Advertisement
Published: November 26th 2008
Edit Blog Post
I cant believe its come to an end in NZ! We´ve had the most amazing time and really, really dont want to leave! I was heart broken leaving Ruby back to the depot. Id grown quite fond of the old girl...
Anyway, we spent our last fews days in Tutukaka, gateway to the Poor Knights Islands, and Paihia in the Bay of Islands, before heading back to Auckland for our last two days. Our time was seriously limited here and I really feel that we didnt do North Island justice at all. Three weeks is just not enough time here. But sure it just gives me a very good reason to go back!
Tutukaka is a good 7 hour drive (in a camper) from Rotorua, but the driving here is so easy it was no bother. Its a really quite place at the moment - literally a campsite, a marina and a handfull of bars/restaurants. But Im sure it gets pretty jammers in the height of summer. The reason for going was to dive The Poor Knights, reputedly one of the world´s top 10 diving destinations. Even though it was low season, I couldnt say no. I left Simon
Scuba diving makes you fat!
All suited up for the freezing Poor Knights waters for the day to wander about in some kiwi forests, and headed out with Knightdivers for the day. I knew from Kaikoura that the water was going to be pretty chilly. There´s a difference between spending 20mins or so on the surface all suited up, thrashing around after dolphins and being fully submerged for nearly an hour in water that is 15 degrees celcius! Thank god they had a a hot shower on the boat! The diving was really lovely, very different to anything Id done before really (my divs in Ireland dont count as the conditions were so bad the two times I attempted it there). Sure, it was freezing and those first few minutes when you jump in and the icey water snakes down inside your wetsuit are not enjoyable, but once you get down there you forget it - for a while! We dived Blue Mao Mao Arch and Mao Mao Arch. The first was a swim-through through the cave - there was a nice kelp forest, and the second was supposed to be another swim through to the other but the sea was too rough so we just pootled about the wall. I saw loads of
That´s me on the left
But check out how cold the other bird is! big local fish - big snapper, blue mao mao, massive frog fish, demoisel fish, moray eels, big grouper, a species the locals call the "sea cat" as they like to be fed sea urchins (a pest) and stroked, leatherjackets and the best of all huge crayfish, about 6-8 pounds, a sleeping carpet shark (yay!) and even a seal that came down to investigate us. That was so brilliant! They'd put you to shame in the water they are just so graceful - but then, we put them to shame on land I suppose, we'll some of us do!
The next stop after Tutukaka was up to Pahia via the scenic route where we visiting Waitangi Treaty Grounds, essentially where the Maori and Brits signed a treat that gave the Maori equal rights under British Crown. Its a really nice place with lovely grounds overlooking the Bay of Islands and it has a traditional Maori meeting house with amazing carvings, a war canoe and loads of other bits and pieces. The Bay of Islands is really gorgeous and you can even camp on some of the islands on DOC campsites - but not with a camper. I wasnt planning any
Seal!
At Mao Mao Arch, Poor Knights more diving but they have the wrecks of both The Rainbow Warrior and HMSNZ The Canterbury close by. I wasnt able to dive The Rainbow Warrior as they were off doing a trip to the PKs, so I went for The Canterbury instead. It was the first proper wreck dive Ive done, and initially I completely cacked myself. But I had a great DM, Cam, from Island Shuttle & Dive (www.divethecanterbury.com) and after freaking out due to a flooding mask and general heeby-jeebies, he calmed me down, got me a replacement mask and we descended into the gloom towards the wreck. She was bought by trustees and sunk last year specifically for the purposes of diving and lies between about 40m to 25m. The visibility was only between 5 and 10 meters so when the hull loomed out of the gloom, it was pretty spooky. Thank god she isnt an actual underwater graveyard. Anyway, it was really cool, we made our way down along the decks, switched the torces on and went into the Captains rooms, along some corridors, up and down stairwells, into the Torpedo room, passed a loo (I didnt use it) and up into the bridge. The
Navy removed all the valuable equipment before selling it for one dollar to the Trustees, but left a phone, which of course we couldnt resist using! In a year there is already quite a lot of life on the ship - shoals of small or juveline fish seeking shelter and safety, colourful sponges and anenomes etc. It was really great! On our second dive, we went to The Fish Bowl, which had been pretty much decimated by a recent storm so there wasnt much activity there, apart from a large crayfish that Cam caught for his dad's Bday celebrations the next evening, and a small cave with an airbubble at the top which you can stick your head up into, remove your regs and have a chat! And I got to drive the boat on the way back to harbour as well. They were a great crew to go diving with.
Then it was back to Auckland for our last couple of days in NZ. Aukland is a lovely, lovely city (Charlo - why'd you leave?!!) and we were really sorry we didnt have more time there. The very afternoon we got in we went to the Sky Tower
Nudibranch!
That´s a seaslug btw which is the Souther Hemisphere's tallest tower at over 300m and has a viewing deck up at about 200m which gives you these incredible 360 degree views around the city. We had cracking weather, so it was amazing, once I could bring myself right to the window to look out - my fear of heights is getting rediculous, and was only made worse by the fact that Simon had just thrown himself off the bloody building! The SkyJump is a basically a simulated sky dive or base jump by wire where you are hooked in to two wires either side you of, and before the fall itself, you have to step off the platform which is 192m high, dangle there for a minute above the city while they take a photo of you, and they let you fall at 75kmph for about 15/20 seconds all the way to the bottom of the SkyTower. I watched a DVD while Simon was getting into his funky suit and harness and I nearly puked. I told him not to look at it, but he did - and still went ahead! I waited on the platform below and took pics and an mpeg of
his descent - legs running in mid-air like you see in the cartoons! He was a wee bit pale when he landed but completely buzzed! I was just thankful he wasnt dead.
Afterwards, we met up with Si Crane for a boozy lunch which was brilliant. I think he was dying to see someone from home and we were in need of good company, its hard to meet people when you are in a camper rather than staying in hostals. So we had a great, but very short few hours with Si C., before meeting Charlotte's folks who completely spoiled us by taking us out for a cracking dinner of mussels, beer and icecream in Mission Bay. Yum! It was such a brilliant last day in NZ and I really didnt want to leave! In fact, I got pretty upset when I had to leave Ruby back to the depot the next morning...I miss her...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.091s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0517s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Adrian Stewart
non-member comment
"up the boohai shooting pukeko's with a long-handled shovel"
Jesus guy's ! if i could fit all this into a lifetime i'd be a happy fella. So when is the Aoibh and Si travel bible coming out! I think you should publish as you go ( don't come back to the depression, PUBLISH! ! ! , cos if gets as bad as they say every FKR will be on another 80's exodus and you two will make a fortune :) . Loving the blog you two, take care and tell that Crane boy he's looking more and more like a Kiwi every time i see him. A