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Divers: Mat, James P, Natasha, Dave, Chris, James F, Scott, Darren, Jim, John, Luke, Vikki & Mark
Surface support: Sarah & Janine
The London in Port Melbourne is where this adventure begins, some of us are experienced Tassie divers and some are travelling south across Bass Straight for the first time, however we have all come back with a most memorable experience & new found friends. We are introduced to our fellow travelers as we sit down for our first meal together, this is to be one of many enjoyable meals we will share over the weekend. We are given a short briefing on what to expect over the next few days & Vikki also gives us a Shot glass each, this comes in handy as the bottles of Butterscotch Schnaps & JTMgermeister come out whilst we queue to board the ferry. The notorious Bass Straight was extremely meek and mild for our crossing, by 7.30am we are in the local truck stop having a hearty breakfast before driving down to Eagle Hawk Neck for our first dive.
There are several 'must do' dives at Eagle Hawk the first being the wreck of the SS Nord. Built in 1900, she weighed 1057 tonnes nett and measured 289 feet. She was a cargo ship carrying case oil when she sank on November 8th, 1915, after striking a sunken pinnacle near Hippolyte Rock. All her crew survived. The wreck is situated near a reef in 42 metres of water near Cape Pillar, a few miles from Tasman Island. She is one of Tasmania's few "intact" shipwrecks. Although the superstructure & both port and starboard plating has collapsed, she still resembles a ship, the stern is still reasonably intact and the rudder still moves! The wreck has attracted a variety of fish and is covered in colorful encrusting marine life. Our dive crew, have spotted a Sunfish on our last 2 trips to the Nord. There are still a number of artifacts to be seen on the wreck including brass fittings, China crockery & of course the 'head' on the port side, but no artifacts can be removed as the wreck is protected. The wreck of the SS Nord is a dive for experienced divers only. The site is exposed to southerly and easterly weather and can be prone to currents. Another favorite is the Caves, geologically, the Tasman Peninsula region is primarily mudstone/sandstone which in some areas has been extensively eroded to offer huge caves, tunnels and canyons, particularly in Waterfall Bay, an area well known for its sea caves. The largest is Cathedral Cave, which consists of a massive entrance (maximum water depth 21m), extending back into smaller caverns with narrow tunnels and cross passages, often with large schools of fish near the entrances. The walls are covered with brightly colored invertebrates normally found in much deeper water. As you can imagine, this cave offers spectacular diving from a novice to the experienced photographer . Unit 34 has taken its toll on the abalone population throughout the cave system, although we believe it will start to recover over the next 12 months. Also, Sisters Rocks is a series of magnificent pinnacles off Cape Surville in 20+ metres, with sheer walls and canyons. The walls are covered in Gold Zoanthid Anemones, soft corals and sponges, with dense gardens of sea whips in the deeper parts. Large schools of fish are common. The deep walls provide spectacular diving to depths of 40 metres or more and are home to huge schools of fish such as Butterfly Perch, Long-finned Pike, Trumpeter and an abundant assortment of other life, including colorful encrusting invertebrates and spectacular sponge gardens. The famous Southern Rock Lobster (Crayfish) once plentiful in this area, has now all but disappeared with the introduction of its most feared predator Unit 34, which leaves nothing untouched in its path of carnage & destruction.
Once again we have the weather gods on our side and we are able to dive each of these sites more than once. Our hosts for the weekend are Mick Baron and Karen Gowlett-Holmes from Eaglehawk Neck Dive Centre. Mick our boat skipper, with an unrivalled local knowledge he is the 'go to man' when it comes to boating in Tassie. Karen who gives us the run down on what domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genius or species we have just seen on our last dive, whether it be a Sunfish or a Handfish she can give you the answer. Karen, is not only world renowned as a Marine Biologist and highly awarded as a photographer in her own right, but just like an iceberg - you are only seeing 10% of what you are getting!! From to Murano Glassware to Carlton Ware, from cats to cactus' or maybe you just want an insight into what it's like spending weeks on end working at sea in some of the harshest conditions, Karen is a wealth of knowledge and that makes the trip down to Eaglehawk Neck an amazing experience for the diver and non diver alike.
Our evenings are spent in the dinning room of the Lufra Hotel and then later over evening drinks standing by the fire. The talk continues long into the night about that day's diving, even the most experienced campaigners are excited about what we have done, after all, it is the diving that we are here for. Between the banter and sledging as the beers go down, the topics vary from group to group, and every evening I get the same question "what dives are we looking at for tomorrow" and when we have incredible weather like it has been for the last 4 years the answer is always the same "where ever you like". Some divers take a break from the rigorous diving schedule to visit the infamous Port Arthur Penal settlement, an experience that will change your outlook on life for ever or just for the scenic drive. In fact most aspects of a trip to this region will change you as a person, to truly understand just what we have and how good this area is and how important it is that we protect it, one must visit the area for yourself.
This is a harsh unforgiving area, its hard on equipment & its hard on the divers, we had one broken torch, 2 damaged drysuits & 2 sore nipples, but at the end of the day we also had some great dives, some great times and had made some even better friends, thanks to everyone on the trip for making this of the most memorable. |
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