Swimming with sharks

While in South Africa, I decided that I wanted to do a shark dive. You know, when they put you in a cage, chuck you overboard and then chum the seas with blood and guts to cause a feeding frenzy whilst Great Whites circle the boat.

Anyway, I made a few calls and asked around. The price had risen from R45 (about £3.80) when my brother did it 3 years ago to R1200. Now that's inflation! And apparently, there's no guarantee that you'll even see a shark. A bit harsh I thought.

So when we stopped in at the 2 Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town and they offered a chance to dive with their Raggies (Ragged Tooth Sharks) for a mere R450, I jumped at the opportunity.

I arrived at 11am in Wednesday morning. We were read the riot act (no touching the sharks or rays, no scratching the aquarium windows), signed away our lives and then kitted-up on the aquarium roof. Iain, our Scottish instructor, lead the way. He also held our only means of defense, a 2 foot long, wooden pole - "for pushing the sharks away if they get a little hungry". GREAT!

We lowered ourselves gently into the water, not wanting to upset any of the inhabitants of the aptly named "Predator Tank". Sharks tend to attack things that are on the surface, so we had to be very careful.

Soon we were finning around the bottom of the tank with the greatest of ease while Iain kept a weary eye out for Bella, the 3.5m long 'mamma' of the tank. The fish were quite inquisitive and came right up to us. We were also sucked into entertaining the humans on the other side of the 11m glass wall. People waved, blew kisses and took photos of us as we swam past them. The loggerhead turtle kept looking for food as she glided by us. The musselcracker, yellowfin tuna and leervis couldn't have cared less.

Eventually our 40 minute session was up. We slowly made our way back up to the surface, keeping an eye on the 4 raggies.

What an experience! I definitely recommend it. And your money goes to a good cause, not some cash-greedy boat owner. Remember, sharks are also on the endangered list!
Getting out of Bella's way

"Smile for the birdie!"


PS: The son of the other diver in the tank with us spent 2 days at sea with a shark cage operator and saw nothing!
PPS: Bella and her mate, Billy, are soon to be released into the Indian Ocean.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Holiday snaps Part I

Hi all,

This is the first installment. As you can imagine, after a 3 week holiday there is quite a large amount of photos to sift through - 901 to be exact! (There were 3 of us taking photos and video!)

Anyway, Part I includes photos from our trip to Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape. It also includes a photo of the McNaught comet that y'all was boasting about (taken by yours truly).












Chat soon,
DelBoy

Braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies & wedding days *

Yep, we're back in the land of grey skies, jellied eels and warm beer after a fantastic three weeks in the land of milk and honey. Hope y'all didn't miss us too much.

Where to start?

Food: In our first week we braaied (BBQed) every day except for Saturday night when we had a potjie. We also pigged out on some delicious seafood while visiting Cape Town. Last Thursday, we enjoyed a scrumptious leg of Springbok and I think I managed to finish off about 15kilos of kudu biltong and droewors in the 3 weeks.

Rugby. What an overdose! Not like in the UK where you're lucky to squeeze a couple of games in between soccer matches. No! Last weekend I watched every single Super 14 game. Even the highlights of the games that were on during my brother's wedding! And I watched 2 of the 3 Six Nations matches too. And to top it all, the SWD Eagles managed to beat the Cheetahs convincingly and the Sharks are top of the Super 14 table!

The weather was magnificent! Our first day of rain was as we were leaving Jo'burg on Friday night. Other than that, it was between 20 and 40 degrees every day. I even got sunburnt - no, none of that Pom lobster look!

My brother's wedding was great too. We held it in my folk's back garden. The day was stinking hot, but the attire was casual, so no stuffy suits to sweat in. The wedding was at 11am after which we sat around drinking beer and champers in the sun. It ended up in another braai at my aunt's place, watching my team thump the Bulls. Told you it was a great day!

Photos will follow as soon as possible.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

* Misquoted from a very old TV ad in South Africa. If you remember this, you're probably about as young as me. ;-)

Time's up

Today is the day. Seven hours at work. Jump on the tube. Queue for 2 hours at Heathrow Airport. Show the nice man at customs my passport, then we're outta here.

You okes in SA had better be saving me some sunshine. I'm whiter than a mouse in a bag of flour.My skin, my mind, my body... all craving UV!

Bring it on!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

Today I'm going to post a few photos to make up for the next 3 weeks while I'm on holiday 'cos I'm not sure if I'll get to the net while I'm in South Africa.

And in keeping with the Africa/safari/animals theme, I thought I'd post some animal photos.

These were taken at the Melbourne Zoo last November.

Enjoy

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Sin City

Last night was our company Christmas party. Yes, you read right; Christmas party. Us hospitality types always have our Christmas do in the new year. This is actually quite early for us. Last year we had it in May!

The theme was Casino Royale, so the dress was pretty formal. Of course, I was dressed to the nines with a penguin suit (see photo below) and Deb wore a black dress and heels!

The night started off quietly. We got there early 'cos we had to leave early to let our poor baby-sitters go home. We had some delicious food and then hit the tables.

Deb managed to win quite quickly while it seemed that I couldn't do anything right. My first gamble was on roulette - 21 red. I won!! £350!! But it was downhill from there!

We then moved on to the poker table. Deb was straight into the cash, but my winnings dwindled quickly! I lost it all, but we still managed to walk away with £650. Now don't get too excited. The chips were only for play money so we actually had nothing.

By this time we were pretty thirsty so we headed back to the bar area for some more (free) drinks. The band started playing and by now everyone had let there hair down. We eventually dragged ourselves away at around 11.30pm.

Thanks to Isi & B for baby-sitting. Hope you're not too tired at work today!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

PS: Only 5 days left till I'm off on holiday!!

Foto Friday

It's photo time again. This week I have cheated a little. The photo was taken by Deb, but that's me on the right. I have had a play with the photo, making it B&W and fiddling with the colours a little.

The pic was taken in Perpignan in the South of France in January last year.

Chat soon
Del

Post New Year shopping

She finally managed to drag me out shopping today. I wasn't too keen to join the throngs of people looking for a bargain, but I was promised the ultimate treat - a latte and a slice of fresh carrot cake!

We caught up with friends for a quick lunch where little Josh proceeded to s#!t himself from top to toe. So much so that Deb had to go next door to buy him some clean clothes to change him into!

The joys of being 8 months old!

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Foto Friday

Today's photo was taken in March two years ago on my birthday. We were on holiday in Egypt.

The pic was snapped as the sun rose over the Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve at around 5am. We were getting ready to dive on the 'Yolanda' wreck.

Chat soon,
DelBoy

Two thousand and seven

Firstly, Happy New Year to all. I hope that you will all have a fantastic year and that it will be full of laughter, good health and happy times!

Now to the meat of the post. Instead of doing the 'Best of 2006' that has appeared in every newspaper and on every radio station in the UK since around mid-December, I've decided to do the 'Best of double-o seven'. Basically my plans for this year.

First thing in '07' is to get over this hangover from NY Eve 06. Ouch! 10pm and still suffering!

Let's start with January: Company Christmas party in mid-January. Us hospitality types always have late Christmas parties so that you office types can enjoy yours in December. After so many years in the trade, I'm quite used to it. And surprise, surprise, the theme is 'James Bond'. The first of many such theme parties I imagine. (Get it Bond - 007 - 2007?) OK, so maybe you're brighter than I give you all credit for!

The next big thing in January is my trip to South Africa. I haven't been home in 5 years and I can't wait. I am literally counting the days! 21 more to go!

In February, while I'm still in SA, my brother is getting married. The tight arse has finally decided to pop the question and settle down. Another highlight of 07!

March brings my birthday which means another short trip. This time the destination is Estonia. Tallinn to be exact. For those who don't know where that is (Cuz!), click here. It will be a 3 day trip.

April brings another holiday. A 10 day cruise around the Southern Carribbean. This will take in the islands of St Maarten, St Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Tortola and the Bahamas. We also get to visit Miami and Fort Lauderdale while in the US. We will be travelling with all the in-laws and family: father, mother, brothers, sister.

April is also Joshua's first birthday! We will probably celebrate this on the cruise with the family and his little cousin whose first birthday is also in April.

For now, May is the quiet month. Nothing planned as yet. I'm sure I can come up with something.

June is when it all really starts to happen. On June 30, I plan to pack up and ship out. That's right, emmigrate! By mid-June our belongings will be packed, placed in a container and sent to Melbourne, Australia. On June 30th, we board the plane for New York.

The first week in July will be spent in New York. The 4th of July will definitely be a highlight. We then head north to Niagara and the falls. From there we're off to Toronto, on to Boston then back to NY. From NY we fly across to Vancouver for another few days, visiting Seattle, Vancouver Island and Whistler (where I hope to do some mtb riding!)

After Vancouver we will either head south to Vegas or LA (depends on the cash at this stage) before our final flight home to Melbourne.

This is where my plan sort of ends. From August I will have to play it by ear. Find a job, buy a house and a car. Maybe think about expanding the family a little more. Who knows.

An eventful and exciting year for us. Let's hope that it all works out.

Chat soon,
DelBoy