Many
of
my
friends
know
that
I
do
cold-water
diving
only
very
reluctantly.
Some
photo
subjects
such
as
great
white
sharks
or
the
wonders
of
the
Galapagos
have
repeatedly
drawn
me
back,
but
I’ve
turned
down
dive
trips
to
other
places
because
the
water
temperatures
were
in
the
60s.
Some
years
ago,
I
had
a
dive
group
scheduled
to
go
with
me
for
a
cruise
in
Australia’s
Coral
Sea.
Not
long
before
departure,
a
U.S.
Navy
destroyer
being
berthed
rammed
into
our
live-aboard
and
damaged
it.
Ooops!
By
pure
coincidence,
I
had
recently
been
contacted
by
a
distant
relative
of
my
wife.
He
lived
in
Auckland
and
was
eager
to
have
us
bring
divers
to
dive
the
Poor
Knights
Islands
off
the
northeastern
coast
of
New
Zealand’s
North
Island.
Six
of
my
clients
agreed
to
share
the
adventure,
and
off
we
flew
to
Auckland.
Many
of
you
know
that
Peter
Jackson
is
a
New
Zealander
and
that
he
took
advantage
of
the
country’s
stunning
beauty
in
the
filming
of
his
Lord
of
the
Rings
trilogy.
Jackson
principally
filmed
on
the
South
Island,
but
the
North
Island
is
as
beautiful
in
it’s
own
way.
Volcanic
geysers,
rolling
farmland,
caverns
filled
with
bioluminescent
glowworms,
a
glorious
rocky
coastline
and
a
sea
brimming
with
marine
life
added
excitement
to
our
diving.
Our
host
had
moved
his
live-aboard
North
from
Auckland
to
Tutukaka,
from
which
an
easy
thirty-mile
cruise
places
divers
amid
a
spectacular
series
of
high
volcanic
islands
laved
by
an
unusual
tropical
current.
So,
even
though
the
water
is
cold,
everywhere
one
looks
are
brilliantly-colored
tropical
reef
fish.
The
rocky
substrate
is
covered
everywhere
by
waist-high
bull
kelp.
The
kelp
beds
form
a
watery
jungle
through
which
slide
lobsters,
countless
moray
eels,
nudibranchs,
starfish
and
other
marine
species.
The
rocky
islands
have
many
huge
arches
and
one
massive
cavern
into
which
we
drove
our
live-aboard,
anchored
it
and
spent
the
night.
A
‘first
time
ever’
for
me!
Our
dives
were
among
the
kelp
beds
and
in
a
series
of
arches
through
which
nutrient-laden
currents
flow.
Hanging
on
for
dear
life
in
the
currents,
we
would
be
surrounded
by
schools
of
dazzling
Pink
Mau-maus
and
other
gaudy
species,
all
busily
feeding
on
the
cornucopia
of
plankton
and
smaller
species.
While
the
Poor
Knights
are
not
on
the
international
dive
travel
radar
yet,
these
magical
islands
will
keep
you
plunging
into
the
br-r-r-r-r
cold
water
again
and
again!
