photofile

Diving The Semle Ferdersen, Port Vila, Vanuatu from James Doherty on Vimeo.

As I watched the depth gauge roll past 40 meters the GoPro didn’t miss a beat. As mentioned previously manoeuvring in the engine bay of the Semle Ferdersen required both hands, as such the video quality suffered somewhat, but with the help of some splicing, judicious editing, and a Moby track, this video gives you a good idea of the dive.

After our time on the Freycinet Peninsula we headed inland to Mount Field National Park, a two hour dive on progressively curvier roads outside of Hobart. The well worn track herds the majority of tourists towards the base of Russell Falls, but with a keen eye, and a little local knowledge, an old track cut into the valley wall can be found. This overgrown trail climbs to the middle tier of Russell Falls, where you stand in the mist created by the cascading waterfall and surrounded by the detritus of trees that have tumbled over the falls.

Mele Cascades, fifteen minutes by bus outside of Port Vila the road steepens suddenly, and whilst the Efate ring road traffic climbs skyward, the Mele river cascades back down over a series of drops. Walking through the dense jungle, you criss-cross the cascades, which are interspersed with sections of blue-green pools, lined with fine white soil. After fifteen minutes climbing up a somewhat uneven set of stairs the final cascade appears, a cliff of 20 meters, moss covered and, as the name suggests, water cascading down. Having no tripod to allow for a low shutter speed the resultant photographs aren’t as crisp as I’d like, but they still convey the beauty of this place.

Bougainvillea Reef proved the GoPro’s mettle in 40 meters of water. With the red light of the spectrum diffusing in the shallower waters, and the available light decreasing I was still able to get some photos of the local marine life, and the amazing bright yellow stag horn coral formations, albeit looking less yellow than when under torch light.

The Konanda was rendered unseaworthy by the 1987 Cyclone Uma. She was sold to the management of Iriki Island and later scuttled dead upright in 26 meters of water as an artificial reef. Descending the mooring line, her mast comes into view at 12 meters, with the rest of the hull coming into view as you descend. I dived the Konanda three times during my time in Port Vila, each time exploring a little deeper, and a little further into the superstructure.