Dive Day – A Little Surprise!
Saturday morning weather looked promising. It appears as if the dry season is arriving on time this year. This will be a great relief to the many people who depend on their gardens for their main food supply. I was feeling quite happy as I prepared Faded Glory for departure.
I arrived at the Madang Resort Hotel wharf where we meet and rent air tanks for our little dive club from Sir Peter Barter’s dive shop, a generosity which allows us to go diving every week. Most of us could not afford to do that otherwise. As friends appeared, I noticed a strange look on some of the faces. They seemed to be looking over my shoulder as I was leaning over tending to some gear. When I turned around I did a double-take of movie quality. Grinning down at me was Roz Savage, who seemingly had not had enough of Mother Ocean. It was very pleasant to have her along and allow her to be simply “one of the mob”.
The lighting was all wrong for this cute shot of Geneviève Tremblay:

A week or so ago, Geneviève took this shot of me checking our anchor line. I don’t often get any decent pictures of myself. This miffs me a bit, because I never tire of looking at myself:
Geneviève did a nice job of composing the shot, so all I had to do was Photoshop my love handles down to less grotesque dimensions. One wants to look as good an one might. The emphasis is on might. The amusement of exercise escapes me. I simply try to eat as little as possible.
I used up a fair bit of air chasing these Bigeye Trevally (Carnax sexfasciatus) up and down over Planet Rock:
I was very lucky to catch the bubbles of a diver in the background.
Another treat was this Broadclub Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) which allowed me to snap several shots before it tired of the game and rocketed off with a puff of ink:
Any day when you get a cuttlefish shot is a good day.
I like this one of the little fish hiding right next to the gaping jaws of a Moray Eel (Gymnothorax javanicus):
Possibly they know that this is probably the safest place for them. If you stand behind a bully who ignores you, you are unlikely to be bothered by anybody else.
Though we were trying to allow Roz to enjoy not being the centre of attention for a few hours, I could not resist this shot as were were coming up the anchor line to Faded Glory after our dive:

I can’t imagine a more perfect day.
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Looks like a PERFECT day indeed Jan!! =) I need to start taking your advice!
Jan, one of these days, I would like to hook up with your little dive club. Love your blog and photos … without exception.
Awesome pics as always! Thanks, it’s all beautiful. Roz too!
Oh, Brenda, you are so right. It just doesn’t get much better. I’m don’t remember what my advice was, but I’d be careful. Sometimes my following my own advice get me into trouble. Thanks for dropping in, beautiful.
UncaDoug, we keep our invitation open and enthusiastic to anyone wanting to come to Madang to enjoy, if but for a while, the pleasures of Paradise.
I like the site Answer the Call. I’m proud to say that my wife and I have personal action plans in operation for evey poing in your checklist.
Good on ‘ya, mate!
Thanks Bolt Upright. I can’t take credit for any of the beauty. I’m simply a grateful observer. Roz is one of those rare ones. The beauty comes from the inside and works its way out.
Very nice photos. Strange to see Roz in the water and not on it
Fun to see Roz *under* the water rather than in her usual location.
Ellen, you are so right. It was fun to have her along with our little mob of local divers. Though she said it had been a while since she had last dived, she was as cool as a cucumber. She is the only person I have ever dived with who uses less air than I do! I suppose it is because she must be about as physically fit as a human can get.
Grantalias, you are the second person today to make that comment. It is a very nice feeling for me to be able to bring the images to you.
Whoops, looking at the time stamps, you are the first!
[...] Hunger I have a fantastic shot for you today. A couple of days ago I put up a post showing an image of a Cuttlefish. I had looked over the frames which I had taken and chosen the one [...]