Ten things about me. Part Two !!!

2. I've lost my train of thought now. OK. Got one. Back in my twenties I bummed around the country fruit picking. Oh, and firebreathing. I got very good at spitting, and burped paraffin like mad in the pub later! Least I think it was paraffin, which just goes to show (referring back to number 1) that time does fade every memory.

3. I was deported from Singapore after entering the country illegally, about 10 years ago. I shunted off to the mainland and stayed at the top hotel in, I think, Jota Bahru. This was a 20 storey plus monstrosity and I was on the 22nd floor. Confidence building as it was, of the 6 lifts available one was permanently open with a sign in situ stating "Permanently reserved for the fire brigade".

4. I, myself, have gone diving in Alaska. It was actually no colder than diving in Scotland. But then if you've ever been diving in Scotland you'd understand the slight understatement there. I spent the first dive basically bricking myself that a Killer Whale would appear in front of me only to surface to one of the best sights of my life. As I broke the surface of the water a Golden Eagle 'landed' beside me, grabbed a fish and flew away. I'd obviously disturbed his prey enough to distract the fish and enable the eagle to grab an easy meal. Totally awe inspiring seeing the speed and power of that bird.

5. I used to go open ocean swimming with a complete nutter. Why? I don't know. This man was ex-SAS/SBS/who-knows-what but something dark and deadly along those lines. He was navy I just can't remember which 'elite' bit he was. Anyhow, we used to swim out to sea and go hunting sharks and other interesting things. Then all of a sudden he would just disappear from sight only to reappear aeons later after doing what I would class as record breaking breath holding dives. I swear I looked like a struggling fish on the surface the first few times he did that! Shark bait if ever anyone was. He just used to disappear. He'd never let me know he was off. Which after being p'd off the first few times was actually quite good for me because it taught me the value of paying attention to what was going on around me and not just what was in front of me.

Oh yea - and I have swum with one of the most deadliest animals in the sea - a sea snake. Quite a venomous one as well according to the guide books. I actually thought it was a piece of plastic floating in the water. Had a good swim, just a bit nerve wracking trying to make sure I stayed permanently 5 feet away from it. I don't know if snakes value their personal space, but I figured this might be any reasonable animal's zone of tolerance.

I have also nearly had a heart attack when faced by a cod. Anyone seen a real live one? Have you any idea just how large they are? I thought it was a bloody big shark and nearly dropped dead on the spot as it swam towards me!