October 2009 Newsletter - DolphinUnderwater.org

Dolphin Underwater & AdventureClubNext ClubMeetingWed. 14 thOctober7:30pmGames NightOctober 2009 NewsletterWhat’s InsideComing Trips & EventsCommittee ContactsNews & ViewsReportsClub’s Mail Address:14 Gails DriveOkuraRD2 AlbanyPh/Fax: 09 473 8069Mob: 0274 839 839Email: howardz@nznet.gen.nzVenue: The Club RoomsNorthcote Rd Ext’n,Lake Pupuke, Takapunawww.dolphinunderwater.org

Family Membership $55 – Single $45 – Junior $30 – Social $30If members need to hire or buy any new gear Kevin Hodgson (our Hon Dive Instructor) fromPerformance Dive, have offered the Club great discounted rates, email him onKevin@performancediver.co.nz or give him a ring on 09 489 7782.Niue Island 2009 Trip part 2with Trish & DenisDay 3. Sunday 2/8/09 Overcast, showers & breezy again. Slowly clearing up in the afternoon. Breakfast at8am & we found Vicky & Emma splashing out by having a cooked breakfast. Most of us took an extracouple of lady finger bananas for a top up at lunch. As Niue is a very traditional Christian country most of thestaff go to church & everyone is asked to respect their customs. IE. Sensible clothing, noise around thechurches plus no diving, fishing & even swimming in some locations.We next loaded up the van after visiting the dive shop to pick up our masks, snorkel & fins. Denis grabbedour wetsuits & weight belts too. With Martin at the wheel we turned left to explore the east side of the island.We overshot our first turnoff which was meant to be Anapala, Pete & I were convinced we were heading inthe right direction – that was till we saw the signTogo Chasm. Oops, never mind; well check this outfirst instead. There was about a 20 min walk thru thebush till we came out on the cliffs, a walk down thattrack, parts of which had side ropes to hold onto to amagnificent sea view.We turned a corner to finda long sturdy ladder goingdown to the bottom of asandy chasm. An amazingplace with palm treesgrowing there & hidden inbehind some rocks an oasisof more palm trees and apool. Pity the pool waterwas stagnant; it didn’t lookinviting at all. Back up theladder & we all stood & admired the power of the sea, pounding at aheart shaped rock (turn thephoto around), the colour inthe waves, it was such abeautiful cobalt blue.

Also what was amazing were the rock formations, not the sort of place to take a tumble or come down in aparachute, extremely sharp & jagged. Look in the photobehind Margaret & Trish at those pointed rocks Ouch!Back up the rocky track, thru the forest and back to thevan. Met another couple on the track & told them to keepgoing that the views were worth the effort.A group consensus was taken to back track & locate theAnapala Chasm. There were roosters & chooks everywhere, even in the middle of the forest area. We went backto the little village with the church & then someonespotted the sign over the other side of the grass reserve.We followed the track to end up driving down a narrowsteep road, Martin was a bit worried the van might haveproblems getting back up it, however we did meet up withanother vehicle coming up, fortunately we were able to pass each other. That was after Martin shook handwith the other driver out the window; they were Kiwi’s from Nelson. We got to the rest area & grabbing ourgear headed off down to the beach area on the left. Of course the map instructions were to go to the right!After looking at the left area, I put my backpack (including togs and nibbles) into the back of the van, beforewe trooped off to look at the right hand track. Again there was a short forest walk & then down the (99) stepsinto the chasm. No I didn’t count them; it’s in the Niue visitor information booklet. The steps were an easywalk down, though the chain rail wasn’t attached to the last post. Amagnificent spot with a fresh water pool in which I had a quick paddle &convinced everyone it wasn’t too cold. Denis borrowed Kevin’s dive torch,put on his mask & fins & set out toexplore the other end of the pool.Emma was next in the water by theneveryone else decided they had to gohave a look too. Kevin & I were thelast with me deciding I couldn’t missout, so just went in my bra andknickers.The chasm was only about 3metres at its widest, with the waterprobably about 8-10 metres deepmaybe 25-30 metres long. Whatcool experience. We all trooped back up to the van with everyoneagreeing it was a marvellous experience & glad that we had turnedaround to go back to check it out.&

We continued our drivearound the coast stoppingbriefly at the Puluhiki lookout& again marvelling at terrain.Further on at the UluvehiCanoe landing. It wasfascinating to see how thecanoes were tucked up in theholes in the rocks. You have towonder how some of them gettaken out of the caves again asthey seemed to be jammed inso tight.It had been an interesting day exploring & I can’t helpwonder how many special spots like the Anapala chasm, onlythe locals know about. We head back to Matavai for a shower& a few pre- dinner drinks.Back at Matavai on the viewing decks Martin &Denis decided to take some sunset photos when Ispotted whales spouting in the distance. Martin gotthe binoculars from reception & we took turns to watchas the whales spouted, breached then dived. Martindecided he would stay at the resort & have some timeout, while the rest of us drove down to the WashawayCafé for dinner. It is only open on Sundays & is tuckedinto the curve of the rocks down by the Avatele boatramp. When we arrived one of the very young localboy’s decided he want to make out with the girls, luckilyVicki spotted Ross there & had a quiet word with him, he very nicely managed to move him on withoutupsetting anyone. Ross is the Chief of Police for the island. The Washaway was a really busy place with agreat atmosphere, unusual service where you helpyourself to beers, (you have to remember how many youhad!), order your Panini/burger or meal then pay the manat the end of the night! The honesty system works well.And the story behind the café name is; that when it firstopened the first customer said something to the affect“you’ll never last here you’ll get washed away”, followedby the second customer who said much the same thing,hence the name. So to date all is good & it hasn’t been –washed away. At the end of a great evening we decidedwe had to have ice creams for desert so as the others hadmore alcohol than allowed I drove with a stop at the

We surfaced & have our usual hot chocolate with biscuits provided by Annie. This is while we are sitting &talking about everything we have seen with the whales spouting not too far away. Both boats moved overinto that area as everyone prepares & then got into the water to be just floating above the whales. Watchingthe whales stretch then slowly rise from the bottom of the sea to turn & look to see where we are move thatfraction so they don’t some up underneath us. It was an amazingexperience being so close to the Humpback whales; hopefully ourphotos will show just how great itwas. On both boats the groups decideto spend more time with the whales& not do a second tank dive. Wemove about four times, each timewatching in awe as these wonderfulcreatures also watch us.Everyone was buzzing as we headedback to the Alofi wharf.Annie tells us that she & Ian get to set moorings for the harbourfor the visiting yachts that pay a fee of $15 per night for eitheranchorage or moorings. The dive boats are lifted out of the water& onto the trailers while we strip off our wet suits.

All into the trucks for the drive over the hill & backto the dive shop. Rinse out all the gear then hang itup to dry. Back to our rooms for a nice hot shower,shampoo etc to get ready for some lunch. It lookedlike the weather was clearing up more for theafternoon, breezy and warm. We had lunch at theresort with Kevin, Martin, Emma & Vicki. Denisand I had very filling omelettes.We spotted a whale in the bay so the staff rang the bell as a signal for everyone staying at the resort. Thewhale was a long way out slapping its tail. Then the dolphins swum thru too so the binoculars were very wellused. Later Kevin set up his laptop to show us the photos he’d taken so far & some of his whale shots werefabulous. (Sorry Kev, these shots are Denis’).Bit of time out was had so a few had nana naps! 4.30pm & there was a knock on the door Vicki had arrangedfor us to join in with the locals on their Hash House Harriers bike ride/walk/run. We were picked up by Tom& Yolanda; he’s the farm manager of the Vaiea Noni Farm. Somehow we squashed 6 of us into their peoplemover. Margaret soon finds a common link with Tom & Yolanda, cousins & friends of friends etc. Today’sHash leaves from the home of the Chief of Police, Ross Ardern & his wife Laurelle, who also participate.(Noticed the Police cars have Niuean number plates, Police 1, 2 etc.) The day’s hash track is to be out to theright & along theroad to thehospital & backfor the walkers.Denis gets torelax & guardthe beers, talk toa few who don’tpartake of theexercise. Mypedometer saidit was a 4.10kmtrack & for thosethat took the shortcut thru the bush at the back of the hospital theywere lucky it was only a cute grey kitten that followed them & not thehornets. I struck up conversation with Laurelle on the way back & shetold me about thethings they’d beendoing on the islandsince they hadarrived. She alsocommented aboutsome of the modernhouses as they hadfull windows that aretotally wrong for theisland conditions as

you definitely need slatted windows over there to help with ventilation. We all sat around after everyonearrived back & had a few beers with much laughter plus as visitors we had to all introduce ourselves. A fewjokes were shared with the toilet seat trophy awarded to the guy with the worst joke, the ladies had a trophytoo, which also got passed on, but I’m not too sure what for. We eventually say our goodbyes with Tom &Yolanda dropping us back at the resort. Margaret, Peter, Emma, Denis and I decide to head to town to GillsIndian restaurant for tea. It’s a nice mild evening, the Tikka Masala, rice, naan bread and poppadums hit thespot.Returning to the resort the guys spotted either a hermit crab ora coconut crab. Denis & Margaret took photos with Petepicking it up, withthe idea of putting itinto the girl’s room.The crab managed tonip Pete’s fingerswhich made himdrop it & the shellbroke. Not sure ifthe crab got awayfrom Pete in the end.Continued next month. PS. Our kindest thoughts go out to Ross & Laurelle in his new job on Samoa.New Law Bans SCUBA DiversFrom Cyber Diver News Network – 29th August 2009 – By Kent SpencerLions Bay, Canada – Scuba dives - who allegedly “take a whiz’ in the parking lot – are not welcome at thefashionable seaside community of Lions Bay.Village council has passed a bylaw banning non-resident scuba divers at Kelvin Grove Beach Park, subject to$10,000 fines.Councillor Peach Akerhielm says council needed to address concerns about divers “rude behaviour”.“Too many of the divers strip down to total nudity at their cars & then urinate around the parking lot, withinview of residences” said Akerhielm, who was not available Sunday, on the village’s community website.“Residents have many anecdotes & photos. Two council members have personally experienced rude &provocative behaviour,” she said.Divers said the residents in the upscale community of 1,400 are being unreasonable.“Petty little minds are at work,” said Glynn Miller, secretary of the Pescadero Dive Club in Vancouver.“It seems a fascist type of move. It’s definitely curbing human freedom. I can’t understand why the residentsare so upset” he said.Miller said the locals have never liked sharing the beach with outsiders. The park sports wolf eels, anemones& sharks that cruise along an enormous underwater wall. “It’s tough to put your hand down without touchingsponges, coral or something. The Cousteau Society says the bio-mass is amazing, more so than tropicalwaters,’ said Miller. He said complaints are over blown. “Being nude is virtually impossible. Over 90 percent wear dry suits. They have underwear on. I can understand people taking a whizz because you’ve got topee. No facilities are supplied. Divers aren’t the only ones doing. So do people walking their dogs.”One online opponent called “Karine in B.C.” urged a group protest. “This is all kinds of disgusting. I say weorganise a mass pee-off at the beach. Set a time & date for everyone to go.”Editor’s comments: 1. Haven’t the heard of port-a-loos, maybe any export opportunity for someone!2. Shades of somebody locally who thinks they own Lake Pupuke, hence our restrictionson hiring out the clubrooms & with higher fines. Brought about in similar fashion by him & council.

The start of the Shaw’s Meanderings overseasIt's been a confusing 12 days since leaving home for Whistler in Canada. It started off well, receiving anupgrade to premium economy on our AirNZ flight, which meant we had spacious seats with great servicelocated on the upper deck of a 747. Susie our daughter was at Vancouver airport to meet us and drive us toWhistler along the sea to sky highway, now massively upgraded for the upcoming 2010 winter Olympics.The not so good part has been the temperatures; 37C during the day, falling only to the mid 20s throughoutthe night. Sleeping has been difficult, also not aided by a sore big toe; probably gout brought on bydehydration.Then there have been the fires - first just smoke drifting in from distant locations, but late yesterday afternoonan electrical storm started a fire on Blackcomb Mountain, one of the two pine forest clad ski Mountainsforming part of the Whistler valley. The fire spread rapidly initiating a massive response from the aerial firefighters, who dropped huge amounts of fire retardants and water from helicopters and fixed wing planes. Wepacked bags at one point in case we needed to make an emergency evacuation. The storm past and the firesbrought under control and the temperature dropped to a chilly 19C - blessed sleep at last.This morning the valley is filled with smoke like an early morning mist, the temperature may be a little coolerbut the smoke is unpleasant and I have yet to consider following the usual routine of mountain bike ridingalong the forest trails.During my sleepless nights I have tried to organize the coming itinerary – one week in the UK, two weekssailing the Northern Sporades, Islands to the east of Greece, followed by 6 days sightseeing while travellingfrom Greece to the south west part of France with two weeks on a River boat on the Canal du Midi betweenNegra and Argens. These wanderings include 7 flights, rental cars shuttle buses and many hotel bookings. It’sa mission, made more difficult by the haze from sleep deprivation and my on going fight with the Nokia N97phone, GPS, radio, net browser, emailer, music player, video player etc etc. amazing technology of doubtfulpracticality.Miscellaneous highlights to date – playing with 5 year old grandson and delightful 2 year old granddaughter,swimming in three of whistlers 5 lakes and a very close encounter with a black bear.Part 2We left Whistler August 5 th bound for the UK – 3 hours by bus to Vancouver, 2 hours checking in and 10hours flight to Heathrow – this kind of travel is definitely not romantic.Liz’s brother in law, Steve, met us at the airport to take us onto Derry Hill in Wiltshire. Steve is the widowerof Liz’s late sister Margaret, and he makes his home our home whenever we are in the UK. His latestacquisition is a series three BMW which he is feels is ostentatious and is embarrassed to drive. But we had nohesitation is accepting his kind offer to loan it to us for our time there. Liz has a brother, two sisters, sevennieces and two great nieces in the UK, so we had some fine reunions. Steve also shares a minor interest withme in the modest consumption of good red wine. One evening Steve, Liz and I consumed seven bottlesbetween 6pm and midnight. Liz and I retired to bed but Steve decided to take the dog for a walk, and whilewe slept like the dead Steve got as far as the outside of his front door and hours later woke up to the site ofhis cars exhaust pipe. He’d fallen over and just passed out where he lay, fortunately is was a warm night soapart from a few bruises and loss of dignity, no harm done.The week in the UK passed quickly and we made our way by train to Gatwick airport and at 07:20 thefollowing day flew out to Skiathos, an island to the east of Athens in Greece.Our decision to try two weeks of flotilla sailing around the Greek islands was left somewhat late, and thenwas made worse by a Browns Bay travel agent who fluffed around for two weeks without getting anywhere.So in the end we had to take what I could find on line. The result, Seafarer in the Northern Sporades, not avery good choice as it transpired because the area has the Meltimi winds at this time of year and the “supportcrew” are never to be seen except when you arrive at the designated destination and even then not always.Liz, the world’s champion worrier, was most unhappy, and after the first week when we returned to Skiathosport and town, was adamant that the second week, in more exposed locations, was not on her personalitinerary. So we rented a small car and explored the island each day, visiting Greek monasteries anddiscovering wonderful beaches; and today I did a couple of SCUBA dives. Greece and the Greeks areinteresting - the small town of Skiathos is a place of terracotta roofs and white painted walls separated bysmall alleys that wind there way over and around the hills that the town is built on; this is also the locationwhere Mama Mia was filmed. The restaurants and shops are thronged by European tourists, (with a total

absence of Asians,) but beyond the tourist area are miles of narrow alleys where the locals live and gaptoothed Greek ladies dressed in black sit out side their doors watching the world go bye. On a hill top, oneevening, we came upon a Greek Orthodox Church with a service in progress. Two priests in opposing pulpitswere chanting responses back and forth in spectacularly ornate surroundings, a bit like Gregorian chantingbut with an Eastern flavour. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.Next stop, Toulouse in France and the Canal De Midi. Few iconic pictures attached - Bob ShawAnd Hot off the PressREVIEW OF REGULATORY AND OTHER MANAGEMENT CONTROLS FOR 1 OCTOBER 2009The Minister has made his decision on the Review of the Regulatory and other Management Controls for 1 October2009.In summary, the Minister has decided to:

• Specify the use of a conversion factor to estimate greenweight from meatweight for the PAU 4 ChathamIsland paua fishery;• Authorise the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Fisheries to issue, amend or revoke seabird mitigationmeasures in circulars and to apply the measures to one or more fishing vessels;• Shorten the closed season for commercial fishing by 19 days to commence on 20 November and end on31 May (inclusive of both days) for the CRA 7 Otago rock lobster fishery;• Limit the amount of paua one person can have in their possession at any one time, by setting anaccumulation limit at two (2) times the maximum daily bag limit of paua (20 paua), or the equivalent meatweight of paua (2.5 kilograms of paua);• Increase the amateur minimum legal size for sand flounder from 23 cm to 25 cm in the ChallengerFisheries Management Area (FMA 7);• Decrease the amateur set net minimum mesh size for red moki from 115 mm to 114 mm to standardisethis set net rule with blue moki in FMA 7;• Decrease the amateur set net minimum mesh size for butterfish from 108 mm to 100 mm in FMA 7;• Introduce a new amateur minimum legal size of 85 mm shell length for paua for the area between theAwakino River and Wanganui River, Taranaki, for a five-year trial period;• Continue to prohibit all fishing methods, except hand-held line fishing, in Pukerua Bay, Wellington;• Allow the completion and provision of electronic catch effort returns for all registered users, allow the useof all third party software and to make this change mandatory from the commencement of this regime for allcatch effort returns provided from High Seas permit holders and Foreign Charter Vessels after thesuccessful completion of a pilot;• Correct inconsistencies and omissions in offences and penalties that support commercial reportingobligations;• Allow the use of hand-operated lassoes for the amateur harvest of rock lobster in all New Zealand waters;• Prohibit the concurrent possession of spring-loaded lassoes (and lassoes that do not comply with thehand-lasso definition) and rock lobster;• Exclude holding pots from general rock lobster pot limits and escape aperture requirements in theFiordland Marine Area;• Institute a separate holding pot definition for the Fiordland Marine Area and impose a holding pot limit ofone pot per person or two pots per vessel;• Amend the Fisheries (Central Area Commercial Fishing) Regulations 1986 and the Fisheries (Central AreaAmateur Fishing) Regulations 1986 to correct a number of errors in area descriptions and coordinates;• Make regulations to apply to recreational fishing in the Akaroa Harbour Taiāpure to ensure the long termsustainability of fisheries resources in the Taiapure. The regulations include reduced bag limits for certainspecies. These will be three each for blue cod, blue moki, butterfish, red cod, sea perch, trumpeter, androck lobster; and 20 each for cockles and cat’s eyes. There will also be a new combined daily bag limit of10 for all finfish. In addition, I have introduced a prohibition on taking sea horse from anywhere within theTaiapure and on taking shellfish from the Onawe Peninsula;• Correct an error in the boundary description for the Akaroa Taiāpure so that the boundary aligns with thePōhatu Marine Reserve and the boundary of the proposed Dan Rogers marine reserve.Copies of the Minister’s decision letter and final advice paper (FAP) on the Review of the Regulatory and otherManagement Controls for 1 October 2009 are available in the consultation section of the Ministry’s website athttp://www.fish.govt.nz (available from 12 pm, 15th September).Naku noa naLorina GoldsworthyPolicy Analyst - Regulatory and InformationMinistry of Fisheries - lorina.goldsworthy@fish.govt.nz