This is a quote from a cult favourite television show of mine – Strange Days at Blake Holsey High. It was an unfortunate cancellation due to a production company closing up shop (although they did get a finale out of it). While I’m sure it was muttered by many a person, it is a personal mantra that I am of the belief that quite a bit of life is already mapped out for us and we’ve no choice but to follow it along, unaware what will happen.
This will apply in this blog entry, as you’ll come to find.
I turned on the radio around 7.00 am on Day 182, a gorgeous Sunday. “There is a tsunami warning for the east coast of New Zealand this morning”.
Sorry, what?
As a result of the initial earthquake in Chile, everyone was warned to stay off the beach and away from the water. I imagine Heather, the Calgarian that I had met the night before, was going to have her windsurfing lesson cancelled.
I went back to bed for a bit, but flipped on the radio again around 8.30. Coming from a station that had an awful lot of music playing, it was suddenly transferred to talking.
“Well Rex, I’ve got a set of ladies golf clubs. $150 or nearest offer. My phone number is 07 866 1212.”
It turned out that I had tuned into the – and I’ve taken the time to write this down, because it’s a mouthful – the Coromandel FM 100% Brown’s Appliances Peninsula Garage Sale.
I kid you not.
See, this is the difference between here and back home in North America. Nobody is going to crank call you if you give out your phone number. In fact one lady even mentioned “Rex, I’m having a boot sale – I live at 123 Any Street”.
It was entertaining, compelling, and even a bit hokey at times, but I loved it and frankly need to hear it again. It was just people being people, trying to hawk their stuff. I’m told by Rae, the owner of Tui Lodge where I was staying that on Saturday they have the same thing but it’s selling cars.
I left on the bus (nay, mini-van) around 11.30 am and headed over to Whitianga (fit-ee-ann-ga). I was once again reminded that New Zealand’s roads are very much accentuated with twists and turns, so I was grateful when we took a pit stop so that the driver could have a smoke. And the view… even on a day with a tsunami warning…
… was still gorgeous.
Again I had the luxury of being dropped off at my living quarters. The Cosy Cat is just that. It’s like Gail Cinders (Stephnie Weir) from Mad TV’s Lillian Verner Game Show decorated. I mean this place is CRAWLING with cat nick-nacks. The Lonely Planet guide was quite accurate in this description – not that I minded, it is quite nice and homely.
I set out to discover where I might catch some Olympic highlights when I stumbled upon Smitty’s. A sports bar with internet! A winning combination. I was online chatting with someone when they said that the men’s curling was in the tenth end, up 3 points, and looking good.
Finally, I would have the chance to see Canada win a gold, live, and Kevin Martin’s team didn’t disappoint.
I was then faced with a dilemma. I could watch the hockey game live on Monday or go out for a pair of dives. This was not going to be easy.
Fast forward to Day 183. I had made my mind up. I was going diving. And here’s why: don’t get me wrong, I wanted to watch the game live, however I am continually picking the New Zealand experience over anything else mostly due to the fact that I WILL come back, I just don’t know when it will be in the cards again.
So I met the folks at Dive HQ Whitianga at their shop at 8.45 am to get ready. Pay money, sort out gear, get cert card checked, yep, we’re all good. Load boat. Take off.
With emphasis on the “take off”. Holy crap, with a 250 HP motor, we sure could get that sucker going with 10 people on board. 
New Zealand continues to amaze me and the scenery off the coast of Whitianga was no exception. The ride out was gorgeous. I grabbed a photo for posterity…
When we got to the dive site we saw something on the rocky cliff. It looked like a BC, but upon closer reflection it was a backpack. Still though, you had to wonder…
I was buddied up with Mike, a self confessed surf bum. He was originally from St. Petersburg, FL, but had met a cute kiwi girl and immigrated in ’78 (his words, not mine!). We set out on the dive and it was wonderful… here’s some shots:
So in order then, coral, jellyfish, coral, seaweed.
We got out and did the surface interval before the second dive. Grabbed some munchies, some members of the dive team – including four students who were working towards being instructors at the end of a year long program – hopped in for a quick snorkel.
The second dive was a bit more tiring than the first, whereby we had to go with the current and then push against it on the way back. Sufficient to say that we had a bit of a surface swim on the way back as our air ran out quicker than we would have liked!
Once we got back on board I got rid of everything, jumped in with just my bathing suit and had a bit of a swim. Bit colder obviously but still quite nice. All in all a nice couple of dives!
We got back to the store, rinsed off all of our gear at around 3.30 pm and then I ran to the phone.
“Mom! I have to know! Did we win?”
“You mean you want me to tell you that Canada won in overtime?”
“YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!”
And there you have it. 14 gold medals for Canada, a record for the number of golds won by a country in the Winter Olympics. Good on ya!
However when I got back to the b&b, hung my gear out to dry, I was knackered. I laid down for awhile and then decided I was going to go check my email and cancel the dive for the next day.
When I got on the email there was a nice note saying that yes Ryan we can pick you up from the ferry. I suddenly felt some pangs of guilt and figured what the hey, I’ll go out for a dive tomorrow. I can rest on Wednesday.
Everything happens for a reason.
It was brutal at whatever horrible hour the alarm clock went off. I had already packed up my gear the night before although it was a bit slower going during the morning of Day 184. I got to the ferry and climbed on. In order to avoid a massive 40 minute drive (and in my case, a non-existent car ride) you can pay 2$ and get a ride on the passenger ferry. Which takes all of five minutes, top – blink and you’ll miss it.
My ride, the female owner of the dive shop, arrived shortly thereafter. It was a pleasant ride into Hahei, where I would be diving. It turned out I was the only one booked for the morning, and when I heard that there were two others booked for the afternoon, I suggested that I could go at that point too. No sense wasting gas, right?
I also discovered on the way over that it is NOT fun to be stung by a wasp.
After sorting out some paperwork at the dive shop, someone dropped me off at the parking lot nearest the scenic walk that would lead me to Cathedral Cove. The views, once again, were mind shattering.
The walk is about 40-45 minutes, depending on your speed and whether or not you’re wearing jandals (read: flip-flops) or not. And how easily you navigate the farmer’s gates (not worth explaining – this entry is long enough).
But look at the payout!
And it turned out that I ran right into the middle of a school trip! Yes! Because this is EXACTLY what I was trying to do.
After a nice little break at Cathedral Cove – where you can go kayaking if you want, and I can understand why –
I headed back to go snorkeling at Gemstone Bay. It was extremely peaceful and they actually have a snorkeling trail marked out. I hung out mostly by the second buoy, as there must have been about 30 or so fish that looked more interested in me than I did in them but I can reassure you that was not the case.
I got back, grabbed some lunch and then joined the female instructor as she was giving a briefing to Laurent and Marian from Paris (le 15e arrondissement) who were doing a discover scuba dive this afternoon.
I was extremely impressed in that the briefing was very comprehensive and I was sufficiently impressed.
After kitting up everything we started out to the beach. Now I have had a variety of ways that I have made my way to the dive site, however being in a boat that was pulled by a tractor was definitely a first. When we got to the beach (gorgeous, again – why wouldn’t I move here?) Laurent and I hopped out to pull the boat into the water.
We motored out for about seven or eight minutes and then things kind of fell apart. I won’t go into the details (if you want to know, contact me privately) but it was a dive that I was convinced I had been on because I had to be there for safety’s sake.
There were some good moments… Laurent and Marian enjoyed themselves
And I did did see a moray eel and a sting ray which was quite cool.
All in all although I paid 80$NZD for the dive and it really wasn’t worth that, I was happy I was there, because, as I said before, everything happens for a reason.
After everything wrapped up Laurent and Marian were gracious enough to give me a ride back to the ferry. It was great chatting with them and before departing we exchanged emails and they were kind enough to say that I was welcome to stay with them whenever I was in Paris.
Which was quite kind – Paris being super expensive with hotels this will be something I will definitely take them up on!
Once back over in Whitianga I booked my ferry ride to Auckland for Friday and my shuttle to get there before getting back to Cosy Cat. I hung out my gear, and then considering the day I had, I walked down to Smitty’s to grab a nice dinner because I had done good that day.
I was kind of in the mood for a burger but instead I went for battered mussels (locally caught!) along with fries, salad and some kind of golden beverage to wash it down with. It was really tasty and a steal at 12$NZD – about $9 CDN. Following dinner finishing I sat down, sent out some emails – and discovered my Millionaire tickets were waiting for me in my inbox, along with some other greetings.
And that wraps it up. What more adventures await in the days that were to come, I wonder?
Cheers,
Vick
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