Diving at the Great Barrier Reef

We went to the Lady Elliet Island in 1996 , the southern -most island of the Great Barrier Reef, and the first island to be inhabited.

We went in Feb, supposedly the best month for diving there, and ran head on into the biggest storm that hit the region in 20 years !

The 5 of us ( from left, me, then Eric, then Katherine, the tall girl , then Mabel, the shortest person, then King, the tallest person in the group ) sat on the beach day after day , helplessly watching the waves in the distant horizon raging and kicking up spray , praying for the storm to pass quickly so we could get into the water .

Near to the resort there's a small pond with some star fish and fishes, and at night the turtles would come up to lay eggs.

I divided my time annoying the fishes in the pond , counting the ripples from the raindrops, and roaming the island , which was only slightly bigger than the Ocean Park in HK . The only excitement I had was learning about the resident ghost on the island, a pastor's wife who went mad after losing a child at birth over a hundred years ago . One moonless night she walked straight out into the reef in her white flannel night gown and was never seen again. It is said that her sobbing can still be heard in the night .

The Heavens had the last laugh as on the day we were due to leave the sun came out and the storm was officially over !

This is why the sun is painted clipped like a discarded toe nail and BLOODY red, which was sort of my way of sticking up my finger to the skies !

The painting was exhibited in " Genius or Madman, The Exhibition of Raw Art from Hong Kong and Taiwan " in the Artist Commune, Cattle Depot Artist Village, 23rd March to 16th April 2002 ; and " Natural Expression of Raw Art" , in the Macau Museum of Art, Nov 2003