Give me some O2 and let me dive

Friday, December 29

Happy 4 month anniversary to Amy and Kimball!

After a short night's sleep 5:55am comes all too early. Amy and I are picked up from our cottage in Te Anau by Dave and Harvey, our dive guides for the day. Doing this every day, they are awake and ready for conversation. We convincingly entertain their enthusiasm most of the drive for our second day in Milford Sound (inaccurately named because it's actually a fiord, not sound). The rain falls sporadically and we see a magnificent double rainbow. Entering the national park, the waterfalls astound us equally as the first time we saw them. Dave and Harvey are full of educational information, which is self-proclaimed mostly accurate and we know it'll be a good day.

At the lodge in Milford Sound, we meet the other two divers and wife of one of them who will join us in the boat. Donning our wetsuits, we compile our tanks and bc's. The sandflies are beginning to bite and we are anxious to get on the boat. We pass kayakers and head to our first dive spot. Not far away we sputter to a stop. Hood, fins, tank, gloves, air on. Check. Tank hanging over the side of the boat, fins crossed (so as not to smack others on the boat), one hand on face mask, other hand on flashlight (so as not to smack self), and lean backwards to commence dive. We did two half hour dives. After entering the water we quickly check our weights and submerge ourselves into the freezing water. Seriously freezing. We quickly forgot the cold as we entered the haze below. Milford Sound offers a unique diving experience. Due to the immense amount of rainfall, there is a layer of fresh water (usually four meters) on top of the salt water. How this affects divers is where the fresh and salt water meet creates a haze because they don't mix. Below the haze, the visibility improves.


Some of the amazing underwater sights include Black Coral. Multiple choice question: what color is Black Coral? A. Black, B. White, or C. Red. You are correct--the answer is B. White. Named for the black spine that is visible when the coral dies. While alive, the coral is brilliant white. It grows 1 meter every hundred years. There was one piece where the top was huge and we couldn't even see the bottom. Swimming along the shelf, we saw amazing black and yellow snake starfish wrapped around coral, white nudibrach camoflauged against black (white) coral, huge crayfish ("lobster" in U.S.), and other very cool alive stuff. Back up to the boat, which was still waiting for us. Unloading our gear, we each receive a thermos of warm soup, fuzzy dry gloves and hat, and warm water poured down our wetsuit. Glorious. The shivering still takes a while to subside. While we complete the required rest between dives, we drive around the lake, getting up close and personal with some of the waterfalls. Our second dive is even more amazing, with the visibility being fabulous. We were able to see things that usually only grow at insane depths, but the fresh water layer made the water darker which created the illusion of greater depths. The sun came out and we could barely see the rays blurring through the fresh water.


Out of the water, the sun feels fabulous. The biscuits (cookies) are passed as we drive out to sea. Not all the way out. There are more sealions on Seal Rock than yesterday. They must like the sun as much as we do. The waterfalls are possibly larger today (or is the contrast greater from our small boat) and we see the snowy mountain peaks, especially Mitre Peak. In the distance Dusky Dolphins jump. Cutting the engine, we pause and wait. They swim straight towards us, circling the boat. They play and race around us within reach. As entertaining as they are, we can't stay all day and must be on our way. Behind us, a whole row of dolphins jump simultaneously and flap their flippers while squeaking "Come back soon". OK, I might have made up the last bit.

Driving back to the dock, we pass a cliff. Of all cliffs, this is special. The story goes Pepsi wanted to shoot a commercial of a lady base jumping from the cliff. She jumped far out to avoid the dangerous rocks jutting out below and successfully landed in the frigid water. She claimed that was the scariest thing she had ever done. Coming out of the water, she was politely asked to jump again because the film crew forgot to turn on the cameras.

Lunch time at the cafe. We order our one main entree and two sides. At the table, we review what we saw while diving and the diligent among us make entries in their dive logs. All duties complete we bid farewell to our dive partners and Dave and Harvey drive us back to Te Anau. Along the way, we stop at wonderful and amazing sites. The guys are well-versed in local history and if they don't know something they make it up. We drink fresh spring water, smell stink plant (it stinks), and are shown a plant where we can eat the delicate leaf at the very top. Stories are told for us to figure out which are true later. A good time was had by all.

Meanwhile, Mom and Dad enjoy a morning sleeping in before they head to town. Another glorious meal and fascinating trip to the grocery store keep them entertained. They are mesmerized by a fly-through experience of Fiordland thanks to the local theatre. Learning more of the local history (probably more accurate than the version we received), we meet them back at the nature centre.

And finally, our drive back home to Invercargill. Fields of sheep. La la la. We stop only to see a seaside campground. The outhouse reads "Long Drop Lodge: Short Stay Only". Back home, we are welcomed by a tired Kimball, who just got off work. Even with long work hours, he had time to record a new song and we get to be his first live audience. So fun!