Advanced Geocache with Nico

Probably last Geocache for this year, done with Nico in the not so wintry area.

Set of at about 9 o'clock in the morning and picked Nico up on the way to Wiggensbach. Took a while to get there, so we ended up starting the cache around ten. Finding the first clue was a challenge in itself, for which we spent nearly three quarters of an hour until Nico found it. In that time the sun had moved so we where standing in the warm rays. Carried on to the next clue which was only about 300 metres away, and that is where we got completely screwed. Searched high and low, far and near, but could not find the third stage, as the clue we found was near to in-understandable (I can only say “cables”). After using the near non existent mobile phone network to get the e-mail of the owner and writing a question to him, we decided to wait for an hour in the McDonalds in Kempten. Whilst driving there we got our answer (after only 10 minutes) so we turned round and Nico found it in the end. The rest where not as difficult as that one and in the end we found the very intuitive “treasure”. In totally we had used about 10% owner help, 30% internet help (Nicos phone battery nearly ran out in the end) and 60% our own brains.

Took us a bit over 4 hours to complete the geocache, but a lot of fun and a rewarding McDonalds in the end.

Geocache can be found here and some pictures here.

Egypt Day 14: Catching Flying Fish

Woke up after Jon today and had breakfast with him, Johanna having a rest as she was up rather late and I am the only one diving today. After waiting long enough for three other guys to turn up (they didn't in the end) we where five people going out to Gordon Reef in the Zodiac. The wind had not got less throughout the night, so there where even bigger waves today. Some of the yetis nearer to the open water had been closed. Going across the short stretch of open water to the reefs, our boat once again frightened a large amount of flying fish. The water in front of us was suddenly full of them and one of them miscalculated his flight path as we soon had another passenger on the boat. The fish had landed strait in our Zodiac and it took a few minutes and calmer sea to set it free again. We went down in not to deep water and proceeded along the sandy banks of the Gordon Reef. Spotted a large amount of sand eels standing in the distance. We didn't get closer, as they don't like divers and disappear down their holes if we get to close. Spotted a clown fish, and a Lion Fish sleeping in the rocky corals. Also a large amount of blue spotted stingrays digging in the sand. Visibility was not to good and I had my eyes out in the ocean, as I was really hoping for a hammerhead shark but not so much luck considering them for me this holiday. Resurfaced after a rather uneventful dive and went back with the large waves for some lunch and a rest in the afternoon. 

More pictures at Picasa and a detailed map of the outer reefs here, with a general map of the reefs here.

Diving depth: 19,6 metres

Diving time: 53 minutes

Speciality: Flying fish in the boat (dinner is served)

Egypt Day 13: Jackson Reef, Baron Reef & Nightdiving

Woke up as usual and had breakfast, before deciding where we wanted to go diving today. Ali was our dive guide in the morning and the plan for the morning dive was a drift dive from Jackson Inside to Jackson Outside. Getting there in the Zodiac was a challenge in itself, as the sea had been ruffed up from some strong waves coming in from the open water. On our way we spotted the usual flying fish, skimming across the waves away from our boat. The boat was near to airborne a few times, before we reached our diving location and geared up to get in to the water with waves rocking the boat around. The water felt rather warm when we went in and there was a large array of different fish, all taking refuge in the reef from the strong currents and waves out in the ocean. Ali spotted one stone fish and a few metres next to that Johanna found another one buried in the sand (Merkel Fish). Also saw a Clown Fish, which are rather common in this sea. Throughout a lot of the dive we where surrounded by a large amount of fish, probably the most fish I have seen per square metre up to date. Schools of Trumpet, Trigger and the usual small orange fish all around us. Johanna at one point was just floating in an orange fish mass. The currents pulled us along the reefs and the further out we got the less fish there where. Still saw rather a lot, Jon and me seeing some spotted fish having a territorial dispute with a Lion Fish. Somewhere in that period I managed to have my deepest dive yet, down to 30,4 metres. Only 0,2 metres more than last time, but still. Ali spotted a large, camouflaged grouper fish deeper down, it was about the size of a Napoleon fish. We where the swept across the coral by a stronger current still and Jon (my buddy) was swept away from the group towards the open ocean at one point. He got rather worried, as being out in the sea on your own, 20 metres under water is not a situation you want to find yourself in. Ali went out and picked him up, so we proceeded along the reef. We ran out of air rather fast, as we had to swim against the current in the end a bit, and resurfaced out in the ocean (away from the corals, so the boat can get us) after about 50 minutes. I thought it was fun going up and down large waves, sometimes going under them, all with the knowledge that you cant get pressed down for to long and that you always have air. Getting in to the boat was rather stressful, as the captain did not want to get stranded on the reef. Went back, jumping the waves, and after cleaning our stuff and writing our log books, of for some lunch.

After lunch we went to Baron reef, a more sheltered and closer reef than Jackson. Jumped over board and went down. The dive in itself was not as action packed as one in the morning. I was Svens buddy and our dive guide for that afternoon was Salah. The water was rather murky, probably from all the waves hitting the reefs. We saw a Lion Fish, a Trumpet Fish, a rather large Yellow Spotted Puffer Fish and rather a lot of Blue Spotted Stingrays. They like the sandy areas. Also saw a crocodile fish hiding in the sand and a large Trigger Fish. Resurfaced and got back in to the Zodiac. One of the first times I have also felt cold in the boat with 22°C air temperature. Probably be a shock getting back to Germany which currently has about 0°C. Sat down to write our log books, before waiting for the night dive.

Before dinner we then had our night dive with Ali. Went down at the back of the group with Sven and no Jon with us this time. He had enough jellys last week. I only saw tow colourful ones this time, the rest where somewhere else. Saw an inactive Lion Fish, some sleeping Clown Fish and a type of squid (I think it was). Our other diver with us had a few problems with the buoyancy and at one point shot up to the surface after scarring away said squid by nearly falling on top of it. Also saw a well camouflaged scorpion fish between the rocks. On our way back we switched our lights of like last week, this time we where still swimming. Every stroke of or flippers caused the plankton behind us to illuminate in the dark. Even better than last week and that is what I like about the night dives the most. Proceeded back and had some dinner after cleaning our stuff.

More pictures at Picasa and a detailed map of the outer reefs here, with a general map of the reefs here.

Diving depth: 30,4 metres

Diving time: 150 minutes

Speciality: Light show at night, every movement causing the water around us to glow

Egypt Day 12: Hammerhead Hunting

Shark searching was the plan for today. So after breakfast we where of to Jackson Reef (outside), the place in the area to find schools of Hammerhead sharks. Ali (dive guide) warned us that if there where no big fish to look at the reef on that side is rather boring, as there are near to no corals to look at. Spotted the usual flying fish on the way, they seem to be afraid of the Zodiac.

Jumped in when we reached Jackson Reef and had near to no current, apparently rather unusual for that spot. Descended down to about 25 metres and looked around the area if anything was there. The only thing we spotted was the other divers and a shipwreck on the coral sloop. Searched for half and hour but nothing except us was swimming out there. Ali said he saw something at the edge of visibility, but it was to deep to go after. Some people reached the limit of how long they could stay down, so in the end we had to do some decompression stops to get rid of some possible nitrogen in our blood. Was still a fun dive as we where surrounded by just a blue and the other divers.

Went back and had a massage before lunch. After that it was of to Jackson Reef for some more shark hunting. They seem to like that are as well. Whilst we went down, Jon noticed a problem on Johannas bottle. It was loosing air through some point in the valve of the bottle so she unfortunately had to resurface. She got to see some dolphins instead and probably got a bit more sun in the boat.

In the mean time we had the pleasure of meeting two sea turtles, one sticking around for quite some time. It probably enjoyed Svens attention with the camera as it swam with us. The second one tried to hide in a crack. Also saw two Clown Fish families and some sleeping fire fish before resurfacing.

Drove back and cleaned our stuff before sitting down, having some tea and writing our log book. Mine has run out of pages already, so I have had to buy another one.

More pictures at Picasa and a map of the Jackson and Woodhouse Reef here.The morning dive was above the Lara wreck.

Diving depth: 30,2 metres

Diving time: 113 min.

Speciality: Unfortunately no sharks, but two sea turtles and a dive in the ocean

Egypt Day 11: Quad Fail

No diving today. After one and a half weeks of diving Johanna and I had a rest today. Jon went out with both the morning and afternoon divers. The one in the morning got caught in a washing machine and the whole group was sent out in to the open sea. They arrived back unharmed and the afternoon group saw a eagle ray and Jon went swim-boating with some dolphins.

Whilst he was out enjoying that Johanna, Sven and me went in to the mountains with quads. The second half of the tour was rather fun, but the first half was a disaster. The guide was pissed of about something and got in to an argument with Johanna. After that he was better and allowed us to overtake instead of driving single line. We where out until the sun went down and had some tea in a Bedouin camp. Watched some cats do some caterwauling in said Bedouin camp and then carried on. I did some overtaking on the way back and as a reward I got a speed restrain put in. It was knocked out after a while again so it wasn't that much use. Returned and spent an hour back to the hotel and then had some dinner before Jon Skyped home and I wrote the blog.

Pictures of the holiday at Picasa.

Diving Depth: ---

Diving Time: ---

Speciality: Quad in the desert

Egypt Day 10: Ras Mohammed National Park & Ras Katy

Woke up from my alarm today morning, as we are going diving to the National Park Ras Mohammed. Early, because we have to take a boat there from Sharm el Sheikh harbour. First thing Jon asked me is if I was all right. I had talked some kind of stuff in the night with a half awake mind. Went and had some breakfast before packing all our stuff and then setting out in a bus to the harbour. Picked up two more English people on the way and had our bags checked before we where on the boat and set of towards Ras Mohammed. Got our gear ready and then went on to the first dive at Jackfish Alley. My dive buddy today was Sven and as I had a video camera from him, we seemed to be the filming crew. Went through a cave at first and had some super light falling in at one end of which Sven got a brilliant picture. Carried on along the reef and dived over and past coral structures. Did not see that much apart from a murrain eel and a masked puffer fish, except the usual big amount of fish. Resurfaced to get back on the boat and one of our dive colleges lost her flipper going up. Ali (dive guide) had to go back down to retrieve the flipper.

Had about one and a half hours of rest, to get our dive time for the second dive back up. Had a rest and the jumped in to the blue ocean, alongside a vertical cliff called shark reef. Planned for the second dive was Shark Reef and then Jolanda Reef. A few minutes after diving in some people thought they saw a shark (turned out to be a tuna) and dived after it. Limit of the dive was about 20 metres of depth. The end result was about 28 metres. Proceeded on after that one incident and one of our divers had a near panic attack, because the vertical drop wasn’t that welcome (dark underneath us). My glasses started getting fogged up and it didn't matter how many times I cleaned them with salt water, they where back to foggy after a few seconds. I got so annoyed about it that I took them of and tried to clean them 20 metres under water. Stupid me, I got a small panic attack, not seeing that well underwater and not knowing anybody was there to help if something went wrong. Jon was there rather fast to pull me down as I started floating up and said later that I didn't look that panicky. Carried on and Johanna had to tell of another diver underwater, because he cept hitting to corals. In the end Ali took away his camera, so he could concentrate on getting the buoyancy right. Saw two crocodile fish and a murrain eel, glasses kept fogging up in that time. Jon and Johanna sat on a toilet, which the “Jolanda”, a shipwreck in the are, was transporting somewhere. Also saw a Scorpion Fish hiding near the centre of the wreck and then swam back up as we would have otherwise had to make a decompression stop. Just on the surface we the spied a sea turtle and as luck wanted it, it swam strait through us, about half a metre away from our faces. Resurfaced and went back to the boat for some lunch while we proceeded to some reef near Sharm el Sheikh, not in the National Park.

On the last dive we jumped in to a school of trigger fish, one of Johannas favourite fish. Dived down to the bottom of Ras Katy and continued along the sandy bottom, getting stung up by jellyfish. The locals confirmed it is the right season for them right now. Had a play with some Clown Fish and stopped when I got nipped by one. Continued along and saw some very inquisitive and large Lion Fish swimming around. Ali spotted a Scorpion Fish hiding in the sand and a few refuge shrimps in a small cave in a coral block. Saw a boat with glass windows in the bottom drive right over a coral and nearly hit it (insensitive...). Continued along and dived through a small canyon underwater, navigating a tight space between the corals. Then it was back up to the surface and getting back on board. We where rather near to the harbour, so it didn't take to long to get back. Then a drive back to the hotel, copying the pictures from Sven and some dinner before going to the bar.

More pictures at Picasa and a map of the National Park Reef (Shark & Jolanda Reef) here and a main map here.

Diving time: 164 min.

Diving depth: 27,5 metres

Speciality: National Park dive

Egypt Day 9: Gordon Reef & Kormoran "Fail"

Woke up a bit later today and just managed to have some breakfast before I went diving with Sven on my own, Jon and Johanna preferring to have a rest today morning. I had a bit of stomach cramps, but I didn't want to abandon Sven. Who knows, we might see a shark. Went diving at Gordon Reef in a rather full Zodiac, so it took a while for us to jump in. When we jumped in there where dozens of divers down there already, so we weren't expecting anything unusual. Ali (dive guide) pointed out a blue spotted stingray near to the beginning and Sven and me spotted a scorpion fish doing a mad dash for some cover. He took a while walking along the bottom of the sandy reef. Dived on and lagged behind the group a bit, so I motioned to Sven to catch up a bit. Spotted a clown fish on the way and when we caught up Ali was pointing out a murrain eel, which had been hiding in a barrel. There was a couple there and the man was trying to take photographs, but kept crashing in to the reef and lying on it. Not something you normally do. We nearly reached the decompression time limit in the end and had to resurface. In the last moment Ali motioned with his hand that a shark was up ahead and just like by the eagle ray, in the first moment I just saw a tail fin. Luckily it turned round and a few moments later we had a white tipped reef shark swim about ten metres under us. Resurfaced and got back in to the Zodiac and went back to have some lunch.

In the afternoon it was Jon, Johanna, Sven, Ali, Yvonne (another German) and me going diving at the Kormoran ship wreck. On the way we saw two dolphins swimming the way to where we where going diving, so we followed them a while. We jumped in to not so deep water (only about five metres) and where greeted by some mackerel fish which swam up really close. Got a picture as I had my Nikon with me on this dive.

Also saw a swarm of small, sometimes glittery fish which Johanna herded right in to my face. Ali disappeared at one point, back to the surface to talk with the captain. It turned out we had missed the wreck by a few hundred metres. Sea was still interesting with steps of hard corals and a few fish. Nearly bumped in to a scorpion fish and I could really see a pressure point evolving on the centre of my display of the camera. Turned round halfway through and Johanna had to race forwards to get Jon as he had run of. She said when she reached him and told him to turn round, they could not see the rest of the group (us) any more. They came back and we enjoyed a nice dive in the most colourful depth of the corals (about 5 metres). Sven and me took a picture of two very active and inquisitive Lion Fish. Whilst we where concentrating on one the other one sneaked up to us from the right and got within under a metre. They where pointing there stings at us the whole time and I don't know how poisonous they are (I know they are not to be messed with). Carried on and Jon tried to pull Johanna down when she had surfaced. Back to the main land for a shower and to write our log books.

More pictures at Picasa and a link to the reef map here 

.

Diving time: 111 min.

Diving depth: 23,0 meters

Speciality: Shark in the morning and missed a wreck in the afternoon