I’ve uploaded some diving pictures from the Poor Knights Islands to my wanderingscotsman picture gallery. If you don’t dive and have been reading my blog, AND you have a broadband connections, check out this video from the Similan Islands on Google Video. You’ll get an idea of what it can be like. I saw most of the stuff on this video in one shape or form including the mighty Manta Ray, but I went back to the boat before the whale shark shown re-appeared (arg).
Archive for the ‘diving’ Category
Poor Knights Islands picture gallery uploaded, and a diving video from Similan Islands
Thursday, May 17th, 2007Last night in Tutukaka
Thursday, May 17th, 2007The holiday park in Tutukaka was mobbed last night – I mean there were FOUR campervans in it!
After dinner and my bottle of Feijoa wine I had sitting in the fridge (now that I just remembered that, not wonder I was so bad this morning as that was after my post dive pint!) I went out to the pub to see if it was still open, asking along others at the site. Only an Austrian girl came along, but there were a couple of English girls from the site there too. I had been praising the diving, but a tad jealous I wasn’t going out with them all the next day. The two girls were travel writers in one shape of form (real ones, sorry if you guys read this!) so had a bit of a chin wag with them.
The bar manager and a local manager of another bar joined us and we stayed there until well after closing time until it got too cold. We then headed back for a display of Poi – fireball dancing to you and me 
(I never even knew it was called that!). Pretty neat but boy I was a bit rough finishing packing another box to send home this morning.
Ouch! Who’s got hot balls!
Poor Knights Islands – Day Three
Thursday, May 17th, 2007
I got back to the Tutukaka and had another day’s diving during my last full day in New Zealand. As soon as I had it in my head I knew it was the right thing to do and I was eager to get back.
There was a new crew on 
the boat, but again they were all superb. Total professionalism, extremely educational, and with a total right on attitude towards the marine reserves…..but with the essential fun thrown in too.
To be honest my first dive in the morning was one of the worst I’ve ever done. Leaky mask, foggy mask, and it’s the first dive I’ve done in around forty dives without taking a second mask down as I completely forgot. I was a bit panicky at first and couldn’t wait to surface, but thought I’d stick it out so see how I got on. I spent the whole time holding the front of the mask. Horrible. Heavy breathing, running through gas quicker than my Subaru did, and I wasn’t able to focus on looking at things, although I still managed to see another short tailed Stingray. I was so glad I didn’t have my camera down with me as well as that would have just been another thing to look after. Like my previous post mentioned I thought I should have left my diving experiences on a high.
(Picture : Kelp ‘forest’) I knew it would be the last diving I’d do for a while so had to go out again and get the vibe back, so on went a hire mask, and it was absolutely fantastic. The skipper helped me out with my underwater casing and put a different plastic knob on the end of it and it worked a treat. It’s so bright there you don’t even need a flash for mediocre images. I even took my first underwater video but annoyingly it was a bit of an afterthough just before I surfaced but it was great. It really made me want to take this up! I tried to upload this to YouTube but the file was too large.
We entered another cave and finally I got my own pictures of one of the cave entrances. We saw another ray, several nudibranches and were diving through the kelp forests. Unfortunately we never saw the carpet shark that sometimes hangs around one of the dive sites. In exchange for some photoshop info I even got a Poor Knights CD from one of the guys there. I also spent the boat trip chatting away to an English girl doing her divemaster there.
What a superb day and an ideal way to leave New Zealand. I was so sad knowing that I wasn’t going out the next day as despite only being there three times I walked in in the morning to ‘Hi Darren, you came back then.’ and that wasn’t even from someone who was out on the boat with us. When I left someone said ‘maybe see you next season for your divemaster then.’, and I went away with the email address of one of the guys incase I made it to Malta to dive when he was there.
The Poor Knights Islands really are a pretty special place even without the diving. Above and underwater there are loads of arches, caves and ‘bubbles’ in the rocks from the previous volcanic activity, and it’s a sacred place for the Maoris due to the history. Due to the lack of human activity on the island its one of the few places, if not the only place in New Zealand that is free from pests and rodents so you get very special creatures including the only remaining ‘dinosaur’ species around. The caterpilars are huge due to the lack of predators. Humans are not allowed to land on the islands apart from the odd DOC or scientific representative. Hearing about this place really brings it home how much man has buggered up New Zealand in the past and present day introducing foreign species, trashing the marine life with fishing practices and generally all the things that lie under the covers of New Zealand’s ‘clean and green’ marketing. New Zealand isn’t alone with this but the longer you spend here the more you realise how much bullshit is being marketed compared to what really goes on. There are many opponents to the Deptartment of Conservation here, and even their practices, but it’s great to see some of the things they preserve and try their hardest to maintain and that they make some of the reserves very easily accessible (e.g. Goat Island) for people that maybe wouldn’t experience the environments otherwise.
One day I’ll be back 🙂
Oh and to finish on a good note, here’s a really special picture of a seahorse I took.
I actually got sent this from a traveller I met in Laos. Apologies to the copyright owner as it’s not my picture! (oops).
Northland and a return to the Poor Knights
Thursday, May 17th, 2007I left Tutukaka yesterday morning already wondering why I hadn’t just stayed to dive. I knew I wanted to see the North, but I had kindof already decided I wouldn’t head to Cape Reinga as it would be too much driving, and I got fed up of that recently. Immediately I felt like I had turned into a ‘tick off tourist’ just cruising past the sights with no time to take them in.
Straight past Bay of Islands, straight past where they signed the historic treaty, straight past Doubtless Bay, and a quick snap on a misty 68 mile (sorry ’90’ mile) beach.
I decided I had to head back to Tutukaka and spend my last clear day in NZ doing another dive at Dive Tutukaka by the Poor Knights Islands. I’ve constantly thought about diving and doing my divemaster since being there, so if any generous and wealthy reader has some spare pocket change you could give me a birthday present of flights and divemaster course for my birthday once I return home! I’m just hoping the weather over there has stayed better than in the west.
It’s a bit like a good days climbing. Do you do another climb after the last superb one you just did, or do you leave it incase the last one you try isn’t as good and taints the memory?
Anyway, they are a great bunch there and probably one of the most professional (but not boring) dive outfits I’ve ever went out with, alongside probably Borneo Divers.
Return to Poor Knights
Monday, May 14th, 2007Just a quickie as my time on the net is running out and my accommodation in Japan has fallen through…
I’m heading back to Tutukaka for another days dive probably as I’ve turned into a ‘tick off tourist’ again and don’t like it. And I’ve always been thinking of diving….
More soon.
Day 2 at Poor Knights Islands. Middle Channel and Trevor’s Rocks
Monday, May 14th, 2007
I was out diving at Poor Knights again today, and again had a fantastic day. There were a couple of lads from England on the boat so the three of us buddied up and went out on our own – my first time without a guide (although these guys had recently done their divemaster but I think had only dived in Thailand). It was superb just having a bit of freedom to do our own thing. (Picture : My buddies – one clearly very pleased – at a cave entrance, me looking out to sea. The image just doesn’t do it justice)
With a bit of playing around I also got my camera to function correctly for most of the first dive, but unfortunately not the second one when we entered a cracking cave and had a few decent swimthroughs.
The first dive was at Middle Channel which was the gap between the two major islands in the chain. Superb visibility, we followed a steep wall to the open channel where we were 
lucky to see an Eagle Ray swimming away from the first set of divers. I also managed to catch a large nudibranch (which eats other nudibranches) hanging out on the sandy bed. (Pictures : diver next to wall and seabed, and 8 inch nudibranch)
We then headed back towards a kelp forest, and popped into the start of a cave giving the typical amazing Poor Knights views out to the sun. You enter a dark cave, then turn round to a picture perfect underwater postcard view. The north stonefishes are far larger than their counterparts you see in Asia (and I believe quite a bit less dangerous!).
We made the compulsory stop in Riko Riko cave but unfortunately didn’t dive there again, although the light bouncing off the sea to the cave’s roof was far more impressive today. (Picture : Riko Riko cave – so clear you can see the bottom in the picture too)
Dive two took us to Trevor’s Rocks which is a set of three pinnacles, with some nice little swimthroughs, and ended up swimming round a nice archway into a cave with yet another picture postcard view.
It was once again a superb day and I was really tempted to dive for a third day but reckon I will head up north for some sightseeing.
One of the many fish. I think this one is a leatherjacket (Kokiri)
One of the open caves we swam around, and into on the second dive, giving a picture postcard view out to open water.
I have so much loved my time diving in this location and having been a few months since I’ve dived it’s really motivated me for it. I’m just pretty gutted that I am not managing to do my divemaster before I head back home, but it’s still something I’d love to do whether I would ever take it further or not.
And tonight also ends well. A beer with one of my buddies, sitting the van under nature’s disco lights, with the odd shooting star, and the milky way above as well. A perfect end.
Poor Knight Islands Diving with Dive Tutukaka. A new religion. And just like the brochures.
Monday, May 14th, 2007Today was spiritual, and I’m not religious.
I’ve had my unfair share of ‘Shit Hot Dive Sites of the World’ during my year. Similan Islands, Sipadan, Malapascua and others. When in New Zealand I’d be crazy if I didn’t try diving at the Poor Knight Islands. I’m getting pretty skint, but as I said at the end of the day to the guide – there are two sports that instantly make me ignore my bank balance. Heliboarding or diving. It doesn’t matter, I just sign for it, or enter my PIN. But would it live up to the hype? The Poor Knights Islands contain one of Jacque Costeau’s Top 10 dive sites of the world. Dive Tutukaka recently won a prestige tourism award. Blah blah blah. Wade Oak who has done a lot of photography, research and more in the area is often quoted as saying ‘…what is distinctive about Poor Knights is I dive in them, not at them” as there are so many volcanic remains, cavees and swimthroughs around the area. Spoilt I know but after a while you start to think that any ‘attraction’ can spin something great or other. But this was diving. Hardly any of the world’s population sees this stuff, so why not?
The first dive was at Brady’s Corner. We exited the superb dive boat with the volcanic cliff edge only a few feet away. The Poor Knights used to be a volcano, and used to rise 1000m+ above the sea. I won’t pretend I can remember all the stuff, but basically now you dive over the volcanic remains. In a marine reserve. I could tell before I surfaced after jumping in that it would be a great dive. Great visibility of around 20m, and a kelp ‘forest’ to swim around. If you don’t know it, think of kelp as a forest of seaweed trees that you can swim through. I’ve never dived in an environment like this before – I’ve always been spoiled by wonderful coral gardens. But this was fantastic too and very different. I was also pleased that I spotted two large (by my standards) short tailed Stingrays before the guide did – both about about 1m+ wide. There were also several Northern Scorpionfish which are far larger than their Asian equivalents, and less harmful. These were around three feet long, totally camoflagued with their surroundings. There were also loads of other fish I haven’t seen befor along with many sponges, a few nudibranches, yellow eels, starfish quite different to ones I’ve seen before, and loads of sea urchins.
I was quite lucky to come out of the water with my nose just spouting out a lot of snot – I’ve never seen so many people seasick on a dive boat before. Maybe they shouldn’t bother trying to dive in Asia!
Dive two was where it all came out…..
Off it was a few metres round the bay to Riko Riko cave (Picture : interior of the cave). This is thought to be the worlds largest sea cave. It’s so large you can anchor several boats in it, and ours was quite large (and the only one – yaaah, off season travel rocks!). It has a 35m cavity above the sea level, and measures 134×80 metres, going from around 9m to 26m at the entrance. Riko means something like reflection so it was named after how the sun reflects from the cave’s roof.Apparently the acoustics are superb and Neil Finn has even recorded here. And I dived it in May meaning with a low sun, it penetrates futher than normal into the cave.
I stepped off the boat, popped my goggles under the surface then popped my head up. My first words were :
‘For once, it’s just like the brochures.’
(Picture : Riko Riko Cave entrance above the surface) When you looked out towards the entrance to the caves, the visibility was stretching up to around 40 metres. The volcanic rock formations were silhouetted against the incoming rays of the sun. Other divers were silhouetted against the rays. And this was the day I couldn’t get my frickin’ underwater housing buttons in line with the camera buttons so it was useless. I left it on the boat. I was absolutely gutted as all over the place I was lining up some of my best ever diving shots, and I was without a camera. I kept pretending to take photos and banging my head to the guide. The amazing scenery lasted the whole dive. This was, and is, one of my best ever dives so far, despite not seeing that much marine life compared to other dives.
(Picture : One of the smaller Dive Tutukaka boats inside Riko Riko cave) One of the marine life highlights was seeing a large 3 foot Northern Stonefish lying on a rock with a small yellow eel sitting alongside with its mouth wide open, both of them quite happy just sitting there posing away. Despite me never being able to capture a picture to give it justice, I kept imagining hovering there lining up a perfect image of both of them with the silhouetted background of the cave’s entrace with the sun’s rays beaming in.
And then it got better. As some of the group surfaced as their air reduced, three of us went to the back of the cave. From here you looked out to a majestic view which was like an underwater amphitheatre. I could have stayed there for hours. As you left the rear of the cave you could look up through the 10 metres or so of water and slowly catch the sun bouncing off the cave’s roof which gave you a completly different perspective.
(Picture : A dive boat heading towards the cave entrance which looks deceivingly small in this shot) Just as I thought I had the best we started heading back to the boat. From around 9 metres, with the guide in front of me I had a perfect silhouette of the hull of the boat, the dinghy off the back, the guide in front of me, and a school of fish to the side. I can’t even describe how pissed off I was at not having a camera in my hand. I’ve heard several comments recently (partly in Dylan Moran’s comedy show!) that you should ditch the camera and enjoy the moment, but any description just wouldn’t do this sight justice, especially if you are a non diver.
When the guide surfaced he immediately grabbed his digital SLR and housing and went in again.
When I relucantly surfaced (I could have stared at that sight for hours) I had that amazing feeling of witnessing something truly amazing and honestly almost ‘spiritual’. Yes get the sick bags at the ready, but it was amazing. I was like this until well after coming on shore, which is probably why I have babbled on about it so much.
What a day.
It wasn’t even ruined by me realising that I hadn’t bought oyster sauce to make my dinner, and that the campervan had the fridge turned up so high the sour cream was for my alternative burrito meal was almost frozen.
Oh and I didn’t even question what was on the plan tomorrow. I sat around reading the articles around the Dive Tutukaka office, looking at the fish ID books and had already signed up for another day’s diving. I definitely won’t say the other operators in the area aren’t as good as I’ve not experienced them, but Dive Tutukaka were excellent. A great crew who coped well with the range of people and experience on the boat, and a professional approach that still let everyone do what they wanted to do, whether it be diving with a guide or with a buddy. Highty recommended.
Tutukaka Marina.
Me blogging offline in the campervan.
The van is a high top so you can stand up in it. If you ever get one I’d recommend this if you can as it just makes everything from cooking to moving around so much easier, and you feel far less claustrophobic.
Route to Tutukaka. Goat Island (Okarkari Point) Marine Reserve
Monday, May 14th, 2007I only had one stop on the way to Tutukaka in Northland. My mate in Wellington told me about another marine reserve called Goat Island that had another snorkelling area. This was the first marine reserve in New Zealand, set up in 1977. Apparently in summer, there can be around 3000 visitors here at a weekend. Being off season I only had to share it with a few others.
(Picture : Goat Island Marine Reserve) Unfortunately it was quite rough so reluctantly I never went snorkelling but what a great setup.
The campervan at Goat Island Marine Reserve.
The Department of Conservation do it again with their information signs encouraging everyone to enjoy themselves.
So it was off to Tutukaka. The van ran great, easily breaking the speed limit if required, and if I placed my MP3 player carefully it would play in stereo. Until I hit a bump. Despite already sending a box home last week I still loaded the van up with :
- my main backpack
- my manbag with laptop, 3 external disks, notebooks etc
- my $10 Vietnamese ‘North Face’ hand luggage with camera gear
- a plastic bag with last minute things taken from the car
- a plastic bag with some clothes, recent purchases(hey it was only socks and two expensive British magazines)
- My food bag
- Another rucksack with god knows how many New Zealand leaflets that I feel compelled to send home in the ever lasting hope I’ll write some articles one day
- A plastic box which was meant to be holding everything else that I wasn’t taking to Japan with me. Tent (purchased here, couldn’t be bothered to try and sell), climbing harness, rock shoes, classy ‘Pure Local’ NZ hoodie, classy Cactus Climbing canvas jacket (‘Our clothes get worn in, not out’).
Needless to say the van looked like I had lived in it for my 9 weeks despite only having it for an hour. I may need to send a bigger than planned box home.
(Picture: Looking to the back of the campervan from the drivers seat)
The passenger seat.
My friends at the marine reserve.
Dunsborough and the Swan Wreck
Monday, February 26th, 2007Yesterday was a Good Day. I woke up not too early, grabbed a bike from the hostel, and cycled the 2km to the dive shop, Cave Dive. I kitted up, and jumped in the pick up for a lift to the dive boat. 5mm full wetsuits! Jeez, the first time ever, and I ended up with a massive 10.5kg of weights!
The swan wreck was an old 113m frigate, scuttled in 1997 as an artificial reef. There wasn’t much sealife to be found, but I saw a couple of shoals of pufferfish, which I hadn’t seen grouped up before. After the first orientation dive, we entered again after a light lunch (this is no Thailand dive experience – no curry or stir fry, just an instant soup with roll). The second dive we managed a couple of swimthroughs, and got into the bridge where the captain sat in previous days. The dives were relatively short as they were 28m, but shortened by two safety stops on the way up….
A great day with a bit of a different dive experience. I cycled back to the Beach House YHA, then walked a few metres to chill out on the beach with a wee sunbathe and swim (no stinger suits required here – yeehaaa!). I even managed a very brief run along the beach.
I decided to spend the evening necking a local bottle of wine, talking through the joys of leaving IT behind with a belgian guy, who firmed up my thoughts on using couchsurfing.com while in Japan!
Manila – full of goons with guns
Sunday, February 4th, 2007I don’t like saying this about many places, but Manila is a shithole. It’s not a bad place as such, there are great things to do, just not a lot of things to see, and the place is a lesson in how not to design a city.
Any wannabe urban planner should come here for a trip before putting any city plan into place. There are no green spaces, and the place looks to me like America gone wrong. Everything is here for commerce, and no-one has actually thought they may have to live in the city too.
Also it’s full of security guards with machine guns that are probably getting paid peanuts!
Anyway, time for my kip. It’s almost 1am (when did that happen!) and I’m up at 5am to get the taxi before the traffic starts, then a bus to Clark airport out of town, then flying to Singapore for the night before hitting Australia overnight on Tuesday.
