Day 029 > Monday 30 September

For months now Miles has been saying that we must take a picture of Mike sat in his wheelchair with Miles pushing him along on the bottom of the Red Sea, all in full Scuba gear. It was always a funny little dream to have but we really had no idea how difficult it would be to set up or even if would be remotely possible.

Today was therefore the day for the photo shoots and we developed a plan. We also borrowed an old wheelchair from the Hilton hotel but didn't attempt to explain why, thinking that a lot would be lost in the translation. Mark Evans, the editor of Sport Diver magazine, choreographed a plan with Jim Corbally, our dive master. It was all so easy, we went under, we did the shots, we took various other group shots, we laughed and played around and then went off for a bubble around the coral to see the fishes. Before we had learnt to dive, we had thought that Miles' silly little dream was ridiculous and probably impossible, even those in the know had doubts, but in the end it was so easy to turn these dreams into reality. Thanks again to all the diving gang for the support and the laughs.

P.S. Just to clear any confusion, wheelchairs and white sticks are not needed for Scuba diving, whatever one's disability.

Day 030 > Tuesday 01 October

ravelling five miles under the Red Sea is not that simple, especially for Mike who has no legs to propel himself along with. A normal dive to between 10 and 20 meters lasts for about an hour and, if there is no current, one would swim about half a mile at the most.

In order to speed things up we started using DPV's which are Divers Propulsion Vehicles. These are like office fans which are held by the diver, they have three speeds and top speed tears your arms off when it pulls away. Using the DPV's feels as close to flying as it can possibly get, turning and looping in the water and keeping up with even the fastest fish. We will count this as a further form of transport, one which many of the experienced divers with us had never used before.

Day 032 > Thursday 03 October

It was hard to come up out of the water for the last time, knowing that our Red Sea diving experience had come to an end. It seemed that the whole of underwater creation came out to wave goodbye to us. We were treated to a beautiful display by a huge octopus, spreading it's tentacles across the coral, changing colours and swimming. An enormous Moray eel emerged from a crevice and swam around us. Surrounded by a kaleidoscope of fish we drained our air cylinders to the last practical drop before rising to the boat.

We had all qualified as PADI Open Water Divers, we had used DPVs, drift dove, done a night dive, danced tangos in the water and played around with wheelchairs and white sticks.

Disability had not inhibited any of us and we knew that the members of the new DiveAble club for disabled in Nottingham had already signed up for a diving holiday in the new year. We knew that the next boat on order with Emperor Diving was being specified to include better wheelchair and disability access and we also knew that we had again shown what is not just possible but fantastically enjoyable with the right attitude and the right friends.

Eating together with all our supporters and sponsors, we reminisced and celebrated all that we had shared over the last week.

Day 033 > Friday 04 October

Today was spent saying goodbyes, working on laptops, doing laundry, reminiscing on a fantastic week, recovering from the grand finale late night, swapping photos and addresses and packing to leave Hurghada.

We flew to Cairo where we will spend just one day before heading for South Africa while the rest of the diving crew returned home to the UK via Gatwick. It was an odd feeling to think that we still had another two months of travelling and adventure ahead of us but we knew that our time in the Red Sea had been something very special to savour.

Day 034 > Saturday 05 October

I expected Cairo to be one of those crazy, bustly and hassly cities but it turned out to be fantastically calm and helpful. Miles needed to buy and install a new modem for his laptop as he had not been able to get "on-line" for the last week and all amateur attempts at computer re-configuration had failed. while other members of the team rested up or had their legs waxed,we set off in a taxi to the computing district of town and eventually solved all of Miles' problems with a new modem.

Being blind, Miles' computer is his window into the world and his main route for keeping contact with friends and family as well as his route to keeping up with with all that is going on around him. Often I would be sharing a bedroom with Miles and be e-mailing him with details of what we are doing the next day or forwarding him messages by e-mail as, this way, Miles is able to receive and retrieve the information better than by using his memory. Losing access to the world, therefore, cases a high degree of stress to Miles and, consequently , to the team as a whole.

So, rather than spending our day in Cairo seeing the sites, we spent most of the day getting the computer fixed before heading to the airport to start our journey to South Africa. We were heading up for 24 hours of travelling to get to George, a trip that would turn out to be a bit of an epic.

Day 035 > Sunday 06 October

The epic had begun.

We had a 24 hour journey to George in South Africa, starting with a trip to Dubai. We flew with Emirates Airlines who kindly upgraded us all to business class and we sat back and enjoyed the three hour flight.

Dubai seemed to be the duty free capital of the world and our four hours stop over passed quickly as we browsed the shops. Mike bought a replacement watch and I bought an Ostrich which did a little dance to a very silly tune.

From Dubai we set off on a nine hour flight to Johannesburg, then the fun really began. Mike has a slight tummy upset but unfortunately this led to a disaster with a colostomy bag. Without going into too much detail, all attempts at sealing the bag failed and Mike spent six hours of the flight with his bowels emptying into his clothing. With a completely full plane we were unable to help clean him up and change the bag and Mike, understandably, felt more and more miserable and uncomfortable for the remainder of the flight.

At Joburgh airport we eventually had the chance to change and wash Mike, replace the bag and just, with much support of the ground staff at the airport, catch our transfer to George. Unfortunately the cleaning and changing operation all took place on the floor of a toilet in the airport. Mike, and the toilet , were in an unbelievable mess. I really don't know how I would cope if I had to face the same difficulties day in and day out, but Mike continually proves that all the effort to live is worth it in the end.

At George we were met by members of the Knysna Rotary Club, but we then discovered that Mike's spare wheelchair had not arrived with us, furthermore his main wheelchair was damaged. At the hotel another colostomy bag failed, messing another set of clothes and a set of bedding. What a day!

As a contrast, we spent a pleasant and trouble free evening with the Knysna Rotary Club in an Italian restaurant, probably our twentieth pizza since leaving home.