Enjoying a nostalgic day in HK

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Cleaning shells from Prevelly Beach

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Linklaters LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC326345. It is a law firm authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk). The term partner in relation to Linklaters LLP is used to refer to a member of Linklaters LLP or an employee or consultant of Linklaters LLP or any of its affiliated firms or entities with equivalent standing and qualifications. Please refer to www.linklaters.com/regulation for important information on our regulatory position.
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At Voyager

We've arrived in the Margaret River, reckoned by at least one member of the party to rank amongst the more interesting places on Planet Earth. Dipped our toe into the wine-tasting scene this afternoon, with a visit to Voyager. Delicious Chardonnay for the adults and a tutored grape juice tasting for the other team members.


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Linklaters LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC326345. It is a law firm authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk). The term partner in relation to Linklaters LLP is used to refer to a member of Linklaters LLP or an employee or consultant of Linklaters LLP or any of its affiliated firms or entities with equivalent standing and qualifications. Please refer to www.linklaters.com/regulation for important information on our regulatory position.
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OK, I'm obsessed

.. with Aussie sunsets. This is the scene tonight from our cabin in Exmouth, and of course the Blackberry lens doesn't begin to capture the beauty of it.


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Linklaters LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC326345. It is a law firm authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk). The term partner in relation to Linklaters LLP is used to refer to a member of Linklaters LLP or an employee or consultant of Linklaters LLP or any of its affiliated firms or entities with equivalent standing and qualifications. Please refer to www.linklaters.com/regulation for important information on our regulatory position.
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Beasts under the Pier

A couple of days ago we decided to take a literal plunge, and do our first open water scuba dive. Prior to leaving Blighty we'd done our PADI theory test and confined water dives, in the relaxed and friendly confines of the local town pool. On arrival in WA we were disappointed to be told that though PADI allows ten-year-olds to do their open water diver course, Western Australia imposes more restrictive requirements and prohibits those from under 14 from scuba diving.

So the kids spent the day with a nice local girl, while E and I strapped on scuba tanks and headed off to the Navy Pier, a relic of the cold war US occupation of this side of WA and (happily) a marine structure which has been colonised by a broad and stunning diversity of local fauna. It is ranked as one of Australia's top dive sites.

We did two supervised 50min dives, separated by 30mins surface time. First feeling was fear. Dropping into the vast ocean, under a massive rusting steel structure, was scary. Next sensation was discomfort.. both of us encountered severe ear equalisation problems as we descended down the first five metres towards the foot of the pier's concrete base. Maintaining the right level of buoyancy (ie not floating up or down) was tricky, too. And the perennial nagging concern "I am now too deep to pop up to the surface if I have a problem..".

But those worries evaporated after 15 or 20mins, and we started to explore the surface of the ocean. A real treasure trove.. We had close encounters with reef sharks, rays, huge shoals of tiny fish and a 500kg turtle. A giant old grouper sits in pride of place under the pier, attended by a large fan club and malevolently staring down any impudent divers who venture into his presence. There were stonefish, parrot fish, clownfish, Moorish idols, fusiliers, mahi-mahi, baby barracudas and much else. A marine paradise that will serve as an excellent incentive to the completion of our PADI course in a cold Leicestershire quarry..



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Linklaters LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC326345. It is a law firm authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk). The term partner in relation to Linklaters LLP is used to refer to a member of Linklaters LLP or an employee or consultant of Linklaters LLP or any of its affiliated firms or entities with equivalent standing and qualifications. Please refer to www.linklaters.com/regulation for important information on our regulatory position.
A list of Linklaters LLP members together with a list of those non-members who are designated as partners and their professional qualifications, may be inspected at our registered office, One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ and such persons are either solicitors, registered foreign lawyers or European lawyers.

Looking for whale sharks

Today was one of the highlights of our stay in Exmouth, a day on the ocean swimming with the biggest fish in the sea. We and fifteen others had an early start, and were spotting manatees and snorkelling off a boat in the reef lagoon by 8.30am. Then we snuck through the gap in the reef and headed into the open seas, with a spotter plane two thousand feet overhead helping the skipper find whale sharks.

As soon as a whale shark had been spotted, the boat stopped 300yds ahead of the shark's direction of travel, and we'd jump into the sea to intercept it and swim alongside for a while. Quite an experience - the whale sharks we saw were up to six metres long, and weighed five or six tonnes each. Vast, sleek and powerful. Each shark was accompanied by a coterie of hangers-on, fish who clean off the dead underbelly skin and leftover food between its teeth. The effect is like the serene progress of a gigantic emperor, attended by obsequious courtiers.


Rs post

My experience of the day was a little blackened because I was seasick for about an hour but after I had got rid of my breakfast (chucked up) everything got a little brighter.

When the 'spotter' yelled "action stations" we jumped in the water and paddled through the water to get to it.

I have to admit, seeing the whale shark looming out of the darkness was scary. It had lots of little spots that looked almost majestic in the poor light. We went snorkling afterwards and saw lots of fab fish!
I would recommend this to anyone!


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Any business communication, sent by or on behalf of Linklaters LLP or one of its affiliated firms or other entities (together "Linklaters"), is confidential and may be privileged or otherwise protected. If you receive it in error please inform us and then delete it from your system. You should not copy it or disclose its contents to anyone. Messages sent to and from Linklaters may be monitored to ensure compliance with internal policies and to protect our business. Emails are not secure and cannot be guaranteed to be error free. Anyone who communicates with us by email is taken to accept these risks.
Linklaters LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC326345. It is a law firm authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk). The term partner in relation to Linklaters LLP is used to refer to a member of Linklaters LLP or an employee or consultant of Linklaters LLP or any of its affiliated firms or entities with equivalent standing and qualifications. Please refer to www.linklaters.com/regulation for important information on our regulatory position.
A list of Linklaters LLP members together with a list of those non-members who are designated as partners and their professional qualifications, may be inspected at our registered office, One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ and such persons are either solicitors, registered foreign lawyers or European lawyers.

The Ningaloo reef

Ok,this is a picture is of a lighthouse and people normally associate a lighthouse with fishing (anyway I do) But actually this (special) lighthouse is different. And actually it is part of the NINGLOO REEF (which if you didn't know is a mini barrier reef) Which us as a family think is REALLY COOL (no doubt about it) and swim in the sea nearly everyday ( except for 1 day) and the rest of the day we either do jobs or just RELAX.

There are some AMAZING fish out there on the reef. For example, we went out snorkelling today and we saw a shark, a ray, and LOADS of other fish.

That is just about it for todays post so look forward to the next one!

C's post

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Any business communication, sent by or on behalf of Linklaters LLP or one of its affiliated firms or other entities (together "Linklaters"), is confidential and may be privileged or otherwise protected. If you receive it in error please inform us and then delete it from your system. You should not copy it or disclose its contents to anyone. Messages sent to and from Linklaters may be monitored to ensure compliance with internal policies and to protect our business. Emails are not secure and cannot be guaranteed to be error free. Anyone who communicates with us by email is taken to accept these risks.
Linklaters LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC326345. It is a law firm authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk). The term partner in relation to Linklaters LLP is used to refer to a member of Linklaters LLP or an employee or consultant of Linklaters LLP or any of its affiliated firms or entities with equivalent standing and qualifications. Please refer to www.linklaters.com/regulation for important information on our regulatory position.
A list of Linklaters LLP members together with a list of those non-members who are designated as partners and their professional qualifications, may be inspected at our registered office, One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ and such persons are either solicitors, registered foreign lawyers or European lawyers.