Christmas was especially hard for me this year. On Christmas Eve we joined several friends for a surprise birthday party. It was so beautiful and nice -- at one point I was just looking at everyone's smiles and it made my heart swell with happiness but also brought a little sadness. Here we were with amazing friends and we have become just like family but I couldn't help but miss my own back home. Hannah and Mason were the only kiddos at the party but I think they enjoyed the good food and, particularly, the attention.
Christmas morning came early but before I allowed Hannah and Mason to open their presents we Skyped with my parents and siblings. It was so wonderful to see them all but the homesick hit hard after we said goodbye -- the rest of the day I fought back tears. Hannah and Mason then patiently opened their presents and at one point Hannah cried at how happy she was with one of her gifts -- an Elsa and Olaf doll. It was precious. Later in the afternoon we had several friends join us for Christmas dinner and spent the evening listening to Christmas music and overindulging on the delicious food.
The day after Christmas Mike, the kiddos, our Pembantu, two friends, Erik and Krissy, and I boarded the helicopter and headed to the Rimba hotel. After a day in the welcoming sun we took a flight to Denpasar, Bali. From Denpasar we stuffed into a van for a three hour drive to Amed, Bali. Amed is a small fishing village at the North East tip of Bali.
The drive was nice, to begin with. Driving through an eclectic third world country is very amusing. All enthrallment quickly faded when the sun went down and blackness surrounded us, the road narrowed, the rain started pouring and the driver was lost. LOST!!!! Seriously!?
The driver stopped and found out where to go and on we continued. Soon another jolted stop and a steep incline was in view but cars were stranded directly in front of us. Then the driver jumped out of the car and ran up the incline and disappeared. Terrifying scenarios started playing in my head as my friend in the seat in front of me was using her cell phone to generate "pings" -- she was thinking the same unpleasant thoughts (think the movie Taken).
Our driver finally came back (phew). He revved the motor and then van crawled up the steep incline and around a stalled truck in the road (it all made sense now). The road continued to take steep and curvy turns until our villa came into view. (Thank GOD!)
Well it wasn't over. The villa seemed to be at the base of a narrow hill at a 20% grade. Mike, our friend, Erik, and the driver jumped out (again!?) but soon the driver came back up and ushered us girls into the van and he slowly navigated down the hill.
HOLY SH*T is all I could say in my mind as the van's brakes screeched as we went down. At one point they let loose along with my breath but quickly engaged again. We ended at the parking pad and we all happily got out. The night was called short so we could all get some sleep.
The next morning shone the brilliance of the villa and it's view. We all took-in the incredible view off the patio area where we spied hundreds of small fishing boats that crowded the ocean with their colored sails flapping in the wind. WOW!! That day we spent playing in the pool, reading and eating. Most of the days were spent the same way.
On 11 January, the USS Liberty was torpedoed by Japanese submarine about 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of the Lombok Strait. Two destroyers took the damaged ship in tow attempting to reach Singaraja, at that time, the Dutch port and administrative centre for the Lesser Sunda Islands on the north coast of Bali. However, the USS Liberty was taking too much water and so was beached on the eastern shore of Bali at Tulamben so that the cargo and fittings could be salvaged.
In 1963 the tremors associated with the eruption of Mount Agung caused the vessel to slip off the beach, and she now lies on a sand slope in 30 to 100 feet (9.1 to 30 m) of water, providing one of the most popular dives off Bali. This shipwreck is probably the easiest wreck diving in the world.
(Credit: http://www.baliblog.com/travel-tips/bali-daily/diving-on-the-uss-liberty-tulamben-east-bali.html)
On Friday, the 2nd, we were picked up early to make our way to the dive shop. Mike had to stay back as he had an upper respiratory infection and had to stay home (one of the major dive rules) . So Erik, Krissy and I headed out. We gathered our gear from the shop and drove to the site with four other people. When we got to the site it was hard to imagine that a large vessel lay sleeping just below the rocky shore. Krissy and I were a little nervous but we deflated our BCDs and down we sank.
The water was warm but a little murky. Too murky for my camera (sample pics below) and not like the clear Australia reef waters we are used to. As we sank further and further I focused on following our guide. We trailed close together in a group along the ocean floor that wasn't all that far from the surface. About five minutes later I looked to my left and instantly got shivers -- there it was, the ghostly skeleton of the USS Liberty. We were deeper than I thought and the massive bow of the ship was almost vertical and the size of a building.
The group and I continued to descend along and through the massive ship. Although it's ribs and hulls were covered with sea life, the attacked vessel, itself, didn't feel so lifeless to me. Our journey was planned for an hour; longer than us "newbie" divers have ever gone before.
All was going well until we started our ascent back up. There are a lot of "rules" in scuba diving and one of them is you need to surface at 50 bars on your pressure gauge. 50 bars leaves enough air in your tank at the surface in case of an emergency etc. Beyond that is the "red zone" See photo:
Duh, right!? Throughout the dive the guide signaled "what is you air pressure?" and knew all along how much each of us had in our tanks. Panic was quickly engulfing me when my friend, Erik, and I hit 50 bars and the surface was still a ways up. We both signaled to the guide that we were at 50 bars but he signaled back "OK" and continued on as if nothing. I then signaled to the second guide who was bringing up the rear and he too signaled "OK". WHAT!!!???
Several minutes went on when suddenly I saw the guide shoving his secondary emergency/rescue regulator into Erik's mouth. Oh my god! I quickly looked at my regulator -- 20 bars. Oh eff!!! Way too low!!! I signaled to the second guide who was following us and he quickly gave me his emergency regulator. (Another MAJOR scuba rule is that if you are on or using an emergency regulator from a buddy, together, you are to make an immediate, controlled accent to the surface.)
Now that two of the, only, guides have given BOTH their emergency regulators, I assumed our ascent was underway. NOPE! We continued swimming along the up-sloping bottom, the guide pulling Erik along showing us things on the ocean floor as I struggled to hold onto my guide buddy. WHAT WAS GOING ON?? I quickly looked back to see if everyone else in this freaking circus was "OK" but when I did that my mask completely filled with salt water instantly stinging my eyes. Oh no! I lifted my head up towards the surface to clear the water (as I was trained to do) but as I lifted my head the regulator ripped out of my mouth because my guide buddy was sinking below me (another rule is that you grab arms with your buddy to keep them close as to NOT LET THE REGULATOR RIP OUT OF EITHER DIVER'S MOUTH!!!!!)
There I was, no air and I couldn't see anything!! I frantically reached down to find someone and the other guide yanked Erik along to help me. He shoved the lost regulator from my guide buddy back into my mouth but that was it, uncontrollably, up I was going!!
My head popped out of the water and I was relieved and shaken. I was so close to the surface why did they keep me down??? Soon enough the rest of the group came up. My guide "buddy" popped up next to me and just looked at me with a freakin' smirk and said "you little panic"? YES, YOU BLEEPING IDIOT!!!
We all walked onto the shore with wobbly legs. After putting on dry clothes we decided that, that was enough scuba diving for the day and back to the villa we went.
The rest of the vacation was relaxing and fun. On New Year's Eve Mike and Erik lit fireworks that filled the sky with color while the reflections danced on the ocean waves. Our drive back to the airport was still amusing but less scary. We got amazing pictures of the famous terraced rice fields of Amed and, as always, enjoyed seeing how many family members can fit on a motor bike.
Our trip and holiday season was one we will never forget. Now we are settled at home and we look forward to a (hopefully) quiet next three months and where our next trip will take us.
As always, to be continued...
