To celebrate the 20th anniversary of my qualifying as a scuba diver, I asked Della Ross and Tomas Mitchell of Scubathlon if I could dive with them. The previous year, Nicci Johnson had recommended them to me saying that they are brilliant at finding marine life and I soon found that Nicci was right. Now like Nicci, I happily recommend Dell and Tomas to anyone wanting to dive in Sydney.
“What would you most like to see this time, Malcolm?” they asked.
“Red Indian fish and Weedy Sea Dragons please"
“No problem"
And for Della and Tomas, it wasn’t as I enjoyed 6 fabulous dives with them at Bare Island and Kurnell National Park.
During the year I also dived Clifton Gardens, Fairy Bower and a first for me: Shell Cove Jetty at Kurraba Point in Sydney Harbour. Less than two kilometres from the Harbour Bridge, in murky bull shark territory, it did not appear an appealing dive site but Mick Todd had suggested that we try it together at High Tide when the water would be least murky. However Mick was late, very late for the dive. I realised that dive entry would be nearer Low Tide than High Tide. Then Mick discovered he had someone else’s wetsuit, a wetsuit he could not squeeze into. If I still wanted to do this dive, I would have to dive on my own. The visibility was dire. At best two metres. I tried to blank the thought of bull sharks from my mind. A short distance from the jetty I came across a post which had resident horned blennies and to my surprise I was able to get quite pleasing shots of them. After an hour I got out, quite happy to be safely back on land.