Jac’s Journey

Because of its odd shape, North Island looks deceptively small on the map. Driving from one end to the other, I realised this deception first hand.

Heading north from Rotorua, I couldn’t resist lunch in Hamilton; from Hamilton, Scotland to Hamilton, New Zealand; I couldn’t pass it by. A large, commercial city, it took me by surprise. It dwarfs another one I know…

With the pedal to the metal, I came across my first proper motorway as I approached Auckland; the City of Sails, a huge place, home to over a million people, a quarter of the population of New Zealand. But I kept going. I would be back this way again. The motorway petered out as the landscape reverted to rural loveliness, catching me by surprise. For the first time since South Island, I found myself stopping the car to gape at the view and snap some pictures. I realised with a degree of annoyance that Northland is spectacular, and that I’d only left myself four days to enjoy it, three of which I wanted to spend diving. The ‘Next Holiday In New Zealand List’ got a few more scribbles on the bottom.

Arriving into Leigh, a tiny coastal village beside Goat Island marine reserve, I found a treasure of a place to stay and bedded down for the night. A delicious meal, comfy bed and dive from Goat Island beach next morning was a joy. A couple of phone calls later, I discovered bad weather was forecast and all diving was cancelled next day, so I wouldn’t get to dive the Rainbow Warrior wreck as well as Poor Knights. I headed for Poor Knights and relaxed while waiting out the weather.

The diving at Goat Island and Poor Knights Islands was really special. The weather was chilly – the air temp was about 10 degrees and the water temp was about 12. My wetsuit was blessedly thick, although this does make it a bit of a performance to get in and out of – especially when you’re shivering.

Poor Knights in particular was fantastic. The second dive of the day was at a site called Blue Mao Mao Arch, and is the dive site that Jacques Cousteau listed as no 7 on his top ten dive sites around the world. Worth a little shivering…?

I swam into the arch and was immediately surrounded by wall-to-wall blue mao mao. They’re beautiful fish; a silvery-blue colour with a rounded mouth giving them a very pretty face. I swam through the middle of them, they parted around me and closed up again behind me. The arch had a hole in the side and sunlight came streaming through, lighting up the reflective blue mao mao, the brightly coloured sponges and splodges of lichen on the rocks. Hanging in the water looking back was a classic Cousteau photo, with the arch framing a picture-perfect view of a diver or two silhouetted against the shoaling fish, the streaming light bouncing off coloured rocks and the crystal clear waters heading off into the blue.

It was exactly what I’d been hoping for, and departed Poor Knights wishing I could stay longer, with a promise to return one day.

But no diving 24 hours before flying, so it was back to Auckland for a day of chores and planning my next destination.

It’s only a few weeks ‘til I get home. New Zealand has been incredible. I’ve packed a massive amount into the six weeks I’ve been here and wish I could stay longer. I’m a little tired from all the dashing about and activities I’ve been getting up to, so I’ve decided Fiji will be about relaxing rather than island hopping, finding a nice spot to settle for a week rather than getting ferries every couple of days.

Mmm. Bliss.

Northland

Auckland

Also, here are my Rotorua photos

Rotorua