Great White Day
So, guess what woke me up yesterday morning. Wind. A lot of wind. It was about 230 in the morning and the wind was blowing off the water ferociously! This wind continued to blow for the rest of the day. Liz and I get dressed for the swimming with the sharks.
Meet up time is at 0630 for check in and final waiver signing, you know the type of waiver..if you get eaten we are not liable for it. T’s crossed and I’s dotted, aboard the ship we go for literally a 3 hour tour! To get to Neptune Island we charted 3 hours to get there. The waves were amazing! I have only seen waved that high in movies. We were standing at the back of the boat with our arms on the railings enjoying the bumpy ride. However, the majority of the passengers did not appreciate the bumps. Over half of the people, including the staff had blue upchuck bags.
We weren’t the only Americans on this trip! There was a newlywed couple from Florida that wanted to see the great whites as well. They said the hurricane had downgraded where they lived and it was more manageable for people in the area. I will take their word for it. I haven’t watched news in weeks on purpose. You know, that’s not exactly true. I have watched Australian news. It is interesting the problems that they face are similar to the problems we face.
So back to the boat. Three hours is a long time of rocking and rolling on a boat so I made my way to the top of the ship to take a snooze. All the bottom seats were filled with sick people.
The waters, even though ferocious were beautiful.
Once we reached Neptune Island the cage was offloaded and people started squeezing into wet suits. We were in group three so we had a few minutes to observe the chumming process, the multitude of fish and seagulls looking for a free meal, and the instructions for breathing underwater with a regulator.
All of the sudden, a shark was spotted. It was suggested that it was 4 meters or 13 feet long. From the look out point it was marvelous! I couldn’t wait to get in the cage.
Finally it was our turn to get in the cage and hopefully get the shark in our field of vision.
Now let me explain choppy water. It was brutal. There was a maximum of eight people in the cage at one time and we were all being tossed about like clothes in a spin cycle. I now know how my laundry feels when it is being washed. The wetsuits did their job, and you didn’t really notice the frigid temperatures of the water. I however, did not take well to the water conditions. My video was five minutes of me trying to right myself in the water, hold onto the cage and bumping my noggin pretty hard. Liz was able to control herself better and had chum thrown on her so the fish were all over her mask. Unfortunately, neither of us saw the shark in the cage. It must have been full from a seal meal or something to that effect. I am going to include the pictures from the facebook page of the charter we went on.
The paralenz I bought performed excellent with great video quality, but, there isn’t really anything to show.
Due to the rough conditions and most people not getting to see the shark, we will be given vouchers to come back and try again. I’m thinking April is a good month to come back. Birthday month and all…
A few hours later, it was time to head back to the port. The cage was raised along with the anchors and away we went. I fell instantly asleep in the cabin. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.
When we got back, Liz being the souvenir junkie she is went to buy merchandise and I walked back to the room. This would be the last night together since she had to head home before me. Glorious day and we were both whooped. We both took a long back in the jetted tub, at different times of course, and crashed.