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Day 8 (29-Dec-12) Adelaide - Victor Harbour (136 km)
Today was much anticipated, with the day's planned scuba diving at Rapid Bay, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, being the primary reason for driving all the way from Brisbane to Adelaide. The weather was warm and sunny, but the water a frigid 19C, necessitating use of 5mm wet suits - though Astrid used a 7mm wet suit, and still ending up shivering. Indeed, after just 40 minutes on the first dive, her hands were so cold she was no longer able to operate the underwater camera! The diving itself took place off the jetty, which is famed for being host to the world renowned Leafy Sea Dragon. This marine critter is generally regarded as having the most sophisticated camouflage techniques devised by Nature, comprising a stunning visual blending with the sea grasses that it consumes, combined with an intentional swaying motion that precisely matches the movement of the grasses. The effectiveness of these two 'optical illusions' is so complete that the creature has no known predators.
While the highlight of the day was catching sight of these magnificent creatures, we also caught sight of an eagle ray, cuttle fish, squid, schools of trout, nuddibraches, exotic box fish, huge crabs, and menagerie of other cold water fish. With the dives taking place at shallow depths (< 9m) we were able to extend dive times to over an hour each, with no surface interval required. Getting into and out of the water at end the jetty was long and arduous, with the journey from Adelaide taking 1.25 hours also. As such, the diving ended around 15:00hrs, with further 0.5hrs needed to cleanup and dump everything back in the car. We thus did not complete the transfer to our Motel in Victor Harbour until around 16:15hrs. We then unpacked everything and sunk into a bottle of plonk to celebrate and reflect on the day's proceedings.
The photos provide a mere tantalizing glimpse of the amazing critters to be found in this part of the world. With more diving planned for tomorrow we will be happy if we get to see just half as much. We are in for a restless night....
Today was much anticipated, with the day's planned scuba diving at Rapid Bay, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, being the primary reason for driving all the way from Brisbane to Adelaide. The weather was warm and sunny, but the water a frigid 19C, necessitating use of 5mm wet suits - though Astrid used a 7mm wet suit, and still ending up shivering. Indeed, after just 40 minutes on the first dive, her hands were so cold she was no longer able to operate the underwater camera! The diving itself took place off the jetty, which is famed for being host to the world renowned Leafy Sea Dragon. This marine critter is generally regarded as having the most sophisticated camouflage techniques devised by Nature, comprising a stunning visual blending with the sea grasses that it consumes, combined with an intentional swaying motion that precisely matches the movement of the grasses. The effectiveness of these two 'optical illusions' is so complete that the creature has no known predators. 
While the highlight of the day was catching sight of these magnificent creatures, we also caught sight of an eagle ray, cuttle fish, squid, schools of trout, nuddibraches, exotic box fish, huge crabs, and menagerie of other cold water fish. With the dives taking place at shallow depths (< 9m) we were able to extend dive times to over an hour each, with no surface interval required. Getting into and out of the water at end the jetty was long and arduous, with the journey from Adelaide taking 1.25 hours also. As such, the diving ended around 15:00hrs, with further 0.5hrs needed to cleanup and dump everything back in the car. We thus did not complete the transfer to our Motel in Victor Harbour until around 16:15hrs. We then unpacked everything and sunk into a bottle of plonk to celebrate and reflect on the day's proceedings.
The photos provide a mere tantalizing glimpse of the amazing critters to be found in this part of the world. With more diving planned for tomorrow we will be happy if we get to see just half as much. We are in for a restless night.... 
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