Matt recently learnt to dive, and is keen to get some experience under his belt. It's been interesting for me to take up diving again because I haven't dived for probably 20 years. I gradually stopped diving when we moved to Canberra because it really isn't convenient to dive when you live 2 hours from the coast compared with living in Sydney. Before coming to Canberra I'd been a scuba instructor for 5 or 6 years, but getting into the water again after so long was surprisingly easy - it's like riding a bike. Personally I'm pleased to see that I finish the dive with more air in my tank than anyone else, which reflects a degree of relaxation under the water coupled with efficient movement through the water - the lack of either of which causes you to breathe heavier.
There have been some improvements to dive equipment, but not as much as I expected. None of my old equipment is really any good now - too much of the rubber has perished. My wetsuit also seems to have shrunk. Surprisingly, people at the dive shops keep saying that the equipment now is so much better than in the past - they assume that ours were very primitve - but I don't find them any better. I think that there is an incorrect assumption that newer=better.
We've joined a dive club and so far have had several shore dives at Bawley Point, about 20 minutes north of Bateman's Bay.
This is a popular spot where we've seen sharks, stingrays, cuttlefish, moray eels, octopus, and many, many, types of fish. So many types of fish that I've had to pull out one of my old fish-identification books to help remember which is which.
We are going up to Port Stephens in a few weeks, so we'll do some diving up there as well.
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