Next on the Northland itinerary was my week of diving with Dive! Tutukaka. I was set to get my open water diving license in one of the world's best dive spots, the Poor Knight's Islands. Last to arrive to the to the group of eight young classmates, I was welcomed by having a photo taken of me the second I sat down. The photo was for my diving license and was not very flattering as it was 7:30 in the morning. After the laughter resulting from the 'morning face' photos of all of the group subsided, we walked to the classroom for a cheesy PADI learn to dive video, the first of a series of too many. Cheesy but informative, the efficient class instruction helped get our class into the water on day two. Beside the point is the location of the water we were in, as breathing under water even in a swimming pool is a great experience. The novelty wears off soon, however, when one starts seeing what actually exists in the water of a public swimming pool. Six hours in a swimming pool over two days! I was tuckered already and had yet to really dive.
I've always wanted to experience weightlessness and scuba brings one very close to what I believe it would feel like. The first dive was magical of course. After only a few minutes under water, a juvenile Eagle Ray passed by right in front of us along with literally thousands of fish who were angry at us for invading their personal space, but were too small to act on their anger. I'd say there are three levels of object observation when under water. One would be the very visible scary category (i.e sharks, eels,), secondly, the comfortable (angel fish, plant life, anything under 10") , and finally, the minute (tiny fish, nudibranchs, the ones that hide in tiny cracks and pits in the rock). Viewing the minute is possibly the most enjoyable because one has to use breathing to really get close to a small object without disturbing the surroundings. Breath in deeply and float up, breath out and sink. That's how one controls body position accurately when diving. It's so much fun and I'd highly recommend diving to anyone who might be bored with land.
The dive charter boat our class had to ourselves. The first trip out, I rode on the top of the boat. The swell was pretty big and I got soaked even up there. It wasn't uncomfortable, though, because the water offshore was a nice 23° C.
The Poor Knight's Islands about 25 kilometers off shore.
Our group's last diving location. To the right of the photo was a cave called the 'Boom Boom Cave' which we entered. When waves crashed into it, it made the most amazing 'boom' sound which could be felt through my body.
See that little white spot by the hole in the rock? That's my head just after aborting an attempt to climb into the hole. I was yelled at by everyone in the bay to stop climbing. Unknown to me before my attempt to climb in the cave, one can be fined up to $50,000 NZD for landing on the Poor Knight's Islands. Apparently, the islands are 'Tapu' ( Maori for 'sacred, taboo') due to the Poor Knight's violent history and it's now also a nature reserve. Who knew? We had a good laugh about it back on the boat for a couple of reasons; one, while climbing up the rock, I received a cut on my wrist - it was as if the island bit me back, and two, because the instructors decided to let us jump into the water before telling us a little history about the islands which they never have done before. Of course the first time the instructors neglect to tell the group the law of the islands, some hot head has got to try climbing on them.
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