Work
Stacks of invoices to print and send, although all the money will be passed onto the lovely people who have been minding the business while Jacinta and myself have been away.

Business turn-over is likely to increase strongly over the next year. We'll have plenty of staff (at last!) and hope to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible.

Accounts Receivable is currently huge, with about 12% of our net value being in A/R.

Honeymoon
Tuesday 21st October
Arrived in Airlie Beach. Checked into the YHA where we were staying. Dropped into the dive centre, picked up reading materials. It's hot up here.

Wednesday 22nd October
Day spent learning SCUBA skills. Lots of reading from books, watching videos, answering questions, and becoming familiar with equipment.

People with us on the course included two guys from Holland, one from the USA, and a girl from Korea. Small class.

Thursday 23rd October
More time spent answering questions, watching videos, and completing skills in the pool. Received a full 100% on the final exam.

Friday 24th October -- Sunday 26th October
On-board a boat, the Stella Maris. Due to northerly winds we didn't reach the outer reef, but rather headed up to Hook Island. Went diving in Blue Pearl, Osprey, and Mackeral bays. Visibility was generally poor (2-5 metres), but still very much enjoyed the experience.

Jacinta and I elected to undertake advanced training on the boat, including extra navigational, limited visibility, naturalist and deep diving.

The deep dive was quite an experience. We only reached 23 metres (we were aiming for 27), the current was extreme and visibility was only a couple of metres. Almost the entire dive was done holding onto a (moving) anchor chain. I ate through plenty of air and breathed off the instructor's secondary regulator at the safety stop to ensure that I'd surface with the required 50 bar remaining.

Monday 27th October
Back from the boat, and off to Daydream Island (previously known as South Mole Island). Daydream Island resort was not particularly enjoyable. Service was poor to atrocious, there was an incident where our in-room safe was unlocked and left open (with our valuables in it) while we were out, there was a rat in the buffet hall, and the buffet offering did not match what was advertised on the menu.

Add to this poor customer management skills, huge numbers of activities being cancelled due to northerly winds, and incredible prices for food and drink, and Daydream rapidly became the low-point of the whole honeymoon. We collected as much of a refund as we could and headed back to the mainland after a single night.

Once again, I find that resorts are rarely worth the high price tag that come with them. I consistantly find that backpacker and budget hotel accomodation provides a more favourable experience at a fraction of the price.

Tuesday 28th October
Played mini-golf in the morning. Cute. Also investigated options for more diving. Most things are off due to these northerly winds. Don't ever go to the whitsundays if there are northerly winds, the whole place just shuts down.

Back on the mainland for the afternoon, staying in a self-contained apartment back in Airlie Beach. Kitchen, bathroom, satellite TV, air-conditioning, it's great.

Wednesday 29th October
Stuck in Airlie Beach. The lagoon is good, but all other activities still down due to these northerlies. Spent time relaxing and not doing much of anything. Very very good.

Thursday 30th October
Northerly winds are swinging around, so it looks like we may get to do a few things before we leave. We're supposed to be headed to Mackay to see Gwen (my sister-in-law) on Friday. However Friday is also supposed to have decent weather. We negotiate with Gwen for her to come and see us instead, and for us to take a boat aptly named the Reef Jet to the outer reef for some diving. I purchase myself a mask and snorkle, so I don't end up with a sore-spot on my forehead whenever I dive.

Friday 31st October
Up bright and early for the trip to the outer reef. My goodness, the boat absolutely flies. It took the Stella Maris some 4-5 hours to reach Hook Island. Reef Jet does it in about an hour.

Got two dives in at Bait Reef. Excellent visibility, although Jacinta hurries about underwater rather than going at a nice relaxed pace. Had buoyancy problems during the safety stop on the first dive, although we made friends with a small fish that decided to become our companion for the last 8 minutes of our dive.

Buoyancy problems all fixed by the second dive, and we were lucky enough to spot a small shark snoozing on the bottom. Amazed at the number of parrot fish, and the rate at which they can consume coral.

Third dive was back at Hook Island due to weather conditions. Visibility was about 4 metres, but the dive was excellent. Jacinta agreed to move along at my (very slow) pace, so I got to spend more time looking around and less time ensuring my buddy hadn't dissapeared. Saw hundreds of clams, some with incredible colours.

A quick trip back to the mainland, and then we drove to Mackay.

Saturday 1st November
Spent the day chilling out with Gwen, but had to leave back to Melbourne in the afternoon. A long flight home, made longer due to daylight savings having come into effect while we were away.