When Ears Start Exploding...

(Rainbow on Steve's Bommie.  Gorgeous!)

The next day after first brekky, which I braved a handful of cereal, we attempted Steve’s Bommie.  Risa and I decided on no guide again, for it seemed like a simple dive just around a pinnacle.  We began our descent and Risa suddenly got the worse squeeze in the history of squeezes.  Now our ears were having some difficulty before but we would never give into the pain and continued to dive.  Probably not the best choice…  Risa had to grudgingly abort the dive.  I was reluctant to continue but at the same time, I would have encouraged Risa to go out if roles were reversed.  I asked Lozza if I could buddy up with her and Camilo and she obliged.

We saw lots of Nemos, including what Andy showed me as “The Real Nemo.”  He was tiny!  I giggled as I saw him.  We also saw 2 Stonefish, one, which was white and easy to spot; Leaf Scorpionfish, and The Yellow Wall, which was basically a huge school of mixed yellow fish swimming slowly all around the pinnacle.  We also saw White Tips and one Grey Reefie.  It was a decent dive but I was lonely without my Risa.

After I ascended and peeled out of my wetsuit, I almost cried to see Risa lying on the couch in lounge, huddled up in pain.  I immediately went to her side and began to mother her.  She did not accept any of this but, me being the stubborn person that I am, grabbed her blanket and some Tylenol and the next best thing:  Chantes.  Chantes is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met and I was very happy Risa let Chantes take care of her.

After brekky, I got all geared up while Chantes, Maty and Andy teased me about going diving while my best mate was inside not feeling well.  I almost aborted the dive as the tears welled up in my eyes.  It is such a hard thing when someone you care about doesn’t feel well and there’s not really anything you could do about it.  The crew encouraged me to go diving saying that if it were me, I would want her to go have fun instead of feeling helpless by my side.  So I dove.  It was the same site as before and I was matched with Lozza and Sally (ugh!).  We cruised the dive once again seeing mostly the same.  Lozza spotted a baby Lionfish though and then I found a baby White Tip about 1-2 years old.

When I came up, Risa seemed to be doing a tiny bit better and even got herself some lunch.  She didn’t eat much (which is normal anyway), but then cuddled up on the couch again.  Poor thing!  It made me so sad to see her like that!  While I dove the next one, she went up to the look out deck and poked fun at the crew and had some laughs, which I think helped her feel a little better.  Meanwhile, I prepped for the next dive, which Andy came up to me and told me I was going with him very excitedly.  Apparently on this dive, known to the crew as Grumpy’s Place because of a hungry Cod that lives down there and is fed by other divers, there is a toilet.  How the toilet got there I have not a clue, but it is there.  Andy was SO excited for this dive because he was adamant about getting a photo of himself, sitting on the toilet reading a magazine.  He even donned two pairs of board shorts on so he could have one pair around his ankles.

So Andy, Teresa and I went down and ran into Grumpy.  As soon as Grumpy spotted us, he swam up to us searching for food.  Andy pulled out a large Ziploc bag full of fish and as he was about to pull one out, Grumpy ingested the whole bag!  We three just sat there like deer in headlights!  What could we do?  I immediately thought he’d killed Grumpy for I could see him trying to eat the bag.  Suddenly, Grumpy spat it all out and Andy quickly retrieved it.  We laughed so hard underwater our stomachs hurt.  It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.  Anyway, we played with Grumpy a bit and swam off towards another pinnacle where we found plenty of Blue Spotted Stingrays.  Teresa wrote to me on her slate how much she loved them and I agreed.  (Now this slate was actually Maty’s and that was the last we saw of that slate…  Who knows what happened to it?  Grumpy perhaps?)

(Andy is not sure "who" keeps feeding Grumpy, but somehow he always knows where to find it..)

(It's like Grumpy's telling me a story.)

We swam on and then we finally saw it: the toilet underwater.  Andy was so excited, he removed his fins, got his magazine out, gave Teresa the camera and we got his pictures.  Such fantastic pictures too!  We could not stop laughing.  Andy then asked if I wanted a picture with the toilet and I negated.  It would have been much more fun had Risa been there to take a picture with me.

After Grumpy’s Place, I came up to find Risa walking about and felt better that she looked better.  By now, I was having a difficult time hearing since my ears were so waterlogged.  I would not admit that I was suffering a bit too.  Risa laid down on the couch again and I laid down on the floor beneath her.  Yes, I love my friend that much ok?  Plus, we had already gotten yelled at for sitting on the couch whilst being wet and we did not need a repeat of that.  Everyone that came in all cooed at us and I was even waiting for someone to snap a picture since they’d been trying all week to get one of us sleeping.

Next dive I needed a buddy and was immediately snatched up by our new friends Pippy and Aron.  I was more than happy to dive with them because they were/are fantastic people!  We got along well with them and were more than happy to chat with them, etc.  We dove Flare Point, which consisted mainly of colorful corals.  By now, my ears were killing me but I refused to ascend.  We went out one direction and suddenly the current picked up.  We busted our butts to get back towards the boat and finally made it to a no current area.  We did not need a do over of the drift dive before…  At 30 minutes, my ears couldn’t take anymore.  Equalizing was impossible and I couldn’t focus on anything more than the pain it was causing.  We all agreed it was time to ascend and I was more than happy to do so.  At our safety stop, we spotted some huge fish beneath the boat.  It looked like a giant, stout Barracuda!  Who knew?  Aron was sure to get some pictures.

(Teaching Pippy the shaka underwater.)

As soon as I got out I tried my hardest not to show the pain I was in, just like Risa had done.  As soon as she saw me though, she knew.  It’s that whole BFFF thing, you know?  You can just tell and she knew.  Roles were reversed and she began to take care of me.  Adorable aren’t we?  This is when we started to call each other Mom.

The last dive of the whole live aboard was actually a bonus dive they tossed in due to Team America’s complaints.  That means there were 27 scheduled dives and 1 bonus one.  Risa and I both declined the last dive of the trip.  After all, we have to head back to a job that involves diving.  You catch my drift…

Throughout the evening Chantes was a big help.  She had taken care of Risa and then took care of me.  What a fantastic person that one is!  We became real close with her and became friends with other crewmembers.  We also befriended our beloved Pippy and her friend Aron.  It was an amazing 7 days with amazing people whom we will never forget.  And this is why we aren’t coming home.  We are going to live in Australia as soon as possible.  After all, we have a holiday visa that’s good for one full year!

The next morning, after not sleeping so well due to ear anger, we had our brekky and arrived back to the dock.  Risa and I were both so sad, for we had made such wonderful friends and had such a blast!  Andy said a few words and then they took some photos of everyone.  Risa and I decided to take our own photos with only the crew members because we did not really want to remember Andy’s team (aka Team America: the ones who kick and lay on coral, chase the animals away, touch things that they aren’t supposed to, feel an entitlement, etc.  No wonder others in the world hate Americans.  Thankfully, we were known as the Hawaiian Girls and not a part of America).  The crew really wanted us to meet up with them later but we decided it best to go see a doctor for our ear problems. 

(Risa and me, getting smooched by Chantes.)

(I still have no idea who's bunny ear fingers those are.)

(Risa and I with Pippy, the rockstar.)

(Us with the Kiwi, Maty.  I don't think he ever wore a wetsuit, just board shorts!)

Andy instructed the driver to take us to a 24-hour medical center and we were both seen.  Risa had an outer ear infection so bad that her canal swelled so much that the doctor couldn’t see anything else.  I had a double ear infection as well as a middle ear infection in my left ear.  We were put on drops and Risa got pain meds and I got antibiotics.  Then we were on our way back to Calypso where we took a quick nap.

At about 1:00 in the afternoon, we met up with the crew at a pub called The Courthouse.  We had lots of laughs and tears.  By 5pm or so we were all starving so we went to sushi… Well, a handful of us anyway.  Chantes proved to be a great friend once again.  Risa was in quite a bit of pain and we were both getting a cold that Team America brought on board.  Chantes disappeared twice and brought back with her orange juice, Advil, cold medicine and throat medicine.  A true friend and wonderful girl through and through.  She even drove us back to our hostel that night so we didn’t have to walk or take a shuttle!  See what I mean?

(Apparently I taste really good to Kiwis?  Thanks Maty.)

(Me, Maty, Pippy and Chantes.  Miss them so much!)

(Risa, Pete and I.  Such a fun guy!)

Our time in Cairns was definitely our favorite part of this whole trip.  Not only did we see amazing creatures in an amazing environment, but we met fantastic people who became quick friends.  This is why Risa and I are moving there.  The people in that town are just lovely, genuine people.  They love the environment and nature just like we do.  They are just marvelous people and we hope to stay in touch with them for years to come.  Had not been for this crew, Chantes, Andy, Maty, Teresa, Lozza, Dermot, Pete, Cameron and Tony, the trip would not have been such a blast.  Yeah the dives would have been astounding, but the time we spent with those new friends?  We wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world!  Love you guys!