We had found an awesome company (Dive North) who was willing to certify us over the next few days for cheaper than we would have spent in Vietnam, so we signed ourselves up and hit the books. After studying ourselves silly for 8 hours, we were able to begin lessons the next day.
I learned that diving is hard. At least it's not nearly as easy as commercials, movies and dive advertisements make it look. Instead of doing our "confined water dives" in a pool as is the norm, we did them in a small bay, allowing us to get the full sensation of being in the ocean. Existing underwater is a totally different game and to put it lightly, Adam and I were a mess. (I think this is normal... hopefully). Adam naturally picked it up a little quicker, but I couldn't quite find my underwater chi, and was rolling around kicking and flailing about as though in a state of panic. I wasn't panicked, just extremely uncoordinated. I also have an annoying tendency to float to the top, and for the first day, had immense trouble staying underwater. Who knew that could be a problem?
By the end of the first day, we were exhausted, but stoked to try again the next morning on what would be our first official open water dives. On the boat ride out, our guides told us stories about nearby islands, and their life as a dive crew.
CHEEKY CRAIG
First they told us of a man named Craig. Craig is rich. Very rich. Craig made his money from Sky TV, then bought himself an island in the Bay. Or rather, he bought himself most of an island. The DOC still owned some of it. Craig, not wanting to be inconvenienced by having to walk up and over a large hill to get from his home to his yacht at the boat ramp on the other side of the island asked the DOC if he could build a new boat ramp on their side of the island, to which they kindly (in true Kiwi fashion) replied no. DOC land had to remain more or less untouched. Craig, however, was not deterred. He would not put himself through the taxing walk to his boat ramp. So Craig, being rich and crafty, bought himself a tunnel machine, and had a tunnel plowed from his house to the boat ramp.
That wasn't the end of Craig and his cheeky ways.
At his other home in the Bay of Islands, he wanted to put a helicopter landing pad on the roof, you know, so that he could more easily get to his island. The council said no, but given that there was no precedent and no law, they had trouble stopping him in court. It was decided he could build it, but that if during it's first year of completion any of the local neighbors complained, he would have to cease using it. Craig agreed to these terms, built his helicopter landing pad and patiently waited one year before using it. Once that date had passed, he began flying to and from his island and the local complaints came rolling in, a few days too late. So, now Craig gets to easily get from his house to his island to his boat easily and in style...
KINDLY RETURN OUR DOLPHINS
The second story we heard on the boat that I thought was worth retelling was that of the dolphin tour boats. There are a few companies in town that operate dolphin tours in the Bay of Islands, and they take their work seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they have come to believe that they have some sort of claim over the dolphins. When on occasion the dolphins (being free-willed creatures) follow and frolic after the dive boats (which are not licensed to do dolphin tours, because apparently there is such a thing) the dolphin tour boats actually radio in to the dive boat asking to have "their" dolphins returned to them. When our skipper asked what exactly he should do about the dolphins following the dive boat, the dolphin tour operator replied that he should "discourage them." This became such a problem, that -- in true Kiwi fashion -- the dolphin tour companies wrote a letter telling the dive boats that they were not to steal dolphins from the dolphin tour boats. Only in New Zealand...
That concludes the story section of this post.
We had an incredible time diving, and are officially hooked. I would describe it as extreme meditation. You have to be in complete control of your body, your mind and your breath, and it is truly exhilarating. Adam and I can't wait for our next stop in Vietnam to continue diving. After getting officially certified, we hit the road for Ahipara, a small quiet beach town where we have camped out for the past 4 days.
Ahipara is at the base of 90 Mile Beach, which is, as the name suggests 90 miles of coast land that runs straight up to the top of the North Island. We have spent our days reading and running on the beach, and our evenings surfing and cooking. It has been a relaxing finale.Tomorrow, we will be heading to Auckland to stay with a kind family who offered to take us in and get us to the airport. Then it's off to Vietnam to bike the Mekong Delta!