It was a good job we went to bed early last night! Our first dive was at 6:30am this morning so Chris wanted to get up at 5:30am so we would have enough time to have a cup of tea first. Our wet suits still hadn't dried so it was freezing when we put them on and the very nice sun set didn't offer any warmth at all! We were still on Saxon Reef, this time we got to see a sleeping turtle wake up and swim to the surface to take it's first breath. Chris gave him a stroke as he swam by. Then we saw three sting rays, four white tip reef sharks, a massive moray eel, lots of barracuda and the other usual fish stuff. It was a really nice dive and a great way to wake up! The worst part was getting out though, I wasn't sure I would get used to how cold it was out of the water, jumping into a hot shower afterwards was now part of our routine! 

We had a good breakfast, sausages, beans, pancakes and tea. Then we chilled out on the sofas and wrote up our log books before going on the 8:30am dive. We felt like we were always on the go with little time to rest, but it was all worth it once we were under the water. We had given up on trying to dry our wet suits out, we just raced to get them on as quickly as possible! 

We arrived back at Hastings Reef for our second dive, Chris thought it was ok but I thought it was boring. We saw two sting rays, baby star fish, giant cucumbers and lots of normal fish and coral, nothing big or rare to see though. We decided to give the next dive a miss as we could only do four a day so wanted to save our other two dives for the next reef and include another night dive. 

Our time as guests was almost up, we had to pack up our stuff and move it from our nice twin room down to the very bottom deck where the hostie rooms were. It was still a private room with ensuite but no where near as nice as our room before, we had bunk beds with no fancy linen, a really old carpet, a tiny round window and there was a musky smell in the air. Oh and we had a small fan instead of air con. We didn't care too much though, it was still nicer than some of the dorms we have stayed in and we only cared about getting free dives!

It was almost time to have lunch so we went back upstairs to find Nina and ask about our hostie uniform. She handed us a blue t-shirt each with writing printed on the back of them, it read "I worked on the Great Barrier Reef, ask me how?" We took them then Nina advised us we had to pay $15 each for them and also an extra $5 each for the torches we used on last nights dive! Chris thought it was a piss take, especially as a torch is mandatory on a night dive, it should be included in the total cost of the trip. We took our t-shirts and told her we would pay for them when we leave the boat then she took us around the boat and showed us where everything was from the cleaning cupboard to the laundry room but the best place of all was the kitchen, lunch smelled so good! Just then the chef opened up the shutter and started passing plates through. We went back into the dining area and were served our lunch. 

There was no time to sit and chat after lunch, we were required to start straight away and Nina had plenty of work for us, starting with the dishes! Me and two other girls cleared up the dishes while Chris found his place in the kitchen by the sink. He washed everything that was passed back through the shutter then I dried and put it all away. Just then Nina left the boat and was replaced by Shannon, the other purser. She explained everything we had to do and seemed more relaxed than Nina. The work was pretty easy to be honest, making beds, hoovering, dusting, cleaning dishes and laundry. The only difficult bit was trying to keep your balance while the boat was moving! There was plenty to keep us going so the time flew by and as soon as it was time to dive all the hosties dropped what they were doing and raced to get changed. 

Our first free dive was at 3:30pm, this time the location was Norman Reef. We really liked it, there were alot of fish and the colourful coral was very much alive. Chris really liked it because he got to swim through lots of swim throughs. One of the swim throughs was tight and he came out with scratched legs. I wasn't confident enough to try them, I don't mind if I can see light in the holes but not when your swimming blind. As we got out we had a look at Chris's legs, one of them was cut quite badly but he didn't care. Our break was until 5:30pm so we still had a bit of time before we had to go back to work so we quickly ran to the hot tub after making a cup of tea.  

We could smell dinner being prepared in the kitchen so once our break was up we went to see if the chef needed any help. The chefs name was Phillip, he had been on board for the last couple of nights training to take over from the original chef, we found him standing on the deck just outside the kitchen, he was throwing chicken over board and watching the sharks come up and eat it. We saw at least four black tip reef sharks, we think they were about one and half to two meters big, there were also giant travelli's snatching up some of the chicken. I ran through the boat and told one of the other hosties that there were sharks by the boat, one of the crew members over heard me and asked me if the chef was throwing food over. He didn't look too pleased so I said I didn't think so. The captain asked Chris the same question and he also said he didn't think he was. Then we quickly went back and told Phillip so he stopped. 

Most of the work was done so Shannon came around and told us all to take another break until dinner. A little later Shannon caught Chris putting dirty glasses into the dishwasher. She told him to stop working and relax! What she didn't realise was that the glasses were from our room so he wasn't actually working but it made him look good lol. 

At 5:30pm we set up for dinner, Chris helped plate the food up and I helped to serve everyone. Once everyone had their dinner we were allowed to sit down and eat. Tonight's dinner was ok but not nearly as good as last nights. We think Philip could have done with a little more training! The other crew members and guests didn't look too happy with the dinner either. 

There weren't so many guests on board tonight so as it wasn't busy we were able to go on the night dive at 7:30pm. Again we had to go through with the coldness of our wet suits then waiting to acclimatise in the water. The worst part is when the cold sea water trickles down the back of the suit sending chills right up your spine! 

The dive wasn't as good as last night but we still saw some cool stuff. A big hermit crab, Chris knocked it off it's rock and it fell from a meter to the floor. He felt guilty so picked him up and put him on another rock. We also saw a lobster and more giant travellis. They were the best, we felt like we were out hunting for fish with them. I noticed a pretty yellow and black striped angle fish hiding in some coral, I held my torch light on it hoping a giant travelli would snatch it! But the fish was too far in so I reached down inside and gave the him a little nudge until he came out. It made a dash to the safety of some other coral but it was too late, within a flash it became dinner. I felt guilty afterwards and Chris's evil stare didn't make me feel any better. But that was after doing a victory dance first!!!

We carried on swimming and found two massive napoleon fish, we got close to them then the giant travellis chased them off. We found them again and the same thing happened. We gave up after that. We also saw big groupers, cod fish and lots of fish nestled under rocks and coral sleeping. The dive went too quickly and before we knew it we were back on board working, although I wouldn't call serving up dessert work! Phillip had made too much so we had at least two pears covered in warm chocolate sauce for ourselves. To be honest, I think we have a pretty good deal, free accommodation, free food and free dives! 

We finished up then helped clear the dishes and clean the kitchen, everybody was knackered by the time we were done, some people chilled out on the sofas watching a film but me and Chris went straight to bed, another early morning dive tomorrow.