The Team from Tamaraw

On our day of travel Greg and myself made sure of what time the ferry left by checking with the Department of Tourism. The dude said 9 bells in the morning so we made sure we were there by 8:15. You can imagine our frustration when the guy at the ferry told us we had rocked up 2 hours too early. The ferry left at 11. Shot dude from the Department of Tourism...first day on the job was it, or did you just do that for a laugh? Anyway once on board the ferry we experienced the full force of what can only be described as Earth's best functioning air-conditioning system. Honestly it was 3o degrees plus outside and about minus 11 inside. Greg was in his hoody 20 minutes into the trip and I was in front of him cursing about the fact that I had put my long sleeves right at the bottom of my bag.

After the ferry we hopped into a mini-taxi (the type you see on the N2 when going down the South Coast packed with about 22 passengers on board. We managed 16 passengers and it was a stretch believe me. Greg and I sat in the very back row of the taxi because that's what was left. The very back seat was obviously designed to place your groceries on after you've been to Shoprite Checkers and clearly wasn't intended for human occupation. So there we were, Greg, myself and one other guy in the grocery section, and space was pretty tight. Filipinos by nature are quite small people and none of them are heavy set, so I'm not sure what the hell Greg and I did to deserve sitting behind the biggest Filipino in all of the Philippines. The guy in front of us was just leaning back and falling asleep and cramping our space even further. Both Greg and myself had severe knee injuries on completion of the ride.

After the taxi ride it was time for a 45 km Jeepney ride to Puerto Galera. This was a superb little ride and I only wish we had managed to do it during the day. We were high above the coast line and the views must have been magnificent. Greg and myself had the best dry mielie (no butter) of our lives on this particular stretch. On the ride itself we had all manner of passengers boarding the Jeepney. Some lady with a huge black bin hopped on and inside she had a tuna fish along with some other stuff I wasn't sure off. Along the way the driver stopped the Jeepney and did some shopping at the local fish market along the road. No one cares and no one is in a rush. Life beats at a good pace over here in Philip's Jeans.

So finally after 13 hours we arrived in Puerto Galera where we hooked up with Wayne and Kelly. They had found a superb little secluded beach called Tamaraw Beach and we literally had it to ourselves. We were staying in the Tamaraw Hotel and it was pretty swish by my travelling standards, decked out with air-con and hot water. The 4 of us shared a room with 2 double beds. Greg was the little spoon and I was the big spoon.

Our first day was a beach day and Greg, Wayne and Kelly made some diving enquiries at the only diving shop along the stretch. The next day we all went diving. Well I didn't dive per say, just did some free diving but I discovered a new talent which I was quite surprised by. I was following the guys diving below and then free diving down to them every now and again and had a look at what they were looking at. I reached my new personal best depth the following day where I learned after the dive that I had successfully free dived down to 18 meters. It's pretty intimidating if you haven't done it before because the surface of the water is a seriously shit long way above you in the distance.

The first dive "we" did was about 10 meters and we saw some epic stuff. The highlight without a doubt was spotting a 2 meter long sea snake. We were all trying to get as close as possible and he obviously got a little ticked off. I had to go back to the surface for a lung refill and as I was going up he decided to swim towards me and diagonally up at the same time. Very strange behaviour indeed for a snake that usually just rummages along the bottom looking for grub. You can imagine my panic when I got to the surface and so did he. The guy literally came out the water a good 15 cms and just looked me square in the eye above the water. Crazy stuff!!! Luckily he lost interest after that and descended back to where he belonged.

We also saw a Lion fish as well as some other cool stuff. I tell you what hey, the ocean has some pretty exotic stuff in it. Got to get in it as often as possible when I'm back in Durbs. The next day we did a wreck dive which is where I got down to 18 meters. Greg and the boys were quite surprised to see me down there with them (as was I) and the wreck was pretty cool with some sizable fish occupying the jol.

Nights in Tamaraw were spent drinking beer and playing table tennis. Wayne, your missus has a serously sharp serve on her. Kelly you're the best girl table tennis player I've ever seen. I'm sure Waynis really enjoyed the thumping you gave him that one night. Keep practising Wayne and for shit sakes pull you pants up dude!!!!

While on the second and last day of diving we met a Canadian couple (hey). They were very interesting people and it was after speaking to the guy (Derreck) that my Philippines trip took a new and awesome turn.