EP 108 World's best dive sites; top cities for a workcation & do you need domestic travel insurance?
August 20, 2025 • 49 mins
Welcome to the underwater world of photographer and professional diver Todd Thimios, who shares his best dive sites in Australia and around the world – he’s got some hot tips for snorkellers, too.
To win a copy of Todd's book, Ultimate Dive Sites (Hardie Grant), follow us on instagram @theworldawaitspodcast and catch him MC'ing at the Go Diving Show at Sydney Showgrounds 6-7 September, see godivingshow.com/anz/sydney-dive-show
Also, do we really need travel insurance for local travel within Australia? Southern Cross Travel Insurance’s (SCTI), most recent Future of Travel report might just change your mind, scti.com.au
And where's the best place in the world to work and holiday? IWG's annual Work from Anywhere Barometer names the best cities for a workcation, and there are a few surprises in the top 10. Listen for the full list, see iwgplc.com
Also, click here to listen back to Jacques Smit of Sabi Sabi private game reserve in South Africa, and read Kirstie's story from her interview with Jacques here.
And to find out more about the next big hot in cycling tourism, take a look at Victoria’s High Country's gravel bike riding campaign victoriashighcountry.com.au/ride/
Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Welcome to The World Awakes.
Welcome back to The WorldAwakes.
How are you all?
Hope you've been well and had anamazing week.
How's your week been, Belle?
SPEAKER_02 (00:15):
Well, you know, always busy.
Look, there's a couple ofthings.
I caught up with all of the newshappening in Victoria's high
country at an event run by theAustralian Society of Travel
Riders.
So this region in Victoria,which runs up to the New South
Wales border, is Australia'spremier cycling destination, and
they have now got new rail trailroutes and a big focus on gravel
(00:37):
bike riding, which is kind oflike a cross between mountain
biking and road biking, butyou're not on the road.
And they are tipping this as thebig opportunity hot in cycling
tourism.
So the region, we're talkingabout the Glen Bright,
Beechworth, all those sort ofhigh country areas, has more
than 2,000 kilometres of gravelroutes.
So that is definitely a trendand a region to watch.
(00:58):
And I'm going to put a link tothe show notes in there for you
to take a look if you're up fora little bicycle holiday,
because I think we've both gotcycled through the high country
and it is phenomenal.
And it's not all like climbingup boulder and stuff like that.
And also, Kirsty, because, youknow, I like to keep myself busy
with a little lunch or two, Icaught up with Jacques Smit of
(01:18):
Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve,which borders on the Kruger
National Park in South Africa.
Jacques came onto the podcastlast year to talk about what was
going on with safari.
And as he says, it's not justabout finding the big five.
It's also about incredible birdlife, meeting local people,
taking walking safaris.
I'd love to do a proper walkingsafari.
(01:38):
Probably, just hoping that itdoesn't turn into a running
safari.
And I will put a link in theshow notes and you can just
scroll back to episode 53 if youwant a little South African
wildlife hit.
So that's my week.
What about you, Kirsty?
I think you have something totell us.
SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
I do.
But firstly, I also didinterview Jacques before that
lunch.
And yeah, he was so great totalk to.
And they're also opening...
They've also taken over a hotelthat they're opening in Cape
Town.
So it means that you'll get thatsabi-sabi amazing experience
literally from the minute youland.
So you can go and stay therebefore you go out to the safari.
(02:16):
So that sounds incredible.
And they're opening a new onetoo, a brand new safari in
Africa.
So, yeah, I will be writing astory about it for Carry On.
So we will put the links and theshow notes when that goes up as
well.
He
SPEAKER_02 (02:30):
was actually talking about that.
that reserve in the lunch, whichis really interesting, called
Sandringham.
And it was an old hunting groundand they have rehabilitated it
to become a safari.
Yes, they have, yeah.
A safari reserve.
So it's a phenomenal, phenomenalidea and amazing amount of work
in there too.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (02:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
And it proves the power of whatthey're doing in their
conservation efforts, which isno more evident than going to be
at that Sandringham new safariwhen it opens.
So yes, I have a bit of news.
I am from the work front.
I am stepping into a role aseditor-at-large at Wanderer
(03:09):
magazine.
So I was editor of thepublication, and it means that I
can work on some other strategicprojects that we have coming up
at Madventure.
and also which is the publishinghouse for the magazine and it
also allows me a bit more timeto work on my creative writing
and my crime fiction which Ilove writing about crazy things
(03:31):
to do with crime and my latestmanuscript which is about a
travel writer that getskidnapped is actually currently
out on submission with my agentso that's a really big passion
of mine and something I want tofocus my energy on and going
forward and so yeah I'm workingon a new one now so I'm still
editor at Carry On and I'll beexpanding my role a little bit
(03:53):
there.
And, of course, we have ourbaby, our travel podcast, which
you're listening to right now.
SPEAKER_02 (03:59):
Oh, God, I thought you were going to tell me you're
having a baby.
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
That would be a nightmare.
That would not be something Iwant to focus energy on, not at
this age.
SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Now, yeah, it is.
Well, I don't even know if wecan call it a baby anymore.
Two years old.
It's a toddler and we're up to108 episodes.
So, yeah, I mean, don't forgetyou can always go back and
listen to the previous episodesthat you might have missed
because we've got a Prettystrong back catalogue.
(04:29):
And, you know, we're alwaysfinding people are doing just
that because the numbers keepgoing up, which is really nice.
So thank you for your supportand listening to the podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (04:38):
Yeah, thank you, everyone.
Amazing.
And so, and you may have heardtoo and seen on socials that we
had a winner for our AvaniHotels and Resorts Thai
giveaway.
So you can, if you go to theWorld Awakes website, podcast on
Instagram.
You can find out who won.
And that was Peter Hopf, andshe's from Toowoomba, and she's
(04:58):
winging her way to Thailand forFour Nights Day at Avani Plus
Khao Lak.
So go back to our socials andhave a look at her little
message.
She was so excited to win.
And given it's so cold in thispart of the world right now, my
God, how lucky is she to begoing there?
And besides the fact that thatresort is stunning, five-star
hotel on its own stretch ofbeach, and it's got four
(05:18):
swimming pools, four swimmingpools, No
SPEAKER_02 (05:22):
tropical dream holiday vibes right there.
So this week we are kicking offwith the annual Work From
Anywhere Barometer because Icould work from cowlack,
couldn't you?
Like, you know, do all the workfrom home thing?
Yeah.
No, I couldn't because I'd be inthe pool all the time.
So the annual Work From AnywhereBarometer by International
(05:44):
Workplace Group is, this is thelargest provider of hybrid
working solutions.
And with the way that the worldis working now, why wouldn't you
consider working from somewhereelse, especially if you don't
have any commitments to work atYou know, to worry about, like,
I don't know, feeding dogs andstuff like that.
Yeah, exactly, kids.
SPEAKER_01 (06:03):
So, yeah, I've got a year and a half until I'm free
of those school-aged children.
It's the school-aged kids,right?
And even then, you know, it's abit of a worry, I guess, that
first year out.
Maybe we'll have to wait untilthey're, like, you know, 19, 20
or something.
But, yeah, if I do wait untilJacob's 18, my youngest, I've
only got away a year and a half,so can't wait for that, to be
(06:25):
perfectly honest.
So yes, actually, the place thathas been named the world's
leading workcation city for 2025is actually Tokyo.
And Melbourne made its debut onthe list.
That's cool.
And Sydney also remains one ofthe top destinations.
So go the Aussies.
SPEAKER_02 (06:47):
The cities were schooled across 12 criteria.
including climate, broadband,broadband, good help me,
availability of flexibleworkspaces, as well as some new
categories, which include theavailability and price of
digital nomad visas, theproximity to beaches, mountains,
or national parks.
(07:07):
There's a few new additions onthis list beside Melbourne.
They're not all obvious, though.
You've got Seoul in Korea.
Rome, of course, because we loveRome.
Cairo, which did surprise mebecause I had a broadband
blackout there a couple ofweeks.
And no internet whatsoever.
That's right, you did.
I did.
So I couldn't work.
(07:27):
I could not work.
I mean, not only could you notwork, but you also couldn't pay
for anything by...
You know, there was no internet,so you couldn't, you know, use
ATMs.
Everybody went back to a cashsociety and had to go down the
corner shop to get their gossip.
Other cities that are probablybetter for workations include,
new ones on the list includeMexico City, Cape Town in South
(07:49):
Africa, Prague, Orlando,Florida, and Iceland's capital,
Reykjavik.
So what do you reckon, Kirstie?
SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
Yeah, they are interesting, aren't they?
I mean, God, I will do aworkcation in Rome any day of
the week.
Oh my God, I just love that cityso much.
And I can totally see how, Imean, how amazing would that be?
You know, you're just sittingthere with your, eating your
handmade gnocchi, And drinkingyour Aperol Spritz while you've
got your laptop in the cafe.
(08:19):
Oh, my God.
Anyway,
SPEAKER_02 (08:21):
the reason...
That sounds completelyproductive.
Sitting there sucking downAperol Spritzes.
Would you meet your deadline?
SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
I would not.
Oh, my God.
I know.
I'm such a lightweight withalcohol.
One drink and I'll be dancing onthe tables.
So the research shows that 60%of hybrid workers are more
likely to extend a holiday towork remotely than this time
last year.
And 86% said availability offlexible workspace is a major
factor in their destinationchoice.
(08:51):
So obviously, if there'ssomewhere to work, then, you
know, you're going to be morelikely to go there and go
figure.
Other interesting stats werethat 78% of workers view a work
from anywhere policy as asignificant factor when
considering a new job.
I mean, again, like that'shardly surprising, right?
And 87% of hybrid workers saythe freedom to work from
anywhere boosts theirproductivity.
(09:11):
Well, it's damn well going toboost mine.
I
SPEAKER_02 (09:13):
think it depends on the proximity to the apparel.
But, I mean, you know,Australia's having this
conversation at the moment, youknow, while we're wrangling for
the right to work from home.
So, you know, this is right up,I think, everybody's...
So according to the research,the top 10 countries where you
can go for a workcation areTokyo, followed by Rio de
(09:37):
Janeiro, Budapest, Seoul,Barcelona, Beijing, Lisbon,
Rome, Paris, and then Valletta.
I mean, Tokyo is no surprise asthe top workcation location.
Given that we all just want togo to Japan, still absolutely
smoking hot for travelers, Riowas a surprise at number two, as
was Budapest in third place.
Yeah.
(09:57):
And I've got to say, numberfive, Barcelona.
Do we really need to continueinflicting ourselves upon
Barcelona while it is workingthrough its over-tourism dramas?
The one top 10 city that didsurprise me was Valletta, which
is the capital of tiny Malta.
It's definitely doing a pushinto the Australian market at
the moment.
And I've got to say, I live inan area...
(10:18):
In Melbourne, that has a verystrong Maltese influence.
Yum, that's all I can say, yum,yum, yum.
But also the climate, gorgeous,you know, Mediterranean islands.
So I can see the appeal, but Imean, it's not really on a major
flight route to anywhere, unlikeall of the others.
You know, they are strongpoint-to-point destinations.
Yeah, so Valletta was a bit of asurprise for me.
SPEAKER_01 (10:40):
And you're likely just to get your Aperol spritz
thrown at you in Barcelona.
So I'd be careful about yourlaptop when you're working in
Barcelona, given, you know, thelocals haven't been too happy
about tourists being there.
So maybe, yeah, just a bit moreresearch before going there.
And the founder and CEO of IWG,Mark Dixon, says that the reason
(11:04):
we're seeing more workers than–well, we are seeing more workers
than ever before extending trips– to work remotely or choosing
to spend longer periods abroadas digital nomad.
And that's thanks to what we'vealready sort of covered, which
is obviously that there's moreflexibility with hybrid working
and also technology.
I mean, it's come such a longway, apart from in Cairo when
(11:24):
you were there.
But he says this trend isdefinitely here to stay.
And if you want to listen to acouple who are actually doing
this, who are digital nomads,then head back one episode
because I interviewed gaydigital nomads, authors and
travel writers Michael JensenBrett Hartinger and they've been
doing this for about seven yearsand they've lived in more than
30 countries and travelled tomore than 60 and they give you
(11:47):
some tips too about exactly howyou can do it.
UNKNOWN (11:58):
Music
SPEAKER_02 (12:01):
My guest this week is underwater photographer and
professional deep sea diver,Todd Simeos, who's talking to us
about the best dive sites aroundthe world.
And for those who don't dive,he's also keeping in mind the
snorkelers amongst us.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
And I'll wait to hear more from Todd.
How'd you find out about him,Belle?
SPEAKER_02 (12:17):
Well, he's the author of the book, Ultimate
Dive Sites, which is out nowwith Hardy Grant.
And he's also emceeing the GoDiving Show, which is happening
on the 6th and the 7th ofSeptember at the Sydney
Showgrounds.
So if you're in Sydney, keep aneye out for him.
He'll be the one on the mainstage, and he'll also be talking
about the book.
SPEAKER_01 (12:34):
And we've got a couple of copies of his book,
Ultimate Dive Sites, to giveaway to two lucky listeners.
So to win, just follow us onInstagram at The World Awaits
Podcast and like the competitionpost.
And now let's take a listen to
SPEAKER_02 (12:48):
the man himself, Todd Sineos.
Hi, Todd.
Welcome to The World Awaits.
It's so lovely to have you here.
SPEAKER_00 (12:55):
Awesome.
Thank you, Belinda.
Thanks for having me.
Very lucky.
SPEAKER_02 (12:58):
I'm so excited about today because it's all about you
and your fabulous life and youare going to take us to some of
the best dive sites around theworld, including here in
Australia.
So let's kick off with just alittle bio about you, where
you're based, what the path isthat led you to spend half of
your life submerged inunderwater as a photographer, as
(13:18):
a deep sea diver and a pilot.
So as it's said by others, thisbasically sounds like a resume
for a Bond villain.
So happy to get to the point.
SPEAKER_00 (13:27):
Yeah.
Okay.
Awesome.
Where to start?
Um, yeah, so I've been, I'vebeen fortunate enough that I
guess from a youngest age, youkind of had a clear idea of what
I was into.
So that kind of put me on a pathof sort of diving from the
youngest of ages.
Um, I grew up in NorthQueensland.
I'm actually in Cairns at themoment, visiting family, um,
(13:49):
with my family.
Uh, but right now, past 10years, we've lived in Byron Bay.
So, um, To go back in track, Ihad all of my 20s on Lord Howe
Island as a dive instructorrunning dive businesses on Lord
Howe Island.
Then I had a very hard decisiontowards the end of that 10-year
period of what do I do?
Do I stay here forever or do Ileave?
(14:12):
I rolled the dice and left andgot work in the super yacht
industry, which was basicallylike expedition vessels for very
wealthy clientele.
I thought, um, that I had apretty good, but I didn't
realize I had fantastic.
So I basically, um, my job was aprivate dive guide for super
(14:33):
yachts.
So I was in charge of mappingitineraries for, for diving, um,
locations all over the world forguests that will come on board.
And I did that for the best partof my thirties as well for
another 10 years.
So, um, and that has brought meinto now my forties and
basically doing a little bit ofeverything, which is continuing
on with, um, diving, but indifferent many shapes and forms.
(14:56):
Photography has always been thevehicle that has taken me around
the world with diving.
Continuing on with freelancephotography, I've just branched
into authoring.
I've just released my firstbook, which is a big achievement
for myself, I feel.
Also, raising a small family.
I'm doing a bit of everything atthe moment.
SPEAKER_02 (15:17):
I think it's a big achievement for anybody to write
a book.
Yours is It's such a great book.
It's Ultimate Dive Sites byHardy Grant.
That's pretty much what we'regoing to focus on today.
It's the best places to divearound the world.
I'm going to say this before wekick into it because I have
(15:39):
dived.
Bizarrely, the first place Idived was in Turkey and the
other people in the group withme didn't know how to swim.
It was like, that's okay.
It's got to be shallow.
I don't know how that happens,but anyway.
So you have those pivotalmoments, as you say, and I was
like, do I continue diving or doI stay as a snorkeler?
And I'm quite a keen snorkeler.
(16:00):
So I'm going to every now andthen pull you up and say,
incredible location.
Can I snorkel and see whatyou're seeing when you're
diving?
So I think that brings more intothe dive family by having a bit
of a snorkel in there as well,too.
Because everybody's gotdifferent skills, haven't they?
SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
100%.
Yeah.
Well, going back to writing thebook, I found it very, to me,
initially, it was very importantto kind of cover all bases for
the audience.
And that meant addressing scubadivers primarily, maybe, but
then also snorkeling andfreediving.
And we also touched onsubmersibles, which was a
different sort of drastic genrein itself, the world of diving.
(16:39):
But yeah, Yeah, you can't takeanything away from snorkeling.
I think we all start outsnorkeling and we all decide if
we want to go further or deeper.
And if we don't want to, it'sperfectly fine because, yeah, I
think snorkeling, free diving,it's, yeah, it's a very special
way of discovering the ocean.
SPEAKER_02 (16:58):
Well, we're just lucky that we've got your lens
to take us down deeper where Ican't, where I can't take my
snorkel.
So now I'm going to pick yourbrains about the best places to
dive slash snorkel.
And, um, and why you love thatdestination.
So, I mean, as you said, you'recurrently in Cairns.
You've been working on the GreatBarrier Reef as well as seeing
family this week.
So let's start with yourfavorite Australian dive
(17:21):
locations.
SPEAKER_00 (17:23):
Yeah, let's jump into it.
Okay, so domestically, probablywe'll start with the Great
Barrier Reef where we are rightnow.
We all know the Great BarrierReef.
It's great for a reason, formany different reasons.
But what I find so special aboutthe Great Barrier Reef is its
diversity in a sense of howlarge it is.
And what that means is kind oflike that this ecosystem changes
(17:45):
drastically as you've travelednorth or south.
So starting all the way up closeto Papua New Guinea, running all
the way down to, let's say,Yipoon area, the Southern Great
Barrier Reef raging all the wayup to the Northern Great Barrier
Reef.
it changes dramatically.
So where I am right now inCairns and probably an area that
(18:05):
I'm most familiar with is thefar North grey bear reef.
And that runs into like a groupof, um, reefs called the ribbon
reefs and also the coral sea.
Uh, so, uh, I have a wonderfulchildhood that started out
diving up here with family,holding onto my dad's shoulders
as we snorkeled together on thereef when I was probably, I
(18:26):
don't know, let's make this up,maybe five or six years old.
Very young numbers, but yeah,I'm very partial to the Great
Barrier Reef.
I think it's incredibly special.
And it's just like, we all knowhow well it is on a world stage,
but I think as a As Australians,we kind of forget that this is
(18:47):
really like an incredible assetand it's full of life and it
changes dramatically the moreyou travel.
So it's very, on that note, it'svery hard to generalize as well
about the Great Barrier Reef.
We just talk about one thing,but my favorite region is the
far northern Great Barrier Reef.
SPEAKER_02 (19:01):
And what are you going there to see in
particular?
SPEAKER_00 (19:04):
As you move further north, the species become more
tropical.
That kind of means that you losethat southern influence.
But we have everything here frombeautiful corals to pelagic
marine life as well.
At the moment, we have minkewhales, which are off the coast
here in wintertime.
That's very special.
And then...
(19:25):
Yeah.
And then there's, it's kind ofthe beauty of the Great Barrier
Reef is that anything can happenkind of vibe.
So wonderful shark life, reallygood coral diving, healthy fish
stocks as well.
So yeah, and it's accessible toall divers as well, whether it
be snorkeling, freediving orscuba diving.
SPEAKER_02 (19:45):
Brilliant.
So that's a great one to startoff with.
Where else would you rate aroundAustralia?
UNKNOWN (19:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (19:52):
Yeah, okay.
We've got lots to choose from.
Let's go directly across thecoast to the west coast.
Ningaloo is another famousnational or probably world
famous dive location that getstalked about a lot.
That varies a bit from the GreatBarrier Reef because it's
accessibility.
As you know, it's right there onthe coast.
(20:14):
You have this wonderful mixtureof desert meets the reef life,
whereas Ningaloo The GreatBarrier Reef is further offshore
here in North Queensland.
But in your Exmouth sort ofregion or Coral Bay sort of
region, you have the NingalooReef, which is basically desert
lagoon reef.
So it's very accessible.
(20:34):
You can snorkel straight off thebeach.
So accessibility is a huge kinddraw card for the thinning glue
but also what's probably moreattractive to me is they tend to
get larger megafauna that's moreum more seen on in the minglu
reef so we've got stuff likelarge mantas uh wow sharks in
(20:55):
season that you probably knowall about um humpback whales as
well um large tiger sharks sodugongs it goes on so you
probably got that sort of draw acard with a large megaphone and
more so than the Great BarrierReef.
So yeah, it's attractive becauseof its accessibility and
probably large stuff as well.
SPEAKER_02 (21:16):
That's interesting.
You're saying, I mean, the smalltropical fish, incredibly
beautiful there, the giants overin WA.
But I have to say, when we weredoing a prep on this one, thank
you for making me look up, we'regoing to go minuscule now, the
difference between...
leafy sea dragons and weedy seadragons.
(21:37):
And that gives you your thirddestination that you would have
recommended as a place to diveor snorkel.
SPEAKER_00 (21:45):
Yeah, good one.
So in a part of the world that Iwas never sort of traditionally
familiar with, but I've reallyenjoyed discovering it, is the
southern waters, the southerntemperate waters of South
Australia.
So there's a few locations.
But the location that I featurein the book is Rapid Bay, which
is on the Florian Peninsula,just south of Adelaide.
(22:09):
And the reason I feature thatlocation is because of the leafy
sea dragons.
So South Australia isactually...
interesting enough has a lot ofjetty diving there so a lot of
shore diving so that's a reallygood point for accessibility um
and underneath a lot of thesestructures you tend to have an
incredible unique marine lifeand the leafy sea dragon is um
(22:32):
is one of those species that ikind of always wanted to
photograph and spend time withvery elusive very camouflaged so
um hard to come across and it'sone of those sort of enjoyable
dives for me where you just haveto get in the water go very slow
be very careful not you knowdisturbing the bottom topography
and just try to have your eyestuned into finding leafy sea
(22:57):
dragons we're typically talkingprobably 10 centimeters a little
bit more in length 15centimeters no more sorry sorry
15 to 20 centimeters in lengthbut they look like they have
these wonderful appendages oflike sort of a leafy structure
which by no coincidence looksexactly the same as all the
seaweed behind them so yeahBeautiful.
(23:18):
Very tricky to pass.
Yeah, the first few dives I didactually, yeah, I couldn't see
any, but luckily I had a verygood guide with me and he was
like, right there, right there.
I was like, I still can't seeit, still can't see it.
And then all of a sudden itmoved a little bit differently
to the way that that kelp wasmoving.
And that's another thing, whenyou're looking for leafy sea
(23:38):
dragons, the kelp has thislovely sort of hypnotizing sort
of sway to it.
Yeah.
You get lost in the moment ofstaring at the ground, looking
for leafy sea dragons, but alsothe swaying.
Yeah, so...
I'm getting carried away there,but the southern reefs are very
special of South Australia.
Obviously, as you branch furtherto other regions, you have
(23:59):
bigger stuff like sea lions,great white sharks as well off
Neptune, the Neptune Islands offPort Lincoln as well.
I highly recommend discoveringthe southern waters of
Australia.
Understandably, the northerntropical waters have a lot more
attention, but down south isabsolutely spectacular.
SPEAKER_02 (24:18):
Yeah, and I guess different times of the year
also, you know, people aretravelling to different parts of
Australia as well.
And I think South Australia isjust so exciting.
I love the idea that you can...
But they do gather, likeespecially the sea dragons
gather around the piers becausethey do that in Port Phillip Bay
as well.
And I think David Attenboroughhad stepped in at one point when
there was talk of replacing oneof the piers down on the
(24:40):
Mornington to Nutella becauseit's such a, like literally you
jump in the waters and there'sjust these beautiful little
multicoloured weedy sea dragons,possibly easier to see.
There's even the leafy ones.
That sounds kind of tricky.
And the fact that you'rephotographing them, you know,
you've got to get the ultimateshot for them.
Must make you a very patientman, I think, folks.
more than me.
SPEAKER_00 (24:59):
Yeah, I think so.
I think so.
SPEAKER_02 (25:01):
Absolutely.
But then going overseas, I don'tthink we're going back into the
mega fauna here too.
So if you had to pick, right,because we asked the hard
questions here, if you had topick your top three
international dive sites, wherewould you be sending us?
SPEAKER_00 (25:19):
Yeah, Belinda, it's a difficult question because I
wrote a book on it and there's50 locations in the book.
So it's how do I pull out somefavorites?
Obviously, I have a lot ofpersonal favorites there, but a
few locations that I havereturned to in the past 12
months actually is my favorite.
touch on those is Palau andMicronesia.
(25:40):
I have been numerous times, butI returned recently within the
past two years or so to do someresearch on the book when we
were putting it together andtotally fell in love with it
again.
I think the first thing that Iwas wrapped with was the close
proximity to Australia.
They actually had direct flightsfrom Brisbane only a few months
(26:02):
ago.
I'm not sure if they're stillrunning.
I think Qantas might have takenit over.
You may know more on that than Ido, but I loved it.
I mean, it went from having togo through Guam and then
overnight to immediately sixhours direct from Brisbane.
So that was amazing.
Plough is incredibly special.
It's led the way for many yearsin conservation, in marine
(26:25):
conservation.
And what you have is thisecosystem that's sort of been
protected for generations, forlike 20 years or so.
And you can see the results,which is awesome.
Plough diving is very, veryvaried, but at its roots, it's
tropical coral diving.
(26:46):
There is numerous shipwrecksthroughout the island chain as
well because of their largeinvolvement in World War II.
There's jellyfish lakes as well,which is very special.
But the reason I love Palau somuch is because they have these
large sporting events.
And surrounding the sportingevents is basically like you
have a few different species ofsort of coral fish like your
(27:10):
gropers.
And they have large sportingevents that sort of work around
the new moon and the full moon.
So that means every two weeksyou have a sporting event
basically.
And it's just this hugeaggregation of species coming
together, the releasing of eggs,predators, everything.
(27:30):
So you can dive the lead up tothe spawning events.
If you're lucky enough, you cansee the spawning in action.
And if you're even lucky, youcan kind of see the anarchy of
what happens when a lot of foodis released in one small area as
well.
And that's always a lot of fun.
I really enjoy kind of going tolocations now.
to kind of score sort of um orexperience large um marine
(27:55):
events whether it be migratoryevents or spawning events and
stuff like that so yeah it makesit all the worthwhile if you're
there at the right moment at theright time so that's plow i
would highly recommend checkingit out um what else uh i
returned to tonga last year inthe south pacific and that Yeah,
that was another easy, quiterelatively easy, accessible trip
(28:19):
from Australia, just goingthrough, I think there's direct
flights from Sydney andMelbourne maybe, but there's
also, you can go through NewZealand quite easily as well.
But that surrounded the whalemigration, which takes place in
the winter months, the humpbackwhale migration.
And there's arguably no betterplace in the world to experience
(28:39):
some.
Hoppock whales in extremelyclear water, in sheltered waters
as Tonga.
So you have these amazingexperiences.
Basically, the female whales arenurturing calves there or
they're giving birth to calves.
It just sort of depends of wherethey are in their cycle.
(29:00):
And there's incredible heat runswhere males are competing for
the attention of females aswell.
So It's spectacular sort ofSouth Pacific living.
It's incredibly clear water andit's huge megafauna being, or
cetaceans being, these lovelyhumpback whales up close.
And yeah, and it's snorkeling.
(29:20):
It's actually no scuba divingallowed and no free diving in
recent years has sort of beenbanned as well.
They want divers just to staycalm, stay still on the surface
of the water, which is fantasticbecause it's less interaction,
less...
less interrupting of the whale'sbehaviour and it's also more
accessible to everybody.
SPEAKER_02 (29:43):
Tonga is an interesting one because it does
allow you to snorkel nearhalves, which I think is
something that Australia hasactually stepped back from.
Australia is far younger, thewhale swim industry is a lot
younger in Australia than it isin Tonga.
SPEAKER_00 (30:03):
Yeah, I think definitely we come from the land
of regulations in Australia.
So there's a lot of rules hereand in many cases rightfully so.
The quick sort of answers ortakeaways in that is that a lot
of the whales in Australia aremigratory.
They're still on their wayfurther north.
So And if they are still andresting, it doesn't mean they're
(30:28):
actually staying in thatlocation for a long period of
time.
They're probably resting beforethey can continue to move on.
So whereas in Vivao, in Tonga,you really just have a scenario
where the whales have arrived attheir resting place, they've
arrived in their location, andthey're staying put.
The good thing about Tonga isit's a very sleepy part of the
(30:50):
South Pacific, but they are sortof regulating at a good pace as
well and that's where this hascome in recently with the whole
snorkeling only and no divingand you have the wonderful
guidance of the Tongan localswho you always have to have a
Tongan guide in the water andthey take it very seriously in
(31:11):
sort of having the right sort ofinteractions And you don't want
to annoy or disappoint a largeTongan because they take it very
seriously, which is awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (31:23):
What a great guardian to have.
And your third internationaldestination for diving and or
snorkeling?
SPEAKER_00 (31:32):
Yeah.
Let's stay in the South Pacificand go to Vanuatu, which is a
very special location for me.
I sort of My diving journeystarted quite early in Vanuatu.
I did learn to dive inAustralia, but the first
overseas location that I went towork was when I turned 20.
I went to Vanuatu and starteddiving on a shipwreck called the
(31:54):
Coolidge, which is in Santo, themost northern island of Vanuatu.
Once again, the South Pacifichad heavy involvement in World
War II, and there's a lot ofshipwrecks there, but there's a
very famous shipwreck called thePresident Coolidge.
that shipwreck was coming intoone of its channels in Santo and
(32:16):
it actually hit one of its ownmines and ran aground and
basically beached itself on thecoast there.
Then everybody bar one person, Ithink the captain actually, and
another sailor, I've just goneblank on that, but I think one
or two people died in theaccident.
(32:36):
It then slid back, fell over toits port side and slid back into
the water.
So you have this incredible200-meter ship, which I'll touch
on in a second, resting in 20meters of water all the way down
to its stern in 70 meters ofwater.
So it's no small claim at thisone.
It's scuba diving, but it's deepdiving too, which is awesome and
(32:59):
very unique.
The amazing thing about theshipwreck is that actually
during World War II, the U.S.
ran out of, battleships and theystarted taking on their cruise
liners and so they modified thiscruise liner so what you have is
the best of both worlds you havelike a traditional cruise liner
that's then been modified into abattleship so you have
(33:21):
everything from sort of swimmingpools to mosaics and what not to
machine guns and cargo hulls andeverything like that so that's
and that's all accessiblebasically you walk off a good
20-30 meters off the beach andyou have the bow of a ship In 20
meters, it runs down to 70meters.
That's 200 meters long.
And I could talk about thatforever.
(33:43):
You can do many, many dives onthat wreck and not see it all.
So it's absolutely spectacular.
SPEAKER_02 (33:50):
Who knew that they ran out of warships?
Quite an end, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00 (33:54):
Yeah, when drastic times call for drastic measures,
I guess.
SPEAKER_02 (33:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that you've mixed thedestinations with the size of
of, um, animals that you'reseeing.
And then also, um, great wreckdiving sites as well.
So I wanted to ask you, youknow, because you're, you know,
you're primarily, um, you know,your underwater photography is,
is astonishing.
And, um, and if anyone'sfollowing, wants to follow it
(34:18):
along, I would encourage them togo to your website, which we'll
put a link in the show notes,because I love how you write the
story behind the shot as well.
Like your, would it be right insaying your orca shots are
pretty much your signature?
shots from the arctic i meanthey you know and and you're
talking about uh so on yourwebsite you're talking about the
(34:38):
gale force arctic winds theminus 15 degrees temperatures
the last day of sunlight beforethe polar night starts i mean be
still my beating heart this isyou know this is this is
phenomenal so i want to ask youwhere is the next place that
you're traveling to for work
SPEAKER_00 (34:55):
You've just nailed it perfectly.
Actually, in November, I'mreturning to the Arctic, which
is very special.
I had a moment in time where myprofession for a long period was
basically taking privateclientele to experience what I
(35:16):
thought would be and what theythought would be like the
highlights of their divingcareer which always always lend
to the question of what's at thetop of my list or what's at the
top of like what do I want toexperience more than anything so
yeah many years ago kind of Irealized that I really want to
be in the water with orcas and Ireally want to sort of like just
(35:36):
get the best from thatexperience which It led me down
a wonderful journey of returningto northern Norway, to the
Arctic, for many years in a row.
I had a bit of a break there forrecent years, but I'm returning
for the first time in probablyfive years, actually, this
November, which is fantasticbecause we're going to do it
very differently from pastexperiences.
(35:57):
This time we have a privatesailboat, so we're basically
just going to be trying to getlost in the fjords of Norway,
which is very easy to do.
yeah and it's just absolutelyfor me it's it's just it's my my
pinnacle i think being in thewater with orcas um is
mind-blowing you get a veryquick sense of their
(36:20):
intelligence in the water moreso than any other species i've
ever come across before um theinteractions are amazing the
whole environment itself as youtouched on is it's freezing it's
cold But there's a real magicabout it too because it's very
fairytale-like because here youare within the Arctic Circle,
(36:40):
which means that in that monthof November, December, when we
tend to go, the sun's in itslast moments.
So you have like a sunsetperiod, which is kind of last.
I think the days are like five,six hours long at that time of
year.
But the sun never really risestoo much above the horizon.
So you have like a lovely...
(37:02):
pastel light environment all daylong.
That's if it's not stormy andrough and out of control.
But yeah, the whole experienceis mind-blowing and I'm really
excited to return back toNorway.
And it's kind of, in a way, as Itouched on before, that it did
shape my life and I'm reallyexcited to return to somewhere
(37:24):
that was so pivotal and changedmy life in many wonderful ways.
SPEAKER_02 (37:29):
Just astonishing.
You never feel like I guess, youknow, they're so big, you never
feel, well, you would feeldwarfed by just their size, as
you say, their intelligence aswell.
Do you ever feel scared?
SPEAKER_00 (37:42):
Not scared.
Dwarfed, yes.
I think straight away you tendto get taken back by the large
size of orcas.
Sometimes in your head you mightthink, oh, they look like a
dolphin or that kind of size,but they're much, much bigger
than a dolphin, particularly themales.
The males have this wonderfullarge dorsal fin, which is
(38:02):
almost like a sail.
It's a very sharp, triangular,tall dorsal fin.
Scared?
No.
It's more of just anappreciation of their
intelligence.
I think straight away, Irealized that I'm not supposed
to be in the water.
They realize that I'm useless.
I'm just this big rubber thing.
(38:23):
rubber man in the water straightaway, whereas they're moving
elegantly and hunting elegantlyand whatnot.
And I'm just kind of like doingmy best to keep up.
No, I feel very safe straightaway, which is a comforting
feeling.
SPEAKER_02 (38:38):
It just sounds absolutely fascinating.
So now I will ask you your dreamdestination that you have not
been to yet.
I mean, you spend a lot of timein the Antarctic, sorry, in the
Arctic.
Is there a place that you...
that's always been there thatyou it's going to be the
pinnacle of what you can nevertell it until you get there and
(38:58):
under the water but yeah
SPEAKER_00 (38:59):
sure
SPEAKER_02 (39:01):
what's the place you're definitely
SPEAKER_00 (39:02):
yeah that's a good question i think i think the
dream locations for me thesedays are places that i've tried
to get to but repetitively havebeen stopped going to stopped
from being able to go theremaybe it's weather or travel
plans have changed or whateverbecause then it becomes a a
personal mission of like, am Iever going to get to this place
or am I ever going to experiencethis?
And in your mind the whole timeyou still keep painting a
(39:23):
picture of how good it must bebecause you just can't get
there.
And probably the first one thatcomes up is the Baja Peninsula
of Mexico.
Mexico is actually an incredibledriving destination that I've
featured quite a bit in my bookbecause you have two coastlines.
You have the Caribbean side andalso the Pacific side.
(39:45):
There's a lot of amazing divingon both coasts.
On the Pacific side, there's theSea of Cortez as well, but the
Baja Peninsula actually has afew locations there.
In recent years, it's gained alittle bit more traction because
they have a sardine run, whichis a migration of a food source
(40:11):
that comes up and down along thecoasts.
And with that comes a largethrive of predators.
And in particular, in this case,it's striped marlin and
sailfish.
So you have, it's like fastdiving.
You're jumping in and out ofboats.
You're following birds, whichare following bait balls.
You're in this amazing sort oflandscape of Southern Mexico.
(40:34):
So yeah, it's somewhere thatI've been trying to get to.
I think I've had three tripsthat have kind of happened.
just not happen for me, which isokay because I know that I'm
going to get there.
But to experience the MagladennaBay is the area I'm talking
about in particular, Mag Baythey call it, Magladenna.
(40:56):
To experience the sort ofstriped marlin and selfish of
Mag Bay would be fantastic andI'm sure I'll get there
eventually.
SPEAKER_02 (41:04):
That's your Shangri-La.
Okay, brilliant.
And And I'm going to take you tothe end.
Then the question that we askall of our guests, and I cannot
even guess what you're going totell me for this one.
What is your most bizarre travelexperience?
SPEAKER_00 (41:22):
Far out.
Bizarre.
Okay.
Well, yeah, I'm not sure if it'sbizarre.
It's probably more shocking andmemorable.
When I was 19, I was left at seafor decades.
a very long period, probably,probably over 12 hours, um, in,
in, uh, on a diving, diving, uh,trip, um, in Borneo, um, off,
(41:47):
um, an island called Sipadan.
So I was only 19, which was mysaving grace in, in, in
reflection, because I think Iwas young enough to see it as a
wild adventure more so than, ohmy God, I'm not going to make it
kind of experience.
Um, But yeah, basically we did,without going into too much
detail, there's a really goodstory in the book, which goes
(42:12):
into great detail about thestory.
But did a morning dive and gotpicked up on sunset.
So jumped in the water at dawnand got picked up at sunset.
And that involved us doing adrift dive, which was, we jumped
in the water and typically on adrift dive, back in the day when
(42:32):
lures were probably a bit morelaxed, you'd say, okay, after
one hour, we're going toresurface and the boat might be
following your bubbles.
That might be the typicalrelaxed version of how a drift
dive works.
So after one hour, we'll see youon the surface.
So after one hour, we surfacedwith no boat in sight.
The boat drifted in anotherdirection.
(42:54):
We drifted in another direction.
Very quickly, the island that wewere diving next to, or
within...
on the horizon disappearedbecause we were just got sucked
out to sea.
And, um, as I said, it wasprobably, I was young enough to
see it as a big adventure.
And also the other interestingpoint was it was only me and two
others, um, a young dive, sorry,my, my dad's best friend.
(43:18):
So, uh, a Malaysian gentleman.
Um, so he didn't dive veryregularly.
So straight away, I felt aresponsibility to look after
him.
and also a young MalaysianBorneo dive guide who would have
been younger than me and wasfreaking out from the moment,
from the get-go.
So my saving grace was I waskind of thrown into a position
(43:42):
of responsibility and lookingafter everybody.
And yeah, we got picked up ondust by local fishermen who had
heard that we were missing andwere looking for a reward.
That's my crazy story.
I'm not sure if that's whatyou're asking for.
But yeah, very eventful, verymemorable.
(44:03):
And I'm lucky that happened 20years ago and not recently
because I probably would havefelt a lot different about it if
it happened recently.
SPEAKER_02 (44:11):
Well, at 19, you're pretty much bulletproof anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (44:14):
That's it.
That's it.
I think at 19, you're like farout.
I've got a good story to tellfrom this one.
More so than like, am I evergoing to see my kids again?
SPEAKER_02 (44:26):
Well, yeah, I'm glad.
Well, I'm probably happy thatyour mum found out later on as
well.
It was so great to have you, tohear all of your incredible
stories.
I cannot urge people stronglyenough to go to your website and
look at some of the results ofyour many, many years spent
underwater.
The photography, yourphotography is absolutely
beautiful.
and completely inspiring aswell.
(44:47):
So thank you for joining us onThe World Awakes.
SPEAKER_00 (44:50):
Thank you, Belinda.
It was lovely.
Thanks so much for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (44:54):
That was underwater photographer Todd Simeos sharing
with Belle his favourite divelocations in Australia and
around the world.
Todd's book Ultimate Dive Sitesis out now and he's speaking at
the Go Diving Show at the SydneyShowgrounds on the 6th and 7th
of September and you can seemore inspirational ocean
photography at his website whichis simeos.com and we'll put a
(45:18):
link to that in the show notes.
SPEAKER_02 (45:31):
Our tip this week is about how you can save hundreds
or even thousands of dollarswhen you travel.
And let's face it, who doesn'twant to do that?
So Southern Cross TravelInsurance's most recent Future
of Travel report shows that 76%of Aussies claim that travel
insurance is a high prioritywhen booking international
travel, but only 41% had thesame sentiment when it comes to
(45:53):
booking a domestic getaway.
SPEAKER_01 (45:55):
Yeah, and I've been guilty of that for sure.
So Southern Cross TravelInsurance Chief Customer Officer
Jess Strange says there's a lotof commentary out there that
domestic travel insurancedoesn't stack up and many
Aussies don't believe theyactually need it when they're
travelling domestically becausethey're covered under Medicare
and we also all assume nothing'sgoing to happen when you're
travelling domestically, right?
(46:16):
But many travellers don't takeinto account the amount of money
they actually might lose if thetrip's cancelled and due to also
unexpected medical situations.
So I guess as you get older,that's one to watch.
SPEAKER_02 (46:29):
They had a couple of case studies.
They said in one instance, acustomer who had to cancel a
trip for the family of four dueto a bad case of gastro, quite
to say it must have been a badcase, was able to claim back
more than$28,000 worth ofexpenses.
I mean, that had some big ticketitems in that.
That was a trip on the IndianPacific Railway, a cruise on
(46:49):
Margaret River, and a visit toRottnest Island.
So, you know, this is a bigspending holiday.
And they only got it backbecause they'd taken out a
domestic travel insurancepolicy.
SPEAKER_01 (46:59):
Oh, my God.
Can you imagine having gastro onan airplane toilet?
How small those toilets are?
And how would you...
And imagine, like, having...
The embarrassment associatedwith running to a tiny toilet
and coming in and out with thesmell that you'd be leaving
behind.
Well, I was actually
SPEAKER_02 (47:18):
thinking of having gastro on the train and then
having gastro on the cruise andhaving gastro, actually having
gastro anywhere would bephenomenal.
I think there's always somebodyon long-haul flights with
gastro.
I've just got a sneakingsuspicion.
Judging from my constipation.
SPEAKER_01 (47:35):
Sorry, bad.
There's nothing worse.
I mean, on a plane, there'snothing worse.
But anyway, so Southern Crosssays, given the high costs of
domestic flights andaccommodation in Australia, the
average cost of domestic planescan sometimes exceed the average
planes cost for internationaltrips.
And the moral of the story, it'sjust not worth taking the risk
to end up hundreds or thousandsof dollars out of pocket, even
(47:58):
when you're travelingdomestically.
SPEAKER_02 (48:01):
And they say, many people might not know, another
tip, everybody, is thatpurchasing domestic travel
insurance policies essentiallyreduces your rental vehicle
excess to zero or almost zero.
So you don't have to take outthat, you know, the insurance
that they're lobbying on, whichcan add, you know,$20,$30 a day
to your car.
However, you are still liablefor an excess, which is the
(48:24):
maximum amount you would have topay in the event of damage or
theft.
And domestic cover also coverscancellations outside your
control, such as falling illbefore you head off to ski in
Perisher for a week.
And to date, in 2025, it haspaid out more than$43,000 in
rental car excess claims forcustomers.
SPEAKER_01 (48:44):
So maybe reconsider insurance when you travel
domestically, unless you havegastro.
Next week, I'm chatting toChelsea Ross, the founder of
Bali-based Goddess Retreats,dedicated to empowering women
through travel.
Chelsea launched the world'sfirst luxury surf and yoga
retreat exclusively for women,and she gives us some insider
(49:06):
tips into the best places inBali for a women-only getaway
and explains how the industryhas changed and why after a
women's only retreat, you'll seeit as the only way to travel.
SPEAKER_02 (49:17):
And we would love it if you followed us on socials.
You'll find us at The WorldAwaits podcast on Instagram,
Facebook and LinkedIn.
And feel free to drop us a lineat Hello at The World Awaits.
Or if you're enjoying thisepisode, give us a rating or a
review.
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
(49:38):
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
Welcome to The World Awakes.
Welcome back to The WorldAwakes.
How are you all?
Hope you've been well and had anamazing week.
How's your week been, Belle?
SPEAKER_02 (00:15):
Well, you know, always busy.
Look, there's a couple ofthings.
I caught up with all of the newshappening in Victoria's high
country at an event run by theAustralian Society of Travel
Riders.
So this region in Victoria,which runs up to the New South
Wales border, is Australia'spremier cycling destination, and
they have now got new rail trailroutes and a big focus on gravel
(00:37):
bike riding, which is kind oflike a cross between mountain
biking and road biking, butyou're not on the road.
And they are tipping this as thebig opportunity hot in cycling
tourism.
So the region, we're talkingabout the Glen Bright,
Beechworth, all those sort ofhigh country areas, has more
than 2,000 kilometres of gravelroutes.
So that is definitely a trendand a region to watch.
(00:58):
And I'm going to put a link tothe show notes in there for you
to take a look if you're up fora little bicycle holiday,
because I think we've both gotcycled through the high country
and it is phenomenal.
And it's not all like climbingup boulder and stuff like that.
And also, Kirsty, because, youknow, I like to keep myself busy
with a little lunch or two, Icaught up with Jacques Smit of
(01:18):
Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve,which borders on the Kruger
National Park in South Africa.
Jacques came onto the podcastlast year to talk about what was
going on with safari.
And as he says, it's not justabout finding the big five.
It's also about incredible birdlife, meeting local people,
taking walking safaris.
I'd love to do a proper walkingsafari.
(01:38):
Probably, just hoping that itdoesn't turn into a running
safari.
And I will put a link in theshow notes and you can just
scroll back to episode 53 if youwant a little South African
wildlife hit.
So that's my week.
What about you, Kirsty?
I think you have something totell us.
SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
I do.
But firstly, I also didinterview Jacques before that
lunch.
And yeah, he was so great totalk to.
And they're also opening...
They've also taken over a hotelthat they're opening in Cape
Town.
So it means that you'll get thatsabi-sabi amazing experience
literally from the minute youland.
So you can go and stay therebefore you go out to the safari.
(02:16):
So that sounds incredible.
And they're opening a new onetoo, a brand new safari in
Africa.
So, yeah, I will be writing astory about it for Carry On.
So we will put the links and theshow notes when that goes up as
well.
He
SPEAKER_02 (02:30):
was actually talking about that.
that reserve in the lunch, whichis really interesting, called
Sandringham.
And it was an old hunting groundand they have rehabilitated it
to become a safari.
Yes, they have, yeah.
A safari reserve.
So it's a phenomenal, phenomenalidea and amazing amount of work
in there too.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (02:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
And it proves the power of whatthey're doing in their
conservation efforts, which isno more evident than going to be
at that Sandringham new safariwhen it opens.
So yes, I have a bit of news.
I am from the work front.
I am stepping into a role aseditor-at-large at Wanderer
(03:09):
magazine.
So I was editor of thepublication, and it means that I
can work on some other strategicprojects that we have coming up
at Madventure.
and also which is the publishinghouse for the magazine and it
also allows me a bit more timeto work on my creative writing
and my crime fiction which Ilove writing about crazy things
(03:31):
to do with crime and my latestmanuscript which is about a
travel writer that getskidnapped is actually currently
out on submission with my agentso that's a really big passion
of mine and something I want tofocus my energy on and going
forward and so yeah I'm workingon a new one now so I'm still
editor at Carry On and I'll beexpanding my role a little bit
(03:53):
there.
And, of course, we have ourbaby, our travel podcast, which
you're listening to right now.
SPEAKER_02 (03:59):
Oh, God, I thought you were going to tell me you're
having a baby.
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
That would be a nightmare.
That would not be something Iwant to focus energy on, not at
this age.
SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Now, yeah, it is.
Well, I don't even know if wecan call it a baby anymore.
Two years old.
It's a toddler and we're up to108 episodes.
So, yeah, I mean, don't forgetyou can always go back and
listen to the previous episodesthat you might have missed
because we've got a Prettystrong back catalogue.
(04:29):
And, you know, we're alwaysfinding people are doing just
that because the numbers keepgoing up, which is really nice.
So thank you for your supportand listening to the podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (04:38):
Yeah, thank you, everyone.
Amazing.
And so, and you may have heardtoo and seen on socials that we
had a winner for our AvaniHotels and Resorts Thai
giveaway.
So you can, if you go to theWorld Awakes website, podcast on
Instagram.
You can find out who won.
And that was Peter Hopf, andshe's from Toowoomba, and she's
(04:58):
winging her way to Thailand forFour Nights Day at Avani Plus
Khao Lak.
So go back to our socials andhave a look at her little
message.
She was so excited to win.
And given it's so cold in thispart of the world right now, my
God, how lucky is she to begoing there?
And besides the fact that thatresort is stunning, five-star
hotel on its own stretch ofbeach, and it's got four
(05:18):
swimming pools, four swimmingpools, No
SPEAKER_02 (05:22):
tropical dream holiday vibes right there.
So this week we are kicking offwith the annual Work From
Anywhere Barometer because Icould work from cowlack,
couldn't you?
Like, you know, do all the workfrom home thing?
Yeah.
No, I couldn't because I'd be inthe pool all the time.
So the annual Work From AnywhereBarometer by International
(05:44):
Workplace Group is, this is thelargest provider of hybrid
working solutions.
And with the way that the worldis working now, why wouldn't you
consider working from somewhereelse, especially if you don't
have any commitments to work atYou know, to worry about, like,
I don't know, feeding dogs andstuff like that.
Yeah, exactly, kids.
SPEAKER_01 (06:03):
So, yeah, I've got a year and a half until I'm free
of those school-aged children.
It's the school-aged kids,right?
And even then, you know, it's abit of a worry, I guess, that
first year out.
Maybe we'll have to wait untilthey're, like, you know, 19, 20
or something.
But, yeah, if I do wait untilJacob's 18, my youngest, I've
only got away a year and a half,so can't wait for that, to be
(06:25):
perfectly honest.
So yes, actually, the place thathas been named the world's
leading workcation city for 2025is actually Tokyo.
And Melbourne made its debut onthe list.
That's cool.
And Sydney also remains one ofthe top destinations.
So go the Aussies.
SPEAKER_02 (06:47):
The cities were schooled across 12 criteria.
including climate, broadband,broadband, good help me,
availability of flexibleworkspaces, as well as some new
categories, which include theavailability and price of
digital nomad visas, theproximity to beaches, mountains,
or national parks.
(07:07):
There's a few new additions onthis list beside Melbourne.
They're not all obvious, though.
You've got Seoul in Korea.
Rome, of course, because we loveRome.
Cairo, which did surprise mebecause I had a broadband
blackout there a couple ofweeks.
And no internet whatsoever.
That's right, you did.
I did.
So I couldn't work.
(07:27):
I could not work.
I mean, not only could you notwork, but you also couldn't pay
for anything by...
You know, there was no internet,so you couldn't, you know, use
ATMs.
Everybody went back to a cashsociety and had to go down the
corner shop to get their gossip.
Other cities that are probablybetter for workations include,
new ones on the list includeMexico City, Cape Town in South
(07:49):
Africa, Prague, Orlando,Florida, and Iceland's capital,
Reykjavik.
So what do you reckon, Kirstie?
SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
Yeah, they are interesting, aren't they?
I mean, God, I will do aworkcation in Rome any day of
the week.
Oh my God, I just love that cityso much.
And I can totally see how, Imean, how amazing would that be?
You know, you're just sittingthere with your, eating your
handmade gnocchi, And drinkingyour Aperol Spritz while you've
got your laptop in the cafe.
(08:19):
Oh, my God.
Anyway,
SPEAKER_02 (08:21):
the reason...
That sounds completelyproductive.
Sitting there sucking downAperol Spritzes.
Would you meet your deadline?
SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
I would not.
Oh, my God.
I know.
I'm such a lightweight withalcohol.
One drink and I'll be dancing onthe tables.
So the research shows that 60%of hybrid workers are more
likely to extend a holiday towork remotely than this time
last year.
And 86% said availability offlexible workspace is a major
factor in their destinationchoice.
(08:51):
So obviously, if there'ssomewhere to work, then, you
know, you're going to be morelikely to go there and go
figure.
Other interesting stats werethat 78% of workers view a work
from anywhere policy as asignificant factor when
considering a new job.
I mean, again, like that'shardly surprising, right?
And 87% of hybrid workers saythe freedom to work from
anywhere boosts theirproductivity.
(09:11):
Well, it's damn well going toboost mine.
I
SPEAKER_02 (09:13):
think it depends on the proximity to the apparel.
But, I mean, you know,Australia's having this
conversation at the moment, youknow, while we're wrangling for
the right to work from home.
So, you know, this is right up,I think, everybody's...
So according to the research,the top 10 countries where you
can go for a workcation areTokyo, followed by Rio de
(09:37):
Janeiro, Budapest, Seoul,Barcelona, Beijing, Lisbon,
Rome, Paris, and then Valletta.
I mean, Tokyo is no surprise asthe top workcation location.
Given that we all just want togo to Japan, still absolutely
smoking hot for travelers, Riowas a surprise at number two, as
was Budapest in third place.
Yeah.
(09:57):
And I've got to say, numberfive, Barcelona.
Do we really need to continueinflicting ourselves upon
Barcelona while it is workingthrough its over-tourism dramas?
The one top 10 city that didsurprise me was Valletta, which
is the capital of tiny Malta.
It's definitely doing a pushinto the Australian market at
the moment.
And I've got to say, I live inan area...
(10:18):
In Melbourne, that has a verystrong Maltese influence.
Yum, that's all I can say, yum,yum, yum.
But also the climate, gorgeous,you know, Mediterranean islands.
So I can see the appeal, but Imean, it's not really on a major
flight route to anywhere, unlikeall of the others.
You know, they are strongpoint-to-point destinations.
Yeah, so Valletta was a bit of asurprise for me.
SPEAKER_01 (10:40):
And you're likely just to get your Aperol spritz
thrown at you in Barcelona.
So I'd be careful about yourlaptop when you're working in
Barcelona, given, you know, thelocals haven't been too happy
about tourists being there.
So maybe, yeah, just a bit moreresearch before going there.
And the founder and CEO of IWG,Mark Dixon, says that the reason
(11:04):
we're seeing more workers than–well, we are seeing more workers
than ever before extending trips– to work remotely or choosing
to spend longer periods abroadas digital nomad.
And that's thanks to what we'vealready sort of covered, which
is obviously that there's moreflexibility with hybrid working
and also technology.
I mean, it's come such a longway, apart from in Cairo when
(11:24):
you were there.
But he says this trend isdefinitely here to stay.
And if you want to listen to acouple who are actually doing
this, who are digital nomads,then head back one episode
because I interviewed gaydigital nomads, authors and
travel writers Michael JensenBrett Hartinger and they've been
doing this for about seven yearsand they've lived in more than
30 countries and travelled tomore than 60 and they give you
(11:47):
some tips too about exactly howyou can do it.
UNKNOWN (11:58):
Music
SPEAKER_02 (12:01):
My guest this week is underwater photographer and
professional deep sea diver,Todd Simeos, who's talking to us
about the best dive sites aroundthe world.
And for those who don't dive,he's also keeping in mind the
snorkelers amongst us.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
And I'll wait to hear more from Todd.
How'd you find out about him,Belle?
SPEAKER_02 (12:17):
Well, he's the author of the book, Ultimate
Dive Sites, which is out nowwith Hardy Grant.
And he's also emceeing the GoDiving Show, which is happening
on the 6th and the 7th ofSeptember at the Sydney
Showgrounds.
So if you're in Sydney, keep aneye out for him.
He'll be the one on the mainstage, and he'll also be talking
about the book.
SPEAKER_01 (12:34):
And we've got a couple of copies of his book,
Ultimate Dive Sites, to giveaway to two lucky listeners.
So to win, just follow us onInstagram at The World Awaits
Podcast and like the competitionpost.
And now let's take a listen to
SPEAKER_02 (12:48):
the man himself, Todd Sineos.
Hi, Todd.
Welcome to The World Awaits.
It's so lovely to have you here.
SPEAKER_00 (12:55):
Awesome.
Thank you, Belinda.
Thanks for having me.
Very lucky.
SPEAKER_02 (12:58):
I'm so excited about today because it's all about you
and your fabulous life and youare going to take us to some of
the best dive sites around theworld, including here in
Australia.
So let's kick off with just alittle bio about you, where
you're based, what the path isthat led you to spend half of
your life submerged inunderwater as a photographer, as
(13:18):
a deep sea diver and a pilot.
So as it's said by others, thisbasically sounds like a resume
for a Bond villain.
So happy to get to the point.
SPEAKER_00 (13:27):
Yeah.
Okay.
Awesome.
Where to start?
Um, yeah, so I've been, I'vebeen fortunate enough that I
guess from a youngest age, youkind of had a clear idea of what
I was into.
So that kind of put me on a pathof sort of diving from the
youngest of ages.
Um, I grew up in NorthQueensland.
I'm actually in Cairns at themoment, visiting family, um,
(13:49):
with my family.
Uh, but right now, past 10years, we've lived in Byron Bay.
So, um, To go back in track, Ihad all of my 20s on Lord Howe
Island as a dive instructorrunning dive businesses on Lord
Howe Island.
Then I had a very hard decisiontowards the end of that 10-year
period of what do I do?
Do I stay here forever or do Ileave?
(14:12):
I rolled the dice and left andgot work in the super yacht
industry, which was basicallylike expedition vessels for very
wealthy clientele.
I thought, um, that I had apretty good, but I didn't
realize I had fantastic.
So I basically, um, my job was aprivate dive guide for super
(14:33):
yachts.
So I was in charge of mappingitineraries for, for diving, um,
locations all over the world forguests that will come on board.
And I did that for the best partof my thirties as well for
another 10 years.
So, um, and that has brought meinto now my forties and
basically doing a little bit ofeverything, which is continuing
on with, um, diving, but indifferent many shapes and forms.
(14:56):
Photography has always been thevehicle that has taken me around
the world with diving.
Continuing on with freelancephotography, I've just branched
into authoring.
I've just released my firstbook, which is a big achievement
for myself, I feel.
Also, raising a small family.
I'm doing a bit of everything atthe moment.
SPEAKER_02 (15:17):
I think it's a big achievement for anybody to write
a book.
Yours is It's such a great book.
It's Ultimate Dive Sites byHardy Grant.
That's pretty much what we'regoing to focus on today.
It's the best places to divearound the world.
I'm going to say this before wekick into it because I have
(15:39):
dived.
Bizarrely, the first place Idived was in Turkey and the
other people in the group withme didn't know how to swim.
It was like, that's okay.
It's got to be shallow.
I don't know how that happens,but anyway.
So you have those pivotalmoments, as you say, and I was
like, do I continue diving or doI stay as a snorkeler?
And I'm quite a keen snorkeler.
(16:00):
So I'm going to every now andthen pull you up and say,
incredible location.
Can I snorkel and see whatyou're seeing when you're
diving?
So I think that brings more intothe dive family by having a bit
of a snorkel in there as well,too.
Because everybody's gotdifferent skills, haven't they?
SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
100%.
Yeah.
Well, going back to writing thebook, I found it very, to me,
initially, it was very importantto kind of cover all bases for
the audience.
And that meant addressing scubadivers primarily, maybe, but
then also snorkeling andfreediving.
And we also touched onsubmersibles, which was a
different sort of drastic genrein itself, the world of diving.
(16:39):
But yeah, Yeah, you can't takeanything away from snorkeling.
I think we all start outsnorkeling and we all decide if
we want to go further or deeper.
And if we don't want to, it'sperfectly fine because, yeah, I
think snorkeling, free diving,it's, yeah, it's a very special
way of discovering the ocean.
SPEAKER_02 (16:58):
Well, we're just lucky that we've got your lens
to take us down deeper where Ican't, where I can't take my
snorkel.
So now I'm going to pick yourbrains about the best places to
dive slash snorkel.
And, um, and why you love thatdestination.
So, I mean, as you said, you'recurrently in Cairns.
You've been working on the GreatBarrier Reef as well as seeing
family this week.
So let's start with yourfavorite Australian dive
(17:21):
locations.
SPEAKER_00 (17:23):
Yeah, let's jump into it.
Okay, so domestically, probablywe'll start with the Great
Barrier Reef where we are rightnow.
We all know the Great BarrierReef.
It's great for a reason, formany different reasons.
But what I find so special aboutthe Great Barrier Reef is its
diversity in a sense of howlarge it is.
And what that means is kind oflike that this ecosystem changes
(17:45):
drastically as you've travelednorth or south.
So starting all the way up closeto Papua New Guinea, running all
the way down to, let's say,Yipoon area, the Southern Great
Barrier Reef raging all the wayup to the Northern Great Barrier
Reef.
it changes dramatically.
So where I am right now inCairns and probably an area that
(18:05):
I'm most familiar with is thefar North grey bear reef.
And that runs into like a groupof, um, reefs called the ribbon
reefs and also the coral sea.
Uh, so, uh, I have a wonderfulchildhood that started out
diving up here with family,holding onto my dad's shoulders
as we snorkeled together on thereef when I was probably, I
(18:26):
don't know, let's make this up,maybe five or six years old.
Very young numbers, but yeah,I'm very partial to the Great
Barrier Reef.
I think it's incredibly special.
And it's just like, we all knowhow well it is on a world stage,
but I think as a As Australians,we kind of forget that this is
(18:47):
really like an incredible assetand it's full of life and it
changes dramatically the moreyou travel.
So it's very, on that note, it'svery hard to generalize as well
about the Great Barrier Reef.
We just talk about one thing,but my favorite region is the
far northern Great Barrier Reef.
SPEAKER_02 (19:01):
And what are you going there to see in
particular?
SPEAKER_00 (19:04):
As you move further north, the species become more
tropical.
That kind of means that you losethat southern influence.
But we have everything here frombeautiful corals to pelagic
marine life as well.
At the moment, we have minkewhales, which are off the coast
here in wintertime.
That's very special.
And then...
(19:25):
Yeah.
And then there's, it's kind ofthe beauty of the Great Barrier
Reef is that anything can happenkind of vibe.
So wonderful shark life, reallygood coral diving, healthy fish
stocks as well.
So yeah, and it's accessible toall divers as well, whether it
be snorkeling, freediving orscuba diving.
SPEAKER_02 (19:45):
Brilliant.
So that's a great one to startoff with.
Where else would you rate aroundAustralia?
UNKNOWN (19:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (19:52):
Yeah, okay.
We've got lots to choose from.
Let's go directly across thecoast to the west coast.
Ningaloo is another famousnational or probably world
famous dive location that getstalked about a lot.
That varies a bit from the GreatBarrier Reef because it's
accessibility.
As you know, it's right there onthe coast.
(20:14):
You have this wonderful mixtureof desert meets the reef life,
whereas Ningaloo The GreatBarrier Reef is further offshore
here in North Queensland.
But in your Exmouth sort ofregion or Coral Bay sort of
region, you have the NingalooReef, which is basically desert
lagoon reef.
So it's very accessible.
(20:34):
You can snorkel straight off thebeach.
So accessibility is a huge kinddraw card for the thinning glue
but also what's probably moreattractive to me is they tend to
get larger megafauna that's moreum more seen on in the minglu
reef so we've got stuff likelarge mantas uh wow sharks in
(20:55):
season that you probably knowall about um humpback whales as
well um large tiger sharks sodugongs it goes on so you
probably got that sort of draw acard with a large megaphone and
more so than the Great BarrierReef.
So yeah, it's attractive becauseof its accessibility and
probably large stuff as well.
SPEAKER_02 (21:16):
That's interesting.
You're saying, I mean, the smalltropical fish, incredibly
beautiful there, the giants overin WA.
But I have to say, when we weredoing a prep on this one, thank
you for making me look up, we'regoing to go minuscule now, the
difference between...
leafy sea dragons and weedy seadragons.
(21:37):
And that gives you your thirddestination that you would have
recommended as a place to diveor snorkel.
SPEAKER_00 (21:45):
Yeah, good one.
So in a part of the world that Iwas never sort of traditionally
familiar with, but I've reallyenjoyed discovering it, is the
southern waters, the southerntemperate waters of South
Australia.
So there's a few locations.
But the location that I featurein the book is Rapid Bay, which
is on the Florian Peninsula,just south of Adelaide.
(22:09):
And the reason I feature thatlocation is because of the leafy
sea dragons.
So South Australia isactually...
interesting enough has a lot ofjetty diving there so a lot of
shore diving so that's a reallygood point for accessibility um
and underneath a lot of thesestructures you tend to have an
incredible unique marine lifeand the leafy sea dragon is um
(22:32):
is one of those species that ikind of always wanted to
photograph and spend time withvery elusive very camouflaged so
um hard to come across and it'sone of those sort of enjoyable
dives for me where you just haveto get in the water go very slow
be very careful not you knowdisturbing the bottom topography
and just try to have your eyestuned into finding leafy sea
(22:57):
dragons we're typically talkingprobably 10 centimeters a little
bit more in length 15centimeters no more sorry sorry
15 to 20 centimeters in lengthbut they look like they have
these wonderful appendages oflike sort of a leafy structure
which by no coincidence looksexactly the same as all the
seaweed behind them so yeahBeautiful.
(23:18):
Very tricky to pass.
Yeah, the first few dives I didactually, yeah, I couldn't see
any, but luckily I had a verygood guide with me and he was
like, right there, right there.
I was like, I still can't seeit, still can't see it.
And then all of a sudden itmoved a little bit differently
to the way that that kelp wasmoving.
And that's another thing, whenyou're looking for leafy sea
(23:38):
dragons, the kelp has thislovely sort of hypnotizing sort
of sway to it.
Yeah.
You get lost in the moment ofstaring at the ground, looking
for leafy sea dragons, but alsothe swaying.
Yeah, so...
I'm getting carried away there,but the southern reefs are very
special of South Australia.
Obviously, as you branch furtherto other regions, you have
(23:59):
bigger stuff like sea lions,great white sharks as well off
Neptune, the Neptune Islands offPort Lincoln as well.
I highly recommend discoveringthe southern waters of
Australia.
Understandably, the northerntropical waters have a lot more
attention, but down south isabsolutely spectacular.
SPEAKER_02 (24:18):
Yeah, and I guess different times of the year
also, you know, people aretravelling to different parts of
Australia as well.
And I think South Australia isjust so exciting.
I love the idea that you can...
But they do gather, likeespecially the sea dragons
gather around the piers becausethey do that in Port Phillip Bay
as well.
And I think David Attenboroughhad stepped in at one point when
there was talk of replacing oneof the piers down on the
(24:40):
Mornington to Nutella becauseit's such a, like literally you
jump in the waters and there'sjust these beautiful little
multicoloured weedy sea dragons,possibly easier to see.
There's even the leafy ones.
That sounds kind of tricky.
And the fact that you'rephotographing them, you know,
you've got to get the ultimateshot for them.
Must make you a very patientman, I think, folks.
more than me.
SPEAKER_00 (24:59):
Yeah, I think so.
I think so.
SPEAKER_02 (25:01):
Absolutely.
But then going overseas, I don'tthink we're going back into the
mega fauna here too.
So if you had to pick, right,because we asked the hard
questions here, if you had topick your top three
international dive sites, wherewould you be sending us?
SPEAKER_00 (25:19):
Yeah, Belinda, it's a difficult question because I
wrote a book on it and there's50 locations in the book.
So it's how do I pull out somefavorites?
Obviously, I have a lot ofpersonal favorites there, but a
few locations that I havereturned to in the past 12
months actually is my favorite.
touch on those is Palau andMicronesia.
(25:40):
I have been numerous times, butI returned recently within the
past two years or so to do someresearch on the book when we
were putting it together andtotally fell in love with it
again.
I think the first thing that Iwas wrapped with was the close
proximity to Australia.
They actually had direct flightsfrom Brisbane only a few months
(26:02):
ago.
I'm not sure if they're stillrunning.
I think Qantas might have takenit over.
You may know more on that than Ido, but I loved it.
I mean, it went from having togo through Guam and then
overnight to immediately sixhours direct from Brisbane.
So that was amazing.
Plough is incredibly special.
It's led the way for many yearsin conservation, in marine
(26:25):
conservation.
And what you have is thisecosystem that's sort of been
protected for generations, forlike 20 years or so.
And you can see the results,which is awesome.
Plough diving is very, veryvaried, but at its roots, it's
tropical coral diving.
(26:46):
There is numerous shipwrecksthroughout the island chain as
well because of their largeinvolvement in World War II.
There's jellyfish lakes as well,which is very special.
But the reason I love Palau somuch is because they have these
large sporting events.
And surrounding the sportingevents is basically like you
have a few different species ofsort of coral fish like your
(27:10):
gropers.
And they have large sportingevents that sort of work around
the new moon and the full moon.
So that means every two weeksyou have a sporting event
basically.
And it's just this hugeaggregation of species coming
together, the releasing of eggs,predators, everything.
(27:30):
So you can dive the lead up tothe spawning events.
If you're lucky enough, you cansee the spawning in action.
And if you're even lucky, youcan kind of see the anarchy of
what happens when a lot of foodis released in one small area as
well.
And that's always a lot of fun.
I really enjoy kind of going tolocations now.
to kind of score sort of um orexperience large um marine
(27:55):
events whether it be migratoryevents or spawning events and
stuff like that so yeah it makesit all the worthwhile if you're
there at the right moment at theright time so that's plow i
would highly recommend checkingit out um what else uh i
returned to tonga last year inthe south pacific and that Yeah,
that was another easy, quiterelatively easy, accessible trip
(28:19):
from Australia, just goingthrough, I think there's direct
flights from Sydney andMelbourne maybe, but there's
also, you can go through NewZealand quite easily as well.
But that surrounded the whalemigration, which takes place in
the winter months, the humpbackwhale migration.
And there's arguably no betterplace in the world to experience
(28:39):
some.
Hoppock whales in extremelyclear water, in sheltered waters
as Tonga.
So you have these amazingexperiences.
Basically, the female whales arenurturing calves there or
they're giving birth to calves.
It just sort of depends of wherethey are in their cycle.
(29:00):
And there's incredible heat runswhere males are competing for
the attention of females aswell.
So It's spectacular sort ofSouth Pacific living.
It's incredibly clear water andit's huge megafauna being, or
cetaceans being, these lovelyhumpback whales up close.
And yeah, and it's snorkeling.
(29:20):
It's actually no scuba divingallowed and no free diving in
recent years has sort of beenbanned as well.
They want divers just to staycalm, stay still on the surface
of the water, which is fantasticbecause it's less interaction,
less...
less interrupting of the whale'sbehaviour and it's also more
accessible to everybody.
SPEAKER_02 (29:43):
Tonga is an interesting one because it does
allow you to snorkel nearhalves, which I think is
something that Australia hasactually stepped back from.
Australia is far younger, thewhale swim industry is a lot
younger in Australia than it isin Tonga.
SPEAKER_00 (30:03):
Yeah, I think definitely we come from the land
of regulations in Australia.
So there's a lot of rules hereand in many cases rightfully so.
The quick sort of answers ortakeaways in that is that a lot
of the whales in Australia aremigratory.
They're still on their wayfurther north.
So And if they are still andresting, it doesn't mean they're
(30:28):
actually staying in thatlocation for a long period of
time.
They're probably resting beforethey can continue to move on.
So whereas in Vivao, in Tonga,you really just have a scenario
where the whales have arrived attheir resting place, they've
arrived in their location, andthey're staying put.
The good thing about Tonga isit's a very sleepy part of the
(30:50):
South Pacific, but they are sortof regulating at a good pace as
well and that's where this hascome in recently with the whole
snorkeling only and no divingand you have the wonderful
guidance of the Tongan localswho you always have to have a
Tongan guide in the water andthey take it very seriously in
(31:11):
sort of having the right sort ofinteractions And you don't want
to annoy or disappoint a largeTongan because they take it very
seriously, which is awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (31:23):
What a great guardian to have.
And your third internationaldestination for diving and or
snorkeling?
SPEAKER_00 (31:32):
Yeah.
Let's stay in the South Pacificand go to Vanuatu, which is a
very special location for me.
I sort of My diving journeystarted quite early in Vanuatu.
I did learn to dive inAustralia, but the first
overseas location that I went towork was when I turned 20.
I went to Vanuatu and starteddiving on a shipwreck called the
(31:54):
Coolidge, which is in Santo, themost northern island of Vanuatu.
Once again, the South Pacifichad heavy involvement in World
War II, and there's a lot ofshipwrecks there, but there's a
very famous shipwreck called thePresident Coolidge.
that shipwreck was coming intoone of its channels in Santo and
(32:16):
it actually hit one of its ownmines and ran aground and
basically beached itself on thecoast there.
Then everybody bar one person, Ithink the captain actually, and
another sailor, I've just goneblank on that, but I think one
or two people died in theaccident.
(32:36):
It then slid back, fell over toits port side and slid back into
the water.
So you have this incredible200-meter ship, which I'll touch
on in a second, resting in 20meters of water all the way down
to its stern in 70 meters ofwater.
So it's no small claim at thisone.
It's scuba diving, but it's deepdiving too, which is awesome and
(32:59):
very unique.
The amazing thing about theshipwreck is that actually
during World War II, the U.S.
ran out of, battleships and theystarted taking on their cruise
liners and so they modified thiscruise liner so what you have is
the best of both worlds you havelike a traditional cruise liner
that's then been modified into abattleship so you have
(33:21):
everything from sort of swimmingpools to mosaics and what not to
machine guns and cargo hulls andeverything like that so that's
and that's all accessiblebasically you walk off a good
20-30 meters off the beach andyou have the bow of a ship In 20
meters, it runs down to 70meters.
That's 200 meters long.
And I could talk about thatforever.
(33:43):
You can do many, many dives onthat wreck and not see it all.
So it's absolutely spectacular.
SPEAKER_02 (33:50):
Who knew that they ran out of warships?
Quite an end, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00 (33:54):
Yeah, when drastic times call for drastic measures,
I guess.
SPEAKER_02 (33:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that you've mixed thedestinations with the size of
of, um, animals that you'reseeing.
And then also, um, great wreckdiving sites as well.
So I wanted to ask you, youknow, because you're, you know,
you're primarily, um, you know,your underwater photography is,
is astonishing.
And, um, and if anyone'sfollowing, wants to follow it
(34:18):
along, I would encourage them togo to your website, which we'll
put a link in the show notes,because I love how you write the
story behind the shot as well.
Like your, would it be right insaying your orca shots are
pretty much your signature?
shots from the arctic i meanthey you know and and you're
talking about uh so on yourwebsite you're talking about the
(34:38):
gale force arctic winds theminus 15 degrees temperatures
the last day of sunlight beforethe polar night starts i mean be
still my beating heart this isyou know this is this is
phenomenal so i want to ask youwhere is the next place that
you're traveling to for work
SPEAKER_00 (34:55):
You've just nailed it perfectly.
Actually, in November, I'mreturning to the Arctic, which
is very special.
I had a moment in time where myprofession for a long period was
basically taking privateclientele to experience what I
(35:16):
thought would be and what theythought would be like the
highlights of their divingcareer which always always lend
to the question of what's at thetop of my list or what's at the
top of like what do I want toexperience more than anything so
yeah many years ago kind of Irealized that I really want to
be in the water with orcas and Ireally want to sort of like just
(35:36):
get the best from thatexperience which It led me down
a wonderful journey of returningto northern Norway, to the
Arctic, for many years in a row.
I had a bit of a break there forrecent years, but I'm returning
for the first time in probablyfive years, actually, this
November, which is fantasticbecause we're going to do it
very differently from pastexperiences.
(35:57):
This time we have a privatesailboat, so we're basically
just going to be trying to getlost in the fjords of Norway,
which is very easy to do.
yeah and it's just absolutelyfor me it's it's just it's my my
pinnacle i think being in thewater with orcas um is
mind-blowing you get a veryquick sense of their
(36:20):
intelligence in the water moreso than any other species i've
ever come across before um theinteractions are amazing the
whole environment itself as youtouched on is it's freezing it's
cold But there's a real magicabout it too because it's very
fairytale-like because here youare within the Arctic Circle,
(36:40):
which means that in that monthof November, December, when we
tend to go, the sun's in itslast moments.
So you have like a sunsetperiod, which is kind of last.
I think the days are like five,six hours long at that time of
year.
But the sun never really risestoo much above the horizon.
So you have like a lovely...
(37:02):
pastel light environment all daylong.
That's if it's not stormy andrough and out of control.
But yeah, the whole experienceis mind-blowing and I'm really
excited to return back toNorway.
And it's kind of, in a way, as Itouched on before, that it did
shape my life and I'm reallyexcited to return to somewhere
(37:24):
that was so pivotal and changedmy life in many wonderful ways.
SPEAKER_02 (37:29):
Just astonishing.
You never feel like I guess, youknow, they're so big, you never
feel, well, you would feeldwarfed by just their size, as
you say, their intelligence aswell.
Do you ever feel scared?
SPEAKER_00 (37:42):
Not scared.
Dwarfed, yes.
I think straight away you tendto get taken back by the large
size of orcas.
Sometimes in your head you mightthink, oh, they look like a
dolphin or that kind of size,but they're much, much bigger
than a dolphin, particularly themales.
The males have this wonderfullarge dorsal fin, which is
(38:02):
almost like a sail.
It's a very sharp, triangular,tall dorsal fin.
Scared?
No.
It's more of just anappreciation of their
intelligence.
I think straight away, Irealized that I'm not supposed
to be in the water.
They realize that I'm useless.
I'm just this big rubber thing.
(38:23):
rubber man in the water straightaway, whereas they're moving
elegantly and hunting elegantlyand whatnot.
And I'm just kind of like doingmy best to keep up.
No, I feel very safe straightaway, which is a comforting
feeling.
SPEAKER_02 (38:38):
It just sounds absolutely fascinating.
So now I will ask you your dreamdestination that you have not
been to yet.
I mean, you spend a lot of timein the Antarctic, sorry, in the
Arctic.
Is there a place that you...
that's always been there thatyou it's going to be the
pinnacle of what you can nevertell it until you get there and
(38:58):
under the water but yeah
SPEAKER_00 (38:59):
sure
SPEAKER_02 (39:01):
what's the place you're definitely
SPEAKER_00 (39:02):
yeah that's a good question i think i think the
dream locations for me thesedays are places that i've tried
to get to but repetitively havebeen stopped going to stopped
from being able to go theremaybe it's weather or travel
plans have changed or whateverbecause then it becomes a a
personal mission of like, am Iever going to get to this place
or am I ever going to experiencethis?
And in your mind the whole timeyou still keep painting a
(39:23):
picture of how good it must bebecause you just can't get
there.
And probably the first one thatcomes up is the Baja Peninsula
of Mexico.
Mexico is actually an incredibledriving destination that I've
featured quite a bit in my bookbecause you have two coastlines.
You have the Caribbean side andalso the Pacific side.
(39:45):
There's a lot of amazing divingon both coasts.
On the Pacific side, there's theSea of Cortez as well, but the
Baja Peninsula actually has afew locations there.
In recent years, it's gained alittle bit more traction because
they have a sardine run, whichis a migration of a food source
(40:11):
that comes up and down along thecoasts.
And with that comes a largethrive of predators.
And in particular, in this case,it's striped marlin and
sailfish.
So you have, it's like fastdiving.
You're jumping in and out ofboats.
You're following birds, whichare following bait balls.
You're in this amazing sort oflandscape of Southern Mexico.
(40:34):
So yeah, it's somewhere thatI've been trying to get to.
I think I've had three tripsthat have kind of happened.
just not happen for me, which isokay because I know that I'm
going to get there.
But to experience the MagladennaBay is the area I'm talking
about in particular, Mag Baythey call it, Magladenna.
(40:56):
To experience the sort ofstriped marlin and selfish of
Mag Bay would be fantastic andI'm sure I'll get there
eventually.
SPEAKER_02 (41:04):
That's your Shangri-La.
Okay, brilliant.
And And I'm going to take you tothe end.
Then the question that we askall of our guests, and I cannot
even guess what you're going totell me for this one.
What is your most bizarre travelexperience?
SPEAKER_00 (41:22):
Far out.
Bizarre.
Okay.
Well, yeah, I'm not sure if it'sbizarre.
It's probably more shocking andmemorable.
When I was 19, I was left at seafor decades.
a very long period, probably,probably over 12 hours, um, in,
in, uh, on a diving, diving, uh,trip, um, in Borneo, um, off,
(41:47):
um, an island called Sipadan.
So I was only 19, which was mysaving grace in, in, in
reflection, because I think Iwas young enough to see it as a
wild adventure more so than, ohmy God, I'm not going to make it
kind of experience.
Um, But yeah, basically we did,without going into too much
detail, there's a really goodstory in the book, which goes
(42:12):
into great detail about thestory.
But did a morning dive and gotpicked up on sunset.
So jumped in the water at dawnand got picked up at sunset.
And that involved us doing adrift dive, which was, we jumped
in the water and typically on adrift dive, back in the day when
(42:32):
lures were probably a bit morelaxed, you'd say, okay, after
one hour, we're going toresurface and the boat might be
following your bubbles.
That might be the typicalrelaxed version of how a drift
dive works.
So after one hour, we'll see youon the surface.
So after one hour, we surfacedwith no boat in sight.
The boat drifted in anotherdirection.
(42:54):
We drifted in another direction.
Very quickly, the island that wewere diving next to, or
within...
on the horizon disappearedbecause we were just got sucked
out to sea.
And, um, as I said, it wasprobably, I was young enough to
see it as a big adventure.
And also the other interestingpoint was it was only me and two
others, um, a young dive, sorry,my, my dad's best friend.
(43:18):
So, uh, a Malaysian gentleman.
Um, so he didn't dive veryregularly.
So straight away, I felt aresponsibility to look after
him.
and also a young MalaysianBorneo dive guide who would have
been younger than me and wasfreaking out from the moment,
from the get-go.
So my saving grace was I waskind of thrown into a position
(43:42):
of responsibility and lookingafter everybody.
And yeah, we got picked up ondust by local fishermen who had
heard that we were missing andwere looking for a reward.
That's my crazy story.
I'm not sure if that's whatyou're asking for.
But yeah, very eventful, verymemorable.
(44:03):
And I'm lucky that happened 20years ago and not recently
because I probably would havefelt a lot different about it if
it happened recently.
SPEAKER_02 (44:11):
Well, at 19, you're pretty much bulletproof anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (44:14):
That's it.
That's it.
I think at 19, you're like farout.
I've got a good story to tellfrom this one.
More so than like, am I evergoing to see my kids again?
SPEAKER_02 (44:26):
Well, yeah, I'm glad.
Well, I'm probably happy thatyour mum found out later on as
well.
It was so great to have you, tohear all of your incredible
stories.
I cannot urge people stronglyenough to go to your website and
look at some of the results ofyour many, many years spent
underwater.
The photography, yourphotography is absolutely
beautiful.
and completely inspiring aswell.
(44:47):
So thank you for joining us onThe World Awakes.
SPEAKER_00 (44:50):
Thank you, Belinda.
It was lovely.
Thanks so much for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (44:54):
That was underwater photographer Todd Simeos sharing
with Belle his favourite divelocations in Australia and
around the world.
Todd's book Ultimate Dive Sitesis out now and he's speaking at
the Go Diving Show at the SydneyShowgrounds on the 6th and 7th
of September and you can seemore inspirational ocean
photography at his website whichis simeos.com and we'll put a
(45:18):
link to that in the show notes.
SPEAKER_02 (45:31):
Our tip this week is about how you can save hundreds
or even thousands of dollarswhen you travel.
And let's face it, who doesn'twant to do that?
So Southern Cross TravelInsurance's most recent Future
of Travel report shows that 76%of Aussies claim that travel
insurance is a high prioritywhen booking international
travel, but only 41% had thesame sentiment when it comes to
(45:53):
booking a domestic getaway.
SPEAKER_01 (45:55):
Yeah, and I've been guilty of that for sure.
So Southern Cross TravelInsurance Chief Customer Officer
Jess Strange says there's a lotof commentary out there that
domestic travel insurancedoesn't stack up and many
Aussies don't believe theyactually need it when they're
travelling domestically becausethey're covered under Medicare
and we also all assume nothing'sgoing to happen when you're
travelling domestically, right?
(46:16):
But many travellers don't takeinto account the amount of money
they actually might lose if thetrip's cancelled and due to also
unexpected medical situations.
So I guess as you get older,that's one to watch.
SPEAKER_02 (46:29):
They had a couple of case studies.
They said in one instance, acustomer who had to cancel a
trip for the family of four dueto a bad case of gastro, quite
to say it must have been a badcase, was able to claim back
more than$28,000 worth ofexpenses.
I mean, that had some big ticketitems in that.
That was a trip on the IndianPacific Railway, a cruise on
(46:49):
Margaret River, and a visit toRottnest Island.
So, you know, this is a bigspending holiday.
And they only got it backbecause they'd taken out a
domestic travel insurancepolicy.
SPEAKER_01 (46:59):
Oh, my God.
Can you imagine having gastro onan airplane toilet?
How small those toilets are?
And how would you...
And imagine, like, having...
The embarrassment associatedwith running to a tiny toilet
and coming in and out with thesmell that you'd be leaving
behind.
Well, I was actually
SPEAKER_02 (47:18):
thinking of having gastro on the train and then
having gastro on the cruise andhaving gastro, actually having
gastro anywhere would bephenomenal.
I think there's always somebodyon long-haul flights with
gastro.
I've just got a sneakingsuspicion.
Judging from my constipation.
SPEAKER_01 (47:35):
Sorry, bad.
There's nothing worse.
I mean, on a plane, there'snothing worse.
But anyway, so Southern Crosssays, given the high costs of
domestic flights andaccommodation in Australia, the
average cost of domestic planescan sometimes exceed the average
planes cost for internationaltrips.
And the moral of the story, it'sjust not worth taking the risk
to end up hundreds or thousandsof dollars out of pocket, even
(47:58):
when you're travelingdomestically.
SPEAKER_02 (48:01):
And they say, many people might not know, another
tip, everybody, is thatpurchasing domestic travel
insurance policies essentiallyreduces your rental vehicle
excess to zero or almost zero.
So you don't have to take outthat, you know, the insurance
that they're lobbying on, whichcan add, you know,$20,$30 a day
to your car.
However, you are still liablefor an excess, which is the
(48:24):
maximum amount you would have topay in the event of damage or
theft.
And domestic cover also coverscancellations outside your
control, such as falling illbefore you head off to ski in
Perisher for a week.
And to date, in 2025, it haspaid out more than$43,000 in
rental car excess claims forcustomers.
SPEAKER_01 (48:44):
So maybe reconsider insurance when you travel
domestically, unless you havegastro.
Next week, I'm chatting toChelsea Ross, the founder of
Bali-based Goddess Retreats,dedicated to empowering women
through travel.
Chelsea launched the world'sfirst luxury surf and yoga
retreat exclusively for women,and she gives us some insider
(49:06):
tips into the best places inBali for a women-only getaway
and explains how the industryhas changed and why after a
women's only retreat, you'll seeit as the only way to travel.
SPEAKER_02 (49:17):
And we would love it if you followed us on socials.
You'll find us at The WorldAwaits podcast on Instagram,
Facebook and LinkedIn.
And feel free to drop us a lineat Hello at The World Awaits.
Or if you're enjoying thisepisode, give us a rating or a
review.
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
(49:38):
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
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