Hermanus

My friend Brett finished his Open Water certification last week and suggested that we go to his parents place in Hermanus (about an hour away from Cape Town) for a weekend of diving. Hermanus has a population of a few thousand at most so Brett is a local that knows everyone. We stayed up far too late both nights playing snooker or celebrating a friends birthday, braiied lamb chops and boerewors, and got a couple of dives in. The diving on Saturday was a lot of fun and it is very different for me to be leading a dive, deciding where we will go and trying to be responsible. It is probably a good thing but I try to be very aware of what is happening at all times and should work on relaxing a bit more. As long as I have air it's not too different from anything else. The plethora of strewn boulders made for some fun gulleys to swim through and Brett spotted a nudibrach (a very colourful slug with wavy bits all along it): bright purple and orange. There are very different organisms in Hermanus than Cape Town including Blue Choirboys (clumps of blue fuzz). My descriptions don't do them credit. This dive sight was partially protected by the breakwater for the new harbour but the dive on Sunday was fully exposed to the swell making the dive pretty tough. The constant surge meant that instead of cruising around looking at things we would hang on to a piece of kelp while the surge went one way then superman to the next piece as it changes directions. Trying to hang on for any period of time means that your body gets flipped back and forth and the constant change of pressure as more or less water is overhead means (for me at least) that I get very ill feeling. I have yet to get seasick on a boat but I do get sick from surge (I stopped the dive before that happened). Neither of us enjoyed that dive too much and when we tried to get out we were pummeled against the rocks. Not fun! When we got back to Cape Town I was in bed by ten and didn't get up til nine the next morning only to have a nap that afternoon. Other than that my weeks are still filled recruiting for the Mozambique trip and climbing every so often.