Marcia and I have been planning this for a while. I’m going to pretend it was all about the two of us getting out to the Poor Knights Islands for a day of diving …. but in all reality it was a little more than that.
On a Friday afternoon, Ken drove up from Hamilton and collected me (and my tanks!) and we drove north. We drove up to Tutukaka in preparation of diving with Noel and Jo of Yukon Charters the next day. It was going to be Ken’s first time out at the Islands .. and first time scuba diving!!
I had done a bit of searching online and found the cutest little bach in the bush just out of Ngunguru for us to spend a couple of nights in.
It was small and it was cosy. It was just perfect! A big deck with a gorgeous view and a BBQ that we never made use of. But the bonus was that we went to sleep with the sounds of kiwi’s in the bush.
I know for sure that they are kiwis as Ken used his funky New Zealand flora and fauna (and bird sounds) application to check on it.
This is what we woke to in the morning …
We were up pretty early on Saturday morning. I for one was excited!
I got all my camera gear ready to roll and we headed down to the marina to meet everyone and throw our stuff on the boat.
Oh yes, not only was it Ken’s first trip out to the Knights but he was getting on the boat with a bunch of the people I dive with often. I would have been freaking out if I was in his position!! He just kept teasing me that he would call his mask ‘googles’, his fins ‘flippers’ and do all manner of other things that I had told him we don’t do!
We had been hoping for clear and calm weather however it wasn’t to be.
We had a bit of a rollercoaster ride out to the Knights – think of it as free entertainment. Even some of the more seasoned divers were a bit pale by the time we made our way there.
Noel found a great spot at the Canyons so everyone got ready.
I was going for a dive with Marcia in the morning – we decided to go in last so we hung back while everyone else jumped in.
Once we were in and settled we dropped down to blue. Blue blue water with loads and loads of fishies. And it was warm!! In fact, it was a lovely dive.
I had one issue though … I might have set up my camera housing well but I totally stuffed up my camera settings and I just couldn’t sort the dials out to fix it underwater.
I came away with a couple of photographs that I liked but only after some seriously choice words were masked by the regulator in my mouth.
Watching this lovely creature coming towards us was just magical! I love hovering and seeing how they glide.
After a cruise around the islands and some lunch, Noel anchored us on Landing Bay Pinnacle – one of my favourite sites.
I’d given Ken a briefing and showed him through the slide cards and told him what to expect. I got his gear together and Noel helped us gear up and then we were in the water!
The diving was just gorgeous! Some of the best that I have experienced!
We slowly descended down the anchor line to the top of the pinnacle (around 7m) and then swam around checking out all the fish – snapper, kingfish, blue and pink maomao. I found a clown nudibranch. We watched blue maomao clean themselves and waved to the other divers. I know I had a huge smile on my face – best possibly introduction to why I love the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve!
The trip back to the mainland was a little better than the trip out – thank goodness!
We celebrated with a beautiful dinner at Schnappa Rock. Except for the fact that there was no mint creme brulee!
Unfortunately we had to leave the next morning. Or was it??
Turns out Marcia and Dean ended up spending another day and night there as the weather seriously packed up and all roads in and out of Tutukaka were closed!
(secretly, I wish we were rained in too … I could have stayed a week at our cozy little bach)
