My Second CCC Expedition
Added to website: 15 July 2005
We’ve recently returned from a 4-week expedition to Fiji. Last time I went on a CCC expedition was 5.5 years ago when I was young, free & single, this time it was with my husband who had put up with me raving on about Coral Cay for years!
At first I was a little apprehensive about embarking on another expedition. Would it live up to my fond memories? Would I meet lots of fantastic people with whom to have a great time like last time? Would my husband survive and enjoy it, and would it live up to his expectations from what I had told him?
The answer was yes to all.
We traveled to Fiji a week early to relax after working, recover from the long journey and to acclimatise before starting science week. It was nice to learn new things again after working for many years and it was surprising for me how quickly names of target species returned after so long! Pointies, validations and even the exams were fun, but it was strange to be revising again! Whereas at school most things seemed pointless and we’ve forgotten much of what we learned, here we were learning interesting information that we can use throughout our diving lives and it will enhance our enjoyment of diving all over the world knowing something about what is going on under the sea. Starting the survey work was even better, as this is the whole essence for being on a CCC expedition and helping to “save the world”.
Living on the beach with the opportunity to swim, snorkel and dive every day (except Sundays of course) is unbelievable and not an experience you can encounter often when living in the UK. Even when it was raining there was fun to be had showering under the gutters!
We weren’t the only married couple (the EL and Doc were married too), but we were the eldest for most of the expedition. We managed a little privacy by bagging the beds in the corridor, but privacy is not something you go on an expedition to get - its a little like Celebrity Love Island really (filmed a few miles from Qalito) without the cameras, celebrities and certainly without a lack of things to do! Some vols struggled to get up early in the morning (6am) to have breakfast and do the chores, whereas we being the elders struggled to stay up late at night, 9pm was often bedtime for us!
To give credit where credit is due, the staff were truly amazing. Running a tight ship, trying to work with the relaxed Fijian culture to get the boats out on time and the supplies in when needed whilst putting up with being stuck on a desert island for 6 months takes lots of organisation, persistence and enthusiasm, qualities they all had!
We had a fantastic time through and through and wish we could have stayed longer. One of our best memories is speeding along on the dive boat Taiken, the sea a little choppy and so the spray flying, singing the Bohemian Rhapsody at the tops of our voices! Leaving Raviniake was very sad, lots of good friends made, fun had and good work done. This is an experience we wouldn’t hesitate to do again and every picture we see of Fiji brings back the good memories.
Diane and Jake Turner,
Fiji Coral Reef Conservation Project,
April 2005.
