This is my last post from Lord Howe Island. I completed my Divemaster here with Tas and Lauren from Pro Dive. Tas put myself and another diver, Tanya, through our paces and we were both stoked to finally be qualified as divemasters! I stayed with Tas and Lauren for a bit longer than expected, 6 weeks all up. But we got along very well and had some great times together. I am sure our friendship will last for many years. Thank you!
The weather had put a dampening on some of the diving since the last post, but we did sneak out for a few nice dives. My last dive was spectacular at Malabar Caves with just myself and another diver, we saw a small shark, green turtle, lots of crayfish and a couple black cod while swimming through a maze of swim-throughs. With any spare time I have been freediving at Neds Beach, Middle Beach and underneath the mountains on the southern end of the lagoon. The late afternoon snorkels have been great watching the sunset and seen some quite inquisitive sharks and fish.
During my stay I have been in contact with Ian Kerr and Sallyanne Gudge at the Marine Park Authority, we are already looking at funding for some research on kingfish after my scholarship year. Lord Howe Island area is one of few places where fishing efforts can be closely monitored and being such a pristine environment I would love to do further work here. I am sure I will be back before too long.
I had also the chance to get my video footage together and been playing around with the Adobe Premiere Pro video editing program. Hence I have already made a short video of my time here to give to people I have met and who made my stay very welcome.
I am now heading home to the Central Coast of NSW to get myself organised for my round the world trip. First stop Western Australia, then Indonesia, Scandinavia, Europe, Canada, USA. VERY exciting, I will keep you posted with my progress. If anyone wants an email to let them know when new posts are added or just to say hello please make a comment or use the contact form (link in the menu to the right).
Until later – Steve
