Eaglehawk Scuba Diving Tasmania
Five adventure seeking muppets reconvened in the Auckland Airport Koru lounge, bound for tantalising Tasmania. Steve took a break from his busy retirement schedule, Rob the Plumber left the plumbing to his underlings, Emily avoided the grind of exam study, Judy absconded from hospital drudgery and Regan accompanied us for entertainment value and as chef in residence.
Air New Zealand obliged with direct flights to Hobart and we were off in the wakarererangi.
For reasons known only to Regan, Regan decided to interrogate the Hobart biosecurity official regarding his policies... who would have guessed that this would lead to Regan being the last to clear customs!
The next challenge arose when it became apparent that one rental car was at the airport and the other in central Hobart... a car – retrieval mission was mounted then five of us plus rather a lot of luggage headed for the Sorrell supermarket where the intricacies of Regan’s carefully concocted meal plan became apparent. Two overflowing supermarket trollies worth of food and beverages were added to the already jam-packed cars.
Karen & Mick welcomed us to Eaglehawk Dive Centre with a hot cuppa as we completed our paperwork in preparation for a week of awesome diving.
Trip highlights included:
• Interactions with curious fur seals who frolicked and pirouetted, seemingly mocking our incoordination as they dive bombed us.
• 20m plus visibility
• Waterfall Bay, home to the largest sea-cave system in Australia. The caves, caverns and passage-ways were perfect for a diving tiki – tour. The light reflections and refraction and colourful anemone and nudibranch covered walls were ideal for photography. Steve gained a newly found appreciation of and enthusiasm for wet rock.
• Deep Glen Bay with its resident weedy sea dragons. The Tasmanian sea dragons have a more reddish hue than their Victorian counterparts and patiently bobbed in the seaweed posing for photos.
• Sisters dive site with its magnificent sponge gardens, anemone encrusted sea whips and clouds of butterfly perch.
• The Spotted Handfish, Brachionichthys hirsutus, is critically endangered and found in the Derwent Estuary in Tasmania. It has highly adapted pectoral fins (hands!) that allow it to 'walk' on the sea floor. We found and photographed four of the bizarre but oddly cute creatures, with their grumpy face and splayed ‘hands’.
• Steve’s admiration for the rental car, which increased daily.
• Regan’s domestic godliness knew no bounds as he served up legendary meals including home made chicken Lhaksa, pulled pork tacos and gourmet pizzas.
• The Dive Centre’s resident cat stealing Steve’s sock.
• Judy’s super duper newly fixed drysuit that became wetter as the week progressed, culminating in its conversion to a puddle by Thursday. It was suggested Judy sit out dive two due to her sopping state, but to skipper Mick’s incredulity, Judy was not to be denied her macro dive at Fok Rock and headed into the depths in search of sea spiders and nudibranchs. The drysuit was condemned as pakaru and Judy regressed to a wetsuit for the final two days of diving.
• Emily’s lips turning blue after diving in her wetsuit. She assures us she wasn’t profoundly hypothermic or hypoxic (fortunately it wasn't COVID this time either.)
• Spectacular sunrises viewed from our beachfront accommodation. The sparkling pastel hues reflecting in the calm sea with trees silhouetting in the foreground were a photographer’s dream.
• Rob & Regan’s expedition to MONA (a modern art museum for those not in the know) in search of culture and subsequent retellings of their cultured experiences.
A wonderful holiday was had by all. Any further tales are limited by the adage ‘what happens on dive trips stays on dive trips’.
by Judy Ormandy
