1. I went night diving yesterday evening and Oh. My. God. It was marvellous. Wonderful. Splendid. Fantastic. Generally Jolly Good.
Its amazing how much breathing through a hose in the pitch black focuses the mind.
And it is beautiful down there at night. Really, quite indescribably lovely.
Peaceful – with only the sounds of your own bubbles and with every movement made in graceful slow motion, trailing phosphorescence.
So, what did I see in the sweeping beam of my underwater torch? Crested horn sharks, wobbegong (or carpet) sharks, yellowtail barracuda, red morwong, octopus, cuttlefish, cardinalfish, bullseyes and even some anemones with their bright red tentacles out.
I didn’t have my camera, but here are some other photos* of the creatures mentioned above, since they are, I expect, none of them immediately recognisable to non-Sydney divers.
So, above is the crested horn shark…
this chap is the spotted wobbegong or carpet shark… for obvious reasons…
Barracuda are recognisable anywhere with that underslung jawline…
Octopus, however, are masters of disguise and are almost as unexpected as the Spanish Inquisition…
Cuttlefish are my favourites. Any creature which can change the colour of its own body and flash lights along its sides, not to mention having an expression like that, earns my respect…
And those guys are the red morwong, who look to me as though a child painted them, which makes me smile. No mean feat when you have a regulator clamped between your jaws, believe me.
So, night-diving: if there is a better way to spend Thursday evenings, I don’t know what it is.
2. This afternoon I have been ’storyboarding’ (i.e. drawing up concepts for) a new children’s book about Leonardo da Vinci. If there is a better way to spend a Friday afternoon, I don’t know what it is.
3. Tomorrow I will be baby sitting for 4-month old Hugo in Balmain, which is one of Sydney’s more relaxed and artsy quarters, accessible by ferry from my house. If there is a better way to spend a Saturday, I don’t know what it is.
*Obviously, those photos were all taken during the day, but you get the idea…














