Author: lindsay

Someone watching my diving over the last few days would have been thinking that he’s a right plonker, and shouldn’t be allowed in the water. I’ve failed to disconnect my low pressure inflator hose, I’ve put the snorkel on the wrong side, I even had my tank on backwards yesterday. Then once I got into the water, I had more mishaps. I ran out of air, I panicked, I cut my leg, I cut my arm, I went catatonic. I’ve been hauled out of the water at least 10 times, I’ve had rescue breathing and I’ve been on oxygen. Emergency medical services were called out more times than I can remember. Truly, a shocking performance.

But fear not, for while my diving skills still needs A LOT of practice, they’re not quite THAT bad. I have been assisting on a PADI Rescue Diver course. This is a great course, where you get to learn how to handle incidents. A couple of students had pulled out, leaving just the one student. And you can’t have a rescue course without victims, right? So I was called upon to assist with the course – and this meant being the victim. Steven had to calm me down, bring me to the surface, get me out of the water – and then I’d just go and do something silly again. Lots of fun.

It made for a busy weekend, in the classroom yesterday morning, then the pool all afternoon, then out to the Lake today. Unfortunately it was a bit windy, so we couldn’t go out to Matheson Bay, like we had hoped too. But that was OK being in the lake, because then we were near an Open Water course that was doing their last dive. Because wouldn’t you know it, there were two instructors there, and one of them lost the other! So we had to go searching for Colin, recover him, and bring him back to the shore. It was a bit tough on Steven, as when you’ve got a few other students on the course you don’t have to remember everything yourself. When you’re the only one there, then the instructor/DM will only jog your memory a bit, if you need it. But he did really well.

The only problem was that all the ascents and descents got to me, and on one of the descents I had a sharp pain in my sinus, that I’ve never experienced before. So I put in a real incident, just to mix things up. Then of course you have to make it clear that this is not a drill… It’s still a little bit sore, but when I stuck my head down a few metres later on it seemed OK, so I’ll just have to watch it. It had better be OK this week, as I’ve got pool sessions on Monday and Thursday, and then all weekend I’ll be at the Poor Knights.

Last weekend I went to a “pre-wedding celebration” for my friend Karen, who is getting married this Easter. Let’s see, group of women, going out for a party, just before a wedding…well that would make it a Hen night, wouldn’t it? But aren’t those usually for women only? So how did I end up going? And aren’t they rather raucous affairs, involving screaming women, dare games, and foot-long novelty penises, not to mention the always popular game “Pin the Penis on the Groom”?

Well, according to that Wikipedia link, it seems that the party may be a “normal party…in the style that is common to that social circle.” I have known Karen since my first days at university, where we were living on the same floor at O’Rorke Hall. We subsequently flatted together for several years at 196 Hobson St. Over those years, I can recall fewer than 5 parties with Karen that involved novelty penises, so maybe there was a valid reason for the party being a quite civilised affair, with no Pecker Pops involved. Turns out they’d sold out of those anyway.

Since this was not going to be a stereotypical hen night, and because I’ve known Karen for a long time, I was invited to join them. I was unsure about it, but when told that I would not be the only male, I agreed to attend. I thought I would be safe enough, and could avoid being roped into being a stripper if there was another man there. However, late in the piece, someone, and I’m not naming names, but it starts with P and rhymes with wall, came up with some rubbish excuse about having to go to India for work. That sounds all well and good, but how many fridges does Fisher and Paykel sell in India? Eh? Bollocks. So I was the only male.

Not to worry though, for Suzie and Anna had organised a lovely day out. Auckland had turned on one of those days that make you forget about any problems the place might have, and want to tell any Jafa-haters to **** off. Blue skies, almost no wind, calm waters, thousands out on the water in boats of all manner, etc. We caught a ferry over to Waiheke Island, where we went on a tour of wineries. with an interlude of lunch on the beach. So there was a little bit of drinking, but it was all of a civilised manner. You can’t just quickly down glasses when you’re pretending to be interested in whatever nonsense the winery people are rabbiting on about.

I must make a special mention of the lunch nibbles that Suzie had prepared – she had outdone herself, with an outstanding array of treats. It was all a bit tough sitting under a tree, on the beach, drinking bubbly and eating from an exotic assortment of hordeuvres.

One of the wineries we visited was Obsidian. This was my favourite winery, for both the wine and the relaxed atmosphere. Janet, who had cooked our lovely BBQ lunch the previous weekend, was one of the people who ran the place. It was great to be able to return the favour, by visiting her winery and buying wine there. Not that I did it for anything other than selfish reasons – it’s good wine! Nice to complete the circle.

In the end I only had to deal with a few comments about being the stripper, and it turned out to be a really nice day. Tucked up in bed early I was too. Think it could be a bit bigger night at the wedding mind you…

No excuse for not putting updates on here in anything like a timely fashion. But what are you gonna do about it? Well I suppose you could stop reading. And I would miss that. But hopefully you’re all using RSS, so keeping up with infrequent updates is easy.

The most noteworthy thing going on in my life right now is Dive Master training. This is a fairly large piece of work, but luckily things are pretty flexible with how and when you can do it. It covers a range of areas, including theoretical knowledge, application of that knowledge, developing practical skills to demonstration quality, and assisting with dive courses, both in the pool and in open water. Lugging heavy tanks around for students, writing exams, mapping out underwater topography, all sorts of things.

I’m only just getting underway with it. I’ve passed 3 exams (out of a total of 8), assisted out with an Open Water course, and read a heap of stuff in the DM manual, and the (surprisingly interesting) “Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving.” I’ve also been practising the 20 skills I need to perform to demonstration quality. I’m afraid I’ve got a long way to go with some of those. I’ve also started swimming, to try and improve my swimming times to somewhere near the required times. Again…a fair way to go. But that’s OK. I’ve got time to work on it, and Anna is at a similar level to me, so at least I’ve got company on the journey.

I was assisting with an Open Water course on Sunday, which was good fun, if a little tiring. It’s quite a different take on the course, watching other people. I think that seeing demonstrations of all skills repeatedly will help my own technique. Watching others shows you typical mistakes too.

It’s not all diving though. On Saturday the Auckland MTB Club organised a ride to Waiheke, an island in the Hauraki Gulf here. It was a great day – I could ride from my house to the ferry terminal, onto the ferry, ride around Waiheke, then get a ferry home. No need for the car. We went on a bit of a tour, then rode around the MTB track, before having a nice BBQ and beers in the park. Then over to a beach, a swim, and home! Superb.

I’ll be back at Waiheke this weekend too, for a Hens party, of all things. Very strange.

Just over two weeks ago I moved house. I’m now in a much larger apartment, in a complex with a pool. Right beside Victoria Park, close to a great supermarket, and an easy walk to the dive shop. It’s all a bit step up from my previous place. From a one-bench kitchen with two crappy elements, to a huge kitchen with a 5-burner gas hob, and 900mm oven. My bedroom at this place is about the size of the whole old apartment. So all good. It is a bit further away from work, so now I’ve started riding to work, but that’s all good – gives me some more exercise.

But for some reason I didn’t get around to getting my phone and Internet connection sorted out soon enough. I had thought it would be straightforward, but it ended up taking two weeks to get things sorted out. I have a phone and Internet package with Vodafone – this is a problem, since Telecom operates the last mile. Dealing with extra players just makes things more complicated, and slows things down. At one point Vodafone said “your phone line is pending disconnection – you should ring Telecom and find out what’s happening.” So I ring Telecom, and after trying to explain that I am not a Telecom customer, nor do I want to be, they work out that there is no problem with my line, and Vodafone should be able to deal with it. Grrr.

Eventually things got sorted out, and I am back online! It was like being Amish, being disconnected from the Internet. You don’t realise how fundamental it is to the way you do things. Contacting people, looking up things, checking Google Maps for directions to somewhere…it’s a good thing that Section 92A has been delayed, you can’t go shutting off people’s Internet connections without following some sort of due process.

So maybe there can now be a resumption of these sporadic missives…but I need to fit it in around my latest project – becoming a Divemaster. But that’s another story.

This weekend I went on another liveaboard dive trip, organised by Global Dive. The standard routine is to drive up to Tutukaka on Friday night, sleep on the “Pacific Hideaway” in the marina, before heading out on Saturday morning. I took the chance to stop in Whangarei on Friday night instead, so I could see my parents, if only briefly.

From Tutukaka we head out to the Poor Knights, do up to four dives, sleep at the Knights, then do another three dives on Sunday before returning to the marina on Sunday afternoon. The weather was playing its part, and things were looking good. The diving did not disappoint. Most of the divers on the boat were doing the PADI Advanced course, leaving only Sandra and myself as leisure divers. Just taking it easy, cruising around, checking out the various sights, without having to do any coursework was fantastic.

The highlight of the weekend was diving the Cream Garden early on Sunday morning, with Pete (dive master and general fixer on the boat) and Sandra. At around 30m, we had a huge school of big kingfish zipping back and forth in front of us, checking us out. A bit intimidating really – they’re like the bully boys of the neighbourhood.

The weather also allowed us to dive the wreck of the HMNZS Waikato. This was the first wreck I’ve dived, and it was a great experience, especially with visibility as good as it ever gets there. A lot of work was done to make it safe for diving. It’s an odd experience looking at a ship lying on the bottom like that, and you try and think of what it must have been like steaming the open seas. It’s only been on the bottom for 8 years, yet now it’s entirely covered in growths. Still very clear in its outline, but now the bow section has broken off and moved about 10m fore of the rest of the ship.

A special mention to my dive buddy for the weekend, Sandra – the best navigator on the boat by a long way. No surface swims at all! All that training in the quarries of England obviously works.

And I now have a new place to live! My current place is in a great location, with a nice outlook, but it’s just too small. I’m moving to Freeman’s Bay, where I’ll be sharing a place with a friend. Sharing means that for the same amount of money I can stay in a much bigger place. Plenty of storage for the bikes and dive gear, and there’s a pool! Moving next weekend, so I should get some photos up then. Only problem is no more walking to work – it will be either the bus or the bike. Good chance to get some miles on the much-neglected touring bike I guess.

It took a few goes, but I’ve done it – I’ve completed the Tongariro Crossing. Not that I was stopped by my own limitations before – it was always the weather. No such problems this weekend, with superb weather across the country for the long weekend. Clear skies, 25-28 degrees during the day, light winds – perfect. Taking advantage of the long weekend here, I took off early from work on Friday, and drove down to National Park. Howard’s Lodge provided both accommodation, and the shuttle service to and from the track.

The standard deal is to get dropped off at the start, then picked up at the end of the day at the other end. Trying to do it any other way with a couple of vehicles is just a major pain. It’s about a 19km walk one way, across the saddle between Nguarahoe (aka Mt Doom) and Tongariro. It covers a crazy range of scenery – alpine, volcanic, tussock, and ending with two miles through native bush. It was a long hot day, and busy on the track, with large groups moving through – but I was happy to be there. Check out the view from halfway:

From there we had a clear view to Mt Taranaki – and surprisingly my phone was on the New Plymouth cell site, even though it was a very long way away. The second half was a long way downhill, and that can be pretty hard on the body. Harder on the muscles and joints, rather than the cardiovascular system.

By the time I got to the end I was pretty happy to sit down and relax – but Sunday was not for relaxing – I was off to ride the 42 Traverse (Hey! Look closely at the photo at that link – that’s me, my brother, sister, and brother-in-law! It’s from when we did it a few years ago. It also appears on some brochures in the area). It’s a pretty cool bike ride, mainly on 4WD forest tracks, often feeling quite out in the wilderness:

I don’t recall quite so much climbing last time, but there was heaps this time. Maybe it was just that it was much hotter this time – but it also meant that the swim at the end was much better:

I was pretty tired at the end of the weekend, but not too bad – I think that the mix of activities was good, no real muscular or joint soreness. Now it’s diving this weekend!