Cool photos, great report!

I'm very jealous....

:)

David H.

--- Bjorn Vang Jensen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Finally, after 4 years of having my dreams haunted
> by weedy seadragons, Port
> Jackson sharks and other creatures high on the wish
> list for any
> photographer, I got to visit the Wembley of Diving!
>
> I had to change jobs to get there, but you have to
> do what you have to do,
> and the money is better with Electrolux anyway :-) I
> was going to be in
> Sydney for a whole week, but nobody was able to meet
> with me Monday, and I
> couldn't get on any flights leaving Singapore
> Monday. So I "had to" fly to
> Sydney overnight Sunday. Oh dear, a whole Monday to
> myself in Sydney, what
> to do...?
>
> Strike picked me up in the airport and took me to
> the hotel, where the
> camera was assembled, and then we took off to pick
> up Huw. From there, we
> proceeded to Dive Center Manley, Tricky's shop,
> although, sadly, he was not
> in. But we got what we came for - air, lead and
> neoprene! Huw had brought
> his spare 7mm semi-dry, but my muscular torso
> refused to fit, so I had to
> resort to the 5mm school suits available from
> Tricky. I had brought
> everything else from Singapore, including my new
> Halcyon backplate, which
> was about to lose its virginity.
>
> Diving has given me many memorable experiences, but
> standing in a parking
> lot in 10 degrees C and a mild drizzle, in your
> underwear, trying to slide
> into a recently washed, and therefore clammy
> wetsuit, will not make the top
> 10! Nevertheless, it was a small sacrifice to make,
> considering the reward
> :-)
>
> To boot, this was my first shore-dive ever, and I
> did manage to take a fall
> while putting on my fins, but we got there in the
> end. The water was 17
> degrees C or thereabouts, but the wetsuit and hood
> kept me pretty
> comfortable throughout the dive. The backplate felt
> comfortable, although I
> now know that the top cam strap should sit right
> under the shoulder of the
> tank in the future. Throughout the whole dive, I was
> unable to lift my head
> high enough to look straight ahead, without being
> reminded painfully that
> the tank was rising too high. Live and learn.
>
> Shortly into the dive, we were overtaken by our
> first Port Jackson shark,
> but it was too far away for my 60mm lens, and the
> visibility was not exactly
> great, given that a full gale had blown the day
> before. However, shortly
> thereafter, we came upon another, more co-operative
> PJS, resting among some
> rocks. After several very close close-ups, it reared
> up at me to let me know
> that the shoot was over, and we proceeded towards
> the kelp instead. We
> searched and searched, and we were rewarded!
> Strike's Hammerhead let out an
> almighty burp, and there it was: A male weedy!
>
> I took lots of pictures, but with the visibility
> being quite poor, many did
> not come out as much more than a snowstorm :-)
> Still, with PhotoShop, these
> things can be overcome, and a few came out rather
> nicely.
>
> You can see those, and a few others, in a small
> Shelley gallery on
> http://www.bjornjensen.com/Shelley/
>
> Huw had brought Tim Tams, and although Strike had
> forgotten the coffee, I
> have had the full Shelley experience. And it won't
> be the last time either!
>
> The rest of the day and evening were spent on
> Strike's Reef, where the 3 of
> us partook of kangaroo, sausages and pork, plus
> innumerable bottles of red.
> Suzanne and Sylvia joined us later, and we spent a
> most delightful evening
> together. It was capped by a very special bottle of
> Reunion Port, and I was
> back in the hotel about 11 p.m. The following
> morning will also not make my
> top 10 list of pleasant experiences, but that was
> entirely self-inflicted
> and therefore not worthy of sympathy :-)
>
> Thank you, Strike and Huw, for sharing this
> experience with me. It was an
> immensely memorable day, and I hope we can repeat it
> soon!
>
> Bjorn
>




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