Hi all,
While you've been enjoying sunny Mt Gambier, I went to Albany to dive on the ex-HMAS Perth and a couple of other places. I booked in with Dive Locker (
www.albanydive.com.au), quite a good outfit and worth using if you are in the area.
On Saturday we dived on the Perth. Its deeper than the Hobart and the Brisbane, with the main decks below 20m, and the bottom at 35m. It looks to me like there are less side holes, but the visibility was not great at only 8m. The wreck is in an area protected from current and surge, and is quite silty both on the decks and inside. But there is a lot of growth on the vertical surfaces outside, and you can't see its number on the bow (38). The aluminium in the interior is starting to deteriorate and there is a lot of corrosion and sharp edges - but the captain's chair (and there is only one in the bridge - remember the Brisbane has no bridge) still spins. The rear gun is there, but the forward gun has been removed, leaving a huge hole on the foredeck. Unlike the Hobart and the Brisbane, the Perth has part of its structure poking out above sea level, and web cams with above and below water pictures (see
www.hmasperth.com.au - if you were watching this at 9am and 11.30am on Saturday, you would have seen me briefly as this is a nice area to do safety stops). There's less in the control room than on the Hobart, but more in the radar control room below the rear radars/missile directors. There's fewer handrails left on the outside, but inside it looks a lot like the Hobart and Brisbane. Unfortunately I didn't get into the engine room - the Brisbane I reckon has been left with a more interesting area than the Hobart.
On Sunday, we went to Breaksea Island and dived at two sites: Cables and Seal Cove. Cables is named after the old power cables that were laid to feed the lighthouse, and they can still be seen on the sandy floor. But the real attraction is the granite rock formations with narrow swim throughs with just heaps of sealife. With a temperature of 19C and 15-20m vis, it was a great spot. Lots of western blue devils - much the same as the SA blue devils, but with grouper and, and... well I'm going to have to look up the other fish I saw.
The final spot was Seal Cove. In the deeper section there's black coral (with both black and white star fish on them) and large white gorganian fans with orange veins. And at the 5m mark, lots seals and one sea lion. They were energetic when we were there. The sea lion was chasing one of the seals all around us. The seals are really curious and playful, and when you're not looking would come in behind just to have a look at you. Needless to say, we had a very long safety stop.
Well I hope you had as much fun in Mt Gambier (by the way, its a similar driving distance).
I think I need to get a camera...
Trevor
