IVTR 2011 Trip Report

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For the third year SB Aussie Invasion was at South West Rocks. Jon Cragg at Fishrock Dive Centre has provided top notch service yet again. One of the divers had to sit out a dive and mentioned to me how impressed he was that Jon was able to keep track of all the divers and even know which divers were where by tracking their bubbles! Jon does not allow (entertainment) radios, Ipods or anything else on the boat that might distract the boat tender from keeping a close eye on the divers.

On one dive a couple divers got caught in a cross current as they were leaving the mooring line after their safety stop to swim to the back of the boat to exit. By the time they surfaced, rope had been added to the mermaid line and it had been thrown out close to the divers. On this trip the currents seemed to be shifting and unpredictable but each time we surfaced.. it was to find the float of the mermaid line fairly close. I certainly appreciated having the crew assist me by reeling in the mermaid line. I am focusing on the mermaid part and not the part of being hauled in like a caught fish

Jon provided enough DM's (3 on each trip) to provide for guides for small groups to cater to their requests. Each group formed or reformed to cater to the individual's desires for the dive to be conducted. Those who wanted to go through the cave or go hang out with the sharks or go looking for specific creatures were able to do so with a DM guide.

When conditions at Fishrock were not the best with regards to viz and current we moved to Blackrock where we had some brilliant dives with less current, much better Viz and heaps of fish. On one of the days everyone did a short first dive due to conditions and surfaced with a fair bit of gas.


We stopped at Lady Reef which is close and quite shallow (Max depth 11M average 8M)on the way back and did a third dive using the extra gas left from the first dive. The photographers wanted to get some shots of the unusual Black and Red ORNATE Ghost Pipefish that had been sighted there a few days before. Unfortunately I didn't think to change the batter in my camera so I ran out of battery before we found them.


After the dive the boat is brought back to the dive shop with the gear still on board. At the shop gear is unloaded and there are tubs handy with wetsuit wash and all the necessities. Gear washing is a social event with people comparing stories and hatching plans for the next day of diving. Gear is hung to drip on the nearby racks and the staff move it into the locked Gear Cages to dry overnight.

In the morning people wander over from their rooms in the Motel adjacent to the shop and set up their gear. BCD's are attached to tanks for the first dive and loaded onto the boat. People can either catch a ride with the Dive crew or drive their vehicles to the boat launch and gear up there. We prefer to put our gear on before we get on the boat as it is a bit small for very many people to be trying to put wetsuits on.

Entry from the boat is an easy giant stride off with the crew happy to provide as much or as little assistance as you want. At the end of the dive the ladder is easy to access.. (see pics) you can either take off your fins and hand them up to waiting crew or climb the ladder with fins on. Once again the crew will provide whatever assistance you prefer.

The following is a slideshow of the Dive shop and boat. I should have taken more pictures but these give you an idea..

 

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The midweek package (I won't quote prices as they may change) provides for accommodation at the Costa Rico Motel which is conveniently attached to the Dive shop. The restaurant was not open this trip but will be again when renovations are completed. Accommodation may be private room, shared or dorm depending on your preferences. Rooms are clean and comfortable but not fancy. The rooms include frig, toaster, electric kettle, hair dryer, table chairs and televisions. I believe I even saw an iron.. but I try to ignore those things! Outside the rooms in sun sheltered walkways are tables and chairs. They normally manage to put us in rooms close together so this makes a nice area to sit and chat.


In the back is a large gas powered barbecue plate with nearby picnic tables. We didn't organize a group barby this trip but have in the past. The pool is beside the barbecue area. There are other areas scattered around with tables and chairs to enjoy or avoid the sun as desired.

There is a large indoor common room available as well. This area has a large kitchen with cooking and washing up facilities. There are pots, pans, crockery, utensils and the necessities for you to cook meals if you wish as long as you clean up after yourself. There is a large area here as well with tables and chairs which we used for a pizza night where we socialized and talked diving. We also used this area to meet and look at each other's photos.

For those interested in some sight seeing Trial Bay Goal is open for tours. We see this from the ocean everyday as we head out to the dive sites.

Trial Bay Gaol home

TRIAL BAY GAOL Photo Gallery

There are quite a few hiking areas along the coast with breathtaking views. DECCW | Hat Head National Park - Walking

Smokey Cape Lighthouse is a functioning lighthouse that we see from the dive sites. Smoky Cape (South West Rocks) - NSW


Here is another slideshow

 

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Almity1 and Almitywife had unexpected work commitments which meant they had to cancel the week before the trip which was a huge disappointment to all involved! Sas couldn't get the time off work with here planned trip to the States and Mexico. They were at both the previous Invasions so it didn't seem quite the same without them. We were delighted to meet up with lyricnz, and gunnie who came from Melbourne again this year. Apadura from Brazil was the attendee farthest from home with packateer, thanksforallthefish and myself from Sydney.

The DM's were Jake, Rad and Simon. Each day the excitement grew as Simon's wife was due to deliver their first child. Simon was heard to say..."I can't wait to meet the little guy!" The little guy certainly didn't seem to be in a hurry to meet Dad tho. Finally born the day after we left but all went well with Mom and babe!

DM and boats-man Larry was away having wound a trip to Vanautu. We did manage to say hi as we collected our gear to go home while they were loading the boat to head out.

Jon provided us with a disk of all the pictures the various DM's took with their cameras during our dives. I have sorted through them and some are included in the slide shows.

Dive Sites

Conditions were a little rough with a bit of currents. On a couple of the dives the currents kept shifting around. One dive seemed like we were going against the current the entire time. I was starting to think "Man I may be getting a bit to old to keep this up!" but at the end of the dive the young, enthusiastic and fit DM Simon surfaced beside me saying "Man that was a good cardio workout! I'm wiped out!"
I Don't know if he just said that to make me feel better ... it sure worked! Simon commented on how strong the current was and how it kept shifting so we were swimming against it. It was a bit challenging but a great dive with heaps to see so well worth the effort!



On the last evening we all got together with Jon and Heather at the club for our traditional dinner visit.

On the way back to Sydney gunnie and lyricnz followed us as we were hoping to manage a dive at Nelson's Bay on the way back. Unfortunately the dives along the way are very tide dependent and the tides were against us. We continued on to Sydney Dive Academy where they rented some tanks and weight belts then we took them for a late afternoon dive at Bare Island. I was able to show them some Pygmy Pipehorse but the viz wasn't great and Bare did not give us the type of dive to show them what makes it so special.

OzTeck was the next two days so they stayed to attend that and Sas came over from Melbourne to attend. We managed to meet up with them and Almity1 on Sunday at OzTeck.

Dive sites

We got a few dives in at Fish rock Island. A few of the divers went through the cave. Currents and conditions meant that we didn't get to do the dive at the shallow entrance. We got on the Mooring at the deep entrance and spent time there, at the shark gutters and along the channel towards the aquarium.

The fallback dive for this trip was Black rock which had much better Viz and less current. Black rock is a great dive site and compares favorable to many very popular sites. Currents and conditions meant that we didn't do any dives at Green Island this trip. We did get a nice dive in at Lady Reef on the way back on one of the days so we did three dives that trip.

 

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Now for the critters... heaps of those. Turtles, grey nurse sharks, wobbies, spotted eagle ray.. well see for yourself...


apadua got some fantastic shots of the sharks so I am hoping he will post some here as well as some of his other shots. lyricnz and gunnie it would be great if you would post some of yours too. packateer and fish didn't have cameras tho

Simon took some interesting shots using a dive torch to light up subjects in creative ways. I also like the way Jon took this shot looking down the shaft of this old rod and reel