Ras Abu Galum - Dive photos to Follow

I was last in Egypt back in June, and missed out on the trip by a day. I also didn’t get around to doing the SS Thistlegorm, which I promised myself I’d accomplish this year. Jake (the better half),  was joining me out there to do his advanced, and considering he only had a week we decided it was best to put it on the backburner as time slips away whilst your on holiday easily, let alone when you pack extra adventures in. When we arrived this time in November, I was hell bent on doing the SS Thistlegorm. Oddly enough, once again I didn’t manage to do it. However, I managed to do something far more special and elite and I’m so thankful for the opportunity.

We went to this tiny little Bedouin place by the name of Ras Abu Galum. It is tiny, two families live there, a population of about 20, give or take a few stragglers. To get there you either go by truck up to Nuiweba and back down again, which takes 4 hours, or you camel it from the Blue Hole for an hour. Of course, we opted for the camels! H20 Divers are only one of a couple who offer a diving trip to Ras. I’m so pleased it did it. I’m probably only one of 50 divers who got to experience it this year.

The journey itself is a total experience worth doing. We arrived at the dive centre for 7am, and by 7.45 all of our kits were loaded up, tanks and all onto these odd creatures. I’ve never been a camel fan as a rule; they smell, they feel uncomfortable and all you want to do is hurry them up. This might be because when travelling on four legs I’m too used to being on a horse. Getting onto them itself is entertaining, it’s like watching someone climb onto an extra large clothes horse in the way their legs concertina and fold underneath their bodies. The amazing thing was that once you were on board, they were away! No leading, no direction… they knew exactly where they were heading. A very odd experience, but within ten minutes I was absolutely loving the laid back style. I just chilled and started to look around. My opinion was very much changed.

The seafront path you ride along is ridiculously rocky, but so very totally stunning. It’s like walking back into the Jurassic period. The cliff side and rock faces are so old you can just tell that so much history must have taken place along the trail. Frankie, our guide explained that the trail was actually originally used by the Romans, and they regularly used it to transport goods. You could just picture the Legion pacing down the sands, heading up to cross into Arabia. It really was quite breathtaking. As you carry on around the rocky path you can suddenly see these little dark dots in the distance, these dots turned out to be the wooden huts of Ras Abu Gollum. It works out to about 5 miles north of the Blue Hole. The sun is just beginning to pick up heat as you close into the destination. I was quite sad when I got there as I was quite happy just to carry on taking in the coastline. However, that was just the beginning.

We chose our “hut”. Which literally consisted of shoots tied together in the sand. Keeps you out of the direct sunlight. We offloaded the camels and the Bedouin Sheikh (Sheikh means leader, this man was the leader of his village) greeted us and brought us fresh Bedioun tea which was deliciously refreshing after our trek. We met the local cat, a well looked after grey who was very cuddly and friendly. Also the local dog who was the happiest dog in Egypt! You could almost see her smiling.

Frankie showed us around, not that there was exactly much to show. We were situated on the beach. Stunning views all around. A functioning toilet was about 50 meters away (Don’t expect luxury though) there were mattresses for us to chill out on. Blankets encase we get cold over night.. and stunning reef diving wherever we went! By 10am we were wading into the water for our first dive. Jake, my buddy was half way through his Deep spec, meaning he was learning the science of diving down to 40m and gaining his qualification. It was quite simply stunning. The corals were alive with colour and there were shoals of all forms of fish no matter where we looked. The first dive lasted 45 mins and we came out feeling so refreshed. I always thought that Dahab had the most stunning reefs of Egypt, but Boy, did I not know! This was something quite special.

We changed our kits over and settled down to chill in the sunshine and await lunch. Frankie explained that the Sheikh’s family would be cooking for us. We had fresh battered Grouper (caught about an hour beforehand) with rice and fresh salad. I’ve never tasted fish like it. But to fair, I don’t think I’ve ever had such fresh fish before. We let that settle for an hour then kitted up to head up to the Rocks.

The Rocks is a drift dive on the far edge of Ras Abu Gollum. I’d been told about this dive beforehand. It’s known as Triggerfish Alley as it’s a nursery ground for the Red Tooth triggerfish. You sit at about 20m and just let the current take you. I’ve never seen anything like this dive before. The colours and the beauty is just beyond compare. No matter where I looked, I was surrounded by thousands of these stunning bluey/greeny triggerfish. It really could not be described. This went on for a good hundred meters, and just when you think it ended, another shoal would appear. The masses of colours from all the groups and goatfish was just… well, wow. I came out of that dive in another world. I couldn’t wait to get back into that water to experience more.  The last coral rock before we excited was covered in Lion fish too, which as you know are a regular in the Red Sea, however I counted 17 on this tiny rock! A gorgeous big-eyed puffer sat in the middle of them staring out at us.

That was it for the first day. We chilled out in the sun, drank the beers that we’d brought with us and took it all in. We had roasted chicken for dinner, with pasta and more fresh salad, which again was delightful. Chatted away as the sun went down and the stars started to appear over the mountain. Now, living in the UK I live in quite a populated area, so I’ve never particularly seen the sky at night in a way which makes you stop and think. Up at Ras, with no light pollution once again rendered me speechless. We camped out underneath the stars, and for the first time in my life I saw not just one, but three shooting stars! We slept soundly on our mattress and enjoyed the sounds of the waves against the beech.

We woke up at 6.15.. the sky was beginning to lighten but there was no sign of the sun just yet. We’d all decided to do an early dive, 7am in the water before breakfast. We went up to a sit between the house reef and rocks but had no specific name. The one thing that made it stand out though were the amount of pinnacles sticking up throughout the corals. Very striking and different to the other sides only a few hundred meters away. Jake needed to finish off his deep spec so we planned to go down to 38 meters. The sun had just risen above the water as we went down and getting to 30m was quite a view. Where the sun wasn’t high in the sky it looked like we were almost diving into the abyss. The night sky was still reflecting downwards. A very eerie feeling at the back of my spine as I watched the colours change in front of me. A pretty dive, not as so many fish in this area as Rocks, but the colours and the pinnacles still made it stand out.

We got out of the water just before 8 and once again set up our kits. Breakfast and tea were served, basic breads and jam but delicious all the same. We let our surface interval time climb as the sun came up and once again, we chilled. (As you can tell we did a LOT of that… but, in such a serene place it’s hard not to do anything else. You don’t want music blaring.. or loud chatter. It’s just you and a little piece of paradise)

The last dive we chose to go back and do Rocks again. The current wasn’t as strong the second time so we had a longer time to reach the exit point. It was a similar experience to the day before but nonetheless anything but beautiful. Knowing it was our last dive we took the camera and got a few shots, as you can see the results are on here!  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do the beauty justice. My friends who dived here with Frank back in June managed to catch site of a Manta. Unfortunately we didn’t, but our experience was just as amazing.

After the dive we packed up our kits and sat down for lunch. Today it was fresh Goatfish. I found it so weird as you could still see their little feelers under their gills. It was just as good as the Grouper on the previous day, if not better. The Bedioun family couldn’t do enough to look after us. Such a friendly bunch too, they have a couple of little children that come round and say hi every so often. Always smiling, always happy despite having no electricity, no internet, no computer games! They play in the sand every day with strong imaginations. Simplistic but heavenly.

Our camels arrived earlier than expected, but the sun was still high in the sky so we did not want to move too quickly, otherwise it would be sunburn ahoy! Curled up on the beach for a while and took in our last views before getting onto our walking clothes horses for the journey home.

All I can say is that it was worth every penny. I visited somewhere which only the rare very lucky tourist gets to see. You can keep your Pyramids and museums tours, sandboarding and quad biking….  Give me the peace, tranquillity and absolute beauty of Ras Abu Gollum any day.  It’s magical. If I get a chance, I’ll be heading back there again.


PS – Thank you Jake. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have done it x
PS PS- Thank you Frank, for convincing Jake! X

Fear of flying?

Now I'm never one to admit when I have a fear of something. Unless it's small spaces it's rare when something bothers me. 

Now, writing this post 36,000ft in the air it's sprung to my mind how much older I am, and therefore how much more aware I am that life passing me by. If the plane dropped out of the sky right now, that would, be it. The end, c'est fini.

Not to curse the rest of my flight but it feels kind of odd to look out to the jet engine, which I happen to over viewing from my surprisingly comfortable Easyjet seat and think that that particular engine is keeping tonnes upon tonnes of heavy metal and not to mention the human, living cargo alive as we motor on across the continent. Caught myself staring out at that engine for a good five minutes in wonderment of what the human race has managed to create over the years.

I love flying as a general rule. As a child I always used to sit next to my father and he'd hold my hand at take off just encase we didn't lift off the ground (Great bout of confidence in survival there, Dad.) Dad has no fear of flying at all. He enjoys the same rush as I do from life, always happy to jump onto the next adventure. Whereas my Mother always had this feeling of danger throughout. Don't get me wrong, she's a happy enough flyer but always quite cautious. She'll always spend the  week before flying a little uptight, however she's got the same fear of small spaces that I have. As much as I love flying I can totally see her point of view, I hate the thought of spending 5+ hours cooped up in a tiny seat with someone sitting next to me who happens to have a knack for elbowing my kidneys ever ten minutes.

I always find it funny, when I leave to go on holiday, Mum will ask me to send her a text upon landing to let her know I'm safe. The generic response from me being that if I hadn't landed safely, I'm quite sure she'd hear about it before I did!

I have found that, recently my survival instinct has kicked in. When I mean survival instinct, I mean the fact my brain kicks into thinking that this flight could be the last one I ever take. Morbid, eh? Such happy thoughts!  I have no idea where this has stemmed from, but it's a constant when I've flown in the past few years. I wish I knew why and as I said before, I can only put it down to having this awareness of age and life. Maybe the thought that things can be so sudden. The world is so very big, especially as you look down from this height. Makes you realise just how insignificant you really are,

On the brighter side, I am on my way for a bit more of the good side of living... Scuba heaven. Even ticking off the SS Thistlegorm from my bucket list. If that's not something to live for, I don't know what is :)

Signing off. 

J L Edwards.

Seat 8A

EZY3031

My Nan.

Now before you read any further, this is not an obituary. My Grandmother, Audrey, is alive and kicking. She's 92 years young and she lives directly across the road from me.

Nan is bleedin' wonderful for her age. Even last year we thought she was on her way out, with blood clots throughout her body and yet she still came back and carries on going. I swear she must run on Duracell, or something.

She puts many of us to shame, she walks into Herne bay every morning to keep herself fit, although she needs to do this with the aid of a trolley as she has zero balance without support. However, she zooms down the hill quicker than me!

My wonderful mother looks after her by cooking her lunch everyday, then once a week she needs assistance showering, mostly because of the balance issue. I digress, though, as the reason I'm writing this post is because over the last few years we have noticed the Alzheimer's set in. Old age and Alzheimer's are terrible. She's shrunk from 5"4 to 4" nothing for a start, not to mention all the illnesses and body issues that follow with it.

We're lucky with my nan, in the scheme of things her mind is wonderful although over the past years she has definitely become more forgetful. She struggles to remember conversations from 15 minutes ago, and yet can regail you with stories of her childhood, the war and stories of when my dad was a schoolboy. It's upsetting to see when she struggles to remember you've planned to visit her, even when you've only spoken an hour beforehand.

When my family are on holiday (As they are at the moment) I end up caring for my Nan, this year with the help of my Auntie Sue.

Every time I go across to her house I get the same stories, the same conversations and the same questions asked, she gets fretty over the simplest of things. I have to be mindful not to get irritated and annoyed as the routine can get very frustrating, very quickly. (Especially when she brings up the fact I haven't had children, and my mother had all ready had my brother by my age...That one is a regular moment about once every 20 minutes, amongst other poignant remarks) I know she never means it in a bad way, I think she feels she's got limited time left and would like to see me settled. I keep on repeating that I'm getting there but the sproglet idea is a loooong way off still.

I wash her hair for her, and set it into curlers once a week, and it's only when she sits there in the chair, smiling at me in the mirror, I remember that I'm so very lucky to have the time with her, even when she's driving me stir crazy! I know she's been on borrowed time for quite a few years now.

Today she came back down on her stairlift to give me a present. I was shocked, she'd made a scrapbook of when I was MHB In 2006 and wanted to give it to me, in the folder there was every photo and mention of me from every local paper in the area. Needless to say I ended up in a flood of tears by the sweetness shown.

I'm very blessed to have my Nan at 28. Most friends and family's grandparents passed years ago. Long may she live past a ton, I just hope her memory stays as it is... X

Jen's adventures... Part 1?

It's been a while, once again. Time flies when you're having fun, and personally I've been having a blast.

I was going to write a few decent blog posts from my adventures in Dahab,

Only for my iPad to pick up that I'm in Egypt and turn everything into Arabic. A slight nuisance to say the least! Especially as I'd written everything down on my notes before hand and then was unable to transfer. Now I'm back, nearly 2 weeks later and feeling far to lazy to retype it all out again. So, in a nutshell:

I made 15 dives in my new kit. I need to adjust a few things slightly, but I looked awesome, I must say! I got my deep speciality qualification. (40m). I saw some stunning coral. I saw some even more stunning fish and turtles. I drank a hell of a lot of sakara (the local beer), and learned that drinking to excess is stupid. (A lesson I tend to forget every so often). I had an amazing time with amazing friends, some new and some old. I also had a bit of a panic attack when the boyfriend got delayed on his flight home by 30 hours, but on the brighter side easyjet have compensated us... With free flights to return in the Autumn. Panic attack and his stress = well worth it!

So.. All is grand. I had the best week of my life last week really, my last dive at the  Southern Reefs was one of the best ever! I then returned home safely to go to Hard Rock Calling, of which I saw two of my favourites out of many bands, Temperance movement and the Boss. The even cooler thing was that I stood next to the Temperance movement for the whole Sprigsteen set. (How awesome is that?!)

I then proceeded to have a nice week at work, and then jumped out of a plane at the end of the week. With a parachute, and a tandem random strapped to me too... Obviously. 'Twas probably the scariest moment of my life... The physical movement to drop from the plane, I just simply cannot put into words how much I thought I was going to die. Instant thoughts of how suddenly my life is too precious began to surface as the plane started to descend above the clouds. However, as soon as I was out.. Wow. 40 seconds free fall.. I hit 128mph and boom.. The world is in front of you from and angle I never thought I'd see. The parachute opens at about 5000ft and the fun begins.. Softly and slowly through the clouds to the ground, playing and spinning as we went. No broken arms or legs, totally safe and sound. Amazing.

Unfortunately I didn't get any photographic proof, the company wanted £140 for a video, and to be honest, I'd rather add the few extra pounds and do it again! Not to mention said video would have just been me screaming profanities for a half a minute, not exactly something to be proud of!

To top it off, we had the titanic ball at the King's hall on the Saturday night. Amazing effort made by every single person that went, I felt like I'd gone back in time! Baypromo once again rocked it. Long may the town's enthusiasm for fun and craziness carry on :)

Anywho, update of sorts completed. Off on adventures for a few days next week too so I shall blog again shortly. i'm off on a magical mystery tour for the boyfriend's birthday. I hope he likes Southend at this time of year ;)

Taking the Plunge

Hello blog. Long time now speaky! What can I say?

Life has been, well, progressive I guess. After the last year and all of the mental challenges it finally feels as if I’m coming out the other side and into the Sun (Although, this is a metaphorical sun as it seems that the real thing has disappeared for good in Kent). Working hard with the new job. Playing hard in the meantime. Put on a little weight, however mostly muscle. Lots of gym work, lots of cycling. I’m happy and at peace. All is well!

The bike ride I’d signed up for didn’t happen, due to a gammy ligament in my right knee. Training went out of the window which is highly frustrating. However, I’m booked in to the London Bikeathon in September, spending a lot of time in the gym trying to strengthen that knee up. The new bike is actually being used. (Huzzah!)  Although the racing saddle is proving to be the challenge of what I need to get used to. Gel shorts have been purchased! However, nice baggy boardie looking ones, rather than the lycra. After seeing my friend get off his bike last year after the London to Brighton; in lycra and looking like he was wearing a full nappy, I decided they were probably not for me. The even better part of joining up to this charity event is that I’ve bullied my brother and the boyfriend into taking part too. Both aren’t exactly exercise nuts like me, so I’m quite chuffed they’ve accepted the challenge. Go team Edwards! Also may have planned a little sky dive trip in July. Not talking about that one though, it scares me just thinking about it. Going to just forget about it until D-Day arrives.

On the same subject of exercise and hobbies, one thing I have done recently is finally set about having my own dive kit. I’ve been deliberating the pro’s and con’s of having my own scuba gear for quite sometime, and finally decided to take the plunge. The London Dive Show at Excel back in March finally swayed me when I picked up a good deal on some regulators. Ebay has been my fwiend ever since J Not to mention I got an absolute awesome BCD (Bouyancy Control Device) through family at a bargain. I’m near enough fully kitted out now. I have to thank my good twitter buddy @Fivemetrestop for all his advice, and the help I got off his website blog, of which you can find at www.fivemetrestop.com  All I’m missing are the gauges and the mask, both of which I shall be purchasing in Dahab, which happens to be next week. I also need to learn how to use the i3 tech. I’ve always been the typical “normal” BCD user, this new fangled technology has thrown me a little, read the instruction manual and just hoping that I can make sense of it when it comes to the crunch!

So my current set up is:

Wetsuit: 5mm Semi Dry Waterproof Lynx/ Mares boots.

Regs: 1t Stage Aqualung  Calypso/ 2^nd Stage Octo

BCD: Ladies Aqualung Pearl i3

Dive Comp: Suunto D4

Fins: Mares Avanti 3’s.

The aim is to use my 3mm shorty wetsuit over my 5mm and actually attempt to dive off Kent this Summer. However, at the moment the weather is dictating no, in the “computer says noooo” fashion. Come on weather, buck up!

Anyway. That’s me for now. Excited about my holiday next week, however I’m not really going solo anymore. I’m off for 11 nights and the boyfriend is joining me for 7 of them. Bloody gatecrasher! On the brighter side, he’s a diver too and has been bitten by the bug. It’s such an addictive hobby, it’s just such a pity it’s not cheap!

Signing off for now.

February all ready?

Where the bleeding heck did January go. Can someone please tell me? I'm Sure I did not blink and miss it. One month down, and all ready well into 2013.

The question is: have I got anywhere fast? I'd like to say yes, but predominately the answer is a big fat no.

I feel guilty not writing a blog every so often. I look back and think: Wow! Where did the time go. I've noticed that my last post was about the gym work outs and the crazy drunk promise to cycle. I can assure you all that I've stuck to it (So far, so good!) I've a nice pretty new road bike on order and I will be zooming past most local towns in the oncoming months (Many of those said towns will be stopped at for a pint or two).

As for the other non-resolutions, Mum has had her mega surgery, and we've all got our fingers crossed that she's now on the home stretch. It's an odd feeling, but I don't think I've ever been so scared over anything in my whole life until the last few months. You only get one family, one life and one chance to live it. I have a great feeling I'll be booking in something similar to a skydive with Mum come the Summer. Actually, knowing what she's like, probably not. But I feel a stupid dare of some form looming. Watch... This... Space!

The gym work has been maintained, bar the last week when the onslaught of final job roles have come to a head at Tory HQ. I'm very sad to leave there in way, I've made some amazing friends over the past four years; a few I'd even go as far to say adopted family. But, the times are changing and I need a new life challenge. Hopefully I'll fit in well at the new job role, it's a fresh start in many way for me. Hopefully the right one.

In the meantime, the sad news is that Chez Edwards lost our long-standing feline companion, Cleo. She was a present to me on my 11th birthday, the day after Princess Diana's funeral (You can work out the age if you really need to). All of us are missing her terribly but we knew it was the right decision. There will never be another cat quite like her, but I'm quite sure we won't stay cat less for long.

So that's it kiddos. February update is done. The last on my list was to work to be happy for myself this year, so far it's sitting on a positive note. That can only be a good thing!

I'm a right cycle path...

Nearly 2 weeks into this year and so far I've managed to accomplish quite a lot; or well, it feels like a lot.

I know it's only 2 weeks... but so far ive stuck to my resolutions. Last weekend I joined the gym with my bestest bud, Jeremy, with every intention of working hard and so far it's seemed to have worked. There's a big reason for this change in my habits as I managed to get myself into a little bit of a sticky situation, but now trying to make the most of it...

Back last Summer I was invited to The Lord Mayor's Ladies Day at Kent County Cricket club. I was ridiculously excited to attend and had to dress up in my glad rags in the sunshine. (me + cricket = happiness at the best of times). It's a rare occasion I properly dress up, so I made the most of it.

Suffice to say, as the day went on we all had a few shandies whilst networking and enjoying the company of the Council's guests. In the latter part of the afternoon I ended up sitting next to the Chief Executive of the Council, Colin Carmichael and also the deputy, Velia Coffey. I'd had a few conversations with them in the past about cycling, as both have done tons for charity by doing crazy bike rides. I'd informed them that over the Summer I'd developed a taste for cycling.... although my craziness was limited to Minnis Bay or Whitstable with normally a pint stop in between. I then of course, with a little stupid Dutch courage told them how I love challenges. Which to be fair is the truth, but perhaps not what I had in mind when they then invited me to do the Lady Mayoress's charity bike ride the following Summer. "Of course!!" I responded. Thinking yes, this would be awesome. That, and well, how could I refuse the Chief and Deputy execs?!

Following on from that day, I received an email back in November to officially sign up. I couldn't really say no after having the cajonies to say yes beforehand. I then realise its a bike ride to Reims in France.. Over 3 days. Eek! Anyone who's reading this now, and thinking to themselves that the distance is simple.. Pease leave!! ;) For a person like me and my medical history, it's asking a lot. But who doesn't love a good challenge?

So this week at the gym, as well as completing other cardio, heart attack causing exercises; I've cycled about 70k. I've also bought a pretty road bike, which should arrive just in time for the snow fall. I've also had the dawning realisation that I desperately need to invest in some decent cycling shorts (ouch!). I'm not going to even try and describe the saddle sore at this exact moment in time, otherwise this blog would become R rated.

I'm facing the challenge at hand straight on. Half the reason I've written this blog is because it means I then cannot back out. It's now on record and in the public domain. Wish me luck!

Oh and PS, Jeremy dared me to write about how awesome he is. So there, Jeremy. You're mentioned and it's done.

Posted with Blogsy

2013? Bring it on!

Where to start? I normally don't bother with resolutions; they get bent and broken so easily.Instead I'm going for hopes and aspirations, after last year being a bit of a big cock up, it'll be interesting to see how these pan out. A new, fresh start:

1. I'm going to support my Mum and watch her kick the big "C"'s arse. We're half way there but she has still got a long time to go. I know I cannot cure it, but a positive attitude and help when I can is a must. As with most people, we're close to our parents. Mum and I created a strong bond over the time I was ill. Fighting all the way, and I'll be there with her.

2. Learn new things and have different experiences. (Without being alcoholically challenged!) Perhaps finally learn an instrument, or go back to playing the piano and develop my skills. Go back to learning another language. It's been too long since I've done something practical, I enjoy learning and I should utilise this further. I now have the time, rather than watching films, or sitting in the pub I will make sure that I will be proactive with expanding my horizons. (Admittedly signing up to a 200 mile bike ride was a little bit of a crazy moment, but that will be.... Interesting, a challenge??)

3. Keep my head down and work hard. I have a new job starting soon, it's a chance for a whole new career and life. So many options from it.. Thou shalt not cock it up. I want my own place and to prove things can be accomplished on my own.

4. Support Herne Bay in any way, shape or form that I can do and not just on a Council level. So many events to plan that are all just going to get bigger and better as the year goes on. I'm looking forward to my 2nd year in the BayPromoTeam. They've become a second family, They are all crazy in their own ways but what we've managed to accomplish is totally amazing, long may that continue (and Gerald's amazing costumes!)

5. Dive the US Thistlegorm. I've been to Egypt god knows how many times, I miss out. This isn't a hope, this is happening.  My idol Jacques Cousteau discovered it, I need to do this wreck. I'm back to Egypt on my own this time. I'm quite excited about this. The Thistlegorm is a war grave, a very sad wreck from 1941, but it's probably one of the most interesting wrecks ever. Full cargo.

6. Last and final one, to learn to be happy for myself and myself alone. This is going to be the hardest one, but against 6 months ago, there's no comparison as to what I feel about my life. I just must look to the next 6 months and see what I can accomplish. As Mr Shakespeare once said, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women are merely players". Time for me to take a main role.

To the family, friends and crazies who seem to like hanging about with me, thank you for everything. XX

Life, 2013, bring it on. I'm ready and waiting! Just let me get out of bed and over this damn hangover first...