Indonesia Day 7 and 8

Another two days of diving under our belts.  Yesterday we did three dives, two in the morning and one in the afternoon.  They were all really nice dives with lots of colorful coral and marine life.  We dove Mike’s Point, Mandolin, and Fukui.  There are turtles everywhere here.  We saw a big school of bat fish that were very cooperative and Eric was able to get a couple good photos of them. 

Today we woke up and the ocean in front of the resort was like glass.  The last few days it has been a bit choppier but nowhere near being considered rough.  We did two dives today after breakfast.  There was finally another guest at the resort, so the three of us, Spencer and our guide, Eric, headed out for the first dive at 8 a.m.  The dive site was only a short distance from the resort and it was a nice relaxing dive with not much current.   Our guide, Eric, pointed out lots of macro life, like orangutan crabs, nudibranchs, shrimps, etc.  Most of it was too small for me to see--even with my new bifocal dive mask.

We finished the dive and got back on the boat.  The other guest that was diving was already back on the boat and apparently had had some issues with his ears being slow to clear, etc.  He decided it was wise not to do the second dive, so the boat captain took him and Spencer back to the resort.  We headed out for the second dive which was again a very short distance from the resort.  After our surface interval, we dove in.  This was again another nice, relaxing dive with lots of macro life (along with the turtles).  Eric had been having some issues with one of his camera strobes not working properly on the first dive, so he decided not to take his camera on the second dive. 

I had my camera with me and we decided to put the tripod on it to see if that would help stabilize some of the shots.  The camera is still very new to me and it has obviously been a while since the last dive trip, so I am still getting used to using it and how to get the best shots.  After a lovely dive, we headed back to the resort for lunch and to relax. 

After lunch, we headed to our bungalow and had an afternoon nap.  Then Eric got up and did some work (have to pay for the trip somehow) and then handed the computer over to me to type up the blog. 

Whilst I was typing the blog, Eric decided to try and figure out why his one strobe on his camera was not working properly.  He emptied the batteries out and cleaned out the battery compartment, put new batteries in and then it worked fine.  He then put the old batteries back in and it worked fine again—still a mystery.  Then he went to open the strobe that had been working just fine and discovered that it had flooded.  What a mess.  Now he is in the process of trying to figure out if he can clean it, dry it out, and make it work again…