As I sit in Guam airport waiting for the arrival of our Continental airlines flight back to cairns, I can look back on this trip as one of the best I have been lucky enough to have been a tour leader for. The 16 other divers on this trip were fantastic…

As I sit in Guam airport waiting for the arrival of our Continental airlines flight back to cairns, I can look back on this trip as one of the best I have been lucky enough to have been a tour leader for. The 16 other divers on this trip were fantastic! Such a great mix of ages and personalities. We had our trip Jokers, thanks Ken “one fen” (kiwi accent) Hales and Stephen “technical announcement” Groen who kept the funnies flying the whole trip long. We had our “apprentice tour leader” Marc Van derPoel who did a great job and enjoyed every minute if the tough life we have to endure in our duties as tour leaders… True bro! – (for Ken)

Marc took on the task of running the dive profiles for our twin tank divers and assisted in the dive plans with the ‘tekkies’ – a great effort and no near misses.

Josh “I’m awesome” Phillips… You inspire us all… Anyone who can work so hard without results and still keep smiling (and trying) deserves a medal. Thanks for providing the excitement on the trip and for making me miss out on the shark dive by spilling a litre of blood in the rain Forrest of Eten Island and making us carry you out through the mud… Next time mate… Wear thongs will ya? Oh and btw… The steam roller was on its side and the anchor was on the deck… Which San Francisco Maru were you diving? Narcosis man!! Stacey and Erica – for the short few days we had with you both – you were a buzz of energy to all of us. Not sure exactly how many more questions could have been asked about those dive computers guys but if nothing else it kept up my sales teck knowledge on the Tec 2 G’s!!!!

I will really miss the deliberations and in-depth discussions about what might be a good lunch time selection and what might not… You guys are great value! I would love to have you both on every trip. Mike “that’s what you call a holiday” Doswell… Mate we are ALL green with envy that your trip continues on to Palau. You won the not so envious honour of being the first person i have ever ‘pantsed’ in Pool. Who would have thought??? Thanks Mike for introducing the coconut into everyone’s new found island diet. The groundsmen at the Blue Lagoon will be happy to see the back of you and Michelle. (who by the way will also

be remembered on the trip for hogging the Dive Master ‘Mackenzie’ – thought you had something to worry about for a second Mike but all was good when we found out she only wanted him for his dive leading abilities – just kidding Michelle – when you are onto a good thing, stick to it hey?!

Neil…. Mate I didn’t know a lot about you before the trip but it was great to get the chance to do talk and see you dive. You are a great buddy and I know our ‘tek god’ Marc is well impressed with your diving…. Now we just have to keep you from wondering back to the dark side – great to have you on the trip mate – I hope we can get you to join us again. Promise next time I’ll give you the double dose… Trish! Have to say it was also great to have your constant smile and party mode on this trip. You are inspirational and I am so glad you took the big dive to make sure you head back to Perth with us without regrets. Looking forward to Borneo 2012!!! You rock! John – mate I am so sorry that the sabotage did not end back in 1942 at Eten Island! Josh really put a quick ending to your planned trip of the island battleship – sorry for that mate. Great that you solved a long term mystery with the headaches and I hope from here on – your diving is much more enjoyable. You have inspired Joey and I to spread the word that you can’t hold everything you are taught in the early stages of diving as gospel and we need to tell the world, there IS flexibility. A new message that will be shared through future generations of Perth Scuba divers!

Thanks for the feedback and for being honest. Kyle… Scammer! How do you manage to get away with the stuff you do? As quiet as you were for the first few days of the trip – it was great to see you open up to the group. Your ‘Mopet’ WAS the slowest but I think you still managed to win the kick start champion award! You did leave the numberplate on that “goon rooter’ didn’t you? Sharrin and Greg, I would like to say it was a pleasure to have you both on this trip – even though as I write this you are packing your dive gear up to join Mike and Michelle on the next stage of your trip – onward to Palau!!! Not at all envious can you tell? You were both great to dive with and made the “A” team complete. You

guys are great fun to travel with and I really look forward to Borneo 2012 and Galapagos and beyond. Can’t wait to get to know you guys better!

Tiff!!! The youngest on the trip AND a dive trip virgin! Lots of memorable moments on this trip but I still think that the keys were the funniest thing on the trip! I mean seriously – the keys are meant to open the door from the outside – they don’t work when you leave them on the bed. Dufuss! Thanks a lot for supplying the towel that we used as a tourniquet that stopped the ‘bleeder’ from losing another of blood! I’m not sure how to claim that one on travel insurance.

And last but not least my very own Joey! Thanks babe for another great successful trip. You are the best… Anyone who can flood a camera twice in 2 dives and not lose it deserves a medal! Lessons learned and as they say – there are two types of people in the world… Those who have flooded a dive camera and those who are about to… Well I guess you covered that base well! Seriously though – I love travelling with you – the work going into the trips is so worth it!

A few milestones were met on this trip and I would like to acknowledge some… Congratulations to Stephen Groen – 100 dives and what a way to bring up 100!! On the deck of the San Francisco Maru! Way to go buddy! Thanks for NOT sticking with tradition on that dive mate – not sure how narcosis would have affected the vision if a ‘naturalist’ dive. Also to Erica for completion of her 50th dive in the same style as Stephen! Well done! Ummm you know what Stacey – I’m not sure if that makes her twice as good a diver as Stephen… See – a question I COULDN’T answer!!!

SharrinBoothey. Bringing up your 200th dive on a night dive on the Fujikawa is the right way to do it! Let’s see if we can make it 250 at Barracuda Point – Sipadan!

Everyone who achieved their deepest dive on this trip. Congrats! And also for everyone that did decompression diving for the first time…. Well done. Most of all – thank you all for making this a safe and fun trip!!! Here’s to the Truk reunion tour in a couple of years!

Well gotta go – third and final boarding call. Looking forward to the plane briefing… ‘first we go to 25ooo meters – den – we go to 30ooo

meters – we look at da cargo in first hold – den 20ooo meters we look at da wings – da propellers and den we come up – we stay at deco and den we land when all ok. Dis is da flight profile – chuukese style!

See you all back in Perth!!!