This is a diver's favourite. There are actually a couple of them, cast from the same mould. The original one is in Italy, but the most popular one as a dive site is in Key Largo in Florida.
I am keener to see the original in Italy, which is quite a bit deeper than the Florida one, and perhaps looks a bit more atmospheric.
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How exciting! Main flights now booked! Thursday, July 24, 2008
I was woken early this morning by a call from my very helpful travel representative with a view to sorting out my main flights for the forthcoming trip.
I have been procrastinating a bit, as the house has not sold, but I finally decided, "What the heck? I'm just going anyway, I can leave the house and paperwork in the hands of the estate agent and settlement agent. Should be fine!" I hope it will.
So my first flight is now booked for Sunday 3rd August, just over a week away, from Perth to Dubai, where I arrive early on Monday morning. From there I fly to Nice in France, and have a few weeks in Europe, including the Tomatina Festival in Spain. After that I fly from Madrid to London, have a few weeks in the UK, and head to Germany for beer-swilling at Oktoberfest.
From Germany I fly to New York on 6th October, and am free to travel the States for a few months. My next flight is booked for January from Honolulu to Tokyo, and then eventually back to Australia in February.
I am now officially excited!
I did a bit of work on the map page today, and figured out how to add a Google map, with lines and dates for flights, and pins for the approximate times and dates for achieving the first few goals. You can see the map page here: http://www.100goals100weeks.com/details_Where.php
Over the next couple of days I will try to get a bit more information on the map, the calendar and some more details in each of the individual goals that are planned for the early stages.
There are join-in opportunities coming up if you are in the vicinity. Do you want to come along on any of these? Ski Dubai - planned for Tues 5th August, maybe around 2pm Big Bungee Jump - planned for Sat 9th August (to be confirmed) Dive at Christ of the Deep - planned for Wed 20th August (tbc) Tomatina Festival - happens on 27th August
If you are planning any trips, take a look at these guys, fantastic efficient service, and excellent prices: www.airtreks.com
Vive la difference! European plans. Friday, August 8, 2008
Bienvenue en France!
J'arrive en France hier soir - I arrived in France yesterday evening, and within an hour was in the swimming pool at my friend's mother's house. The weather is beautiful here, hot and summery but without the draining humidity and dusty winds of Dubai.
An hour or two later we were eating French bread, cheese, and snails in garlic butter. They were actually really good.
This morning it is time to make some quick plans for timing for the next couple of weeks, and I have adjusted some dates on the calendar - see here: http://www.100goals100weeks.com/details_When.php
New goal dates are as follows:
Sunday 10th August Big Bungee Jump Pont de l'Artubi, Verdon Between 8.00am and 12.00 noon
Wed 20th to Fri 22nd August Paragliding (3 day intro course) South of France - somewhere in the mountains?) Should be able to fly solo by the end of the course, I hope!
Anyone keen to join in on any of these?
Third goal completed! Cristo Degli Abyssi. Sunday, August 17, 2008
From Chamonix we drove through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, 17 kilometres long, and came out on the other side in Italy. Another amazing feat of construction!
We arrived in Santa Margherita Ligure at about 5pm. I had imagined it would be a small quite fishing village nestled on the coast, with perhaps a few tourists wandering around. How wrong I was!
The place was absolutely packed! Cars, bikes, mopeds, cycles and pedestrians all jostled for space in the tiny streets. It seemed like chaos! We drove around for some time, but could not find a parking space anywhere. Every conceivable place to park a car was full, and a few more places too where I would not have thought you could even fit a car in. Every other space not big enough for a car was filled with mopeds and scooters.
We tried up a side street, which quickly turned into a twisting road up into the hills, far too narrow to turn around too come back down. We eventually found our way back to the coast, and finally found a space we could fit the car into. The guys we were parking in front of looked very nervous, and actually came out of the shop to move his car a bit to avoid tragedy!
We went and introduced ourselves at the dive shop, and got directions to a campsite, which was apparently "almost full". When we arrived at "Miraflores Camp Site", hidden away in an industrial estate, they managed to cram us in on a gravelly patch down at the back of the park. Later that evening, despite being "full", we saw them manage to fit in four more tents and a huge caravan!
To say it was the worst campsite I have ever stayed at would be a major understatement. We were relieved of 22 Euros for a patch of gravel about ten metres from the freeway that ran alongside the campsite. We had to pay extra for a card to access a hot shower. The place was jam-packed full. And it was in the middle of an industrial estate. There was a small swimming pool, proudly advertising "Free Entry", but that was locked up before we even had our tent set up!
The only thing the place had going for it was it's small restaurant - there was nowhere elso to go - they had a captive audience! They did a pretty good pizza, and the wine by the caraffe was very cheap. There was nothing else to do but hope that enough wine would help overcome the freeway noise!
We drank a fair amount, and actually found the whole campsite experience quite enjoyable, it was so bad it was good. After dinner we took a walk throught the industrial estate, and admired the local petrol station, and had an early night.
We were glad to pack up and leave early, and headed off to the dive shop. There we geared up and climbed aboard the boat, which took along the beautiful mountainous coastline.
There was a bit of doubt among the dive crew about whether we would be able to do the dive that we wanted, because of sea and wind conditions, but we hassled them a bit, explaining that we had come to see the "Cristo Degli Abissi" statue, and no other dive would do.
When we got to the site conditions turned out to be fine, and the dive was on! We jumped in, and spent about forty minutes swimming around the coastline, ending up at the statue, which is in about ten metres of water.
It is quite breathtaking and beautiful, and it is very surreal to find it there in the depths, even when you know it is there.
I was very satisfied to see it at last. I first saw a picture of it in a diving magazine when I was a child, and thought, "One day I will go and see that!" Well, today was that day!
On the boat trip back I am sure I had a big smile on my face.
The dive company we went with were called DWS. Here are their details:- DWS Diving They were very laid back and friendly, and we reckoned that at 63 Euro, which included all gear, it was a pretty good deal. Call Luca on +39 0185 282578 for further info.
There are actually three statues cast from the same mould made by Italian artist Guido Galletti. The first was placed in the Mediterranean Sea in 1954 at San Fruttuoso Bay, near Genoa, Italy. The second was placed in St. George's Harbor in Grenada in 1961 to commemorate those saved from the Italian ship Bianca C. which caught fire and sank in the harbor. And the third casting was commissioned by Italian dive equipment manufacturer, Egidio Cressi, and donated to The Underwater Society of America, and in 1965 was placed on the seabed near Key Largo, Florida, where it is now one of the world's most popular dive sites.
Portofino Italy - No specific date
Christ of the Deep history
