From Baja, California Hello everyone Greetings from a very hot and sunny Baja California! Hope that you are all still well. I hope you have had a good time on the Mary Doune I know you will have as always, I almost wish I was there but just a few more weeks to go for us now, so trying to make the most of it. Happy belated birthday Ann, I hope you all had a good time up at Aviemore, I am sure you did. I think the story continues in Fiji and we spent a day travelling to a small island called Ovalau to dive the Wakaya passage, the journey was a bit of a nightmare, the roads weren't the best - wise decision on the way back - just fly it took about 10 minutes sometimes you have to learn by experience I suppose. We weren't very impressed with the town, it was originally a whaling town, but it was like stepping onto a western movie, and a huge fish factory at the end of town, which smelt lovely, as you can imagine. Anyway we did a couple of dives, the current wasn't right to dive the passage, but the people in the group wanted to anyway so we ended up finning into a strong current for the whole dive - not impressed. Supposed to be famous for mantas and hammerheads but no luck for us they probably had sense and hid from the strong currents, other than the current though it was good diving. A low pressure descended the next day which was planned to linger around so we decided to head out as soon as possible - which turned out to be a good decision because we later heard that there was a cyclone circling over them! Next to Vanuatu, which was fantastic again. We went to the island of Tanna to see the live volcano which was amazing, we literally climbed up to the rim of the crater and looked down at the eruptions, we stayed after sunset so it was really spectacular, some really loud and big eruptions had me scrambling around S####### myself! Some really weird cults here too that believe that this guy called John Frum is going to come from America with riches for them - something to do with the 2nd world war! Anyway the guy from our accommodation took us to their village in the jungle because I was asking them all about it, Seeing is believing, about 30 villagers woman about 70 and younger just spinning around completely out of their boxes, Mike and I as guests of honour in the middle trying not to fall over laughing, apparently they don't even take any drugs but we are not convinced, we did however have all our sins cleansed - obviously Mike took a lot longer than me to be cleansed!! We then flew to Esperito Santo famous for the wreck of the SS President Coollidge, which is apparently the largest, most accessible World War 2 wreck. Don't worry we have not turned into wreck freaks! It has been really well preserved and we really enjoyed the diving we did here, exploring the holds and engine rooms, and first class lounges, which still have chandeliers and table lamps in it. We then flew via a very cold Auckland to Rangiroa, for the most amazing diving I think we have done so far. We stayed right next to the Tiputa pass into the lagoon, The current on the incoming tide was pretty exciting, with silvertips, grey reef and long nose sharks very close and in great numbers all around us. Mantas on most dives, sitting in the current, eagle rays and most exciting for me dolphins, have to admit a few tears at times I was just so amazed by it all. I was trying to do rolls and get them to play, but as Mike pointed out they aren't trained like in the shows, but no harm in trying, they were so curious and swam really close around us. They surf the waves in the current and we spent many an hour watching them on the surface spinning and jumping. The visibility was amazing a beautiful deep blue violet colour and just as far as you could see. We did 8 dives all on the pass and don't think we would have ever got bored. After a nightmare couple of days of travelling we have arrived in La Paz, Baja and are going out diving tomorrow to el Baja seamount so looking forward to that. Just enjoying the corona at the moment and listening to a band playing in the bar, really enjoying the atmosphere, oh and the coronas are cheaper than water here! Just as well we like them so much. We are heading to Cabo San Lucas in a couple of days, trying to blag a stand by trip on a liveaboard to some small islands a couple of hundred miles south of the peninsula. We came here for the whales; think it is just toward the end of the season so fingers crossed, it will be great anyway though. Take care See you all really soon Mike / Angela

28 March 04 Hiya everyone, Hope that you are all well and not missing us too much (ha ha). Sorry it has been such a long time since we wrote but things in the South Pacific are not as advanced as they could be!!! Good to hear from you all, its so nice to keep up with whats going on at home too (yes I am starting to get a bit homesick, but don't worry we're not coming home early). Sounds like it has been the winter for neck seals going, and unfortunately Mike and I are going to have to get ours repaired when we get back, so a wee bit of an excuse not to rush back into the cold water aye! Sorry in advance Douglas but this time if you are having a bad day it would possibley be better that you just close this for now and come back to it once you have stood all the way back home again, got a nice relaxing massage and a glass of vino before attempting to go further! I think that Chuuk was the last place that I got in touch, and some boring stuff but I have some contact details for Henry and Paul if they are still going to Chuuk and they want the info then can they get in touch with me. The guy at the dive shop said that he could give them a discount on the diving and accomodation to $80 for 2 dives and about $98 for bed and breakfast for two, but as I say if they havent booked they can get in touch. Arrived in Australia (Cairns) at about 0200 and they taxi driver was telling us about a brand new boat that goes out to Osprey reef in the Coral Sea, and that it was leaving that day and we could get about $600 off the price, which sounded too tempting to be true. Being a bit tired and not thinking straight, the discount took over all other normal brain functions and we booked it and headed out that afternoon. (It was Taka 200 - Martin will know!). There were about thirty other guests on it as well as about 10 of the biggest egoed [idiots] in the southern hemisphere and to top it all Typhoon Ivy was circling around and we had really high winds and huge swells (is this getting better for you Doug!) so guess who slept on the deck most of the time with the rain and spray from the waves! The diving wasn't fantastic as a result, and the Cod Hole is not what we expected -but there you go. Eventually we got off and I caught up on my sleep (not!). We flew out the next day to Tonga via Brisbane and Fiji which took all day. We stayed on a beautiful island here with just the resort and a tiny village. Again there were big swells here so we just did 2 dives there was surge even down at 20 metres so not much fun. The coral here was ok but nothing fantastic, we saw an eagle ray, but no humpback whales (wrong time of the year). Took to the top of the water instead and tried to get the hang of windsurfing - think we'll stick to diving its a lot easier. We watched the first sunrise here in the world. After a week of lazing around and recharging our batteries we flew out to Samoa. Again the diving here wasn't up to much so we did some exploring instead. The scenery here is stunning, waterfalls, rainforests, waterfalls,caves, natural springs, blowholes and more waterfalls. Don't think we missed one out! We stayed in some really beautiful places here, with no lights so the stars were amazing, nothing like lying on the beach hammered looking at the stars is there? Also went to the most western point in the world and watched the last sunset! Now we are in Fiji and have been here for about 2 weeks. We started off in the Mamanucas. The diving was really beautiful sometimes (when we went further out) and average at others. Beautiful hard corals and hugh gorgonian fans. Lots of grey reef sharks around too, and a killer trigger fish which took a major dislike to me and temporarily disabled me! much to Mikes amusement.

Last week we stayed in a small resort in the north of Fiji and dived on the Rainbow Reef. We were the only two divers most of the time and it was a really good company to dive with. He took us to the Great White Wall which was beautiful, covered completely in white soft corals, and pretty strong currents, so nice and scary at times, drift dives. It's Sunday today and we have just came back from a place called Beqa famous for its shark feeds., It was pretty amazing. I', not sure how many bull sharks there were around but they were about 12 foot long and really fat (from all the feeding no doubt!) They pulled Mike to the front so that he could take better pictures. I had a big giggle to myself at one point when he lifted his fin to bat away a bull shark that was coming in too close for comfort, the guide with his big stick was looking the other way!!! The guide also took me forward to stroke the shark (against my better judgement!) they had a big wheelie bin with all the fish parts in it and was holding my hand over the top of it (he was stronger than me!!!!!!!) but I did touch one in the end. Needless to say the pictures are fantastic. Sorry we havent sent any but none of the computers around (even in Oz) are compatable or are too slow, he worked out that one picture would take 20 minutes in the last place! and theres too much underwater exploring to be done!!!!

We are heading out tomorrow to Ovalou, hopefully to dive with oceanic (great?) hammerheads and mantas, so fingers crossed everyone. Will try to get in touch in the next few weeks, but time is flying so quickly, not too long till we get back now. Take care everyone and keep in touch Love Mike and Angela

19 Feb 2004 Hiya Everyone, Well we can't believe it but we have arrived in Chuuk (Truk lagoon) and we still can't believe that we are here it is such an amazing place. Unfortunately, things have been a bit complicated and problematic for us so far, hopefully things will start to get better, but we've not got good feelings this far! Our problems started on departure with the cold weather in Amsterdam, our flight from Edinburgh was delayed and they weren't holding the Manila flight, so there I am at the start of the holiday of a lifetime in tears 'cos we thought we would have to spend 3 or 4 days in Manila. Luckily with a sprint from one end of Amsterdam airport to the other, me wheezing and coughing, we just made it on to our flight. Our overnight in Manila was a culture shock, lots of guns, rats and cockroaches, need I say more, but it was a relief when we got to the airport safely the next day. The security checks are unbelievable, shoes off , x-rayed, off again and hand checked, everything is emptied from our hand luggage too, for every leg! We eventually arrived in Palau which was worth the hassle. We booked a 6 day dive package, the diving here was amazing, fantastic visibility, amazing wall dives apparently one of Jack's favourite wall dives. We did a couple at Blue Corner where 3 currents all meet and pelagics come to feed. We basically drift onto the point and hook on with a reef hook and hang there watching the sharks and holding onto the regulator for our life!!!! At one point there were hundreds (not exaggerating honest) of gray reef sharks below us. Surprisingly we became really used to seeing sharks around and got really laid back about it. After much debate about staying longer we decided to leave and go to Yap. This is another beautiful place, and is the place to go to dive with Mantas (although we saw them in Palau too). The people here have held on to a lot of their old traditions and still drink turtle blood on big celebrations. We stayed with a local couple in the middle of the jungle but on a beautiful beach, our bamboo hut was about 3 metres away form the water, which was a big lagoon where the Mantas live in the summer months. It's winter at the moment. We also did a dive here to see Mandarin fish which were beautiful and the most gorgeous colours imaginable. I warn you now to refuse all invitations to our house when we get back cos Mike is turning into a photography maniac, though taking loads of really good pics. We will try to send you some when we get to Australia.

With much sadness we left Yap, we had such a lovely time there and really relaxed, and enjoyed the laid back lifestyle. Everyone here chews betal nuts mixed with lime (crushed coral) and a leaf off a tree they go around with bulging mouths and it is really difficult to understand what they are saying!!!! Not to be left out we decided to give it a go, bright red faced and sweating profusely our first try will probable be the last, all the spitting was too much!!!!

Another nightmare, our flight was delayed from Yap which meant we missed our connection to Guam. It worked out okay for us because we got put up in a nice hotel and ate oysters and smoked salmon courtesy of Continental Airlines!!! Guam is not the nicest place to go though. It just so happens that it is the 60th anniversary of Operation Hailstorm when all the boats were sunk, so there are television crews for the Discovery channel, History and a couple from I don't know where with famous movie makers, so watch out for us on the telly. They had a big ceremony to commemorate the operation, which was interesting. The place is beautiful - our hotel looks right over the lagoon which is really pretty. We are doing ten days of diving, which hopefully by the end we'll be wrecked out! It has been amazing so far though they are so intact, with so many relics still lying about. Its really easy to tell what things are too, even though the big guns and stuff are completely covered in hard and soft corals. The diving has not been to deep either, so no deco diving or anything which I am pleased about. Anyway its dinnertime now so we'll say goodbye for now, Hope all is well with you all and that you are not missing us too much! Take care; lots of love Mike and Ang xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx