The "Get Wrecked special"/ "Waffles underwater club" weekend

Seven of us went down to Durban this past weekend to dive wrecks, the uShaka aquarium, have a cabaret dinner, and generally have some good times :) First things: all of us got some kind of simile or metaphor attached to them (except me, of course). So:

• Paolo is like... an old man with a metal detector, a chicken, and a Raggie in a cave, waiting to pounce.
• Anthea is like... a turtle warmer.
• Chris is like... a deceptive little squirrel.
• Shona is like... a carbonated bubble in a can of coke, waiting to rise, and a Raggie in a cave, waiting to pounce.
• Alex is like... a ticking time-bomb.
• Doug is like... a Camembert cheese or a magnum ice cream - a little rough and hard on the outside, but nice on the inside

On Friday, the first group of us went for their aquarium dive while the rest of us unpacked and recovered from various rough nights out. We the went for lunch, and decided that the other half of us didn't feel like doing the aquarium dive. SO we went for waffles instead (The first waffles expedition). Later that night, after walking on the beach and cursing out lack of a brown paper bag in which to hold an OBS bottle, and discovering that Paolo has some innate chicken tendencies, we went for waffles. Again (The second waffles expedition).

Our first dive (the Fontaneau) on Saturday was really really horrible. The viz was terrible, I felt like I kept losing my buddies (I was diving in a buddy trio). I did, however see a cool purple fish, some goldies and a whole lot of muck. And potentially a sunken ship.

The conditions were so bad in the afternoon, that our second dive was cancelled, and converted to another aquarium dive. We dived in the lagoon and got to swim around and look at all the pretty fish, while I was fighting with buoyancy issues (bubbles kept filling my up in my hoodie, and as a result I kept popping to the surface). It was fun though, and I really enjoyed it. And then we went for the third waffle expedition, while my headache was expanding to elephantine proportions. I had to eat, or the painkillers may have eaten through the lining of my stomach and left me as a not-so-happy-camper.

This brings me to the cabaret dinner. The girls (well, mainly me) decided (and I coerced the others) to dress up for the occasion. So, in a very short space of time, we got dressed up to the nines, complete with dodgy encounters with people who have no concept of personal space in the bathroom (communal showers are NOT my favourite), doing hair and discovering that Shona's GHD was broken, makeup and heels. All this in pretty much an hour, and we were only about 10 mins late! The dinner was really good, and the singing was only marred by the fact that we all faded into various states of comatose-ness. Anthea and Alex were the first to leave, while the rest of us left at the end.

Sundays' dives were completely amazing. We had really good conditions, and saw a lot on the ship (this time, T-Barge). Among other things, I saw lionfish, scorpionfish, boxies, brindle bass, a hermit crab, a really big moray, some goldies and a whole big cloud of bait fish. Lovely :) We did our second aquarium dive after that, which was also really good. The rays were interesting, with one trying to nibble on Shona's hoses and shoulders... Needless to say she got a massive fright...

We had planned to have lunch and leave, so we ordered lunch and then I indulged in some retail therapy with Anthea while we waited for our food. And then it was time to be off back to good old JHB. Seriously. What a good holiday. I now have more than a few "free snorkels" for anyone going to Durbs in the near future, a whole stack of memories, and some cool new friends. Thanks guys!!!