On my diving hit list for years I joined Dive HQ Christchurch for their annual ice diving excursion.
Heading south I caught up with my family before meeting up with the dive group at 6am on Friday morning. 14 divers packing 2 vans & trailers took some time but we headed south to start our adventure.
Our first dive was a drift down the Clutha River from Lake Wanaka to Albert Town. Starting off slow the current soon picked up and took us flying over the rapids. We saw several large rainbow trout, a few brown trout and near the end a school of 20-30 small rainbow trout. The river is full of didymo so post-dive procedures involved getting sprayed down with detergent – a first for me.
Then it was off to Queenstown, our hostel & the not so easy task of finding parking for both vehicles!
Another early start on Saturday as we packed the van for our expedition up the mountain. It was a strange feeling leaving my BCD and regs behind as we were to use shared gear up on the mountain. We joined the rest of the crazy divers at the grooming shed at the bottom of the Remarkable Ski Field. Here we were met by the Steve’s – 1 from Cromwell Dive Club and Scuba Steve from Wanaka who were organising the weekend.
Lake Alta is approximately 1800m above sea level freezes over in the winter months. At this time it is used by skiers and snowboarders and by divers who hold an annual ice dive there. The Cromwell Dive Club has been ice diving at Lake Alta for 25 years so they have the system down pat. After loading the groomer with a dozen sets of scuba gear, 20 plus tanks and 40 sets of snorkelling gear mostly with dry suits but a few hardy souls with wetsuits. We then caught the chairlift to the top and were shuttled to the lake on snow mobiles – awesome fun!
The ice hole had been prepared by the dive club the day earlier – with massive ice cubes over 50cm square surrounding the site. Still by morning nearly an inch of ice had reformed over the hole. They had also convinced Steve from Kiwi Tubs to lug a portable hot tub up a mountain to help defrost divers.
Divers were literally queuing up to celebrate the start of spring by diving under the ice. With 40 divers signed up we were briefed and waited patiently for our turn. 4 divers at a time took the plunge with 4 others ready to enter on their return. Buddy teams were tethered to the surface but that didn’t stop us exploring the lake or playing upside down. The water was 2 degrees! But in my Drysuit with an extra layer of thermals and my now favourite Lavacore hood I felt pretty snug except for my fingers L As they froze it was time to exit the water – but 2 dives in 2 degrees for 18minutes was good enough for me – maybe next year I will stay under for longer.
Cromwell may be the most inland town in NZ but that doesn’t mean there is no diving to enjoy! In 1864, the government commissioned the construction of a one-lane bridge that would survive until the new Lake Dunstan was formed behind the Clyde Dam in 1993. This bridge became an unofficial icon for Cromwell. The ‘road is no longer there but the steel structure remains for divers to explore.
The Lowburn Bridge, built in 1938, was nicknamed ‘the longest bridge in the world’ as the arch-shape of the bridge meant that you could not see the other side. The concrete structure still stands with a Vauxhall Cresta that was decommissioned and pushed onto the bridge as a diving-haven before the Lowburn Bridge was submerged.
Lake Hawea lies almost parallel to Wanaka. The lake is deep blue, crystal clear and is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Lake Hawea was raised 20m in 1958 to provide extra water storage for winter during periods of peak power demand. Before they raised the lake levels trees along the edge were chopped down leaving the stumps and root systems to intrigue today’s divers.
Then it was the long drive home, time for one more home cooked meal and a chance to dry of some gear before packing for the flight home – my gear was 2kg heavier on the way back – oops!
My favourite quote from the weekend is from my nearly 3 year old niece – as Dad was trying to explain what I had been doing and what the gear was for he told her that I had been scuba diving and asked if she could say ‘scuba’. She looked up at him, stomped her foot & replied “But I can’t say SCUBA!”
My guess is that in a few more years I will be teaching her how to scuba!!