Last Days at La Chiappa & Dive.

Not much has been happening other than relaxing.  KwikFit in the Netherlands contacted Paul and admitted liability for what happened.  They us to bring the damaged radiator back with us to the Netherlands; and send them the VW invoices. 

Yesterday Paul went to La Chiappa's reception and asked one of the receptionists to ring VW for him.  Because his French is limited he got her to find out more or less when the car would be ready (again probably Thursday after 5pm), and also asked them not to throw out the damaged radiator - Kwikfit wanted to see it.  The receptionist was very understanding and was of great help to us. 

In the afternoon we took around the campsite's outer borders, along the coastline.  The bordering fence between the campsite and a lighthouse became non-existent so we followed a path below the lighthouse and down to narrow cape or point of the coastline.  During the walk we saw a baby tortoise - it was no bigger than the palm of my hand.  We left him to continue his own little journey.  Some of the surrounding bush had been burnt by a fire but fortunately there was new signs of life with a bit of green showing through the charred bushes.  It was nice to walk as nature intended - with nothing on, feeling the fresh air, sun and water on our skin.  I felt at peace, relaxed.

This morning we went to the Hippocampe Dive Centre and booked ourselves on a dive for the afternoon.  It was good to see the familiar faces of Lulu, Wolfe and Nadine as well as other members of the team.  They were a bit surprised to see us again because we had said our goodbyes last week, but we were made to feel welcome again. We had hoped to do a wreck dive but plans had to change because of the choppy sea.  We still enjoyed our dive though.  Our dive guide today was a James Bond (Daniel Craig) look-alike! 

Despite having a cold, my ears, nose and sinuses felt ok (one should never dive with a cold and I was fully aware of that fact prior to going out) and the dive went smoothly .  My right ear though, at one point, would not equalise and became painful.  I tried to surface but Paul, thinking that I my buoyancy was a problem, kept holding on to me.  I tried to explain by pointing out what my problem was.  Our dive guide came over to see what was up.  He also didn't want me to surface and with signals, told me to stop, and then held onto my jacket whilst I tried to equalise my ear again.  After quite a few tries my ear equalised and I was pain-free, ready to continue.  I've not had problems with my face-mask before but today it kept on leaking.  A couple of times I emptied excess water, as I had been taught, but in the end I gave up.  At least I could still see to a major degree.  If the water collection in my mask had been bad I would have taken it off - I can see in sea water without any problems.

We finished the day with a meal at the campsite's restaurant and have been doing a bit of packing.  Hopefully the car will be ready for us sometime tomorrow! 

Last Day at La Chiappa

Yesterday it was nice to relax and do 'sweet nothing'.  My body has been fighting something - possibly a cold because my throat has been feeling a bit rough.  So, I was only too glad to rest a bit, either napping or sitting in the shade of the trees and reading.

Today, being our last day at La Chiappa, Paul and I booked ourselves on a dive through Hippocampe.  It was nice to have Paul beside me as my dive buddy for my first 'qualified' dive but with Lulu taking the lead for our small group of 5. 

Afterwards we collected the car from outside the campsite and started packing what we didn't need, for now, into the car in readiness for tomorrow's departure and then treated ourselves to a meal at the campsite's restaurant.  The meal was a bit pricey for what it was but it was delicious nevertheless.

Tomorrow we head to the ferry port at Bastia.

A Bit of This & That, and Final Scuba Dive

Paul relaxing

Over the last 2 days or so we have been either relaxing or I've been attending my diving course which I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Thanks to Paul who encouraged me to do the course.  I have always enjoyed swimming and being under water.  I remember holding my breath under water with my sister, and seeing who could hold our breath the longest.  Underwater swimming was our forté at school too.  Scuba diving allows me to spend time under water and being able to breathe at the same time.  Being weightless, the silence (apart from hearing myself breath with the tank) and seeing life beneath the waves just adds to the wonderful feeling.

This morning we drove to Porto Vecchio and had a wander around the old town, meandering through narrow cobbled streets.  We also visited a church, the inside of which was beautiful.  A nondescript-looking chapel opposite was also lovely inside. By midday the streets had got a lot busier and eventually the town was almost heaving.  It was time to leave.  Also I had to get back to La Chiappa and the Hippocampe Dive Centre for my final training dive.

I have finally completed my course and have now gained my open water divers' licence. It is exciting but caution will not be thrown into the wind each time I dive.  It has associated risks and things to constantly bear in mind and look out for.  Having said that though, I look forward to further dives.

PHOTOGRAPHS

The church

Inside the chapel.

 

With today's dive buddy and her husband

I forgot my sunhat!

 

Getting out of the water and gravity hits  - I can hardly get up!

Scuba Diving School - 1st Dive

Paul came with me to the diving centre (called "Hippocampe") for a bit of support.  My nerves and shyness can get the better of me at the best of times even though I am an adult!  Firstly I had to learn to assemble my gear - air tank, buoyancy jacket and octopus; and testing the equipment.  Also I was given important advice about diving, its hazards, safety, 'buddying' and much more.  Whilst the instructor (Wolf) was giving the same lesson in German to another group, I got dressed into a full wetsuit with Paul's help and then practiced taking the diving gear apart and putting it back together again.

Rather than having my first lesson in a swimming pool or starting off from the beach I soon found myself heading to a hard-bottomed rubber duck with a group of divers.  Paul remained at the shore and was going to do a bit of snorkelling whilst I was away.  There were two boats that went out with mostly experienced divers.  Being so many divers, there weren't enough tanks and weighted belts to go around so the 3 German girls went diving first with the Wolf.  I later learnt that the girls were doing a 'taster' dive rather than a training dive.  An Italian lady (Alexandra) and I did a bit of snorkelling until it was our turn.  Alexandra has a diving licence but hasn't dived for 20 years so was doing a refresher course.  Her son was on the other rubber duck and was doing his junior licence; her husband going with him to give him some support.

Once we got going I enjoyed being under the water.  Alexandra and I kept close to Wolf and every now and then he would signal to either inflate or deflate our buoyancy jackets a bit, remember to decompress our ears, and generally kept an eye on us.  When we got back to the boat he advised that he was very pleased with the fact that we were comfortable being under water but also the fact that we payed close attention to him.

Back at the shore we had to offload the boat.  I was given a weight belt to take back to the office as well as a buoyancy jacket and tank. Boy was it so heavy.  Getting out of the boat was fine but when I had to walk up the slippery rocks - my legs really took the strain a bit.  I wanted to crawl up but Paul came to the water's edge and gave me a helping, guiding hand.  Diving shoes would have been the obvious choice to walk in over the rocks but unfortunately the diving office didn't have my size - their shoes were way too big for me. I'm a EU 32-34 but they only started from a 36.  Paul did have a bit of a laugh at my strange gait as I staggered back to the diving office.  He offered to help me carry my gear but I declined - I have to learn to carry it myself in case he isn't around.  I did accept his offer to help me off-load, disassemble and wash the diving equipment as well as helping me out of my wetsuit - I didn't have the strength in my hands to get out of the suit.

I joined a group of divers at the table - they were filling in the dive log books.  Wolf eventually arrived and gave me a debriefing as well as giving me a log book in which to record my dives and observations and any other comments.  I've been booked to do a shallow training dive from the shore on Wednesday morning followed by a dive from the boat in the afternoon.

Paul was very patient with me.  He didn't have to wait around all afternoon let alone during the debriefing but he wanted to.  I suppose in a way, by listening, it helps re-enforce what he learned years ago when he did his licence.

I am absolutely shattered now and am looking forward to bed!