Dat 4 at Bubbles Dive

We all started our day with a 9am dive which was our first open water deep dive. We descended to a depth of 12 meters and practised similar skills that were done in our confined dives. We were taken on a swim through the coral reef and observed numerous fish including puffer fish, clown fish, angel fish, parrot fish and eels. Shortly after lunch we sorted out our travel plans to our first trek in Tasik Chini. This afternoon we enjoyed two more open water dives from a boat that brought us to another part of the island. Unfortunately due to sinus and ear problems, Nishil and Luke sat out of the dives this afternoon while Felix sat out on only he last dive due to feeling ill. Between our second and third dive, we helped unload the weekly shipment of goods and food to the resort. By the time we came in from our last dive, high winds and pelting rain had descended on the island. While most ran for cover, we headed to the sea to enjoy the picturesque views and warm sea water. After being showered with rain water, we saught shelter in the restaurant and waited for dinner. The rain finally subsided which allowed the group  to head outside to look for Toby's glasses that had fallen off when he belly flopped into the ocean during the rain storm. Thanks to Charlie's keen eyesight, they were recovered from the ocean and reunited with their happy owner. After dinner we all wrote our final theory exam- fingers crossed we all pass! We have a busy day tomorrow so we all paid our bar tabs and packed our bags for a quick exit after our last dive. 

Day 3 at Bubbles Dive continued

After the great news of the remaining three boys being signed off to dive, they almost immediately left for their first dive. Around he same time, Joe Wilmot and Steve let for their early dive of the day. When the three boys finished their first lesson, they came together with the rest of the group so we could all begin our second dives. Our second dive took us up till lunch, still practising the many skills we've learnt from our theory lessons. We had a short rest after lunch before heading back out for our third dive. The skills in the third dive have got progressively harder and included a mini dive with our buddies which was less supervised and focused on communication with our partners. We came in from our third dive and after dinner we returned to the classroom to complete our theory lessons. The rest of the evening was scheduled for revision however most took this opportunity to make friends with other guests here. After our first full day of diving, we were all quite tired, however many boys again chose to sleep in the bag room instead of their tents.

Day 3 Bubbles Dive

Great news- we've just found out that the 3 boys not yet able to dive have been approved and they will start their first dive with Bubbles manager and instructor James this morning!

Day 2 of Bubbles Dive

The rain had stopped by the morning but the ground and the washing was still water logged. The boys are really enjoying the Thirsty Turtle bar here and all the milkshakes and fresh juices that they can buy. After breakfast the majority of the group carried on with their theory lessons while Joe Wilmot and Steve continued their advanced diving. We stopped just before lunch so the boys could relax on the beach and lounge in the hammocks. After lunch most of the boys took to the sea with snorkels while some studied for their PADI course. At 2pm the boys where fitted for their equipment and showed how to assemble their breathing and buoyancy gear. When our gear was assembled, we were briefed on our first dive and headed to the water. At this point, Aaron, Nishil and Will were escorted to the turtle conservation project where they helped out for the afternoon. We should hear by the morning if they are signed off by their UK doctors and will be able to continue diving with the rest of the group. The remaining divers took to the water to put in practise what they had learned in the classroom. Some of the skills that they mastered included equalising under water, dealing with possible hazardous situations and learning to control their breathing under water. After the dive we were shown how to disassemble and clean the equipment. The boys have seen a number of different wildlife today including giant spiders, three foot long lizards, colourful snakes and baby turtles. Dinner is done and the boys have already taken to the Thirsty Turtle for ice creams and shakes. It looks like the weather is holding out and the boys will have to return to their waiting tents for the first night of camping. 

Day 1 at diving

We left our hotel early for breakfast and found only the slowest restaurant known to man. Many boys ordered pancakes which one would think would be quick but somehow managed to take close to an hour. As it's a public holiday in Malaysia, we were unable to go to the doctors to have medical checks done before our dive. We continued to the island on a speed boat which took around 30 min. After unloading our luggage on our tropical island, we sat down to lunch which was unfortunately only prepared for the meat eaters and the growing population of vegetarians (5 to date) needed to wait a little while longer. After setting up camp, we got the unfortunate news from the dive instructor that Nishil, Aaron and Will would either need to undergo a medical check before any dives or take part in alternative activities such as kayaking, snorkelling, stand up pedal boating and working on the turtle conservation project. They will still take part in the theory till the Medicals are done and finish the course slightly later if possible. Once the tents were up we headed to the theory room to start learning about diving. Our first test was a 200m swim with a 10 minute treading of water, all passed :)! We then watched a DVD that gave us the information for he first two sections of the PADI theory. We were quizzed after and all answered well. The evening was ours to do what we wanted, some of us attended a turtle conservation talk and put our names down to be woken if turtles started laying eggs in the middle of he night. During the talk the heavens opened and we experienced our first tropical storm of the holiday. Many boys have abandoned their water logged tents for the sheltered bag storage rooms. Some braved it in their tents. There was thunder and lightening all night long!

Theory at Diving

Travel day for Bubbles

As one of the earlier starts this trip, many boys struggled to get up. By 5:30 they were groggy and just managed to eat their breakfast of fries, eggs, bread and butter, apples and cake. After a final farewell, the bus was loaded and the children thanked us with gifts and waved us off. Our first bus brought us from Bentong to Kuala Lumpur in about an hour where we then picked up our second bus which brought us to Kuala Besut. The second and longer bus ride was far from comfortable and at times many of us wondered if the bus would ever make it. So bumpy that Kieran ended up getting travel sick on the back row. All the boys stayed in high spirits and smiled for most of the ride. Hills were slow and toilet breaks were scares. During the rest of the trip the bumps just kept on getting worse so Courtney and I swapped with Kieran and Felix so they could get some sleep and a more peaceful ride. We finally arrived in Kuala Besut and the sun was just setting, we had just enough time to find some where to eat and head to a hotel for the night. Tomorrow is going to be very exciting for the boys so they need to sleep.

Day 5 at Project

As our last day at project, the boys were very keen to work hard. Most of the boys went back to the project site to lay irrigation pipes while Felix, Joe Wilmot and Toby accompanied Courtney to town where they enjoyed iced coffees and ice cream floats while doing some more vital research for the trip. After lunch when we were all back at our rooms, the boys began packing their bags as we were set to leave by 6am the next morning. By mid afternoon Ko took us all to a waterfall close by where we could swim at the bottom and look at the natural wildlife. We stayed there for about 2 hours swimming and exploring the area. When we got home the children had already begun on our BBQ dinner and the boys helped by collecting sticks for the bonfire. Kieran and Will along with leader Steve helped cook the chicken, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes and sausages while some of the others washed and cut vegetables for a salad. After dinner the boys presented the children with the gifts that they had bought and the children and boys took turns singing songs to each other. After many farewells, the boys went to bed as a 5am start comes early. 

Day 4 at Project

After another breakfast of noodles, veggies and chicken, we set to work, but this time on another part of the project site. Today we're helping to re-build a wall that collapsed during a heavy rain a few months ago, but first we have to clear the fallen rocks and earth. We take turns shovelling the dirt into buckets and collecting the usable rocks before making a human chain to get them back to the top of the hill where they will go to make the new wall. We work until almost noon before stopping for lunch and breaking until 2:30. During our afternoon shift at the project, the project owners Ko and Joey left for the day and we were left alone with the many children that live there. With the parents gone, the children were slightly more wild as most kids are when left alone. After dinner we continued with our team games before heading to bed. 

Day 3 at Project

All but Joe woke for breakfast as he hadn't slept all that well. After another meal of noodles, veggies and chicken some made a point of saying they were already bored of Malaysian food! We set to work by 9:30 and the sun was already as hot as midday the previous day. The boys worked hard till 11:30 with drinks breaks, but Mr Ko said it was so hot that we could have the afternoon off to relax. We had lunch and showers and the boys grouped together to discuss a later trip option of visiting Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. In the afternoon, the boys played a football match with a group of the local boys and walked away the victors. After dinner and a few competitive games later, we all headed into town to buy supplies for the children with money that we all chipped in. Spirits are high but there's another hot night ahead. 

Day 2 at Project

We woke up after a hot night sleep under our mosquito nets to a breakfast of rice and omelet. Unfortunately for the vegetarians, both options had meat and they were later cooked egg and chips with a side of chocolate cookies. We left early for the project site as to avoid the worst of the hot weather and continued building the walls to the fish farm pond. After regular drink breaks we stopped for lunch at noon and rested during the hottest part of the day so that we could then continue at 2. Making good progress with the pond we took part in some light hearted games which included stone baseball and tire basketball. Over dinner we've converted two more challengers to vegetarianism - Luke and Alex- I guess the tofu was just too hard to resist! To finish the evening after and exciting day the boys are betting dries beans in a competitive game of blackjack. 

Day 1 of Project

We left early today from our hostel in Kuala Lumpur and split into two groups, one group went to get ticket for bus to our project in Bentong, one group went to book the bus to diving. We got to Bentong by 11 and were met by our project leader Mr.Ko who brought us to a local restaurant for lunch. When we arrived at the project, we were introduced to the 36 children who live and go to school here. As it was still early we started work building the walls of the pond that would soon be used to hold fish for the children to farm. The project leaders have ordered our meals from town and once we all ate dinner, it wasn't long before we were in bed after our first day of hard work since we got here. 

Off to Project

Tomorrow starts our 5 day Project in Bentong helping at a local school, we will be leaving the hotel at 8:30!

We may not have internet while we are there so don't panic readers, we are fine and all will be posted when we reach Bubbles dive centre next Monday!

Have a great week, speak soon!

More post rafting pics

White Water Rafting @ RiverBug, Ipoh

RiverBug @ Ipoh

Selfie with 'Courts'...

Selfie with 'Charlesberg'...

By the end of the day...

However, dinner tonight though... NANDOS!!

In a foreign country, expecting to try new foods of Malaysia... Instead, the boys decided on this...

Luke Crabtree Selfie Moment

Oh Dear!

Exciting day 2

After organising our day we were then told by our hostel we had to clear our room and get out! Apparently they had rented our rooms to other guest! Our first feeling of being homeless!

We packed and Joe Wilmot sorted us a a new place to stay. We trekked to the monorail station and got the monorail to KL Sentral. Our new hotel is quite nice.

We walked to the local mall to look around and got some local food with our budget money.