I'm a dive instructor!

Guess who's a dive instructor!!!

After nine days of training and two days of examination... I'm a dive instructor!

It was a pretty big ordeal. During the course, we worked all day for nine days doing classroom presentations, skills demonstrations, pool presentations and open water presentations. We learned how to teach, what to teach, went over mass amounts of theory, skills and paperwork. We learned risk management, marketing and sales to boot.

It was a lot of work, a lot of studying, but it paid off because when it came time for exams, we all passed! The exams took two days. The first day was our pool session, where we demonstrated a number of underwater skills, like mask removals, regulator recovery.... things like that. We also had to teach a skill in the pool with the other instructor candidates acting as students. Then we had our 6 written theory exams that night in physics, physiology, dive planning, equipment, general skills/environment and standards. Woo. The next day we had a full day out on the boat to demonstrate teaching in an open water environment and we also had to demonstrate the rescue of an unconscious diver on the surface. We did also manage a fun dive! The last bit of work we had was a classroom presentation on dive theory and THEN... drumroll... four new dive instructors were born!

Me and my instructor-mates. Joe, Luke and Anna. 

Other than dive classes, there hasn't been much else going on in my life. Diving has taken over my life for the last two weeks, but the last few days have been much more chill. Just been hanging around Exmouth, sleeping by the pool and letting my body recover from 11 days of study and stress. 

Today I went on an adventure with Anna, the other girl in my course. We went into a national park nearby and went to check out some of the beaches, gorges and some of the terrain. It was a really great day, pictures to come soon (as soon as I get them off my camera) but its really really beautiful out here. Very very different from Cairns, much more desert-y terrain. Lots of red dirt.

I'm staying in Exmouth until Thursday. Hopefully in that time I'll be going on the whaleshark boat tomorrow and diving Tuesday and Wednesday if everything works out! Then I'll be in Perth, a city in southwest Australia until next Saturday, hanging out, exploring and visiting friends. Then its back to Cairns to try and find a job as a super duper dive instructor!

Love and fishes!