7 April 2014-
We arrived at Club Paradise yesterday afternoon. Mark immediately booked us scuba dives for today – one in the morning and another one in the early afternoon. Ava is also going to do a Bubble Maker class (that's for kids under the age of 10 who want to try out scuba diving).
The view this morning:
Watching Mark, Annika and Ava hurry off to breakfast. Hey! Wait for me!
Tasty breakfast:
Let's play Follow the Leader!
There's our home away from home – Cottage #17:Time for Annika, Mark and me to get suited up. Mark and Annika have BCDs and Mark even has a regulator set. I don't have any scuba gear at all….except for the brand spanking new dive computers Annika and I now have. Ava just started her Bubble Maker class – she has to watch a video, do some diving in the resort pool and finally head to the ocean for some diving. We won't be able to watch her as we'll be out on our own house reef dive.
Our dive master had us practice a few diving techniques (like clearing our mask) at the beginning of our dive just as a refresher. Here's Annika:
Ouch! There is something in the water that is stinging us. I can see jellyfish floating in the water but I don't think that's what is stinging us (as you can easily avoid them).
I wonder what this school of fish is?:
I always love clown-fish!
Table coral with tiny blue fish floating over the top of it:
Time for a break!
Ava's class was cut short as she REALLY got stung badly as she entered the ocean. She is COVERED with bumps. Ouch. Poor Ava! Her instructor poured vinegar on the bites/stings/bumps but so far it isn't helping. Poor thing is really uncomfortable.
Can I just add one thing? I LOVE these tropical island get-aways but do you know what I DON'T like??? Coming to these places I just can't help feeling self conscious about the way I look. No matter how hard I've been trying to lose weight and exercise I still look like a giant, beached whale compared to the other women. Older, fatter, uglier, disproportioned…it's really hard to feel good about yourself when you're staring at beautiful looking women. I wish it didn't bug me and I wish I could be happy with the way I am but it's so difficult when the issue is staring right in your face. That feeling that one is completely inadequate.
*sigh*
Can you tell that I've just spent the last several months being depressed??? (except for the time we spent in NZ!) I'm trying hard to fight it (which is one of the reasons I wanted to get away from China for a week).
We had a quick lunch of sandwiches (the most edible thing on their lunch/dinner menu). Mark and I decided to go for an afternoon dive but both girls declined joining us.Too bad Annika decided not to join us on this dive! See who joined us on this afternoon dive:
Hello, Mr. Sea Turtle! Nice to meet you! Looks like it's time for you to fly:
Puffer fish? Not sure….I wish there was more photos and information on the all the different fish species living on the house reef at the dive center.
Can you spot the ocean creature hiding in the sandy bottom?
It's honestly very difficult to capture the world below the surface of the ocean. It's another world. It's amazing. And colorful. I know the photos don't capture the colors accurately but trust me…it was. Mark just bought a new camera – a GoPro camera – that he's using for the underwater photos. Too bad we forgot to buy a red filter for the underwater photos. That would help bring out the colors.
After diving came swimming and playing in the ocean for a bit. Always a fun activity! For dinner we ordered another round of sandwiches in the main reception area/bar and we tried (rather unsuccessfully) to play a round of pool. Here Mark is trying to show the girls how to play the game:
Another gorgeous evening….watching the bats fly off:Good night!