Get Accommodation on the Cheap With a Hired Campervan

Our return to Auckland from our Northlands / Bay of Islands trip, Gem had a little injury which kind of slowed us down for a few days but this was a kind of blessing as we could focus on what we wanted to do when we got our campervan in a few days time. The one major thing of note we did the day before our big campervan adventure was to visit the local Aquarium called Kelly Tarltorns, where we had booked in to do a cage dive with Sharks!!! we were both really excited and turned up a few hours before our dive time as it included free admission to the Aquarium.

At the Aquarium there was a small penguin enclosure, a Scott Expedition section and info about the South Pole, a giant Squid in a container plus a Stingray exhibit where a lady was in the tank with the stingrays, feeding them whilst they jumped up onto her, they were huge!!! glidding up the side of her almost like they were swallowing her lol!!! The best of course (as with any Aquarium) was the Shark tunnel, we went round a few times looking at the Sharks, they had Sand Tiger Sharks, School Sharks, Broadnose Sevengills and a camoflaged Shark that i can't remember the name of Sky Tower. After seeing inside a few times and looking up at the cage above the tunnel, we went to the door and awaited the diver to come collect us.

Fortunately only 1 other guy was doing the dive with us so wouldn't be too crowded in the cage. We got escorted through behind the scenes of the aquarium and told to put on some wetsuits (we both looked hilarious!!!) and met at the edge of the enormous tunnel aquarium that contained the Sharks. After a brief safety talk and telling us how to use a snorkel, we jumped into the cage in the freezing water. The cage itself had netted sides (we were assured it was strong enough to fend off the sharks) and had a glass bottom so you could see through below as the sharks swam by the side and below.

We got in and floated above the tank, the cage dropped around 2 meters deep and we were surrounded by 20 sharks, ranging in size from 2.0 meters long to over 3.0 meters, it was awesome!! i loved seeing them up close, when you dived to the bottom of the cage we were within inches of these huge creatures of the deep, such a thrill!!! One time 2 sharks, swam right to the edge of the netting where my face was and then in a flash span away, i got to look right in the eyes and although we weren't allowed i could have touched them!!!!

After around 45 mins to an hour, and with a severe chill setting in we got out the cage and went to dry off, it had been an amazing experience!! but now i want to swim with bigger ones!!! We got back to our little hotel room and enjoyed what would be our last night in a proper bed for a few weeks, the Campervan fun we had been looking forward to for ages was just a day away!!!!!!!!!!


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