This is actually very rare as diving companies tend to cancel the diving trips should they fail to meet the minimun number of divers but in this case this company also offers water taxi services and they were taking 2 couples to a nearby island. Lucky me!
The Kiwi accent requires a little bit of adjustment as well. The other day when I was talking to the lady at the information office I had one of the most bizarre conversations... all because of the way they pronounce certain sounds. The conversation went something like this...
her:"so, what's the plane?"
me thinking: Did she meant "where's the plane? or What's in the plane?""Why would she want to know anything about any planes anyway?
Me answering: I came by bus.
her: and what's the plane?
Me thinking: "What the hell is wrong with her, there is no plane you fool!
Me answering: No, no plane! (added some hands signals now at this point to make it clear that THERE WAs NO PLANE) I came by bus and Planning on leaving by bus I added.
her: yeah but wha-t's-your-pla-ne? (now slowlier)
me: (staring at her for a few long seconds with bewilderment wondering what was wrong with her, it even got to the point where I seriously considered whether she would be under the effects of some kind of medication... until the penny finally dropped).
me: Ahhhh! you mean "what's my plan"!!! you want to know what my plans are.
her: yes, your planes... she responded with relief...the moron finally got it! she must have thought...
As I said earlier just a tiny bit of adjustment to the accent and I'll be good. :-)
The marina
The equipment
The boat
The fish in New Zealand
The first dive was to the War ship "Canterbury" (a wreck).
On the way in (not a wave in the whole trip):
I must admit that there were a couple of moments where I was a bit apprehensive about what I was doing. The "Canterbury" is in the 20-30 m range and most of the dive takes place closer to the 30 metre than to the 20 metre mark and when you start going inside the belly of the beast there is always a voice in the back of your mind reminding you how deep you are and all the things that could go wrong right at that moment, but once you let go and relax it actually was quite enjoyable.
It was a lot of fun and being just the guide and I, made it even better as he took plenty of time to show me around.
Going in
He even took the time to take a picture of me at the command centre
Following an external corridor
Bits and bobs
A cannon!
From the outside
Back onto the surface, our skipper and a new boat that just arrived with a couple of two new divers.
After lunch we moved to another island
This dive was pretty much a repetition of Poor Knight Islands but without having to queue up.
Also as this wasn't a national park my guide just went fishing and picked up a couple of large crayfish
At one point he also smashed something he had previously collected and in seconds we found ourselves surrounded by lots of fish, it was difficult to pick one for the photo as there were so many. I regretted not having made a video out of it. It was amazing!
After the dive they dropped me off at the marina a little bit later than expected, my bus was leaving at 14:45 and it was already 14:40. I had to make a run for it or I would have had to spend yet another night there instead of going back to Auckland as planned in order to start tomorrow the full tour of New Zealand... but you'll be glad to know that I made it right on time as the driver was about to close the luggage compartment.
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