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NZ SCUBA Poor Knights Islands (Friday, February 26)
The first picture is an early morning shot from my balcony. How about that for a view?
We had a great breakfast prepared by our own Lina (have I mentioned that we’re eating really well on this trip?), then headed into town to get on the boat for our Poor Knights Islands day of sun and fun.
Once at the harbor shop, I got fitted with diving gear (full wet suit, booties and fins, BCD, regulator), which was then put in a bag and taken to the boat for me. The seven in our group joined all the other folks going out on the boat today. Seems like there were about 30 of us altogether.
We had a very pleasant 30-minute or so ride to the islands. This was a large, double-decker boat that only does tours like this, so the accommodations were really fancy compared to the small boat we were on yesterday.
Turns out I was the only one diving today; everyone else was snorkeling and kayaking. On the way out, Sophie ran me through a good familiarization. It’s been some years since I’ve done a dive, so it was good to get a refresher.
Once we got to the islands–once again a beautiful place–everyone headed downstairs to get into their gear and in the water. Meanwhile, Sophie helped me get into my wetsuit. This is quite a process as it’s tight and the neoprene is pretty thick. There’s a vest-headcap that goes under the rest of the suit, then you have to slowly slide into the suit, tugging and pulling up pieces as best you can. I definitely needed help, but Sophie was great about that.
Then it was time for the rest of the gear, including the tank, and then off the boat and into the water! The diving was great. I had to do my usual slow descent because my ears take a long time to equalize, so we leveled off a short way down and then started off, slowly descending more and more as my ears could handle it.
Sorry there are no pictures of the diving, but we saw a LOT of cool fish, including three scorpion fish. Sophie had to point these out since they’re very well camouflaged. Also saw a couple of colorful sea slugs, grouper, wrasse, black angelfish, and lots more I can’t remember. They’re not at all afraid and swim very close. It was cool. Sophie also did a cool trick with letting bubbles escape her mouth that turned into a perfect ring as it rose–kind of like a smoke ring but with bubbles. I hadn’t seen anything like that before.
Once we finally surfaced, Sophie told me we’d gone to four dive sites during the dive, which was cool. I had some trouble at first adjusting buoyancy while I was recalling how all that worked. Plus there was more of a current to contend with than I was used to in St. Croix, where I’d done my previous drives. But overall it was a great dive, and I wasn’t at all cold. They said the water was quite warm today, 22 degrees C, which is 71.6 F. St. Croix was generally 80 degree F water. But the thicker wetsuit did the job.
Back on the boat, lunch was being served, so I rinsed in the shower, grabbed a sandwich, and headed into the sun to dry. I had thought about going kayaking, but there wasn’t time, so I just got comfortable (once again happy that I’d brought my rain jacket to keep the cool breeze off a now wet me).
Most of the pictures were from what came next, which was a slow tour around the islands, including a rather exciting trip through a hole in the rock it seemed impossible for such a large boat to go through. There used to be Maori people living on the island, but after a battle between two tribes, they abandoned the place altogether 200 years ago. In one of the pictures you can see a long sloping place up to the left. That’s where the village was, though the area’s all grown over now.
Then we went into an echo cave before heading back to the harbor. Altogether a very satisfying experience.
The map picture shows the route we’re following. From Auckland at the bottom (of the picture, not of the North Island), we headed up west, then across, and are now heading back down. Tonight’s my last night in New Zealand! My flight leaves Auckland at 10:55 PM tomorrow, so I have to pack my bags for checking one and carrying one. I hope everything fits. The only things I’ve bought are some small souvenirs and one merino wool T-shirt, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. 🙂
After dinner, again cooked by Lina, we headed out for an evening walk. This took us to a “Trig Station,” a geodetic survey mark. It happens, as you would expect, to be at a high point in the area so it has a great 360-degree view. It was a bit hazy this evening, but in the picture after the trig station one, you can see at the top left the harbor and at the top right a large white tent. That tent’s set up at our hotel for a wedding tomorrow and so is a good way for you to see the location of our hotel.
I got a picture of most of the group with Lina, our guide extraordinaire, at the right. Then there’s a shot that reminds me of the Great Smoky Mountains. Next is a black sand beach, and fittingly, to finish for today, a sunset.
Because we’re doing a short hike in the morning and I’m leaving in the evening, this will be the last entry until I’m home. These flights will be a 12-hour trip to Los Angeles, then a layover, then the flight to DFW. I’m thinking I’m going to be quite happy to arrive because that will mean the end of the travel day. But it really is hard to believe this trip is almost over. It’s been everything I expected, and more. I’m SO glad to have done it. New Zealand is a fabulous country!!
