Some time around 1995, Chris called me and said “Pete, I’ve just sold a car so I’ve got some cash burning a hole in my pocket. I fancy a trip somewhere cool, where shall we go?”. We decided that we’d learn to Scuba dive and, as a good friend Claire Hatton was in Indonesia, we’d head that way and go to Bali. The original plan was for Chris to do his PADI course and for us to then meet up with a dive guide who’d take us to the best spots. Our guide was a mad but incredible local called Wally Siagian who decided that Chris didn’t need a PADI course and he’d teach him to dive. Chris first dive was a night time wreck dive! My fondest memory of that trip was being 25m underwater with Chris while Wally was standing in the water frog legged conducting two enormous schools of fish.

Chris and I had been mates at University but it was the two weeks on a dive tour of Bali where I really got to know him. We had a lot of fun, a lot of giggles and a few close scrapes. As we got older Chris and I both had some great times and some times that were a bit tougher. Chris was always there with support and a smile when it was needed, he had a talent for raising spirits when times were bad and making fun times even more enjoyable just with his company. When I think of Chris, it’s always with a smile, on his face and on mine.

Chris and Wally

Chris and Pete