I was heading back for Queenstown on the 31st to finish my scuba course. That was really the only reason I was going back as I was tired of the hustle and bustle of the tourist infested town. But stick out my thumb I did, and I was shortly picked up by a German backpacker on his way to Queenstown to enjoy some of the plethora of adventures on offer. We had some great chats about our travels and all was going well until we saw the police car in the distance. The lights went on and the orange chequered car pulled in behind our car. According to the officer, he had my driver doing 110 on radar in a 100 zone and the New Zealand Police do not tolerate speeding. I was completely ignored during the whole process was left at a loss for words as we pulled away, an awkward silence hanging in the air for the next couple kilometres. New Zealand police have lost all tolerance when it comes to speeding and recently stepped up their efforts to bust speeders. Signs all along the highway warn of the danger of speeding with clever graphics accompanying phrases like “speed kills”, “who is really watching your speed?” (with a picture of a kid looking 
sideways to insinuate that kids are learning from their parents’ behaviour), and “finish line, or final destination?” (accompanied by a photo of a morgue). This campaign reminds me of the signs I saw periodically throughout England, but there it was more of a reminder whereas here it is a warning; New Zealand does not take kindly to any speeding and regardless of your home country, you will be fined and you will have to pay it (all rental companies take a credit card number to be sure of it). I felt bad for my driver, he’s a backpacker like me who is on a limited budget (and has the right kind of car to show for it) and for whom $120 is a lot of money. But unlike in England, the signs here are serious and you drive in New Zealand knowing that the New Zealand police will pull you over even for minor speed infractions.
sideways to insinuate that kids are learning from their parents’ behaviour), and “finish line, or final destination?” (accompanied by a photo of a morgue). This campaign reminds me of the signs I saw periodically throughout England, but there it was more of a reminder whereas here it is a warning; New Zealand does not take kindly to any speeding and regardless of your home country, you will be fined and you will have to pay it (all rental companies take a credit card number to be sure of it). I felt bad for my driver, he’s a backpacker like me who is on a limited budget (and has the right kind of car to show for it) and for whom $120 is a lot of money. But unlike in England, the signs here are serious and you drive in New Zealand knowing that the New Zealand police will pull you over even for minor speed infractions.A quick call to Lance (my dive instructor) upon arrival in Queenstown (the rest of the trip went a bit slower) and I was lined up for three dives the following day. I was back at the Lakeview Holiday Park, had another Fergburger, and was back into the ‘ol routine. While Queenstown might not be the ideal town to spend a lot of time (for cost, general ambiance and other reasons), there is a certain comfort in routine and regardless of which town I find myself in, it feels nice to get into a routine, to be familiar with my surroundings, to know what to expect. But one doesn’t backpack for a sense of familiarity with surroundings and I feel oddly at ease and uncomfortable at the same time when I’m in one place for too long. I believe Lance understood this and he accommodated me by finishing my course in one day on the 1st of February. I was paired with Bo, a guy (slightly my junior) who’s goal in life is to be a stuntman. To get there he is acquiring as many certifications as he can, from paragliding to scuba diving, hand to hand combat to...well, I don’t know what the opposite of that is, but I’m sure he’s doing that as well. In my absence, Lance has quickly brought him along to where I was in training so we could dive together. The first dive of the day was a “deep dive” for me, and Bo’s navigation dive. For me, that meant doing a sobriety test of sorts above water, then repeating it at 30m to see if I was feeling the effects of nitrogen narcosis. On its own, nitrogen narcosis is not a danger, but is on par with alcohol intoxication. Intoxication (within safe limits) on its own is not immediately harmful physiologically, but put the same individual behind the wheel of a car and it’s a whole other story. Try taking that same individual, putting them 30m under water (or deeper), and giving them a regulator through which they must breathe (or die...). Sounds dangerous; no? The air we breathe is roughly 79% nitrogen, so nitrogen is nothing foreign to the human body, but as pressure increases, the effect it has on the body changes. Deeper = higher pressure = more noticeable effects; the effects of which are akin to breathing nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas. The most important thing for a diver is recognising the symptoms and knowing how much one can take. If you got out of the water the second you noticed it you wouldn’t be a very effective diver in the 25-35m range, but if you tried to tough through some serious 
symptoms you could end up making a fatal mistake (you know, the kind you only ever make one of...). The test in this case is a slate with numbers written in circles of varying sizes and in random order. The test subject (me) must correctly find numbers 1-30 in order, the time taken used as an indicator for ‘sobriety’. This is done at the surface and at 30m to test for a time difference. The second test of the day was a far less dramatic but for the science lovers in the crowd (put up your hands, I am!) is just as interesting; testing the effects of depth on colour. Any object with the rainbow of colours from purple to blue is viewed at the surface, and then at varying depths. The test successfully demonstrates that as one descends in water, one by one each colour starting with purple is only visible as grey because of the filtration effect of water on colour. Arriving at 30m we observed the rainbow objects (hair bands in this case) and indeed the first few colours were only seen as gray. After a minute or so at 30m I attempted the number test a second time, seeing a decrease in my performance even though I didn’t feel any of the symptoms. After a safe ascent, I left the water for the other two to conduct Bo’s navigational exercises which I had already completed.
symptoms you could end up making a fatal mistake (you know, the kind you only ever make one of...). The test in this case is a slate with numbers written in circles of varying sizes and in random order. The test subject (me) must correctly find numbers 1-30 in order, the time taken used as an indicator for ‘sobriety’. This is done at the surface and at 30m to test for a time difference. The second test of the day was a far less dramatic but for the science lovers in the crowd (put up your hands, I am!) is just as interesting; testing the effects of depth on colour. Any object with the rainbow of colours from purple to blue is viewed at the surface, and then at varying depths. The test successfully demonstrates that as one descends in water, one by one each colour starting with purple is only visible as grey because of the filtration effect of water on colour. Arriving at 30m we observed the rainbow objects (hair bands in this case) and indeed the first few colours were only seen as gray. After a minute or so at 30m I attempted the number test a second time, seeing a decrease in my performance even though I didn’t feel any of the symptoms. After a safe ascent, I left the water for the other two to conduct Bo’s navigational exercises which I had already completed.The second dive of the day was far more interesting, what PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) would call an “adventure dive!” Next to the tiny town of Cromwell, about 20 minutes from Queenstown, the local river had been dammed in the 90’s by a hydro- electric dam, creating Lake Dunstan, and sinking the Cromwell Bridge. The bridge was to be well under water when the lake reached its full height so it was left intact, a solid decision I would say when talking about a 
bridge made in 1864. So it remains under only 9m of water, an example of the quality steel work completed in the period. The visibility, or “vis”, was poor at only a couple metres, but added to the mystique of the dive as the bridge’s frame seemed to vanish into the murky abyss beyond. There were additional challenges working in three in such low visibility as the lead diver (Lance in this case) had to check every few seconds that the middle diver was immediately behind him, and the middle diver the same of the rear diver. Losing focus for a few seconds could mean losing a diver in the murky water, and the whole party having to surface to reunite. Fortunately, no mistakes were made and the dive was successful, my first wreck dive getting big thumbs up for coolness factor.
bridge made in 1864. So it remains under only 9m of water, an example of the quality steel work completed in the period. The visibility, or “vis”, was poor at only a couple metres, but added to the mystique of the dive as the bridge’s frame seemed to vanish into the murky abyss beyond. There were additional challenges working in three in such low visibility as the lead diver (Lance in this case) had to check every few seconds that the middle diver was immediately behind him, and the middle diver the same of the rear diver. Losing focus for a few seconds could mean losing a diver in the murky water, and the whole party having to surface to reunite. Fortunately, no mistakes were made and the dive was successful, my first wreck dive getting big thumbs up for coolness factor.The third dive required a bit of a drive, taking us just outside of Wanaka. We drove to the mouth of the Clutha River where it drained Lake Wanaka. The current is swift but not out of control, although in rainier periods and especially in springtime, the river can flow much faster. Diving in such a river is called a river drift dive, as you allow the current to carry you along (that or it’s the fight of your life trying to stay in one spot!). This dive, as Lance explained on the ride there, would have 15-20 minutes of tomfoolery in relatively deep water, then becoming shallow in gentle rapids where the speed would pick up. Along
the way there would be some hazards, but these were pointed out before hand and we would surface a few times along the way to discuss upcoming sections again. The first part of the dive was all laughs as we tested out our underwater acrobatics. One can drift dive in any position and we tried them all, swimming sideways, upside down, letting the current carry us while we “stood” on our heads, sat cross legged, laid perpendicular to the stream... Even more fun was fooling around near the bottom where we played leapfrog with large rocks and somersaults off of them. I did find myself having a bit too much fun at some points however and more than once I had to remind myself not to breathe too heavily lest I waste air. The rapids section went smoothly (as smoothly as rapids can go) and before any of us were ready to get out, we were at our exit. My first river drift dive also gets two huge thumbs up and I hope to do some more of those later!
the way there would be some hazards, but these were pointed out before hand and we would surface a few times along the way to discuss upcoming sections again. The first part of the dive was all laughs as we tested out our underwater acrobatics. One can drift dive in any position and we tried them all, swimming sideways, upside down, letting the current carry us while we “stood” on our heads, sat cross legged, laid perpendicular to the stream... Even more fun was fooling around near the bottom where we played leapfrog with large rocks and somersaults off of them. I did find myself having a bit too much fun at some points however and more than once I had to remind myself not to breathe too heavily lest I waste air. The rapids section went smoothly (as smoothly as rapids can go) and before any of us were ready to get out, we were at our exit. My first river drift dive also gets two huge thumbs up and I hope to do some more of those later!Each of the dives successful, I was now a certified PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, and after some paperwork was signed back at Lance’s ‘office’, it was official. We had a beer to celebrate before I went back to the holiday park and crashed, not realising until then how exhausted the trio of dives had made me.
I didn’t initially know how I would take to diving as I have typically not been a fan of enclosed spaces. The mask especially, closing off the ability to breathe through my nose freaked me out and my first dive was quite a test for myself. But after the initial awkwardness was done with, I was hooked and found myself excitedly anticipating the next lesson. Due to the good ‘ol budget, I will hold off diving again until I get to do the Great Barrier Reef dives in Australia, but I find myself quite excited for the next time I get to don 20kg of weight, walk awkwardly to the water, then feel it all come off as buoyancy neutralises and I float effortlessly in the water. It’s a hobby I hope to bring back home, but the reality of diving is that it is not a cheap 
sport. The water temperatures experienced in Canada necessitate a dry suit, the warmer (and drier...duh...) cousin of the wet suit, and also the more pricy of the two. A good dry suit alone costs a few thousand dollars and you still have to get a buoyancy control device, all the gauges and hoses, a cylinder, mask and fins. And that’s just the necessities! Gear can be rented for the casual diver, but it is highly unlikely Halifax’s one dive shop (Torpedo Rays) will have the system I learned on – and prefer – in stock for rental. I suppose that’s another future purchase to put on the list. There is work to be had in diving, especially in a busy port like Halifax. One can find work retrieving lost items at marinas or scrubbing boat hulls at a reasonable pay rate, but there is only a requirement for so many hull scrubbers and glasses finders. I suppose diving is one of those things that I’ll just have to wait and see how it affects my future, and how I make it a part of my life.
sport. The water temperatures experienced in Canada necessitate a dry suit, the warmer (and drier...duh...) cousin of the wet suit, and also the more pricy of the two. A good dry suit alone costs a few thousand dollars and you still have to get a buoyancy control device, all the gauges and hoses, a cylinder, mask and fins. And that’s just the necessities! Gear can be rented for the casual diver, but it is highly unlikely Halifax’s one dive shop (Torpedo Rays) will have the system I learned on – and prefer – in stock for rental. I suppose that’s another future purchase to put on the list. There is work to be had in diving, especially in a busy port like Halifax. One can find work retrieving lost items at marinas or scrubbing boat hulls at a reasonable pay rate, but there is only a requirement for so many hull scrubbers and glasses finders. I suppose diving is one of those things that I’ll just have to wait and see how it affects my future, and how I make it a part of my life. 
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