Advertisement
Published: July 30th 2014
Edit Blog Post
Well, last little stop in New Zealand, this time it's 46 hours Kiwi time... I didn't sleep a lot, but I did a lot! And most of it, with great weather...
I landed just after 3pm, and took a rental car straight from the airport...to first enjoy the traffic jams Auckland had to offer. My destination today is Whangarei, 180km north of Auckland airport, but it took me a good one hour to do the first 30km in order to get on Highway One to the North. It's deep winter time, so the sun is down early, and by 6pm it is pitch black...and I was going to enjoy as much of the scenery of the North Island by day light as I could while driving.
Made it to Whangarei just before 7pm. Time to stock few necessities in the first supermarket...you know, the usual wine...as it is now time to think about stocking some Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir to bring back to Bangkok. Did a big mistake, saw a Mc Donalds on the road...and decided to eat in the Thai restaurant on the other side of the road. Must have been the funniest
thai chicken green curry I ate in my life....since when do you put green peas in a green curry! Good news, they didn't ask me how is the food...the answer would have been...funny green curry, it was okay, thank you!
I made it just after dinner to the Lupton Lodge. I found this one throug tripadvisor and the place is a real gem. 6 rooms...or should I say suites few kilometers out of Whangarei, on the road to Tutukaka and in the middle of nowhere...I was happy to spot the place. Had a short night, with an amazing breakfast. The host Adam, is really a great guy, than by 7.40 am, it was already time to hit the road, for the twenty minutes drive to Tutukaka! And get ready to...dive!
There is one place to dive in New Zealand...Cousteau did, I didn't yet, and this is Poor Knight Islands. The islands are a good hour out by boat from the marina of Tututaka. I dive with Dive Tutukaka...they seems to be THE people to dive with here. In summer, they take out 80 divers per day, and at least 75 snorkelers to the Poor
Knight...and there is a waiting list everyday. Today, we have 6 Indians discovery divers, 2 German snorkelers...2 Kiwi divers....who are only about crayfishes...nice guys...and me...diving my 46th country!
On the boat and in the dive center they ask you few questions...the first being, have you already dived in cold water? Than also the usual qualifications and number of dives...but first...the cold water. Well, water here in winter is 15 degrees....trust me, for a dive this is cold. I did 2 degrees in a dry suit...and 10 degrees in Argentina...so I knew what I was up too! My 3mm shorty wouldn't do it, so I rented the full 7mm, plus 5mm vest.
First dive I survived 54 minutes, and on the second dive, it was a cool 51 minutes...but these dives, were simply amazing! I was supposed to dive with Jo, our DM ,and the 2 kiwis. But as Jo explained...you'll see, 2 minutes in the dive and they will escape for the crayfish! Kiwis dive...but most of the time, they dive for food...aka, hunting for crayfish and even octopus....to eat back at home. Crayfish, for you info is lobster, except here! We went into
the water...two minutes later, the kiwis had disappeared....smile!
This is also my first dive into kelp. Kelp is a kind of algae that makes the place look like some kind of field or forst. You find them mainly in cold water, one famous one being in Catalina Island just opposite LA in California. So we saw a lot of nudibranches, a lot of eels...and a lot of scorpion fishes. I guess the scorpion fishes may be the most dangerous animal you can actually encounter in New Zealand. On our second dive, we even had an eagle ray and twice carpet sharks....these guys are shy...very shy!
It may have been cold, but I loved it...just enjoy some of the pics...and this is only one day of diving. Slight warning, like anything in NZ...diving is not cheap here!
By 4pm I was on my way back to Auckland. I slept downtown....went shopping for more serious wine...all made it actually well to Bangkok. I had dinner at the Belgian Café. I haven't been to this place for 12 years....but it hasn't changed! Mussels it was, the green lips one...and some nice Belgian beer. Another
short night. Next morning, I met Jo from TB in Mission Bay for breakfast. That was actually this morning. TB wouldn't work properly without Jo, as she is a very needed administrator for the community of bloggers that we are. Thanks Jo!
Made it by 9pm to hoe...lot's to do...as I'm leaving again tomorrow morning, at 4am...for more adventures...to come soon...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 33; dbt: 0.0361s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Blowing bubbles
Great!