flight changes!

i just changed my return to the US
:-)

the 3rd, instead of flying from adelaide to auckland to san francisco
i'm going to head back to sydney for a trip south to jervis bay and gerringong near wollongong
to check out more dive sites and watch the whales with Fiona ndougfdoug 

Jervis Bay

flying back to SFO on dec 12

yongala dive

So since the winds were up n about and headed the wrong direction to make vis the total suck
Daydream island was lovely but the swimming pool had better vis and aside from some fish and nudie branches, it was pretty grim.
the tiny NB's did make everything better though.
it was suggested i hit the outer reef. but then i realized from all the local divers here, that really, it's not all that when it comes to super great vis.
it's also touch n go sometimes. Everyone kept telling me there were no wrecks here, just pretty fish n coral.

Well the people who own the place we're staying (the Palm View which is also a PADI tour operator) suggested the Yongala dive which they said was wonderful and so worth doing and run by another operator.
it's a fast boat out to the site (30 min), dive, hour break with food included, dive again, then back for a bbq.
well they just called and said the yongala peeps were out and checked the site reported back that everything is perfect for a super great dive.


it's about 85 feet down at the bow, and depth maxes out at about 110 feet.
a bunch o diving sites has it on their lists for one of the worlds best wreck dives.


so I'm doing that tomorrow morning bright n early.
it's out of Ayr which means we're waking up and heading out the door by 6am.
YES!

-----

The S.S. Yongala sank in a cyclone on the 23rd March 1911 and remained undiscovered for almost 50 years, not being positively identified until 1958. The wreck now lies on its starboard side in 14-28 metres of water and at 109m long is the largest and most intact, historic shipwreck in Australian waters.

She sank just 12 nautical miles off the coast of Cape Bowling Green in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park with the loss of all 122 passengers.  Exactly what happened we will never know - although research indicates the vessel was steaming, the fact no life rafts were found indicate the loss of the Yongala was sudden and tragic.