Global Dive » 2. Trip Reports

My Last Year of High School

Tara — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:39:34 +0000

Article by Harry Josephson-Rutter

This year was my last year of High School.

SCUBA Display

To complete my education at this school, Michael Park School, I had to choose a topic which I would explore over the course of the year.
It had to be something that would challenge me and it had to have obstacles that I would learn to overcome.
I also had to find an outside expert from whom I could learn from, and also go to for advice and motivation.

For my topic I choose to learn to Scuba dive.

This came as the obvious choice for a number of reasons.
Firstly I love the water, and secondly, I have quite a few members in my wider family that dive and I have always wanted to learn.
So in December of 2009, I went down to Westhaven to seek advice from the expert about diving. I went in Dive HQ and Ocean Hunter but nothing seemed right for me. That was until I entered Global Dive and I was greeted by two very enthusiastic and friendly staff members, Andrew Simpson and Anna Clague.
This marked the beginning of my adventure into the world of Scuba and though I had not yet had my first dive, I was already beginning to enjoy it.

With the expert advice and guidance of Andrew, I invested in a wetsuit, mask, snorkel, boots, fins, and of course booked my Open Water course.

I began the theory side of the course in January under the watchful eye of a very cheerful Tara Sutherland.
After the three weeks of theory lessons and pool sessions our class headed up to Goat Island Marine reserve with our instructor Anna.
From the moment I began my first open water dive I knew I had found my passion and I’m so glad that I found it through Global Dive.

Harry - and 'friend'

In mid April, I began the next step in my diving experience as I headed up to the Poor Knights to begin my Advanced Open Water course.
We went out with the guys from Yukon Charters who were so nice and gave us a remarkable tour of the islands.
Again Anna was my instructor and I am so glad she was because as well as teaching us all the skills she showed us some amazing marine life and underwater sights which made some already awesome dives that much better.

The project I had to do has five parts to it.

A practical part plus keeping a journal about it (learning to dive) a part called a Socio-Ecological, which is giving back to the community.
I participated in the Project AWARE beach clean up and thanks to the amazing organizational skill of Alexandria Leonard it was very productive and of course extremely fun day.
To go along with everything there is a 5000 word written report where in detail you describe what you did.
The next part is a speech where you give a 7 minute talk (and slideshow/movie) to the school and its wider community about what you have done over the year and finally a display to give a visual presentation about your experiences.

I presented my final written report, speech and visual display in late September and it was a hit.
Thanks to the use of one of the Global Dive mannequins and dive gear, my display was a huge success and was commented on as an ‘eye catcher’ and everyone loved it.

I seriously don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for the team at Global Dive.
They have been behind me, supporting me the whole way and I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart.

All I can say is that diving has now really become part of who I am and I can gladly say I hope to keep doing it for the rest of my life.

From here I intend to keep up my diving and get more logged dives so that next year I can begin my Rescue Diver course and hopefully move on to completing a Divemaster training course, and of course I can say I’ll be doing it all with the Global Dive Team!

Thank you guys so much!

Banded Weed Fish

Tara — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:17:40 +0000

Banded Weed Fish / Photograph by Martin Wallis

Trip Report by Martin Wallis :

On Saturday the 3rd of July, 2010, while everybody else was participating in the 1st annual underwater Olympics, held by Global Dive, I decided to sneak off and have a dive to make up for disappointing photographic results from the previous dive a week earlier.

The venue was Matheson Bay, Leigh. I hadn’t dived this site for a few months, so was keen to see what I could find.

I headed off from the shore to where there is a break in the rock wall that cuts across the bay, and slowly swam in a north easterly direction from there.

There was no current and the visibility was quite good for the area at about 6 metres. I had my 60mm macro lens on and was slowly searching all the rocks, nooks and crannies, and kelp for anything small.

Then, out of the corner of my eye I saw what at first I thought was an unusual looking piece of kelp.
Upon looking more closely, I discovered that it was a fish. It had its head pointing down and its mouth seemingly attached to a rock on the bottom and its upside-down body was just swaying about in the water in such a way that it looked like a piece of kelp, attached to the rock (see photo insert).

I assume this behavior was the fish attempting to camouflage itself.I fired off a number of shots which didn’t disturb the fish in the slightest.
It had no inclination to move at all.

I wasn’t particularly happy with any of the shots, so decided to spend a little more time with this fella.
I shooed it along a little and re-positioned myself for some better shots.

My settings for all of the photographs I took of this guy were ISO100, f8 at 1/60thsec with strobes set to ¼ power.
I probably spent another five minutes or so with this fish before continuing with the rest of this two hour dive.

My max depth on this dive was 5.5m, and I photographed this guy in between 4-5m.

more information on Martin Wallis Photography – Banded Weed Fish

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Trip Report : Fiji Baby!

Tara — Tue, 25 May 2010 03:31:47 +0000

Trip Report by Anna

Way back last year we thought let’s go to FIJI.
(I can pinpoint the decision down to the time we were on the jetty at Lake Pupuke in a hail storm, getting ready to return to the water after a surface interval spent shivering inside the car with the heaters on full, ruffling the wooly beanies firmly pulled down over goose pimpled heads.) GOOD decision.

We were a select few, but all in need of a tropical dive holiday.
Now let’s just stop here and look at these points separately.

Tropical – palm trees, white sandy beaches, crystal blue water, cocktails, sunshine, WARMTH, islands, TICK

Dive – fish in abundance, hard corals, soft corals, sharks, wrecks, reefs, colour, photo opportunity, guided/unguided, drift, TICK

Holiday – relax, read books, siesta, duty free, socializing, sundowners, suntan/burn/block, getting away from it all, TICK

Put these all into one package and you have Volivoli Beach Resort and Dive holiday.

The guys at Volivoli are a really nice kiwi family whose son trained as a dive instructor in the cool waters of the South Island.
After working in Kaikoura for a bit he ran away to Fiji on his OE and never left. The family followed and set up the resort which is what they do and do well.

Volivoli is lovely and really well put together.
(They even have and Iron and Ironing board in the 4 star accom!!! Not that I knew what to do with them!?)

The diving was superb.
The outer reefs are lush and teeming with the full spectrum of colourful reef fish. The soft coral is absolutely stunning. Have no doubt as to why Fiji is known as the soft coral capital of the world!!

I’ll let the pictures do the talking on this.

/ Photograph by Andrew Simpson

We saw reef sharks every day and even had a dive with a Turtle.
The inner reefs were a little less clear but we had some fantastic macro dives. Popcorn shrimp beautiful gorgonian fans, anemones with resident clown fish, tropical scorpion fish and leaf fish.

We also spent some time with the biggest eel that I have ever seen!!!
Honestly you could have fit Andrew’s head in its mouth with room to spare, and Andrew’s got a big head!

We all certainly made the most of being on holiday.
Lots of off gassing in the bar and in the sun out side the Bure with the duty free (tip- read the label on the mixers before buying as Gin and Soda is a completely different drink to Gin and Tonic, especially the first gulp!!)

After a leisurely dip in the pool to cool off after a heavy reading session (substitute siesta for reading), we would have a social evening dining and sharing tall tales in the lounge.
All in all this was a tropical dive holiday.

So much so that we are going to go back this September/October.

The best Scuba Diving Course I Can Imagine

Tara — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:02:07 +0000

By Claudia Illgen

Anna and Claudia - lunch at Goat Island

In Mid-August, I started my Padi certificated Open Water Scuba Diving Course at Global Dive.

Since I can think, it was always a dream of me to do scuba diving and get an entrance to this beautiful world.

Due to the season, I was the only person during my 2 theory and 2 pool sessions.

This personal learning in my space was a great advantage. However, my two wonderful diving instructors Anna and Alex proved their excellent teaching skills additionally when two other ladies and I finished our course with 4 open water dives – two in the beautiful marine reserve of Goat Island and two in Auckland’s Lake Pupuke.

At any time, I felt safe, well instructed and informed about the possible dangers as well as what I can await and what I have to do under water.

Even if scuba diving is highly affected by a lot of preparation work, I always had a lot of fun with my instructors and other scuba diving students.

In my opinion, scuba diving is one of the best ways to meet exceptional persons.
Furthermore, the way how the people of Global Dive has taught me scuba diving led to a new and more environmental conscious view of mine for the underwater ecological system.

Thank you for these unique experiences.

Spring time at the Poor Knights Islands

Tara — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:32:40 +0000

Just last weekend, Anna and Tara took some time out and went diving up in the Poor Knights Islands with Dive! Tutukaka.
Sometimes we forget to take time out for ourselves however, sure we can all agree that summer is on its way so the time is now!

Bluebell turnicates at Crinoid Cliff / Photograph by Tara Sutherland

Andrew was down south diving the Mikhail Lermontov with Pete Mesley which meant the girls got to take some great underwater photographs as there was no competition for the Nikon!

Spring time is well and truly happening in the Poor Knights Marine Reserve.

The evidence is everywhere – the walls are covered in bluebell tunicates and the nudibranchs have been doing … well … stuff!!

It was a bit of a bumpy ride out on Saturday morning but by Sunday, the sun was starting to come out and we were greeted with hundreds of Bullers Shearwaters and the sight of Poor Knights Lillies showing their beautiful red flowers on the lofty heights of the islands.

The seal was a lucky shot on Anna’s behalf.
Armed with a Nikon and the macro lens, and hovering underneath the boat on a safety stop, this cheeky little beggar shows up and starts swimming around acting all coy – until the camera came out and then the antics became more pronounced.

It was lovely to see the seals off the rocks and in the water! It is not often that we get to photograph them playing around.

Hallo seal! / Photograph by Anna Clague

The water is a blamy 15 degrees and we can see the salps starting to come through so now would be a great time to get out there and dive.

With carpet sharks resting on the sand and eagle rays making an appearance, there is plenty to see at all depths.

Madeline and Andrew joined them for the weekend and as you can see, experienced great visibility!

Poor Knights July Liveaboard

Tara — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:07:00 +0000

Trip Report by Simon Hutton

I spent last weekend on the live aboard to the Poor Knights aboard Pacific Hideaway with a great bunch of keen divers.

Having only completed my Open Water Course on July 12 and having not been for a dive in the briny due to the weather that weekend, I was excited at the thought of finally getting in and under the ocean. Excited and slightly nervous – nervous in a good way that is.

Alex and Simon in The Gardens / Photograph by Andrew Simpson

I wanted to make the most of the trip and do my Advanced Open Water course at the same time. I was very lucky in the fact that I was the only one doing the AOW that weekend. That meant I got one-on-one instruction from Alexandria.

Anticipation was high on Friday night and I didn’t get much sleep. I think I saw every hour in until others started to stir at around 7am. Conditions for the trip were great. None of the wind that we had been experiencing back in Auckland. About an hour after setting off we arrived at Northern Arch.

After a knowledge review and dive briefing, it was time for my first dive. We suited up, geared up and performed our buddy checks and then made our entry. Being in the sea was a strange sensation at first. Being pushed around by the surge also made it interesting trying to perform fin pivots and the hover.

Simon heads off on his last AOW dive - HMNZS Waikato / Photograph by Andrew Simpson

Second dive was a pleasure dive at Landing Bay pinnacle. This blew me away! I couldn’t believe the fish life here. Hundreds of fish, not too concerned with our intrusion. Big snapper aside, my favourite creature here would have been the banded coral shrimp we found hiding in a hole.

Third dive was navigation at The Gardens. Compass navigation went well. Straight line and reciprocal bearings weren’t a problem. My first attempt at the square went a little awry when I got the wrong bearing on the second or third leg, so ended up performing more of a triangle. I got rather lost on our first natural navigation attempt. I paid more attention on the second attempt and got us back to the starting point safe and sound.

Skipper Mark decided Riko Riko Cave would be us for the night. Most of the group went in outside the cave to swim the entrance at change of light. I admit to feeling slightly nervous the thought of doing a night dive. Once we were in the water I felt fine – relaxed as. Saw a few fish resting and the biggest leatherjacket I have ever laid eyes on! Some of the sponges were interesting as well as the phosphorescence on the walls.

After four dives on Saturday, I was feeling it more than a little. Thought I’d sleep like a log but didn’t sleep well at all. Just too excited about what was to come on Sunday I guess.

Simon on the HMNZS Waikato

Dawn finally arrived and as light began to seep into the cave, we made our departure. Our next destination was Ngaio Rock. This was where I did the deep dive. We settled on the sand at 30m where I then had to complete a couple of tasks which involved a bit of a co-ordination test. I was feeling sweet and thought the task was a piece of cake. That was until I couldn’t find the number 17 on the slate. Then I thought it was a trick until Alex pointed it out to me – Dooh! During the debrief I found out that I hadn’t just been touching my nose in between pointing out the numbers, but also the reg. I didn’t notice. It took me 58 seconds to complete the task at 30m and just over 20 seconds back onboard Pacific Hideaway. I also got both the age and maths equation wrong. At the time I knew my answers were incorrect, but I just thought “Oh well!” and handed the slate back to Alex. That was when I thought, “Wait a minute. Something’s not quiet right here!” I got ‘narked’.

I skipped the next casual dive to conserve a little energy for the dive on HMNZS Waikato on the way back to Tutukaka.

The wreck dive was fantastic! Visibility wasn’t flash and the water was green, which gave the wreck a rather eerie aura.

The trip seemed to come to an end as quickly as it had begun. It was a fantastic weekend! Great company, Mark and Pete were fantastic hosts, the food was great – especially the legendary lamb shanks I had heard so much about. Big thanks to Alex for being a fantastic instructor over the weekend. I learnt heaps!

It’s now Wednesday and I am still buzzing. Have got the silly grin I was carrying around all Monday under control finally.

“Perfecting Mask Clearing” by Madeline Erkkila

Tara — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:29:19 +0000

Skirts in Scuba, June 2009 with Yukon Charters

Much to Tara’s disgust, I have been putting off writing this trip report for a month.

There are several reasons for this, with the main one being this was my first ocean dive and to be honest I was so terrified/amazed/excited the entire time that I don’t remember much at all.
After several attempts to talk my way out of writing this, I have concluded that Tara is not going to let me get away with it and I should just write this bloody thing!

So here goes…

Joining the AA

I had been looking forward to this trip for a whole month, having completed my open water in the lake due to bad weather; this trip was going to be my first ocean dive.

Tara and I had decided to get away early on Friday and head up to Tutukaka, after a morning of absent minded work and annoying my colleagues by continuous bursts of excitement, I packed up the car and headed to Tara’s house.
Not wanting to loose my keys while we loaded her gear into the car I put them in the ignition, after loading almost ALL of Tara’s gear in the boot, BLEEP, my little car alarmed itself with EVERYTHING tightly secure inside.

After several failed attempts to get into the car, including trying a piece of wire from Tara’s garden, we came to the conclusion that it was time to join the AA.
By now I’m a member of the AA, $160 poorer and we are two hours behind schedule on our early getaway.

After keeping Tara chatting the whole way up to Tutukaka to avoid her singing, we eventually arrived, checked in to the motel and went straight to Noel and Jo’s place – Yukon Headquarters.
This was the first time I had met Noel and Jo, but I’d heard great things and I was not disappointed – what fantastic people they both are, so easygoing and hospitable.
The rest of the crew arrived over the next few hours and we headed back to the motel for an early night.

I could not sleep. I was so anxious and excited the butterflies in my stomach would not settle. I gave up at 5am and mucked around on my phone until it was time to get up.
After an essential coffee and bagel at Schnappa Rock and an even more essential seasick pill we loaded up the boat and headed out.
As the name suggests, this was a girl’s trip however boys were allowed provided they wore a skirt and they did not disappoint, with Francois even appearing in lime green lycra attire!

We arrived at our first dive spot, Matt’s Crack, apparently one that is not often dived due to it’s exposure but given the beautiful day we were lucky enough to visit this site.
I had a leak in my tank on the first descent and dropped 50bar in three minutes so headed back to the boat for new tank and dive buddies Tara and Alex continued their descents.
With a new tank in tow, Divemaster Kent took me down to meet up with Tara and Alex.

Divers in Matts Crack / Photograph by Tara Sutherland

I was absolutely blown away by what I saw down there; I couldn’t get over the visibility and the amount of aquatic life.
Kent and I met up with Tara and Alex at the entrance to the Crack, we swapped dive buddies and Tara and I headed into the Crack.
At first it was awesome, I was concentrating on my breath and buoyancy and pretending to look at whatever Tara pointed out.
Along with this being my first ocean dive it was also my first time in dry suit and I think I put too much air into it, anyway much to my horror I started to rise to the surface and I panicked a bit.
A grab of Tara’s fin and the reef (sorry reef) and Tara managed to straighten me out.
After this we headed out of the Crack and I spent the rest of the dive squeezing Tara’s hand every time I rose a centimeter or two in fear of a repeat experience.

After surfacing, I recovered with a beautiful lunch prepared by Jo, the minestrone soup was to die for and worked well to warm me up and calm me down.
Then it was off to the second dive spot of the day, Blue Maomao Arch. I’m not going to lie, I did not want to get back in for this second dive.

The first dive had given me a bit of a fright and I wasn’t too keen on experiencing that again. However, knowing that both Tara and my own internal willpower would ensure that I did make this dive, I slowly started suiting up.
With a couple of extra weights and two very understanding dive buddies, Tara and Juliet, I stepped over for round two.

This dive was completely different – it was fantastic!

Juliet and I in Blue Maomao Arch / Photograph by Tara Sutherland

I felt so much more confident and even remember some of things Tara pointed out.
We saw a moray eel, heaps of nudibranchs – don’t ask me what kind, but I remember they were colourful and cute – and a school of Blue Maomao that watched us from above with intrigue.
We swam out to the opening at the end of the arch and slowly made our way back.

This dive was awesome and I spent a lot time clearing my mask from all the smiles that kept appearing on my face.

Back on board we drank our fair share of bubbles and headed back to Tutukaka for a debrief at the Fishing Club.

This was such a fantastic trip and I would like to say a huge thank you to Tara, Alex, Noel and Jo for putting together such a great weekend.

“Forgotten Treasure” by Marcia Davie

Andrew — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:04:16 +0000

As we turned and anchored backed up to the little reef that you drop over into Matts Crack, I looked out over the side and suddenly forgot the need for gloves, scarf, beanie, and I’m instantly itching to get wet… it’s blue water!
Yes the June weather is cool, well very cool, but the water at the Poor Knights is still up around 17 degrees so nice long slow dives are on the cards. Especially since my dive buddy for this trip is the fabulous Anna Clague so I know a good bottom time is guaranteed.

I forgot how good Matts Crack is, I haven’t done this dive for a few years and it was like finding a lost treasure.
Toadstool grouper, a very large marblefish, lizard fish, nudis, and a funny grey moray with a very short bottom jaw kept us entertained for just over 70mins.

Toadstool Grouper

Back up for our surface interval we are greeted with a steaming cup of Jo’s homemade minestrone soup.. Yumo! (need that recipe) and the most amazing lunch spread you could have imagined. Jo you are a legend. Luckily she made so much we were able to gate crash their home later to help mop up the left overs. Yeah!

Next dive Blue Maomao Arch.
Stunning, water was so blue and inviting. loads of demoiselles and blue maomao in the arch, a banded coral shrimp, cadlina willani nudibranch, and a nicely positioned variable nudi much to a photographers delight.

Crested Blenny

Cadlina Willani

My favourite spot is the little white pebbly patch through the arch on the other side where I always stop to watch the aquatic world go by and be amused by the antics of curious fish, this time a pigfish very interested in my camera, my fingers, my mask, my snorkel, my bubbles… so awesome. Was too close to get a photo so Anna took one for me. Thanks Anna!

Buddy #2 - Pigfish

Fantastic day; Poor Knights, Noel and Jo on Yukon, great friends, great diving. What more could you ask for?
Maybe bubbles on the way back in?

Oh, that’s right, we had that too!

Skirts in Scuba – June 2009

Tara — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:04:45 +0000

The trip report is coming!! We promise!!!

But in the mean time, here is a taste of some amazing photography from our Anna Clague.

Triplefin / Photograph by Anna Clague

Poor Knights Liveaboard – 23/24 May 2009

admin — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:47:57 +0000

Trip Report by Juliet Short.

Last Friday dive-buddy Dave and I travelled up to Tutukaka for a fabulous weekend the Poor Knights Islands aboard Pacific Hideaway.
We’d spent the week anxiously checking the weather forecast which threatened a dull weekend indoors, but Gaia came to the party and Saturday morning dawned bright and still.

We set sail early Saturday (but not before breakfast at Schappa Rock) and headed straight for our first dive site – Landing Bay Pinnacle.
Dave and I descended to about 30m and then gradually ascended around the pinnacle, taking in the scenery.
The water was a respectable 18 degrees in the bay, not that I can comment on temperature though as I’d hired a drysuit for the weekend and had the absolute pleasure of diving in my favourite woolly socks.

Firebrick Starfish / Photograph by Dave Barr

After skipper Mark’s delicious date scones, we slowly motored to our second dive spot, the Gardens, in another gorgeous little bay with steep cliffs dropping straight down into the water.
We swam along a wall and down to a cave where a huge school of big-eyes glared at us, startled by the torch-light.
After exploring the cave we sauntered out along the reef, which as well as being home to all sorts of interesting creatures, had some great swim-throughs.

We laid anchor in Riko Riko cave and once the sun had set, some of us set off for a night-dive around the cave.
Dave and I headed out to the back of the cave and dropped down to about 16m.
I find night-diving just a little spooky, which makes it all the more exciting. By torchlight, we saw blue and pink mao-mao, scarlet wrasse and black angelfish (among others) cruising the cave.
After exploring the back of the cave we turned our torches off and floated for a while watching the phosphorescence, like tiny underwater fireflies.

The first dive on Sunday was at my new favourite dive spot, Northern Arch.

Northern Arch / Photograph by Dave Barr

The wall beside Northern Arch is spectacular – covered in plant life and densely populated by anemones, nudibranchs, kina and stunning firebrick starfish, with the occasional sting ray or eagle ray cruising past. Once inside the arch we dropped down and floated around beside the wall with the light shining down from 30m above us. Looking down another 15-20m to the bottom, we admired a huge school of blue and pink mao-mao, golden snapper and kingfish.

On the second (also in Northern Arch) dive Dave, Anna, Lindsay and I swum from the boat out to the arch and then descended to around 28m. The arch was breathtaking the second time too, and after taking in the huge schools of fish we gradually ascended along the wall. At 4-5m we found an interesting rock to hang out on for our safety stop. Anna spotted a cute marblefish lazing in a crevasse, along with the biggest, grumpiest scorpionfish I’ve ever seen, and we continued exploring the rock until we were almost out of air.

The seventh and final dive of the weekend was on the HMNZS Waikato.
The Waikato is a purpose-sunk diver’s paradise, covered in bright jewel anemones and teaming with fish. A John Dory cruised past as Dave and I made our way along the deck, and we saw large schools of Big-Eyes hiding out inside the wreck.

We chugged reluctantly back into the marina around 5pm and stopped for a drink and de-brief at the local before making the tired trek back to our other lives.

Anna goes upside down at Northern Arch / Photograph by Juliet Short

Global Dive » 2. Trip Reports

My Last Year of High School

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Banded Weed Fish

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Trip Report : Fiji Baby!

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The best Scuba Diving Course I Can Imagine

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Spring time at the Poor Knights Islands

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Poor Knights July Liveaboard

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“Perfecting Mask Clearing” by Madeline Erkkila

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“Forgotten Treasure” by Marcia Davie

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Skirts in Scuba – June 2009

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Poor Knights Liveaboard – 23/24 May 2009

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