NZ : Tutukaka Dive

By the time we were due to leave Auckland we were fully equipped with a GPS, 2 coffee flasks, 2 blow up mattresses and high hopes for the Northland. We made the long drive up to the Tutukaka coast via honey farms and winding scenic roads where it felt as though no other colour but green existed. Our next host was Brendan who welcomed us with take away fish and chips  and a warm comfortable bed in our own room. Our plan was to get some good diving done while we were in this part of New Zealand as the Poor Knights Island is known as one of the top ten dive sites in the world.

We spent our first day in the North exploring the area visiting local waterfalls, taking a long walk up the coast to Whale Bay and experienced our first surfing lesson on the breaks of Sandy Bay where Simon our instructor encouraged us to catch a 'choice' wave, 'sweet as, ay!'

We may not have been the best surfers out that day but we certainly put in the most effort and even caught a couple of swells by the end of the session. We picked up Persimmons from the roadside and tried this unusual fruit for the first time.

Wednesday was the big dive day, our first dive since Fiji and definitely a damn sight colder than the tropical waters we were used to where bikinis sufficed even down as deep as 30m. Here in New Zealand wet suits weren't optional, they were down right essential, with at least 10mm thickness over the chest and back, hoods on the head and footwear for under our fins, brrrr....

Steve and Luke the dive instructors and skippers were an awesome duo, great at diving and knowledgable about the local area and history too, they were a right laugh and made the day even more special. Poor nights island is a marine reserve and sits high above the choppy waters of the Pacific with a legacy of battles and unusual creatures some of which are entirely unique to these islands and have developed Giantism as a result of their secluded environment.

Our first dive was at an area called the Cream Gardens, this was not a beginners dive and had a strong current at times. We saw large kingfish (that Jan mistook for a big shark!) and saw the incredible kelp forests on the ocean bottom. We saw scorpion fish and beautiful coral. A great first dive in NZ.
After a stop for lunch and a cruise around, the guys set the anchor down near 'Long Cave' which is, as the name suggests, a very long sea cave, after a bit of exploring down to around 17m we headed in to the cave and were swished back and forth by the incoming and exciting waters. Inside of the cave we saw crayfish and yellow Moray eels (on Susie's must-see list) and the most incredible site of all was the sting ray, with a span of at least 2 meters, sailing majestically around us for some minutes.

This second dive was truly spectacular and we couldn't stop talking about it as we stopped by the worlds largest sea cave ( 7,808,771 cubic feet in volume) known as Riko Riko and viewed the huge stone arches on our journey back to shore.

We had our log books stamped, bought the t-shirts and were given a bumper sticker for the wagon before departing for the real North of the North island, KeriKeri...

Peace and Love,

Jan and Sooz.