More Saltwater!

Trip Start Sep 09, 2004
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of New Zealand  ,
Sunday, November 21, 2004

Not much foot improvement if I'm honest. I'll just have to battle through and hope it doesn't get worse.

But what a day! Darrell picked me up at 7:45am and threw my world in to the back of the dive bus. We stopped off at the shop to get the gear and the Kayaks. The plan was to go diving without a dive boat. What a great idea, cut the cost right down. Apparently it's popular in a few countries but not that common in New Zealand. Yet. Darrell wanted to change that. That's what today was about. The other beauty was that I wasn't on a time limit anymore due to the bus cock up, so we could have a good run without restraints. We loaded up and drove to Hahei beach, just a short way up from where I had had my morning snooze between the two dunes.

What a fantastic concept - 'Kayak Diving'. You have a peaceful paddle to the location of choice, jump in the water, slip in to your gear and you're off. When you're ready, you surface, reverse the procedure, hop back in your seat and you're off again. Pretty simple, but without the hefty boat charges. The kayaks were loaded up with the pre-assembled dive gear, with a spare tank in the front ready for more dives and a little dive flag sitting proudly on the back letting other ocean users know what you're doing.

I 'stickered' my foot and taped it up then covered it up with a plastic bag and taped that up, then put it all in the 'bootie' and zipped that up which went under the wetsuit that got zipped up even tighter. Couldn't really do much more!

We had a good run in the kayaks making two dives with a couple of stop-offs. The whole area around Cathedral Cove was a natural marine reserve which meant that the wildlife was out of this world. This is where we spent our air. We saw crayfish the size of small dogs and swam with masses of huge snapper, as well as the odd ray. I'll say no more, it was quality.

Darrell got plenty of photos and the dive was a total success. A couple of beers later and we swapped contact details, said our thanks and goodbyes and I got dropped off back at the camping ground.

My foot was red raw when I took it out of its many layers of armour - a lot of use they were! But that's it - no more sea water for a while, I'm just gonna leave it be.

Tonight, at the camping ground I met a crew of new faces and perky personalities. A good crowd and thankfully, no stupid bitches!
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