We were anchored in Bait Reef and were getting the dive gear ready as it was Charlie’s and my first dive off the octopus with our own kit.

Mum showed Charlie and I how get the tanks attached to the buoyancy control device (B.C.D.)and to turn the air on.

Annie and Charlie in their stinger suits. The box jellyfish in Australia can kill you with their 3 metre long tenticles.

When we arrived at the dive spot, Dad took Annie on her first dive on the octopus.

Then Dad went on a drift dive with Mum.

We came back to the dinghy and Mum and Annie hopped onto Miss Tippy. The rest of us sat in the dinghy under the harsh Australian sun talking about diving. Dad explained how to control buoyancy and how to get the gear on and off.

Dad plunged into the water and I passed him his tank over the side of the dinghy.

Charlie now fully geared up dropped backwards into the water after Dad. They sank like stones when they deflated their B.C.D.s.

They bubbled up a few minutes later and got Charlie out her jacket so I could have my lesson.

I slid into the water and swam to Dad who was holding the B.C.D. I turned over and swam into the jacket and clipped it snugly onto me.

I swam onto my back towards Dad and we pulled our toggles to release air from our B.C.D.s and sank down towards the seabed, constantly equalizing the pressure in our ears by holding our noses and blowing out.

We hit the bottom and camouflaged fish rushed out of the way of the two huge lumbering creatures  bearing down on them.

Dad showed me how to clear the mask underwater and how to control buoyancy.

We hovered on the side of a wall of reef seeing things like a massive clam as long as my arm which looked like the jaws of a monster in the sand.We ascended up the wall until we could see various creatures such a s the crown of thorns starfish, parrotfish, clownfish inside anenomes and other small aquatic beings.

We turned and went headfirst over the edge of the coral wall, then straightened ourselves out before we hit the sand.

After a minute or two we started going up again but this time we went up to the surface to see Mum holding an underwater camera.

I learnt how to dive with my own tank, I also learned how to clear my mask under water, to control buoyancy , to get my gear on and how to set up gear and take it apart after the dive.

Hook Reef, off Hook Island Great Barrier Reef.

Freddie and I were standing on the back of our yacht Miss Tippy rigging up our diving gear.

On went the stinger suit!!! The mouthpiece, the tank, the B.C.D. (buoyancy control device.)

Then we went out in the dinghy to a section of the Great Barrier Reef to do our first dive lesson with Dad.

Everything was so exciting. Dad had decided that Freddie and I were responsible enough to dive with our own tanks. Which was really great but we would both have to be sensible, and how would we handle that…….!

Fred and I had both learnt how to free dive to 14 metres and had frequently dived with an octopus fitting attached to Dad’s tank so I didn’t think I would be scared as I put on my equipment. Dad handed me a weight belt and lifted the tank on my back. I put my fins and mask over my black stinger suit.

“O.K. Charlie are you ready?” Dad told me to put the breathing regulator in my mouth. I took in a gasp of air and launched myself over the edge of the dinghy. The water parted as I plunged down into the ocean. The cold water rushed over me.

My B.C.D. was full of air so I bobbed to the surface in seconds. Dad was waiting for me a few metres ahead so I kicked and turned towards him. “I’m nervous.” I said as we floated on the ocean. I was scared but I soon forgot my worry as we swam down into the sea.

Breathing under the ocean fell into an easy rhythm. Bubbles tickled my cheeks as they rose from my regulator.

Marine life surrounded us as we came down to the sandy seabed, camouflaged sand fish, branch coral, brain coral, angelfish, and Moorish idols. They all disappeared as we clouded the water with sand, but came into the open as soon as we settled.

We sat on the sand Dad tested me on buoyancy control by signalling towards my B.C.D. showing me how to gain neutral buoyancy.

Soon we set off to explore the coral kingdom before us.

I was concentrating so hard on diving well that I barely noticed the colourful coral and shoals of delicate fish swarming in my peripheral view.

I listened to my breathing and checked my air supply about 5 times a minute!

Suddenly, I heard a muffled sound from above and looked up to see Mum watching me from behind the lens of a camera, Dad and I turned to smile at her, which was surprisingly easy despite having a hard, heavy tank on my back!

The clown fish all stayed close to their  anenomes.

Then it was reluctantly time to go back to the real world, up, up, up, until my head broke the glistening surface of the water.

I was shocked by how warm the air felt after nearly an hour underwater! My mouth was plastered in an O shape after having a regulator mouthpiece in my mouth for so long!

I was thrilled with the realisation that I had just completed my first s.c.u.b.a. Dive, thanks Mum and Dad for so many great opportunities and giving me a wonderful life!

A giant birthday lighter seemed to suit his crazy need for flame.

Freddie on his 12th birthday 11th August 2010 at sea sailing from Vanuatu to Australia.

The girls blew balloons and we made cakes when the sea was fairly wild and the boat quite ” TIPPY”.

Freddie made his own cake!!

The other half of the cake was eaten later, it was covered with melted mars bars which had been hidden in the freezer for about 3 months.

There was one special present…..an IOU for an IPOD touch, but Freddie would have to wait as there aren’t many shops in the middle of the ocean!

The wind increased during the day and the boat became more “Tippy”

It’s getting rough we need more cake was the comment!

By nightfall even the skipper was hanging on for dear life…….

The children soon sent Brain back up to the helm and snuggled up in our bed hoping they wouldn’t be thrown around the boat.

Here is Freddie a week later in Austalia at the Apple shop in Sydney with the present he was so suprised to get at last!

Thanks to everyone for the emails,  phonecalls, and presents.

From Freddie.

After a long bike ride …..

In the scorching heat……

For at least 20 kms…….and you are 9 years old! 

Can you spot Annie just a little speck at the top of the hill?

Then a play on the swings……….

Getting higher, working up an appetite………

Food is served. Yeahhhhh!

Annie was starving and looking forward to her  meal of pasta with ham.
She doesn’t look impressed with the Polynesian version!

It’s a good thing she had her pudding …before her lunch!
Annie’s chocolate delight.

There’s plenty of water in the lagoon to wash up the mess!

……..and a lovely rest afterwards.

Bye for now from the lovely beach, wish you were here to play with Annie she misses all of her cousins and friends.

Thank you all for your messages she loves to read them.

She is asleep now, I will make her Miss Tippy pasta and ham tomorrow.

 love Annie’s Mum xx

Men drumming, jumping, humming…

Painted people leaping, shouting…

Girls in feathers, twirling, swirling…

Grass skirts and swaying hips…

Even men with painted lips!

Love from Charlie xx

Rapa Nui is the perfect place for WALKING around the rugged coastline……. (said my parents).

Walking along the cliff edges of remote Rapa Nui, (yeah, yeah)!

More walking……get the picture?

Waves crash into the island……..again?

The amazing moai are scattered for miles along the shore.
WHATEVER!

Time for a bit of action.
Rapa Nui has Quad bikes !!!!!!!!! whooohoooooooooo!

Riding the moai trail.

Charlie on the back.

Teaching Annie to drive.

Better than walking!!!!!!!!!!

Mum was scared.

The end of a great day. Dad took over on the road as the legal age to ride is 16.

Freddie

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Rockin at Status Quo concert in Gibraltar

Charlie
xoxoxo

Dreaming of peaches!

The kracken reached up and took the captain of the soft pillows. ” Arghhh” said the pillow as he clung on to a random ferris wheel and then it screamed “I am a peach”.  The kracken then ate him because it liked peaches.

THE END

Annie enjoying the sun and sea

Before we went to the beach we took some friends from Solway mist to the oldest lighthouse in the world which had conveniently guided us into the harbour the previous night. It was fun, we got to go right to the top and we counted that there where 225 steps altogether!

Late lunch

After this we set off to a large beach on the other side of town stopping for waffles and ice cream after the tiring walk. The sky was blue, the sand was gold…………the sea was FREEZING!!! I took the kids off to play in the waves whilst mum and dad relaxed on the warm sand! Overall a brilliant day out!

Cold Atlantic Sea

Thankyou to all our lovely friends for the encouraging messages you’ve sent us, we miss you all very much,

Love Charlie

My Podcast Alley feed!

Cowboys: A poem by Charlie

Burning sun transforms the desert,
Into something much less pleasant,
Silver hooves go clickety-clack,
Guiding cowboys down the track,
Tumbleweed rolls into view,
Nothing seen is very new,
The tall green cacti now in sight,
Are blocking out the blazing light,
The blazing light,
Must have a rest no time to lose,
To carry on no one can choose,
Blistered lips, eyes are squinting,
Shining holster two spurs glinting,
Smith and western in a hand,
Riding past the desert land,
The desert land.

He gets up,
Gets food,
Eats,
And, sleeps.
AWESOME!