Wow what a month. Yes it has been nearly a month without hearing from us but as I am the one that does this newsletter and I have been gallivanting around Vanuatu and Queensland (hard life but someone has to do it) this has been only half done and I didn't want to send a half hearted newsletter out. So here is what has been happening.
26 people went and came back from Vanuatu. There will be a full writeup and video posted very soon (I have been trying to get it on YouTube for the last 12 hours but it says it is too long and file is too big- It's really hard to cut things out) Anyone willing to help with this that would be great. The diving blew lots of minds, and apart from a few hiccups the trip was just fantastic. Everyone loved it and I personally want to thank all the Vanuatu travelers for making the trip. It is definitely one we will look back on cherish all our lives.
We are still conducting a variety of courses every weekend. Although it is bitterly cold in Melbourne at the moment we still have heaps of divers doing social dives every weekend which is great to see. Two weeks ago our Advanced course copped the best night dive with schools of squid, eels and octopus. WOW. I have only ever seen one eel under Rye- or in the Bay for that fact. Very cool. See Matt's Video of Victoria coastline part 2 to be amazed.
After being home for a week I went off to Queensland for the Annual Oceanic conference. There were 70 delegates from all over Australia there. It is a chance to pick each others brains about how we can better the industry and our businesses, see what is coming out (some really really really cool stuff), and generally socialise over a bottle or two of wine each night. Every year there is always at least 5 things that I find really interesting and will implement. We also won the Presidents award which is due to excellence in marketing, and our efforts over the year. This award is out of the whole of Australia so that is great. (see picture to the left) One other amazing thing that happened was that I won a limited edition OC1. It was the first one produced and handed out in the world. It also comes with a book Diving pioneers and Innovators. Bob Hollis who started Oceanic and is the President was at the conference and he was able to personally sign the book and give me the prize. Needless to say there were many a jealous candidate on the Gala dinner night.
This week spells more chaos as we build a new compressor room (thanks Hugh for volunteering/ getting pushed into this
one) and get our new compressor connected. After nearly 6 months of waiting we will finally have our new AOS baby that we can cherish for years. I call it our new baby because the process of getting it took nearly as long as pregnancy and has been almost worse than childbirth. We are yet to name her/him? Any ideas let us know. As of Thursday you will be able to get your tank filled off our new compressor and banks. It will streamline all our tank filling operations here at Glen Iris. Very excited. The boat show is on at Geoff's Shed this weekend so you can also catch me there. No rest for the wicked.
I feel like this has been a massive diary entry so excuse me for my waffling. Moral of the whole last bit was that it has been hard to be consistent here over the last month which is why this newsletter is late and to apologise for our tardiness.
By the way... our new AOS beanies are in! And winter jackets will be in next week. Come on down and have a look. Also the mask strap amnesty continues. Bring in your old mask strap for one of our new ones.
Still heaps going on so read below.
Kat
| The
What's on Spot | |
| Club Dives | Check out the Website for all club dives both boats and Shores, under Calendars - Social. Check with the shops for the finer details of the Shore Dives For all events for dives and social activities go to our calendar. It is updated daily. |
| Graduation Nights | Glen
Iris- Thursday 1st July Rye- Friday 2nd July |
Special Activities Courses | Tech Talk with Andy Higgins - Thur 8th July Travel Information Night- Thursday 15th July Twin Tryout day- Sat 10th July BOOK NOW Twin Tank setup and Adv Deco/Nitrox Talks - Thur 29th July Advanced Course - July 8th, 10th & 11th (2 Spots Left) Emergency 1st Response Course - July 6th & 7th O2 Provider Course - July 12th Rescue Course - July 14th, 15th, 17th & 18th (1 Spot Left) Wreck Course - July 15th, 17th & 18th (3 Spots Left) Deep/Nitrox Course - July 20th, 21st, 24th & 25th ( 2 Spots Left) Advanced Deco/Nitrox Course - August Dates to be Advised Book Now |
| Travel | Truk Lagoon- October 22nd- 31st 2010 Few spots still available! Whyalla- Cuttlefish breeding road trip. August 2011 Trips NOW being Finalised Stay tuned for more info |
| Specials | Academy of Scuba- Tank
Sale- 10.5 Litre steel tanks for only $400. That is saving a huge $280. Only a few tanks left. Scubapro Torches (not Nova 230) and Princeton Tec Torches 30% OFF Get a free wetsuit or $200 voucher towards snorkeling equipment for anyone who does their open water diver course in July or August. |
Backplates, harnesses, single webbings, quick releases, 10's, 12's..... what to go for? If you have been a diver on the boats that stares at people with twin tanks and have no idea why people use them, or how they work, here is your chance to find out. When it comes to any form of diving, equipment is personal preference. This is also true when using twin tanks but there is a bit more thoery that goes into your decision. We will be conducting a twin tank discovery day to answer all your questions and let you try all the different systems on the market. For divers interested in getting into twin diving this is a prime time to make an informed decision on your future new toys.
When- Saturday 10th of July at 1pm
Where- Ashburton pool
How Much- $40
What to bring- Your wetsuit or drysuit and snorkelling equipment.
Infomation Nights on the 8th of July at the Glen Iris Shop from 7pm,
Andy will be talking about Twin Setups, Sidemounting tanks and the August Advanced Deco Courses.
We are sad to report that our Sipidan trip for June 2011 has been canceled after many conversations with our travel agent. I booked this trip in last year in the hope that the permits that you need to dive Sipadan would be changed. To cut a long story short permits are needed to dive the famous and stunning sites around Sipadan island. Unfortunately these are scarce. The resort that we were staying at only had 14 a day so we would have to put our group in 2 resorts, Not ideal. They were going to abolish these permits but unfortunately have not been.
What this means is that out of the 5 days you stay around the area you are only guaranteed to dive there on one of these. The other 4 days you can do muck diving around the channels. This is a long way to go with a 20+ strong group for only one day of WOW diving. For photographers the muck diving is a dream, but as we are not all photographers, I decided that it would be best to move locations. This also means that we will not be visiting the orangutans which I am most upset about. I believe that it is still a world class diving destination but it is just not suitable for diving groups. It is best organised individually.
If you still wanted to go or would like me to organise private travel, this is possible and easily done. Sorry to those that had their heart set on it. I know I did but at least we can escape somewhere as nice, a bit cheaper, and get 7 whole days of fantastic diving. This trip has been replaced with Uepi Island. See travel section of the newsletter for more details.
After the hugely successful Vanuatu trip we have sat down and worked out where we are going next year. There will be a big info night on Thursday July the 15th from 7pm at Glen Iris but so far we have :-
- Vanuatu- April 2011
- Uepi in the Solomons - June 2011
- Palau- October 2011
Swim with the mantas in Palau or snorkel in jelly fish lake. Shore dive massive dropoffs (we are talking a couple of hundred meter shear cliffs) in Uepi and be awestruck by the beauty and peacefullness of these remote islands. These are all beautiful diving destinations and as you have probably found out by the people who went to Vanuatu the trips are just amazingly unforgettable. Call Kat or Jimmy for more details.
Read below and contact us at Glen Iris on 9813 8722 or reply if you want to come. Should be a great night.
To the left you have my new toy. The limited edition OC1 is all black with a black metal band, a wooden box, certificate of authenticity, the diving pioneers and innovators book signed by Bob Hollis and all the accessories like transmitter, download cable and extension straps.
So much thought has gone into the presentation, and after diving with the OC1 for nearly a year now I can tell you that the computer itself is magnificent. There are only going to be 1000 of these made, with only 100 of the 1000 being shipped to Australia.
It is not everyone's cup of tea but if you have been interested in upgrading your computer to an OC1, or wanted to purchase your first computer this package is spectacular. Come in and see it on display in the shop. Numbers are strictly limited and I know that there are only another 20 in the factory that have not been pre ordered so I wanted to get the word out if you were interested so that you don't miss out. Call us ASAP if you are interested.
Look underwater in a different light-
Last year we had regular night dives. These were held every Tuesday and a great way to de-stress after work. Although these are all weather permitting the nights we couldn't get in the water we ended up somewhere for dinner and a catch-up. The weekly night dives are back. Tuesday is still the day. Call either Glen Iris or Rye after 2pm any Tuesday to find out the weeks location. Come into the shop and pick up your night diver card from next Thursday and get this stamped every week by one of our instructors or divemasters. Do this for 8 nights and combine it with your night diver course and you will receive a $100 bonus and the elite title of AOS Night Diver Champion. We look forward to seeing you there.
Starting now you can receive rewards for renting your dive equipment with Academy of Scuba. Any time you rent any equipment we will give you a voucher for what you rented. Collect five of these and bring them in for a free hire. This makes things easier and it is like a 25% discount every time you hire your gear. These vouchers can be collected from Rye or Glen Iris and used at both stores. If you have any questions give us a buzz.
Yours in diving
Kat, Trav, Jimmy, Kate, and the rest of the Academy of Scuba crew.
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| Glen Iris | Rye |
| 267 Burke Rd Glen Iris, VIC 3146 PH- (03) 9813 8722 email- info@academyofscuba.com.au | 2385 Point Nepean Rd, Rye VIC 3941 PH- (03) 5985 8722 email- rye@academyofscuba.com.au |