Cousteau rated them as one of his top 5 dive sites. Who are we to argue? After a recommendation like that nobody would dare put them any lower, even if it did have zero vis, no life and cold water. Luckily for us it has 25-30m vis, lots of life and well… at least the water is warmer than in Wellington!
…And what happens to them
A Salp…
So, one fine (Miserable) Saturday morning our motley crew gathered in Petone. First person to arrive was Stuart, looking dapper, calm and well organised.
‘Got everything?’
‘Yes’
‘Throw it in the Ute but leave your drysuit until last so it doesn’t get squashed’
‘DAMN’
No longer so dapper, Stuart disappears in the direction of Wellington.
‘Don’t leave without me’
Of course we wouldn’t…
And we didn’t. Mainly because pesky customers kept on wanting to buy things, the cheek! So promptly, half an hour late (That almost qualifies as early in my books), tearful goodbyes said, we left. The long road to Taupo unrolled. Strange to note the rain stopped as soon as we hit Bulls. Someone should investigate why this always happens.
Ah Taupo, glorious city of promised delights. Or, seeing as we are simple folk us divers; city of cheap Thai food for dinner and pancakes for breakfast. A very comfortable night was had in Tomo’s parents’ house. I swear it was like that when we got there.
The next day had a long drive. The Ute boys had a quick diversion to Auckland airport to pick up Jane, her not wanting the pain of a long road trip. Getting to the airport is easy, well signposted and a pleasure. Getting from the airport back to Highway 1 is not. Somewhere about 8 Km North of the airport the new South Western Motorway stops. Beyond that there are no signs and you’re in Auckland!
‘Is it this way?’ says I
‘Probably, I’m not sure, I did offer to bring my GPS, but you said we wouldn’t need it’ replied Neil.
Pete chips in, ‘Well, goes to show you should never listen to an Irishman’
‘Thanks’
Google maps, a smartphone and Neil came to our rescue and we escaped Auckland before the crazies got us.
A Clown Nudibranch
Brief stop at the best pie/icecream cafe in the country, if I could remember what it was called I’d tell you. Then on to Tutukaka (A short stop for food and drink in Whangarei excepted). Here we joined up with our advance party who’d left a few days before and the other car. Vicious fight for the best bunks and then we were done!
An Eagle Ray
I slept well that night but a lot of the others found that the sound of water kept them awake, ah the irony. Mark, our skipper arrived bright and early to get us organised, fond farewells were said (There’s a nice bar there) and off we went, everyone bright, cheerful and loudly talking about the many and varied sea voyages that they had taken. An hour and a half later, a much quieter group arrived at the islands. As Mark put it; ‘It wasn’t a big swell but it was nasty’. I’m not one to name names but, Aoife and Nitzin take a bow, you fed the seagulls well. I only just held on myself.
So, finally we were able to dive. The first dive was in the aptly named Blue Maomao arch. It was full of the buggers, along with Snapper, Porae, Bigeyes, Demoiselles, Moray eels, Nudibranchs, Jelly fish. I could go on but you get the picture. Lots of life, lots of colour, great dive. Two more dives that day led us ever further into the magic of the Poor Knights. There was even a night dive for those tough souls who could manage it. Just amazing.
A Porae
The next morning was a different story. The night had been punctuated by an occasional thud, followed by a scraping and shaking. It was attack of the Shearwaters. As far as I can tell their natural state is semi concussed and confused. Attracted by the lights and (maybe) the snoring it felt just like a Hitchcock film. Luckily I had won the earlier fight and was happily ensconced in the bilges where none of this affected me. Some people looked rough that morning.
A highlight of the second day was Ngaio reef and magic wall, an absolutely spectacular deep dive that ends up on one of the most colourful reefs I’ve ever seen. So intent was I on photography that I almost didn’t see the mermaids until they attacked. Or was that Simon and Aoife?
Poor Mark had been warned that there were no normal ones on this trip. Three Pescatarians, one vegetarian, two kosher. No bother to the big man; with his usual efficiency he produced enough great food to feed a small abnormal army. Thank you thank you thank you.
If anyone happens to bump into Stuart over the next few weeks you might notice he’s walking with a slight limp. Shark attack!!! It was about 11m long and came within centimetres of taking his foot off. It’s strange how the video footage seems to show an at most 1.5m shark coming to about 4m distance. Lens distortion I guess.
It wasn’t the only shark seen on the trip. Alon and Nitzin saw a carpet shark in Rikoriko cave. Some of the others saw what was widely agreed was a different carpet shark on the same dive; maybe it was facing the other direction. A great dive this one, in the world’s largest natural sea cave. An unfortunate whale had died there recently and its bones are still to be seen scattered around. Prior to the dive Mark impressed us all with his Conch shell virtuosity while telling us all about the history of the islands. I need a bit more practise to perfect my conching.
A Banded Coral Shrimp
So, I come to what seems to have been the highlight for many people on the trip. I fell overboard. Don’t ever think that having a boat with 12 qualified rescue divers aboard will guarantee you anything other than roaring laughter if this happens to you. In my defence, I was trying to grab a mooring buoy and the boat was just that bit too far away. I blame the skipper. Luckily it was after the last dive of the day and I was able to dry my undersuit in the compressor room overnight. Still, I thought I deserved a little bit of sympathy.
On the last day we had some magical dives, a personal highlight was the chimneys, to be able to dive into the island is quite special, then to look up and see sunlight above you just increases the awe. Thanks to Jamie and Aoife for keeping me amused with their dancing on this one.
Three Nudibranch
So with our hearts full and our memory cards fuller, fond farewells were said (some people had become quite friendly with the kamikaze birds). A brief stop to dive the Waikato wreck and then back to Tutukaka. My how the land rolled, I was almost landsick. We ate like kings and drank like divers. The last night on the boat, the breaking of our group, even the best trip has to end.
But being clever divers it didn’t quite end there. Those of us who made it to Taupo, had the option of a drift down the mighty Waikato River. A warning about this: it starts cold and gets even colder. It does have the added thrills of A) A bungy jumper landing on you, and B) overshooting the drift and going over the Huka falls. Neither of these happened to us. What did happen though is that just when it felt like my hands were going to drop off there was slight warmth, then more and more. No, I hadn’t lost control. HOT POOLS. Ah the joy of a warm soak after a cold dip. It just can’t be beaten. Cheers to Pete for pointing us in the right direction.
A very tired Scorpionfish
The next morning we had the now traditional pancake breakfast. This time with added strawberries and extra coffee, bliss. Fond farewells were said (Did I mention the pancakes?) The final slog home followed. It started raining in Bulls again, why is this. Then on, and on. Back to Petone, all safe and sound, what a trip.
Thanks to Mark and Bruce on the Pacific Hideaway for looking after us, thank to Tomo and Claire for letting me away for a week.
Brian (AKA him that fell overboard)