Finally, after five years of threatening to become an instructor, Terry decided to do his IDC/IE with Borneo Divers in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Tracy didn't believe him at first as she had heard it all before. First in Cyprus, where he got as far as reading the General Standards and Procedures in the Instructor Manual. Next in Israel where he went through all the exams with Graham, but couldn't be bothered!! Later on in Mexico, when he was offered the course in exchange for repairing jet ski's. He declined almost immediately after realising that staying in Playa Del Carmen for too long would be hell on Earth! He even considered going back to South Africa and doing the course with Brett at the Whaler in Umkamaas, which in hindsight would have been the best option as the diving and wildlife in that part of the world is second to none and Brett is one of the best dive shop owners we had ever worked for.

Tracy, needless to say, was shocked when Terry actually brought the Instructor Candidate Workbook and dusted off her old Instructor Manual - most of which had to be thrown away as it was so out of date, and had to be reprinted from the Digital Instructor Manual! She was even more stunned when he booked the course, the accommodation and started studying. Could this finally be it...?

You may wonder why it was such a big deal for Terry to become an Instructor. Well, firstly, he did not want to be one! He liked being a Dive Master and just guiding dives. His opinion is that instructors spend most of their time in the classroom or the pool, whereas a Dive Master actually goes diving. However, financially it made sense, even though it cost the best part of 1000 UK pounds! The amount of times dive shop owners have said "if you were both instructors I could employ you, but I don't need a Dive Master as I can use Instructors to guide dives but I can't use Dive Masters to teach..." So, hopefully, this new qualification will open more doors and broaden travel horizons. Secondly, he doesn't like giving money to PADI!! But they have the monopoly of the dive industry, so if you want to travel and work you have to be a PADI Instructor, as it is the way the world learns to dive...!

So, with dates arranged, we moved out of our apartment in Brunei and sold our few pieces of furniture. We stayed with Matt and Kirsty again and used their PC and printer to print off the missing parts of the Manual that Terry would need. Terry filled in the last bits of the Independent Learning Sections in the Instructor Candidate Workbook and obtained a few more reference books (Best of Undersea Journal, Business of Diving, Diving Law etc). On 3rd October 2002, we caught the ferry out of Brunei to Labuan and then on to KK in Sabah. We were picked up by the Borneo Divers minibus and taken to their shop in Wisma Sabah to meet Ursula, who had made all the arrangements via email. We also met Hoak, the Course Director for the IDC. Then we were taken to our accommodation in the Api Api apartments (we paid RM550 for 2 weeks plus water and electricity which came to RM50. This can be arranged through the Kinabalu Daya hotel, speak to Suzie).

The stupid thing is, of all the exotic places we have travelled to and the ample opportunity Terry had to do the course in idyllic situations... he chooses the concrete monstrosity of Kota Kinabalu!!

Actually, KK isn't that bad really. The old town of Jessleton as it was known until the 1940's was destroyed during the Japanese invasion in 1941 and the subsequent liberation by the Allied Forces in 1945. So, when it was rebuilt, renamed and made the capital of the state of Sabah, concrete was the preferred material as it was quick and cheap to build with. Only a few buildings still stand from the pre-war days and one of them is the Tourist Information Centre. KK is also predominantly a Chinese town, so the choice of food is amazing and cheap. There are so many places to eat in. One we frequented was "Angs", mainly because the staff seemed half crazy and the food was delicious. So, holed up in the city of KK in the Api Api Apartments, with a guy called Marcus, from England, also doing the course, as our next door neighbour, Terry prepared himself for the two weeks ahead of him...

THE IDC 04/10/02 to 13/10/02

The first morning of the IDC was taken up with introductions and form filling. There were only four doing the course, which was a blessing as it makes the course more personal, unlike the "instructor factories" of Thailand where up to 40 students on a course is the norm. So, Terry, Marcus, Lisa (a Chinese lady) and Marilyn (a local Malay girl) had Hoak's full attention. In the afternoon, they got down to business studying the PADI system of teaching. Terry and Marcus decided to share a table even though the classroom was enormous with enough room for everyone to have a table each with plenty to spare. But together they sat, and as it transpired they got on very well straight away, finding out they were roughly the same age, both Dan grades in Karate and a very similar sense of humour (which none of the others seemed to understand, but that's British humour for you!) Having been shown how to give a teaching presentation, they were given their assignments for the next day and packed off home to prepare.

The next couple of days followed a similar pattern. Studying the PADI Education System in the morning and then giving presentations in the afternoon. The first presentation was fairly nerve-racking but once you realised the structure you are supposed to follow and didn't deviate from this, you were bound to get good marks. Days in the classroom and evenings preparing for the next day followed. It is strange that PADI stress that PADI dive courses should not be all about sitting in the classroom and listening to dull lectures, hours of videos, and staring at a screen full of Modular Lesson Guides, plus task loading. However, when you get as far as the IDC this all seems to be forgotten and the candidates get bored senseless in what seems to be a good attempt at sensory deprivation!

Luckily after 4 days we had the chance to get out of the class and in the water at Mamutik Island in the Tonkul Abdul Raman Park (TARP). A Marine Reserve just 15 minutes boat ride from KK. The days that followed were now one day in class, the next day in the water. The water days were good as once we'd done our presentations, skill circuits and rescue scenario's, Marcus and Terry generally slipped off for a dive along the local reef, which isn't the most amazing in the world but it was actually nice to relax and have a bit of fun - which is what PADI courses at any level should be!!

After ten intense days of study, classroom and in-water presentations, skill evaluations and mock exams, we all successfully completed the IDC.

Next to come was the IE, 2 days later. Terry celebrated the end of the IDC with his usual zest when beer is involved and was not really up to much studying the next day. He still managed to brush up on General Standards and Procedures by sitting yet another exam. The next free day was spent on Mamutik Island having a couple of dives in the morning then practicing the Rescue Scenario under the watchful eye of Tracy. We all caught the boat back to the Pacific Sutra Hotel in the late afternoon (treating ourselves to gooey cakes and coffee) to meet the Examiner and do the IE Orientation and receive the assignments for the next day. The Examiner was a Canadian called Mario who went through all the form filling procedures then informed us that the IE would all be done in one day rather the the original two days as there was only four of us and we could easily get it all done in a day - and we might even have fun! So much for not task loading! So, clutching our various assignments, we all rushed home to prepare for the big day.

THE IE - 16/10/02

For the past two weeks the weather in KK had been perfect. Blazing sunshine and calm seas. The morning of the IE it all changed. Howling winds bending the trees over and driving rain which soaked you to the skin in seconds. Fortunately, we had arranged a transfer from our apartment to the hotel for a morning of theory exams and presentations. We arrived in the classroom by 8.00am and we went straight into the examinations. First off was the Academic presentations on prescriptive teaching. Terry opted to be first and get it over with. The nerves of speaking in public returned with the Examiner sitting in the front, scrutinising and filling in the score sheet. But as mentioned before, as long as you give the presentation as you were taught and get in all the key points (which are basically plugging PADI and continuing Education), you should get a good score. This is exactly what happened so that hurdle was successfully crossed. After a short coffee break it was back to class for five exams on Physics, Physiology, Skills and the Environment, RDP and Equipment. You get an hour and a half for these 60 questions (12 questions per exam). Terry read his watch wrong and had it all done and double checked in just an hour. He was through to the next stage after only dropping 2 of the 60 questions. Another break then back to class for the General Standards and Procedures Exam. Once again, another 60 questions. There is no make-up on this exam as it is an open book exam, so it was make or break time. On opening the question paper Terry came to a grinding halt as the first two questions were really nasty ones. But as explained in the orientation the night before, "leave the ones you can not answer and move on to the ones you know, the go back to the ones you have missed using the manual". Terry used the whole hour and a half checking and re-checking his answers. It paid off. He scored 100% !!!!

With the theory session passed and the morning's storm blown out revealing clear skies, it was over to Mamutik Island for the In-Water tests. Terry and Marcus were under strict instructions from Tracy to do everything by the book, from setting up their gear, to buddy checks and entry techniques. It seemed to pay off as their scores were high for everything including confined water and open water presentations, through to the skill circuit and rescue scenario. Before they knew it, two weeks of hard work was over and they were now PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors! Back to the mainland for the debriefing by Mario and a quick presentation of IE completion certificates and the usual photographs and that was it as far as Borneo Divers was concerned. No T-Shirts, plaques or BBQ's like Tracy had on her course with Roger Ng at Dive Asia in the Tioman Islands Just a quick "well done" and "oh, have you paid", and that was it. Apparently this hasn't always been the case. Borneo Divers seem to have let their standards of customer service drop over the last two years since the kidnapping of divers and staff from Sipadan Island by the Abu Syaaf.

Not to worry, we made our own fun. Firstly by going home for a quick shower then round to the Promenade hotel to meet up with Rhona and Dave who we had not seen in 3 years since their wedding in KL. We consumed a couple of bottles of wine and a few beers, paid for by Tracy in congratulations. Next we moved onto Angs for food and a couple more beers. Then on to BB's bar in the centre of KK for a few more beers... As Rhona and Dave were flying to Layang Layang at 4.30am the next morning we headed home around midnight, very happy with ourselves and what we had achieved over the past 2 weeks.

Terry would especially like to thank Tracy for helping him and Marcus through the IDC and IE, especially with writing and giving presentations and going through the rescue scenario. Sometimes it seemed she knew more than your average Course Director and hopefully one day she will become one. Also to Matt and Kirsty in Brunei for housing and feeding us, and the use of their PC and printer for the production of Terry's manual. Finally to Ursula at Borneo Divers for arranging everything so well over the internet. She can be contacted information@BorneoDivers.info for all diving requirements in their shops on, Mabul and KK.

All in all it was "fun" - expensive fun though! The next step is to get travelling and find a job and earn some of that money back. We'll try our luck in Thailand and see what happens...