My project this last week has been getting back in touch with some of the dive clubs and setting up some more concrete dive dates so that I don't just show up ready to dive and two months later..... whoops, didn't actually get to do anything.
The first half of my trip will be spent on the South Island in Dunedin and my contact there is Nathan with Dive Otago. He offered me the chance to join in on any number of training dives that I can fit into my schedule; apparently there are plenty. He also mentioned that they will be doing one local dive (Jan. 27) and one extended dive trip (Feb 1st - 4th) to Milford Sound in Fiordland, which is supposed to be absolutely breathtaking (as seen in the picture below).
This Milford may be one of the more difficult dives on the trip. It is in the coldest waters that I will be visiting over the course of the trip and there is a good amount of surge. As a native Seattlite, I'm sure I'll be able to handle it. It's also going to be one of the more expensive ones, at $395 NZ. If I can find some better dives off the Southern island, I may replace this one with a less expensive dive, but I have yet to hear back from the Otago University Dive Club. We are staying the extra night because the return trip goes over an alpine pass and we need to avoid any complications that could come as a result of decompression sickness.
There may also be a chance to dive on that wreck I was talking about. I managed to scrounge up a picture taken immediately after the sinking:
My first meeting with the Auckland University Dive Club (henceforth referred to as Akunidive) is on February 13th. The meeting is almost immediately followed by the first weekend dive, of which there is one every weekend for the remainder of the trip. This first dive is affectionately dubbed Freshers Weekend (sounds like some fraternity event). I'm not sure where it is being held but accommodations sound interesting. As Ryan tells me, "We stay in a chalet out the back away from the families so we can party uninhibited by moral standards". I'm not sure what moral standards you could infringe upon on a dive trip, but I guess the freedom to do so is always a good thing. :) The best thing is that, being put on by students, it's affordable! $12 a night camping and $10 a dive off the boat. Sure beats the $395 for Milford Sound. The weekend following freshers is the first of two dives to Poor Knights Islands, a group of uninhabited islands touted to offer one of the top ten dive sites in the world. This dive is slightly more expensive as it is off a chartered dive boat called the Pacific Hideaway. Below are pictures of the southern arch at Poor Knights as well as Pacific Hideaway herself.
The last two weekend trips during my Auckland stay will be to Coramandel Peninsula followed by one more trip to Poor Knights.
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