Dive trip baby!

We worked one last week in Cairns, mostly at the Convention Centre and fabulous housekeeping (we had worked so much at the Convention Centre we were practically considered supervisors compared to the other agency chumps that didn't have a clue), and just as we were finally getting good at our jobs, we quit! Yay! Now I can start adding many housekeeping and tray holding skills to my already sterling CV, ready for a career job when I get back home. We had worked so many crappy jobs we decided to reward ourselves with a diving trip, and after going to a tour booking office (the fantastic 'Dr Tours'!) we ended up with one of the most expensive tours but one of the best, and we managed to get an awesome discount! We originally were going to go on a quick trip, but realised that that would be going to a very frequently visited reef and it would probably be in pretty poor condition. So we got on board the 'Taka' which was to take us to the Northernmost point of the Great Barrier Reef, where very few boats go and so we will see much more unique stuff!
We boarded on a Tuesday afternoon and met the crew who were all quite young, but very nice, and got on well with the rest of our 23 strong group. Nic and I found a room, pretty much in 'steerage' and our toilets were upstairs and outside. We were ready for the Irish dancing to start in the evening a la Titanic, with Kate Winslet dancing like an idiot on her tip toes, while the others dined quietly upstairs, but it was pretty good and everyone got on well. Nic and I made friends with 2 good looking forty somethings (ha ha) called Patrick and James, both Americans that were set to entertain us for the trip with their over the top yank-isms! We had a briefing and then had our dinner and then went to bed as we were sailing overnight to our first dive location.
We were woken up at 6.50 am (ouch) by our trip director, Trent, and then we kitted up for our first dive. Having not dived since Thailand, Nic and I were slightly concerned that everyone else seemed to know what they were doing, and we could have easily done for a dive with an empty air tank without even realising. Thankfully we were taken down on the first dive with 'Jimmy' (real name Jackie Chan I presume as he was of the Asian persuasion) and he checked out a few diving skills and then we swam around for a bit and then went back to the boat. The second dive was in the same spot, the 'Cod Hole' which is home to 4 or 5 massive potato cod fish, not the average you would find served up at Marino's fish bar, but as big as you or I. One of the instructors went down with us and we all sat in a circle on the sea bed and he fed the potato cod in front of us. It was awesome being up close with such huge fish, and they were very gentle which was good (for me who is scared of most things that inhabit the ocean). The next dive of the day was at a reef called Challenger Bay, and everyone Buddy'd up (that's a diving term, darling!) so Nic and I went diving on our own for the first time. That's right, no instructor to check on our air levels and generally make sure we don't swim out to Hawaii, our lives were in our hands. Oh dear. Fortunately we had hired an underwater camera so we could take snaps to take our minds off the worrying reality! We saw some pretty fish! The final dive of the day was in the same spot, but this was a night dive. I won't lie, I was petrified. The boat was lit up on the front and back, and just to calm my nerves I looked out into the water that was alight. I saw sharks. Ok reef sharks. Ok small reef sharks, but they look just like mini Jaws and they did little to put my mind at ease. Neverthless I just closed my eyes and jumped in, with Nic in toe. We had an instructor for this dive because otherwise I would definately have got lost. Imagine being in the dark, under water, with a torch with th intensity of a tea light candle as your only guide, and then I lose Nic. In case you're unfamiliar, in diving everyone goes around in two's, aka 'Buddys'. You are pretty much responsible for each other, so you can imagine my horror when I can't find Nic. Even my instructor had no idea where she had gone but about 5 minutes later we find her about 10metres below us, following someone else who she clearly thought had a good set of legs and could do a mean pout. We all got together though and went for a little swim, we didn't see much except for giant morey eels and lots of darkness. I guess the only good thing about a night dive is that you wouldn't be able to see the Great White Shark with teeth poised, coming straight for you. Back to the safety of the boat for a night, and we thought the trauma was over. Oh no, then the sickness comes. It was pretty choppy the whole trip and Nic didn't manage to get her sea legs in time. Yes, that's right. She hurled.
The next morning was an early start and we went to a dive site called 'Steve's Bommie', which was pretty much a pinnacle dive, so it was a big reef that went down about 25 metres, but wasn't wide so you could swim round it in circles. It was awesome and we did it twice, including with one of the intructors, Troy, who managed to grab a puffer fish and well, puff him up! It was awesome! Then we went to a place called 2 and 2/3rds, where we saw a massive REEF SHARK!!!! The night dive was in a place called the 'Beer Garden' and I managed to hang on to Nic the whole time and we saw two huge turtles! Still damn scared though.
The final day was a dive at 'Troppos' and then 'The Playground' where we saw turtles and lots of amazing fish! Then we headed back into Cairns, on dry, and still, land for the first time in 4 days! It was probably the scariest but best trip I have done!