficient extra allowance with 5kg?! I think my BCD weighs more than 5kg alone never mind adding in my regulator and everything else. Am I supposed to live in my bikini? As much as that would be fab I think at night it is likely to be a tad chilly!! I suppose I am going to have to go back to my bags and take out some more things. :(

If only I could "zap" all my stuff over there, like the transporter/digitizer thing in Star Trek? How cool would that be?

Hugs
H x

First Day at Work!

2009-06-18T18:23:00.000+01:00

So I've just had my first day of work in my new job at Red Sea Waterworld Taba Heights. It was quite full on in parts and in others it was very laid back. We start with the bus picking us up at 735am and it takes about 5 minutes to get to the centre. Everyone then splits off into their areas to do whatever they need to do - instructors get the students/divers gear ready, accountants head upstairs to the paperwork, counter staff (ie Me!) go behind the desk and sort out the day for everyone. Paperwork is given, passports and diver cert cards are taken and checked, watersports vouchers collected and sold, the next day's activities are organised and yet more paperwork printed off. Money is taken in all varieties - US$, Euro's, British £ and Egyptian £. And credit cards too. A wee bit confusing with all the exchange rates but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. Everything is sold in euro's so depending on how people want to pay is how we work out what they actually do pay. And right now there is a 20% discount off the price of all the watersports (not diving!) as it isn't very busy, so you have to factor that in too!
From what I've seen today the busiest times are first thing in the morning when people arrive for the morning and full day dive trips, the snorkel boat and occasionally the fishing boat. There is also a submarine trip (there are 2 types of subs) as well as all the various watersports, like waterskiiing/wakeboarding, windsurfing, donuts/banana's, parasailing and so on. It then gets busy again when they bring all these people back and others arrive for the afternoon dive trip. Then finally at the end of the day when we're closing everything down. As the centre is open to the elements (pretty much) we have to hide away all the computer equipment with plastic bags (mostly I think to keep the sand out than for anyone trying to steal anything!!). Taba Heights is a gated "town" (there are only 2 ways in and out of the place) so anyone hauling away a load of computer equipment is gonna be pretty suspicious looking! :) In that respect I feel pretty safe but in another way I can feel (especially as the new girl) all eyes on me.
There are people from all over here. It seems the majority of the instructors that I've met so far are British, but there is a Slovak guy called Willi who speaks Russian, Czech, Polish, Slovak (obviously!!) and a bunch of other eastern european languages!! I'm wondering if they are all very similar (like French, Spanish and Italian are similar) otherwise I'm seriously impressed. He's also a bit of a computer whiz too apparently and he's allowing me to use his wifi connection so I can get online in the apartment! YES!! Love him for that :)
Last night Pierre (French instructor) and his new wife Jan (Thai head of counter staff) came round for dinner with Jochen (who is deputising for Drew the general manager). Sophie (the French girl I'm sharing the apartment with and who also works on the counter) organised it as a little welcome to egypt thing for me. Jochen normally works in Sharm running one of the hotel satellite centres there. Jan made some delicious veggie spring rolls and then a chicken and vegetable curry. Was totally yummy and as I was wondering what I was going to do for dinner (not being such a great cook) it was a welcome treat. I believe tomorrow night the group are having a BBQ at the staff apartment block so that is dinner sorted for tomorrow.
I think I'm going to have my biggest meal of the day at lunch now as there is a restaurant on site and as staff get a discount it is fairly reasonable. I guess the main reason (other than not really liking to cook) is the shortage of storage space in the fridge for food and the actual supply of food is sometimes quite sporadic. There is a guy who comes by the centre with fruit and veggies every so often. Today I picked up a watermelon, a few honeydew melons, a bag of apples and a cucumber (that looked more like a courgette!!) for 35LE (about £4.10 - I think I may have been had here as others walked away with about the same amount of stuff for less!! Not entirely sure). After work I then went to the little staff shop about 150 yards from the apartments and bought a loaf of bread (they didn't have any yesterday and apparently this was the first loaves he's had in a couple of weeks!!), some bread rolls, a tin of peaches, 8 pots of yogurt (they only had peach or plain! Although yesterday I managed to get a couple of strawberry from another shop in the market place - read more expensive!!), 3 packets of noodles, a big bunch of grapes, some mini chocolate croissants, a carton of OJ and 2 1L bottles of 7up for 71LE (about £8.35). I'm really not sure whether this is a good price but as I have no other place to get food (other than putting in an order with the next person going to Sharm) I suppose it doesn't leave me much option if I want to eat. So big meal is going to have to be lunch as the oven in the apartment doesn't work properly and there are only 2 gas burners working. There are some pots but I didn't see a frying pan. I did see a box for a toaster (which is why I bought the bread) but then when I got back into the kitchen I looked around for the toaster only to be told it didn't exist!!! There isn't anywhere to buy one here in Taba and so it seems the cheapest place for a toaster is Cairo!! (I think a good 4 hours drive away). I'm gonna have to search out who amongst the staff has a toaster so I can "borrow" it occasionally.
It is strange the things you take for granted living in the UK - like toasters in the kitchen - and I am wondering if it is like this elsewhere in Egypt or if it's just because Taba is a relatively new development? I believe Sharm is a lot more developed - specifically for tourists - so there are more bars, restaurants and so on. There is one bar here (other than in the hotels) and a couple of restaurants (Thai, Mexican and another one I don't remember) so there is no discernible nightlife. You either make your own fun or you enjoy the quiet life. :)
Anyhoo that has been my first couple of days here. I'm slowly getting used to the heat (tonight actually seems a little cooler than previous - I think its about 30 degrees at the minute!!) and I'm trying my damnedest to not put on the AC unit until I actually plan on going to sleep. I've been drinking like a crazy person (at least a full bottle of water and today I've had 3 cans of sprite, 2 cups of tea and am about to start on some 7up!!) so hopefully I'll stave off the runs (which is apparently more to do with being dehydrated than the food being bad!). I'll no doubt let you know. Hehe
Hugs
h x
PS I haven't actually sat out in the sun yet so tan development is going to be on the slow side!!

Re: Packing

2009-06-18T19:49:00.000+01:00

Begin Rant... I took out all the manuals I could get away with not having and I still had to pay an additional £70 when I got to the airport. I am seriously not happy about this because I was specifically told by a Servisair rep on the phone that the cost per kilo would £7.50 not two days before. Only when I'm at the airport do they tell me that it is actually £10 per kilo!!! Astronomical for what is equivalent to a bag of sugar!!! Oh and they made me unpack all my scuba gear into another bag (which I luckily had packed away - what would I have done if I didn't have it?) so that it could be put through as "fragile"! Why did it then come through the baggage carousel upside down? Servisair and equivalents - get your act together!
End of Rant...
PS actually a mini rant - the flight wasn't even full so why charge me and no doubt others when the space isn't being used anyway!?? Grrrr

I'm Melting!!

2009-06-21T16:56:00.000+01:00

OMG, the heat here is quite unbearable. I think it has been up around 36 degrees if not more, these last few days and I am just about dying! I can handle the heat when I know I'm able to get in the water for a spell but as I'm stuck behind the counter all day then it's just about impossible. The design of the building is circular and so although the counter is covered and not getting direct sunlight hitting it all day it also means that there isn't much wind hitting you. But when the wind does come in it is hot and annoying as it just blows all the paperwork everywhere!! Grrr!!
I'm not sure whether I'm going to be able to handle it as it's only June and July/August is going to be even hotter. I'm thinking probably at least 40 degrees! As each day is quite long too (today was a good 11 hours and it ended up being only me and Jan working as Abdo went home sick and Sophie was off) and the summer months are due to be very busy, then it's not like I'll be able to take a long lunch and go for a swim. If I only have 30 mins for lunch it leaves little time for having a swim and also getting some food in me (as we aren't allowed to eat behind the counter). One of the instructors asked me how I was getting on today and admitted that there is NO WAY she would be able to handle it being at the counter all day.
I don't know why but for some reason I thought that maybe there would be more opportunity for me to get into the water than there is/has been. I've been for a swim once for a total of 10 minutes as I knew I had to eat and get back. As we don't finish until 530pm or, like today past 6pm, then there is no way of even getting into one of the hotel pools unless it's a day off as they close at sunset (meaning when their pools have no sun on them, so thats usually from 6pm). I get my first days off on Tuesday and Wednesday and I'm hoping to maybe get down to Sharm, if I can. Somebody else will also need to be off too though and wanting to travel down there as well, as I can't afford to spend 600LE (about £75) on the return taxi fare on my own. There is apparently a public bus that takes about 3-4 hours I believe (taxi is supposed to be about 2-2 1/2 hours). But from what I hear its not reliable in any way and if I then have to pay for a return taxi anyway what is the point? I'm hoping maybe one of the staff who has a car is going that way (Drew is back this week and so Jochen should be returning to Sharm one day!)?
I guess my motivation for wanting to visit Sharm so soon is to see whether it is a place I could live more comfortably than I am here. There are supposed to be a lot more restaurants/places to buy food as well as lots more hotels, bars and the like. The latter isn't what really bothers me, it's the former. Being able to get hold of some decent food and things to actually cook with is as it turns out quite important!! I can't say I was ever really made aware of how difficult it is here to get food and perhaps the pay off for that is that I don't have to pay for my accommodation. But the instructors do (about 160 euro a month) although they earn more through their teaching commissions, tips and so on. Still according to Jochen what they pay for rent is much less than the equivalent in Sharm - about 450 euro a month. Jochen said that you get a better deal here with regards to pay and so on because of how difficult it is to live here. Still I think I would rather not have to worry about what I'm going to have to eat and have less in my bank account than the other way round!
I'd like some opinions from peeps reading this on what you think I should do. I'm hoping that once I actually get a dive or two in here I'll feel better about the place. The majority of the people I work with are friendly but night time can be a bit lonesome as all the Brits are in couples, as are most of the other non-Egyptian staff. I'm going to give it a little while longer and see how it goes. Like I said once I've dived I may become totally enamoured with the life down there and want to stay just for that - there are some seahorses about 23m down just off the shore!!! Apparently it is also whale shark season so fingers crossed....! If things don't improve then I guess my option is to return home, take an IDC in the UK (save on spending for another flight somewhere) and then apply for instructor jobs wherever (as long as the opportunity for feeding myself isn't as difficult as here!).
Anyhoo hope everyone is well. Leave me lots of nice comments as it seems ages since I heard from anyone. (I know I've not been gone a week yet but the days seem very long here!) :)
hugs
H x

Sharm

2009-06-26T14:27:00.000+01:00

So I visited Sharm el Shiekh on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Jochen was travelling back there and so I caught a ride with him. He gave me a few tips with regard to the hassle you get from shopkeepers and the like in the town. Good job he did because they are relentless!! He'd suggested telling them "ana staff" which means "I'm staff" and apparently thats supposed to be enough for them to stop hassling you...but no! Then it turns into 20 questions about where you work, what you do, and so on. Instead of just being what's your name, where do you come from, come look in my shop/try my excursion, etc etc. Jeez!! It got so annoying that I felt like only going into the shops that didn't hassle me. In the end I put on my ipod and ignored everyone except those I wanted to talk to - ie the internet cafe guy. Thank god for that place. My internet connection in the apartment is patchy at best. It keeps going in and out and I can't seem to find a good place in the apartment where I get full bars on the wifi!
Sharm is very different to Taba. Apparently its been purpose built for tourists (like Taba then) but there is a lot more going on. There are quite a few more restaurants including a Pizza Hut, McDonalds, KFC and a Hard Rock Cafe! There are a few malls per se but they tend to be full of tourist tat. I was told there were a lot more dive shops to get gear but I only found two in Na'ama Bay and neither of them sold what I was looking for. I didn't go into every dive centre so maybe I missed some?
You have to pay to get on the beach and use the sun loungers. The beach is sectioned off and you have to walk through either restaurants or bars or security from various hotels to get on it! Speaking of security I noticed there is quite a lot, although what good it is doing I don't know?! Apparently you need to have a special license/permit to be able to drive in Na'ama Bay due to the bomb that went off there a few years ago. However that doesn't stop someone walking into the town with something in their bag! They don't go so far as to check your bags or to check the cars or people in them of those who do have permits! Seems like its more for show than for any actual security.
It took two hours to drive there on Tuesday and I basically walked around the town to get my bearings and see what's about. I also took a share taxi (basically a blue/white minibus that will stop wherever you are and take you via a certain route wherever you'd like to go for a few LE) to the Metro supermarket. Quite a lot more choice there than in the little shop here in Taba but still it was about the size of your average Tesco Express (maybe a little bigger) and so consequently not a huge choice. To be honest I think there was more choice of soy sauce varieties than any other food product I saw in there!! Why I have no idea?
Still I was able to get some brown rolls and a few other bits and pieces. Banana's seem a lot more accessible there than here so I got a big bunch! There was an internet place next door to the market called Wireless 24/7 but wait for it...it was closed!! Can you believe it?
I'd been told by someone that the shops stay open throughout the day but this turned out not to be the case. There was most definitely a siesta period with a lot of the shops. Not that I blame them because boy is it hot - a good 2 or 3 degrees hotter than Taba. On my first day in Sharm I saw a sign on the beach saying the air temp was 42 degrees C that day! Holy heck!! Jochen had arranged for me to stay over at the dive centre and so I was pretty darn central to everything but it wasn't as noisy as I thought it would be, especially considering that the Pacha nightclub was about 150 yards away. The town really seems to come alive at night, with lots of bedouin type restaurants/seating areas. It was actually quite pretty at night, only during the day does it seem like a somewhat Disney-fied version of Egypt (but without the clean-up crews and easy access!).
I spent my second day just "chilling" on the beach. Had a bit of a snorkel and saw a few pretty cool fishes on the reef near the beach. At one point they were totally surrounding me and getting very very close, so much so that I had to make like I was pushing them of me. I'm presuming they've been fed by divers/snorkellers before and thats why they are so unafraid/hungry for whatever you've got! One of them nearly nipped me, although as a little angelfish I can hardly say it would have been a gaping wound!! :)
I headed back to Taba at 6pm (although the driver was late!!) and the drive through the mountains was quite scenic with the sun setting. Again there was a strange level of security. At every township there are guard posts at the entry roads. You have to stop there and the drivers chat to the guards and then you drive on. Apparently they can stop to ask for your passport but that never happened on my journey. The driver basically waved at the guards, said a few pleasantries (I can only assume as of course it was Arabic) and we were on our way again. Bizarre!
So now I am back in Taba and it did feel noticeably cooler on my return. I'd like to get some dives in on my next days off but we'll see what happens in the meantime.
Hugs
h xx