I admire those travellers who have a little bit of a different specialty to their travels than some of us, like those who’ve followed through and actually acquired their scuba diving licence. That’s definitely something I’ve been meaning to do myself, but never quite got around to following through on it. Each time I visit a nice, warm destination however and we’re afforded the opportunity to go snorkelling, I’m always reminded of just why I really need to stop procrastinating and get my scuba licence.
Don’t get me wrong — snorkelling is every bit as fun as it’s made out to be, but I think there’s just a whole lot more of the undersea world to see if you do it via scuba diving. It’s rather intriguing following the experiences of a traveller whose main theme of their travels is to dive the great barrier reefs of the world or something along those lines, checking in and out of airport customs clearance desks with all their scuba diving gear in-tow.
I think it’s something I’d really enjoy doing straight of the bat, but it goes way deeper than being able to say I’ll be exploring the next great barrier reef of the coastal town I’ll be visiting next. I think if I finally get it — nay, when I finally get my scuba diving licence, one of the diving experiences I’d really love to have is that of exploring shipwrecks.
I’ve perhaps already missed the boat as far as shipwreck discoveries go, so I probably won’t be uncovering “new” shipwrecks with fully stocked bars perhaps still intact, as was the case with the discovery of the world’s oldest beer in a shipwreck that was explored on one of these amazing diving excursions.
One can only hope though because that would be a serious collision of two of my passions, one which is beer (if you’re not already aware of that) and the other which is just the experience of exploring the world through travel. Also, one might think that all the world’s shipwrecks have already been discovered and located, but as was the case with a recent discovery, it turns out that the entire ocean floor hasn’t been completely scoured as yet and shipwrecks continue to be discovered as time goes by.
The world’s oceans may have already been completely mapped, but that’s not the same as them having been scanned and documented, something which demonstrates to be rather expensive, difficult and time consuming through the MH370 aircraft debris that’s yet to be officially declared to have been found.
So I’ll get on with getting my scuba diving licence and just stop procrastinating, but for now I take great pleasure and “motivation” out of following stories like the one of the world’s oldest beer cache having been found in the wreckage of a commercial trading boat named the Sydney Cove, which ran aground in Bass Strait, on Preservation Island in 1797.
These are the types of stories and encounters travellers totally live for.