Woke up at 6.30 this morning for an early start to my diving. It wasn’t too bad because everyone else in the room had to be up at 7 anyway. I went downstairs and met the Tusa team to take us diving. I met two nice guys from Cardiff, Jack and Andrew, on the bus so got chatting proving a good start already.

The boat was pretty massive and I was surprised at the number of people on it and how tightly the operation was run. I can kind of see why they are able to charge such high costs. Once on the boat I helped myself to breakfast and filled out the forms signing my life away.

So after a quick briefing I was buddied up with two guys one Swedish, Nick and the other Danish, Chris. I was a bit panicky at first because of the nerves of not diving for a while and the sea sickness got to me. I was hoping for a comforting buddy who would calm me down so I wasn’t too sure how I felt about being paired with two young guys. However, they were so nice, constantly checking my gear, staying close by and seeing if I was alright. It really calmed me down and I didn’t struggle at all. I even stayed down till the last group cause I was economical on air, very unusual for me. I think the Great Barrier Reef is a pretty good place to dive if you’re feeling nervous or a first timer because it’s so shallow so there’s very little to worry about.

The dives were good, a little trouble with buoyancy and my mask but by the third dive I’d cracked it. Unfortunately visibility wasn’t great and we didn’t see anything too exciting but it was fun and I’m definitely glad that I can say I’ve done the Great Barrier Reef in my life especially when it’s under such threat.

I spent the boat journey back chatting to Jack. It was so nice to talk to someone about things rather than the same old questions of where you’re from and where you’re going to. It seems funny that these are the first questions we ask people when we meet them. And it’s funny that everyone has answers. It’d be nice to meet someone with no answer to either of those questions and instead we might ask them what their opinion is on something.

When I got back to the hostel I showered, chatted to Rob for a bit and also the new roommate, Robin from Hannover. I then went down to dinner to meet the guys from my dive trip and spent a few hours chatting to them over a few drinks.

Owain fond a few friends to drink in our room including Robin, Rob and another new roommate named ‘T’ from Denmark, so I joined them for a bit making me one of the lads for the night as no other girls were out. It was a good night if not a bit laddy complete with jelly wrestling girls. Can’t say it’s something I’ve seen before or want to see again but it was entertaining to say the least and it was nice to be out.