BSAC TRAVEL CLUB - Trip Reports - Diving in New Zealand

TRAVEL CLUB

An Extended Trip to New Zealand

by Richard Scarsbrook

My wife Jen and I spent five weeks in New Zealand in February and March 2002, and seven weeks in February and March 2003. The purpose of this article is to report our impressions of the country and give some tips for divers who might be considering a long trip themselves. The article is long, and includes accounts of diving the Bay of Islands, Poor Knights, the Alderman Islands, White Island, Kapiti Island, Kaikoura, and Fiordland, together with detailed descriptions of 28 dive sites. There are also sections on money, flights, accommodation, transport, and diving in NZ generally.

New Zealand
In order to understand what NZ is like, it's worth fixing a few facts about its geography in your head. The country is split into two islands, separated by the Cook Strait, which is a 3 hour ferry crossing. The land area is about 10% greater than the UK, but the population is only about 4 million – so the average population density is about a sixteenth that of the UK, and similar to that of Orkney. There is lots of space, and lots of wilderness. But the small population doesn't need the massive transport infrastructure of the UK, so whilst the roads are well maintained and traffic is light, motorways they are not. Driving times are much higher than in the UK for similar distances. According to the AA New Zealand Road Atlas the major diving attractions at Poor Knights and Milford Sound are separated by 36 hours of non-stop driving. Many visitors to NZ make the mistake of trying to cram too many places into their trip. We usually stay a minimum of three nights at each place we visit, and drive no further than we can manage comfortably in a day, with time for sightseeing on route.

The weather has been very pleasant during our visits. It's been similar to September in the Mediterranean on North Island, summer in northern France on South Island, and a good Scottish summer in Fiordland. However there have been short periods of bad weather. NZ can be affected by the tail end of tropical storms in the South Pacific, and by disturbances coming up from the Antarctic. There were Force 9 winds and 4 metre swells in the Cook Strait a few days before we crossed it in 2002. In Fiordland, which receives 8 metres of rain a year, we were lucky to have just one wet night, when the heavens opened and 10 cm of rain fell in a few hours. The Canterbury Plains lie east of the Southern Alps, in their rain shadow, which means the climate is dry. The grass was tinder dry and bush fires were a serious risk when we were there (if one starts when you are out in the bush you might not have time to get out before it reaches you – scary).

NZ lies at the boundary of two tectonic plates, which explains the nature of the landscape. On North Island the Pacific plate is sliding underneath the Indo-Australian plate. The friction from this process generates an enormous amount of heat, which manifests itself as volcanic activity. There are active volcanoes over 2000m high in the central Tongariro region, and a line of smaller volcanoes running east across the country and out to sea. White Island is one of these. There are also many hot springs and geysers, and lakes filling extinct craters. On South Island the plates are in collision. The land is being pushed up and has formed the Southern Alps, which are still growing at 1cm a year.

The NZ people are great (on the whole, there are exceptions of course) – friendly, competent, open, straightforward and enthusiastic. Popular destinations in NZ can get very crowded during the school summer holidays. They finish in the last week of January, so we have timed our visits to arrive just after that.

The Lonely Planet Guide to New Zealand is excellent. The tourist hotspots, diving and non-diving, can be quite crowded and a little regimented, though in most cases still worth visiting. If you visit places advertised locally that aren't in Lonely Planet/Rough Guide etc you will have them to yourself. If you are into multiday walking ("tramping" in NZ) the famous tracks are a case in point. You have to book in advance for routes like the Milford and Routeburn tracks, but there are dozens of other huts you can use to do other walks equally good without seeing a soul.

A huge range of activities is available to NZ visitors, apart from diving. On our trips we have enjoyed caving, cinema going, hill walking, kayaking, mountain biking, sightseeing, surfing, and wine tasting, amongst others. At home we do a lot of gym classes and we've found that the Les Mills gyms in Auckland and Christchurch are fantastic. I'm not going to detail any of these activities here, but will merely point out that less than a quarter of our time in NZ has been spent diving: and recommend that if you go to NZ you make the most of the wonderful opportunities it offers.

Money
The currency is the NZ$. Credit cards are widely accepted, and ATMs are also widely available. Watch out for transaction charges and poor exchange rates on debit and credit cards. We use Nationwide, which gives a decent rate and levies no charges. It's worth giving your card issuer a call before you go to let them know which countries you will be visiting. We once had a transaction declined in NZ (even though the account was in order) and the card was suspended. It was a pain to sort out because the time difference meant that the people you needed to speak to were never at work when you called. We made the mistake of calling on a mobile, and clocked up a large phone bill whilst being shunted from one department to another, answering long drawn out security questions each time. Make sure you take the right contact number, and get the bank to call you back immediately, if possible.

On these long trips we need to pay our household bills back home, and manage our cash. We set up direct debits for all the regular bills, including paying off credit cards in full. We keep all the money we will need, plus extra for emergencies, in high interest internet accounts. Every week or so we transfer enough money across to a current account to cover the direct debits and ATM cash withdrawals.

It's also worth thinking about security, since losing all your cards would be a disaster. Beware of joint accounts. Usually (but not always – check with your bank) when you report the loss of a card the bank will disable both cards and close the account. We had this problem once when Jen's handbag was stolen in Barcelona. Now we only take one card per account because taking one each doubles the chance of losing access to our money. We now use separate credit and debit card accounts, so that if one of us loses his/her wallet/purse, the other can access enough money for the trip to continue.

Flights
We fly Air New Zealand because flying the trans-Atlantic/Pacific route gives you a huge baggage allowance of 64kg each, and the option of South Pacific stopovers. We enjoy several different outdoor activities, each requiring its own equipment, so we have a lot of baggage. We’ve had quite a few flights with Air NZ, and have no complaints. The other options are flying trans-Asia, or a round-the-world ticket. Trans-Asia is generally the cheapest, but you don't get the baggage allowance. RTW is most expensive, but could be a good deal if it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We have found that the cheapest deals get snapped up many months in advance. If you leave it late to book you may find you can't get the dates you want. Later still and you won't be able to get the cheap fares on any date. For example, we booked our next trip, departing January 2005, in May 2004 and paid about Ł950 each including one stopover. Even then we couldn't get the cheapest fare on one sector. Booking the same flights as I write this in December 2004 would have cost about Ł1500 each. You'll see cheaper fares advertised, even with Air NZ, but many of them have date and other restrictions. Air NZ is currently advertising "from Ł589"! However it's always sensible to shop around.
We carried pony cylinders, empty and valves open, in our checked baggage all the way from the UK to NZ and back without any problems. Since our trip the US has changed its rules (several times) and currently you can take empty cylinders in checked or carry on baggage but the valve must be removed. Some US divers report successfully transporting cylinders without removing valves, but you have been warned.

NZ is fiercely protective of its natural environment. On arrival in NZ you have to fill in a questionnaire about the places you have come from and what you are carrying with you. There are severe penalties for lying. If, for example you have recently been to a farm, or if you are carrying hiking boots or camping equipment, you will have to go through a special check. They may want to take some of your stuff away for disinfecting. This has happened to us, twice, and it really isn't a problem. The staff are pleasant and efficient, there's a sound reason for the procedure, and the whole process only takes 15 minutes or so.

At Auckland airport, you can buy your duty free goods on arrival.

NZ time is 12 hours ahead of UTC, which means that jet lag is a significant issue, compounded by lack of sleep during the journey from the UK. We choose to recover on a stopover in Rarotonga, which is only an hour or two different from NZ time. Whether or not we make stopovers on future trips, we would always schedule a few days to recover before embarking on long drives, or expensive full-on activities such as liveaboard diving.

Accommodation

Except in Christchurch and Auckland, where we've used hotels, we stay in backpackers. These are hostels, unique to NZ, which have 24 hour access, a kitchen with all utensils, laundry facilities, bathrooms, bedding, and rooms. We've always had a double room, sometimes ensuite. Some hostels also have single and twin rooms, as well as bunkrooms. They're all independently owned and run, they're very cheap, they are all different, and they often have free extras – we've had bikes, kayaks, BBQs, surfboards, weta (a sort of nocturnal spider) hunts, herbs from the garden, and fresh cream cakes! We've used over a dozen different ones and even the worst was tolerable. The best were brilliant, with million dollar views, tasteful decor, excellent local advice, and so on.

We've found that the backpackers least to our taste are the biggest ones, with a lot of bunkroom accommodation. They seem to attract young single backpackers a few of whom make a lot of noise, leave the doors open, and don't wash up after themselves. Black Sheep in Queenstown and Centabay in Paihia were like this. Of course, if you are a young single person who likes to party they could be right up your street!

We use the BBH network. Each year it publishes a free guide which gives details of all its hostels, available at all tourist information offices, and also on the web. There's a rating system based on an annual survey of guests (we took part in the survey in 2003). Anything rated over 75% is likely to be fine. You buy a BBH Club Card for about NZ$40, and it entitles you to fixed prices as published in the guide, plus $20 of free telephone calls, plus discounts at various outlets. Typically, a double room costs $45-50 per night. A big plus of backpackers is that you meet a wide range of people, of many different ages and nationalities. Staying in hotels is great for a few days, because of the privacy and the luxury. But for a long stay privacy becomes somewhat isolating and insular, and luxury begins to pall because you don't have the facilities to do stuff for yourself, when you want it. Eating out is enjoyable sometimes, but after a while we get tired of restaurant food every day. And of course the cost mounts up.

Most of the time we cook for ourselves. NZ produce is cheap, readily available and excellent quality. At the start of the trip we buy a couple of cheap plastic crates and a cool bag, and stock up with basics like oil, vinegar, condiments and so on – and lots of lovely NZ wine of course. Backpackers all have fridge space, and a few have freezers. When we move on we put the perishables in the cool bag with a couple of freezer packs, put the rest of the food in the crates, and load the lot in the back of the car. The kitchen equipment is usually pretty good, but we've found it's a good idea to have your own corkscrew, vegetable peeler, and sharp knife.

When we booked our first trip to NZ the travel agents tried to persuade us to book accommodation in advance. They said it was a busy time of year and we would find it hard to book any when we got there. That isn't our experience. Apart from the first two or three nights in NZ, which we book from the UK at a hotel in the city of arrival, we typically book places by telephone a week in advance. Sometimes we don't get our first choice, but we always found somewhere. Once or twice we've been to places where there are no backpackers, and have used a motel. They typically cost about 50-100% more, and are fine – but nobody to talk to.

A mobile phone is very useful in NZ, especially in situations where you need to give a contact number. Our UK mobiles (Vodafone) are fine for outgoing calls but we've found that people are reluctant to call you because it's an international number which they fear will be expensive. So Jen buys a cheap NZ simcard for her phone, which we use as our NZ contact, while I keep my UK number for contact with home.

Transport
We rent a car for the duration. Use the big names - Avis, Hertz, etc - and you'll get this years model, and pay about $90 a day for a medium sized car on a long rental. We rent old Mazda 323s from Auckland Premium Car Rentals] for less than half that, including full insurance, one way hire from Auckland to Christchurch or vice versa, and airport pickup and drop-off. The cars look a bit scruffy, but they've been comfortable and reliable, and have proper breakdown cover. We prefer a car with a boot, for added security. The radios on cheap rental cars are not so good. The cars are all imported from Japan, where it's normal for car radios only to tune up to about 90MHz. In NZ this misses out most of the radio stations except close to major towns – so we take a few cassettes (they don't have CD players either). Check that you are adequately insured – full Third Party Insurance is not compulsory in NZ, and some cheap car rentals don't include it and don't tell you – not good to find out when you've just totalled somebody's brand new Lexus!
If you are visiting both islands by car, you will need to cross the Cook Strait on the Interislander Ferry. Some car hire companies make you leave your car behind and pick up another one on the other side. It saves about NZ$160 off the ferry fare, but adds the hassle of getting all your stuff on and off the ferry. We take the car across. You need to book in advance if taking a car.
Fuel is cheap by UK standards. It's gone up since we were last there - currently petrol is $1.25 a litre. That's about 48 pence.
On the open road, traffic moves more slowly than in the UK – 60mph is about the maximum. Speed traps are common. The guide times in the roadmap books are about 10-15% on the generous side if you observe the speed limits but overtake whenever you can.
Not widely publicised, and perfectly legal in the UK, in NZ it's an offence to park your car facing oncoming traffic. A traffic warden stuck a $40 ticket on our car for this in Paihia. It's easy to pay the fine though – you just go to the tourist information office and cough up.

NZ Diving Scene

The most popular dive spots in NZ attract international divers as well as locals. At these places - Poor Knights, the Rainbow Warrior (Bay of Islands), the Mikhail Lermontov (Marlborough Sounds), Milford Sound and Kaikoura - there are generally several dive operators who run scheduled trips throughout the week. Elsewhere scheduled trips are organised by dive shops and tend to be at weekends. If you express interest in diving but no trip is scheduled, we found that operators would start a list and try and fill a trip. Obviously the sooner you contact them the greater the chance of getting something going. For locals, many of the dive shops run email lists to advertise forthcoming dives. The bi-monthly magazine Dive New Zealand is the main source of NZ diving contacts. Dive shops and the bigger newsagents like Whitcoulls stock it.

There are some clubs, but according to Chris, a good diving friend of ours who emigrated to Wellington, the club scene is nowhere near as strong as in the UK. There are no BSAC branches, but we have had no problem at all in having our BSAC qualifications accepted. All our diving in NZ has been independently in buddy pairs of our choosing. We haven't experienced any problems with being able to dive the way we want to, unlike in some holiday destinations where one sometimes has to be quite assertive with the dive guides. PADI appears to be the dominant force in training.

It is easy to rent equipment, although we take our own, including pony cylinders. Strictly speaking, cylinder valves are supposed to be fitted with a burst disc. Ours aren't, but we have had no problem in getting our ponies filled. I take a decanting hose just in case.

In 2002 we wore 3mm wetsuits over a thin polypropylene shirt, a hood, and bootees. The water temperature ranged from 17 to 21şC. We were barely warm enough. In 2003 we wore drysuits with an undersuit but without a hood on North Island, where the water was again about 21şC, and with a hood in Fiordland, where it was about 10şC at depth. By UK standards the visibility has been good on every dive (>7m), usually very good (15-20m), and occasionally even better.

There is plenty of dive site information on the internet (start through Google), but it takes time to sift through it, and to sort the wheat from the chaff. I was given a copy of Lonely Planet's Diving and Snorkelling New Zealand ISBN 1 74059 267 0. It's OK for an overview of the different diving areas in NZ, which is useful for deciding which areas you are going to visit. However the guide only describes a handful of sites within each area, each one in such glowing terms that it's difficult to distinguish the world class sites from the merely good. I always like to do my research in order to maximise the chances of getting to the very best spots, and the guide is not particularly helpful for that. It also has tables which rate dives according to the skill level required. I disagree with many of the ratings – dives which I thought were similar get different ratings; dives I thought easy and free from dangers are rated difficult; and dives I thought potentially hazardous are rated easy.

Dive Sites
Bay of Islands – We used Paihai Dive. We booked by email from the UK, because being at the start of our trip our timing was pretty much fixed, so why not? The boat was an 8.5m RIB Deep 6 with padded white leather upholstery and enormous outboards. It's a long ride from Paihia to the Rainbow Warrior – maybe 20 miles - and some of the journey is open to the east, but fortunately the sea was calm. The dive guide was a rather bossy young woman, but she seemed competent. The skipper was fine. There were a couple of beginners, and maybe one other diver. Cost Ł45pd in 2003, about Ł50 today.

* Rainbow Warrior is a very pretty little wreck, especially the pulpit, which is covered in jewel anemones and brightly coloured nudibranches and reminded me of the rudder on the Rondo. The wreck is very small, and lies in about 25m. There is a permanent buoy attached to a large concrete block a few metres abaft the stern.
* The second dive was at Lion Rocks, which break the surface and run out onto sand at about 15m. It was a nice dive but not exceptional. We saw a couple of stingrays and an eagle ray.

We stayed at Centabay Lodge, which was OK but not one of our favourite backpackers. While we were there we walked through the mangrove forests at Waitangi, visited the shipwrshipwreck museum (tiny but has some unusual artifacts – eg ladies red silk knickers from the Lermontov), and had a look at Russell. Verdict – nice to have been and done the RW, but not worth a repeat visit, unless perhaps for a yacht charter round the islands.

Poor Knights – We dived here in 2002 and 2003, each time with Dive!Tutukaka. In 2002 we booked by telephone in NZ, and in 2003 we booked from the UK over the internet. D!T is a large operator with several boats – aluminium planing craft around 15m or so long, with an enclosed seating area and a dive platform at the stern. The staff are well organised and competent. We met several and I liked all of them. D!T runs a lot of courses, at various levels; it attracts a wide range of diver ability; and some of the better sites at Poor Knights are unsuitable for the inexperienced. This affected our diving a couple of times. On our first day with them there was a group doing their PADI Deep Diving course. We assumed this meant we'd go somewhere with deep water, but it turned out that it meant we had to go to a site no deeper than 30m. Another time the boat was full of very experienced divers, so we went to look at the rarely dived Sugar Loaf. The conditions were OK to dive but too rough to anchor, so the boat would need to be kept mobile. Unfortunately the skipper needed to dive because he was taking somebody in for a photography course, and so we had to go to another much less exciting spot. To D!T 's credit, they do try hard to see that everybody gets what they want, so make sure you talk to them and explain your requirements. Cost Ł45pd in 2003, about Ł55 today.

* Rikoriko Cave - 30m. A huge navigable cavern with steep sides and lots of encrusting life, and zonation from light to dark habitats. One for species fans.
* Red Baron Cave – 26m A chimney formed where part of the cliff face has slipped. It might be pretty with sunlight filtering down, but the weather was cloudy when we dived it. We thought it a rather gimmicky dive, only OK.
* Northern Arch – A world class site. An archway a few metres wide extends from above the surface to the seabed at 40m or so. There was a current of about 0.5kt running through the arch both times we dived it. There were shoals of mao-mao, golden snapper, trevally, and demoiselles, solitary sting rays and striped perch, and many others. The SE wall is riven by cracks and teeming with life, reminiscent of a top west coast of Ireland dive, but with a different colour scheme.
* Middle Arch – 30m Also very good, but not quite the architecture of Northern Arch.
* Tie Dye Arch – 22m Another excellent site with twin arches, and lots of fish and encrusting life.
* Landing Bay Pinnacle – a pleasant pinnacle with steep sides from near the surface to around 40m. Good but no cigar.
* Mary's Wall – 25m. Only OK. Reef and boulders running out to sand. Quite a lot of kelp. A reasonable amount of fish life including a large stingray on the sand.

We stayed at Bunkdown Lodge in Whangerei, on both trips. A nice place with thoughtful and entertaining owners. We hired bikes and went caving (easy) in some local caves, and visited a local surf beach. Whangerei is about 30 minutes drive from Tutukaka. The dive operators will pick you up if you need it. Verdict – Poor Knights deserves its reputation, but some dives are considerably better than others. You could easily spend several days there. Definitely the highlight of the Whangerei area.

Alderman Islands – These islands lie about 10 miles offshore at the SE corner of the beautiful Coromandel peninsula. We dived with Tairua Dive in 2003. We dived from their 8m aluminium boat Tairua Dive. There was a single-handed skipper, who seemed capable enough. The other divers had brought an instructor with them. Jen was a little uncomfortable with the lack of privacy when using the boat's chemical toilet. TD also take bookings for several other boats which work out of Tairua Harbour. The islands and surrounding reefs are said to give excellent diving on walls and pinnacles, with a good chance of seeing large fish including sharks. Unfortunately the day we dived there it was blowing Force 5 and there was an uncomfortable swell. This restricted where we could dive, and I don't think we saw the place at its best. Cost Ł35pd in 2003.

* NW George Island – 22m. Kelpy bedrock and boulders. A couple of shoals of fish, and plenty of life in the cracks under the kelp.
* SW Flat Island – 17m. A shallow kelpy bay with a rocky ridge dropping away at one side. Octopus, stingray, and a couple of big fish cruising in the distance. Pretty life under the kelp.
We stayed at On The Beach Backpackers in Whitianga. It lived up to its name and had free surfboards and kayaks. We shared a self-contained flat with some cyclists from Yorkshire. It was a good place. The Coromandel peninsula is peaceful and beautiful, and has excellent beaches. We hired bikes, swam, and visited a winery that makes interesting fruit wines. The roads are rather twisty and it takes longer than you think to get anywhere. Verdict – a nice part of the world. Diving at the Aldermen deserves another try.

White Island – is an active volcanic island, with outlying reefs and pinnacles, about 25 miles off Whakatane at the south of the Bay of Plenty. It gets its name from the white cloud of steam which hangs above it from the boiling lake at its centre (I've read that recently the lake, whose surface was 80m below sea level, has filled up considerably and no longer steams).

In 2002 we booked two day trips on the Black Shag (tel 025816771), a spacious and comfortable aluminium catamaran taking up to 8 divers. The other divers were our friend Chris from Wellington; a group of four Germans whose English was little better than our German but who were obviously very accomplished divers; and on day two, Tony an SAA diver from Hull with 800 North Sea dives under his belt. Rob the owner/skipper is an experienced diver, affable and competent. It is the only day boat that has ever supplied me with pizza and cake freshly baked on board. We booked with Sportsworld Whakatane whose package includes tanks, weights, an agreeable if somewhat unnecessary lunch given the on board bakery, and a dive guide. The dive guide was an amiable chap from the UK, who provided frequent enthusiastic briefings about things we had already discussed and agreed with the skipper, or had worked out for ourselves. On the first day he dived with a lone female diver, who may have been his girlfriend. We managed without his services for day two, and got a corresponding reduction on the price. We paid about Ł45pd. The current advertised price works out at over Ł70.

* Diadema Pinnacle - 40m+. This big rock breaks the surface about a mile off the main island - 25m visibility, large shoals of fish, an excellent dive.
* Homestead Reef – lies in a bay on the main island. 10m to the top, 30m off the side, shoals of fish, kelp on top. A lot of fish action at the surface. Not bad.
* Laisson’s Pinnacle – lies 1km off White Island and rises from 150m to about 10m below the surface. It is a blade shaped rock 10m across and about 40m long with vertical sides – rather like the Inaccessible Pinnacle in the Black Cuillin on Skye. The sides are plastered with sponges and anemones, and there is black coral at 50m. There was a huge vertical shoal of maomao from the top right down to 40m, and several stingrays on the top. Visibility was about 20m. A stunning, world class dive in a superbly exposed position.
* Shark Bay Fumarole – 22m. Interesting rock architecture, with archways and holes, and vertical and overhanging walls. Plenty of encrusting life and big creatures in the crevices.

We stayed in a comfortable flat which we booked through Sportsworld. Verdict – superb diving and an excellent boat. Better even than Poor Knights, but a smaller area, and obviously vulnerable to the weather. Next time we might press to make the second dives at the outliers as well.

Kapiti Island – lies on the west coast near to Wellington. In 2003 we had a days diving from Splash Gordon, a trailer launched 8m aluminium craft run by a dive shop of the same name in Wellington. Our NZ friend Chris arranged it. He says it's typical of the setups the locals use. The shop publishes a schedule, and you ring up or email and pay about Ł25 for a 2-tank dive. Equipment is extra. The divers all do their own thing, unless they've arranged for a guide. The organisation is rather similar to UK operations like Puffin Divers in Oban. It was OK, but Jen and the other female diver weren't impressed by the lack of a toilet on board. A trip in 2002 had to be cancelled because of high winds, which are common around Wellington.

* Arapawaiti Point – 20m. A very pleasant reef composed of giant blocks. Octopus, conger, many jewel anemones and sponges, and plenty of fish. Reminiscent of Hands Deep at Plymouth, or the west coast of Ireland.
* Half way down, W side – 18m. A shallow reef covered in kelp, with encrusting life underneath. Apparently a good spot for crayfish hunting, which is the main objective of many NZ divers – nobody got one on this dive though. Otherwise only moderate.

We stayed with friends. There is plenty to do in the Wellington area, though our non-diving activities here are not relevant to this report. Verdict – some very nice diving here, relatively inexpensive, and worth trying if you are coming to Wellington anyway. If your time is limited, Poor Knights and White Island are even better.

Kaikoura – on the east coast of South Island, it is popular for whale watching and for swimming with dolphins. The boat trips from the local dive centre Dive! Kaikoura didn't look terribly exciting, so we rented some tanks and had a shore dive at a spot I had noted on the drive up from Christchurch. It turned out to be one of the local favourites. We also considered diving off the rocks near the harbour, but it looked shallow and silty.

* Riley's Lookout – lies next to the coast road about 6 miles south of Kaikoura. There is a large rock about 100m out from the shore, which gives pleasant diving on craggy reefs similar to the terrain at St Abbs. We saw over 20 juvenile crayfish hiding in the cracks. The water temperature was about 17 degrees, and the visibility about 7 metres. Entry is over awkward boulders and through thick kelp, with small breaking waves – no wonder D!K dive it from a boat. There were many fur seals basking on the rocks, but none seen underwater.

We stayed at MobyDix, which had just been taken over by the owner of Dusky Lodge [email:duskyjack@hotmail.com], next door. When we booked he told us that it wasn't yet up to the standards he wanted. Nevertheless, whilst it wasn't the best backpackers we've stayed in, it was more than adequate, and had stunning views over the mountains from the deck, free bikes, and free cream cakes from the bakery next door. Whilst in Kaikoura we went on cliff walks, cycled, and went on a whale and dolphin watching flight. Verdict – a justifiably popular spot, but the diving doesn't merit more than a quick dip to say you've done it.

Fiordland – In 2003 five current and former members of TSAC went on an exclusive one week liveaboard trip in the Fiordland National Park. Jen and I were on holiday, Les and Kerry were taking an extended career break, and Chris emigrated to NZ a few years ago. Chris arranged the trip on Sandpiper, owned and ably skippered by Frank Carre. Frank is a diver himself and has excellent local knowledge. Sandpiper is a comfortable 14m trawler yacht with seven berths. Normally based in Picton at the north of South Island, Frank offers Fiordland charters from April until June. Our trip was a special, and he sailed all the way down the west coast to meet us in Doubtful Sound in early March.

It's an immense, remote, peaceful, and beautiful place. This is an area of rugged 1700m mountains, deeply indented fiords, and sparkling lakes, all surrounded by dense forest and bush. It measures about 140 miles by 40 miles and contains no roads or human settlements whatsoever. To get there we met up in Queenstown; caught a bus to Te Anau; caught another bus to Manapouri; made a 20 mile boat journey across Lake Manapouri; and finally travelled 15 miles by bus over Wilmot Pass on the dirt track opened in 1959 during the construction of an underground hydroelectric scheme. It's not surprising that some of Frank's customers fly in and out by helicopter.

We sailed from Doubtful Sound out into the open ocean, and down to Dusky Sound and back, accompanied by albatross. Between dives we fished, swam and admired and photographed the scenery. We caught and ate tuna, blue cod, and crayfish – all delicious. At dusk the sandflies come out. These are extremely fierce creatures not deterred by ordinary insect repellants. However, provided you cover up well, and cover any exposed skin with DEET of at least 30% concentration (read the label – the stuff you buy in the UK is usually weaker than this) they aren't a problem. They disappear as soon as it's dark, returning for a similar short period around dawn.

The fiords have a 5 metre or so layer of freshwater lying next to the surface, due to the heavy rainfall. After rain there are spectacular waterfalls everywhere. The surface layer is peat stained and it reduces the amount of light getting through to the water below. Because of this deep water species can be seen in relatively shallow depths. Black coral (ironically this is most easily recognised by its white feathery polyps) and red coral are very common. A second consequence of the freshwater layer is that shellfish hung over the side to keep fresh must be lowered sufficiently deep that they are in salt water, otherwise they will die sooner than you had intended. The water temperature beneath the halocline was maybe 10 degrees – just like home! We all wear drysuits so it wasn't a problem at all. The trip cost about Ł500 each, excluding travel.

* Omapere Rock – 26m. An excellent and surprising dive on a sloping shingle bank. We saw black coral, a sea horse, crayfish galore, strange things even Chris couldn't identify (and he's a PhD marine biologist), and had our first encounter with girdled wrasse. These small fish are about 15cm long. They hover close to you – and then they bite! Both Chris and I got bitten on the lip- we didn't realise until we got back on the boat and somebody asked why we had blood on our faces. Girdled wrasse appeared on almost every dive. The men soon learned to flick them away if they got too close. Jen and Kerry decided that they only attacked between 18m and 22m, and took to rapid ascents and descents between these depths.
* Hares Ears – 27m. A superb dive on rocks at the entrance to Doubtful Sound. Blue water, ocean swell, abundant fish, shellfish, and encrusting life, great vis, and an excellent dropoff at the south tip
* Acheron Passage – 40m – A small wall with 40m vis, and abundant life. Excellent.
* Porpoise Point, Dusky Sound – 39m. Another superb site with rocks plunging to 200m at a 60 degree angle with sandy ledges. We saw two seven gill sharks cruising up from the depths. Several different types of shoaling fish.
* Breaksea Island – 45m. Nice dropoffs, fish, and seal encounters.
* Utah Island – 40m. A very good dropoff in blue water. Abundant crayfish in the deep cracks, and much life in the shallows.
* Bradshaw Sound – 48m. A big wall, similar to some of those to be found on the west coast of Norway.
* Common Head, Secretary Island – 34m. A wall to a sandy slope at 35m, then further drops beyond. Many crayfish, and very pretty in the shallows.
* just NW of Marcaciones Point – 42m. Dived early in the morning a gloomy overhanging wall to 60m+, very atmospheric. Red and black corals as shallow as 8m.
* The Gut – 34m. The Te Awaatu Marine Reserve covers a ridge which joins Secretary and Bauza Islands. Either side of the ridge the seabed drops away to the depths. A modest tidal current runs over the site, which holds an impressive variety of life. We saw a shark (possibly a spiny dogfish) cruising up from the depths. Yet another excellent dive.

Verdict – like all the World Heritage Sites I have been fortunate enough to visit, Fiordland is a very special place, both above and below water. It is a privilege to go there. The diving is unique, well worth the effort required to get there.

Other Areas There are many other places to dive in NZ aside from the ones we have visited. The following list is not exhaustive, it simply lists some other sites about which we have informed opinions or knowledge that is not readily available.

* Pupu Springs – This freshwater site near Abel Tasman, is often recommended. We went for a look. It has amazingly clear water but you can see that through the purpose built viewing gallery without getting wet. There are restrictions posted locally about when you can dive there, lots of spectators, and the whole thing is only the size of a large swimming pool. We didn't discover anywhere local to rent tanks, didn't bother diving there, and don't regret it.
* Taupo - There is a river drift dive out of Lake Taupo that we reconnoitered but didn't do, due to lack of time. It looks quite interesting, and Chris says it's good. A mile or so downstream of the exit point is an impressive waterfall that does not look surviveable. Make sure you get out at the right place! At Dive Inn [diveinn@reap.org.nz] tel 042374350 in Taupo in 2003 they told us about some shore diving sites in Lake Taupo as well as their guided drift dives. It may be worth a look if you're in the area. There is lots of other stuff to do around Taupo – fishing, mountain biking, walking in Tongariro, thermal spring watching, etc.
* Three Kings – are islands 50km off the north of North Island. They're uninhabited, and you need a liveaboard, of course. April and May is the time to go, there's too much chance of big seas from tropical storms in February/March. They are rarely dived – the NZ equivalent of St Kilda – but the reports from those who have been are outstanding. They're on my must do list – I've already bought the charts!

Summary NZ is a brilliant country if you enjoy the outdoors. Once you get there you can live reasonably cheaply, without scrimping. The diving is great, but do other stuff as well. Stay as long as you can, and don't try to cram so much in that travelling overshadows doing. Enjoy.

Richard Scarsbrook - BSAC First Class Diver/Advanced Instructor, RYA/MCA Coastal Skipper
Jen Scarsbrook - BSAC Advanced Diver/Advanced Instructor

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