North Island Holiday - Diving and Places Visited.
March-19-2012
For the next week you will see on the homepage entries made by myself about our holiday up north. I have some ineresting comments about places we visited and dived. Keep an eye on this site as I will be making a series of installments.
1. It is unfortunate that due to the lack of interest in the October trip that I have had to cancel it. For events to be planned like this you need to have people make commitments. Will look at another trip at a later date and hopefully there might be more support.
2. I am looking for two people who would be interested in editing this website. If you can use word processors you will have the skills to do the job.
3. The last month has seen no news or change to the website.... this is not good for the club. News comes from you... our members, and for this site to work we need your input. If you flick a picture and a few words we will publish it, and it does not have to be much.
$20 Visual (fillnot included tanks will have metal id attached.
Fills are not available at this facility
Pleasure Marine – Bay Rd
$45 Hydro (includes fill)
$25 Visual (includes fill)
$1 per tank fill is donated to the club
March 20, 2012 New Road Rules Quiz
SAFETY EXERCISE: Hey fellow divers... well we know the changes in the road rules are coming in and so I thought I would do our bit to make sure our members stay safe. I have put together a quick quiz form you to attempt if you wish. I have added a bit of pressure by adding a time of 1min 30sec to complete the 9 questions. So come on give it a go. GIVE WAY QUIZ.
March 19, 2012 Shane & Judes Holiday - Part I
Heading Off: Well here we are, on our way to the North Island... leaving Invercargill by private vehicle packed with our diving gear & camping gear... and anything else Shane thought he could fit without too much fuss. I'm not going to fuss too much on the trip up the south island because we all been there anyway. So we arrive in Wellington and head to a place called Mangaweka... "Mangaweka" you may ask... Yep as a friend said no one stops there unless they have broken down or they have family to visit... and even that is debatable! But as it turns out I have a long lost childhood friend that I needed to catch up with so yep we stop the night and caught up with him. Not being from such a desolate place (Winton excluded) I thought why not go out for dinner, now this was easier said than done.... Go out to where in Mangaweka! me mate Wayne says " the best chance of that would be Taihape and so off to Taihape it was. After driving around Taihape looking for a place to dine I was starting to wonder if there was any life at all in this part of the country... man I thought Southland was laid back! But after a while of driving around we managed to find a cute restaurant around a back street ( to me all of Taihape is a back street). This little restaurant turns out to be of real quality( name to come). It had a French atmosphere and was as good as anything you would find in Auckland.... now for Taihape that surprise me. The next day we headed of to Cambridge where we stayed withvJudes brother Alan and his lovely wife Linda. Alan is a keen fisherman and loves the big north island snapper and so he claims marlon. As you could imagine the night was full of bragging rights and as far as hunter gatherer we have to admit we are blessed in the south.... With crayfish, Paua and cod of good size we are lucky at home.
GOAT ISLAND:We arrived at Leigh a little place 5min south of Goat Island marine reserve. On the way to Goat Island we called into "Dive Goat Island" and booked a Dive trip to the Mokohinau Islands the next day. Off to the camping ground we went. Before checking in to the camping ground we went down to the shore to look at what the snorkel and dive situation was like.... It was good.... And so did every other tourist in NZ. The beach was packed with that many people that there was no way you could see anything but feet, arms and bodies if you wanted to snorkel or SCUBA. there were that many SCUBA tanks and wetsuits around that it was actually a hazard. The best thing to do was go to the camping ground and book a space for our tent. We did this and I will admit that it was a lovely camping ground... By the time I had setup our tent with all it's mod cons I'm sure campers thought I had brought the Hilton Hotel with us. The first night at the camping ground was noisy and hard to sleep, so the next day we were a little jayded when we rose to go diving
March 16, 2012 Reminder Of Coming Trips
PLANNED TRIPS
March 18 - 8 divers, Catlins Marine - $1254 spots left
April 7 - 12 divers, Midway Reef - $70
May 12 - 10 divers, Ruapuke Snorkel and fish - $50
June2,3,4 - 12 divers, Stewart Island - $350
June 23 - All members, Mid-winter Lamb on Spit$TBA
July 7 - 12 divers, Ruapuke dive and fish - $100
August 4 - All members, Colac Bay Snorkel, Mussels, paua$ beach dive
September - Glenorchy Fishing/Ice dive
October - 6 minimum, Tutukaka, Poor Knights, Rainbow Warrior $1500 (6 days includes flights)
November
December 15 - 10 Divers, Milford sound $120/250 (2 days)
Notes
Oyster and Scallop season are open from 1-15 March
Oyster season closes 31 August
Scallop Season opens 1 October
For any of these trips and enquires about visit the website www.divesouth.org.nz
Or contact Jono 0272096364, Daryn 0212329975, and George 0272925211
Next club meeting 14 March 2012 @ Club Southland Leet Street, Invercargill 7:30pm
Guest Speaker Ministry of Fisheries
If you are a diver or fisherman or just what to informed come along to hear the latest regulations and catch limits in the Southland/fiord land area.
March 16, 2012 Back Again
Well I'm back now from a month up in the North Island. Have been taking some notes about the trip Jude and I have just been on and some of the diving we did. Unfortunately I could not post updates on the go as the 3G was not that good in areas that we went to. So keep an eye on this site as I start my review of the dives we did and some of the locations visited in the 7000km trip. Regards Shane
February 28, 2012 Letter From Club President
Hello everybody,
What an outstanding summer this year. The marine conditions have been equally good so I hope you have taken the opportunity to Dive, Fish, explore and enjoy.
The events committee have planned some good trips this year and some are ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities. They have also arranged for guest speakers to attend our general meetings for your education or entertainment.
Only six divers are required to fill the labour weekend trip to Tutukaka. The costs are the best I have heard of and Shane Batchelor deserves a pat on the back for his efforts and negotiations. A list of other proposed trips is on our website
Southland, Fiordland and Stewart Island are Dive South’s play ground. We have the least depleted fisheries in New Zealand and therefore some of the most spectacular diving and fishing sites. The clubs members are really friendly and long term friendships are to be made. Some of our trips will be cancelled owing to our natural conservation ’the weather’ but I encourage all of you to book trips this year and support the clubs attempts to get you together diving, fishing and out on some memorable adventures.
On Waitangi weekend I was invited on a snorkelling and fishing trip to Ruapuke Island, but the boat turned back at Dog Island as a sea fog drifted up from the south-east. The ocean was still calm with very little wind so we explored the Southern Shores towards Oreti Beach. Jono’s first reconnaissance was to an empty pantry, but the second stop was most rewarding with visibility at Southlands maximum and a catch of Paua each in a few short minutes. Rochelle felt cheated that the dive was over but we stuck to our plan and fished for Blue Cod. Taking 6 each with a couple of Tarakihi, we were back at the boat ramp by 1.00 pm time to go home do the chores and then have a lovely fresh fish dinner.
I am amazed every time I dive a new site at what we discover and the strengths some of my new dive buddies. You should get involved, I hope to see you at the next dive meeting.
Life is a Beach
President George
February 27, 2012 Milford Sound Trip 25th Feb - Jono's Report
The alarm clock at 4:40am wasn’t a great start, but by 5:00 am Greg arrived and the ‘pick-up train’ was departing. After stops at Winton and Mossburn, From Jono Bevan - We motored over the great divide heading for what was on offer at Milford sound. The forecast was 25 knot winds and a 3 metre swell, (my heart was pumping as we headed through the Homer tunnel), but to our surprise it was a stunning day, calm, a little overcast and hardly any waterfalls flowing.
Arriving into deep water basin around 8:40 we met the rest of the crew, got loaded and started the boat journey through the fiord towards the open ocean. Half an hour later we were locked and loaded to enter the water, at the spot X, which had delivered before. The visibility was about 15-20 m (if not more) and only a 1-3 meter fresh water layer which meant for a very nice dive. The first dive produced only 12 crays (what a disaster) now the pressure was on which spot to hit next. A management decision was made between David, Murray and myself to hit spot Y, we needed 36 more crays.
After an hour of feeding the fish squid and catching lots of cotters we geared up for the last dive. Down we go in four pairs, what an awesome dive, viz still 20m with sharp wall drop offs down 100’s of metres , black coral 3 meters high and large crevices, we were onto the crays. We surfaced 25mins later, with big smiles we unloaded crays .The rest of the crew had bagged crays as well, with stories about the giants that got away. David and Grant encountered a 6 foot shark when they first went down, by the end of the day it had morphed to a 6 metre great white which David wrestled! With the crays all counted, measured, and the surplus returned, we headed out for another attempt atfishing which was rubbish (only 1 cod caught).
We steamed back into deep water basin about 3:30pm stopping en route, for the Auckland tourists on board to take some photos of seals and a pod of dolphins (which topped off our day). We went to the watering hole for some more tall tales, the debrief and Nitrogen burn off, before climbing the hill and a four hour trek home.
I would like the thank David, Tim , Grant, Greg, Donna, Murray, Joel, the two Aucklanders and the other fisherman for a good day out on the Kiri Waipai,we will see you again you are a lovely boat to dive off.
February 16, 2012 New Trip Details
Trips for February to Milford and Catlins in March details are available on the event page in the members area -click on advert banner.
February 9, 2012 Boat Safety
Meri Leask was a guest speaker at our monthly meeting last night. Meri not only started the Bluff Fishermans Radio, she has also been involved since it started about 32 years ago. A voice very well known by people all over the globe whom travel around the New Zealand coastline and on our southern lakes. Meri has experienced the highs and lows of what happens on the water be it a friendly chat or tradgedy. I know as a recreational diver and fisherman the importance of Meri's role and although our club members have good safety practices, Meri's talk was a friendly reminder to maintain the safety standards and remind each other about the importance of taking the safe options. I have heard Meri telling a few boaties off over the years, however growly or chatty she has your safety at heart. And to think Meri has been volunteering this service for over thirty years of which many owe their lives to. Thank you Meri for a amazing and valuable service to all the boaties, be they commercial or recreational.
January 27, 2012 DIVENDINE OFFICIALLY CANCELLED
CANCELLED... well team I am disappointed with the weather but at the end of the day that is Southland and it is why when we do get out we have plenty of tucker. Yes the trip is off and a full refund will be reimbursed. If you want to see the weather chart click here METVUW
January 26, 2012 Coming Soon - Our Very Own Chatroom
Its me again Team... hope your week is going as planned so far. Just to advise you that I have been busy with developing our website and in the next 24hrs we will have "our very own live chat room". It is a function on our site that enables you to chat to members live that have logged into divesouth.org.nz. It is only a typing chat so you will have to master your typing skills... if you're like me it a one finger job... but it works OK!. Great for a group to chat that want to catchup with a coming trip or event... or just chat with who is there about anything.. once up try it you never know you may just like it....Catch you online regards Shane.
January 25, 2012 Dive And Dine - Continuing Saga
Hi Team... good to see the weather so good today, I dont know what it is like in the strait at the moment because I am stuck at work. Those that are still interested for a Dive And Dine to Stewart Island will be contacted in the next couple of days. We need to make sure that there is enough people to cover the cost of the charter. AND! just a heads up Jono is arranging a trip into Milford for a weekend in February and details will be up ASAP. Another development is DiveSouth is now on Facebook... yep we are keepin up with the techco freaks in the modern world... might as well use whats available to enhance our clubs image.. Thats it for now from Shane
January 19, 2012 Dive&Dine Trip Cancelled
Hi team.... it is with sadness that due to long range weather forecast not looking good for Saturday the DivenDine to Stewart Island has been cancelled. apologies To those that made a commitment for this trip. You will be fully refunded unless you choose to go next weekend instead.
January 18, 2012 DivenDive Where & When
Well team the weekend is nearing and I hope you are ready for a good day. You need to be at the Riverton Boat Ramp Wharf at 0900hrs Robbie Wallace will be there with the Karisma. The Weather is touch and go and Robbie will make a final call on Friday night to confirm if weather is safe for the trip. I would advise you to check this website by 0700hrs on Saturday morning as I will be contacted by Rob with his decision, this I hope will stop any uneccessary travel. If in the unfortunate situation where the weather does not bless us the group can decide if a full refund or go on the following weekend or another date of choice. Keep finger crossed guys!
Meri Leask was a guest speaker at our monthly meeting last night. Meri not only started the Bluff Fishermans Radio, she has also been involved since it started about 32 years ago. A voice very well known by people all over the globe whom travel around the New Zealand coastline and on our southern lakes. Meri has experienced the highs and lows of what happens on the water be it a friendly chat or tradgedy. I know as a recreational diver and fisherman the importance of Meri's role and although our club members have good safety practices, Meri's talk was a friendly reminder to maintain the safety standards and remind each other about the importance of taking the safe options. I have heard Meri telling a few boaties off over the years, however growly or chatty she has your safety at heart. And to think Meri has been volunteering this service for over thirty years of which many owe their lives to. Thank you Meri for a amazing and valuable service to all the boaties, be they commercial or recreational.
