townsville - day 7

DAY 7 - 28 Aug

Guess what today is? Day two of diving!!!

Woke up this morning and had breakfast of toast with avocado, tomato and balsamic vinegar with a cup of tea. Peter brought me to school again. Today's lesson consisted of the DVDs for chapters 4 and 5, with knowledge review quizzes. Same as before... Then in the pool we completed confined dives 3-5.

We received bad news today that our dive trip for Tues night to Fri was canceled due to high winds (high pressure coming from the South). It was up to 30 or 35 knots, a bit windy for the old tub we'd be sailing on. Because of this, we all had to reschedule. Ross needed to leave class early so he and his pals could go hiking for a few days before the Thurs-Sat dive trip that they signed up for. Peter and I will be diving from the 11th-14th Sept.

After the confined dives and rescheduling we had the final exam! It was damn easy, except for one or two questions that I couldn't remember the facts for. It was during this time that I had my lunch of fruit salad and rice crackers. Oh yeah and a bit of chocolate too :) A Tim Tam and a Mint Slice - both very yummy cookies.

Peter picked me up from school again and we head home. I was tired and hungry so I cooked up a Continental pasta alfredo and chowed down. Nikki came over and we three hung out staring at the red moon. Did you see it?! It was a beautiful lunar eclipse. The newspaper said that Queensland and the east coast of Australia were "in a prime location to observe this extraordinary astronomical event". So we broke out the wine for Nikki and I, beer for Peter, and set up shop outside. It was lovely.

The newspaper also went on to say:

"It's no wonder this harmless alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon gripped ancient civilisations with fear. In February 1504, Christopher Columbus warned the Jamaicans that unless they supplied his crew with food, God would punish them. He knew a lunar eclipse was about to occur, so he invited the Jamaicans aboard his ship. He explained that as a mark of his intent, God would display a sign in the sky.

Then, right on cue, the Moon turned red. Filled with terror, the Jamaicans begged Columbus to intercede on their behalf. The eclipse ended and they gave the Spaniards provision."

What a slimy bugger, eh?