Woke up to a beautiful day. Blue sky, nice warm sunshine. About 25C so not too hot either. We were just entering the Bay of Islands at around 7am. What a gorgeous place! A massive deep bay and natural harbour studded with islands of all sizes and everything so very green. The sea was very calm which was a wonderful change too after the last few days.

We had breakfast and then went down to Reception to pick up the dive bag. It was here that we got some good/bad news and Bob received a mighty smite and insult!! While Bob went to get the bag, I asked the receptionist if any paintings had been handed in. Yes, he said and handed me a pile of 3. I leafed through eagerly and found both of Bob's but neither of mine. This means - as they were hanging together - that some thieving horror took the pictures down, purloined mine and handed Bob's in as rejects LOL. I was very upset and so was Bob but for vastly different reasons, but at least he has got his back. Thieving b*****s.

Anyway, got the first tender over to the boat dock to find Dive North waiting for us. Tendering was pretty late today and we were nearly an hour late getting in so the day was going to be tight. They drove us about 40 minutes to where their boat was docked, through some lovely countryside, very reminiscent of the UK in many ways. Some fantastic farms and homes too. Apparently they normally keep the boat where the tender dropped us but they were not allowed to load there today because of the cruise ship operation, hence the drive. The dive boat was a very nice cabin cruiser style and there were 3 dive masters aboard plus about 6 of us divers. Three were try-divers. We set off for our first dive, RNZNS Canterbury, a 140m long frigate, deliberately sunk upright on the bottom in 2007 to make an artificial reef. The trip through the Bay of Islands was enchanting, so many islands, such a contrast between the deep blue of the sea and the green, green islands and surrounding hills.

Water visibility is not a patch on Polynesia or the Cook Islands as we expected. Much more like the UK albeit with much warmer water. On the first dive I used one of their wetsuits, a 7mm long john and jacket combo, the like of which I haven't worn in over 20 years. Felt like the Michelin Man and it necessitated wearing loads of lead weight too to counteract the buoyancy. The wreck itself was really good. About 30m to the gangways and averaging about 20m. Beginning to cover in corals very well and a home to many, many fish and crayfish. We explored the gangways, the helicopter deck, the phone box, the bridge and a cabin. There was a fair bit of current too. Not the easiest dive in the world but very enjoyable.

Came back up to a nice cup of tea and a massive chicken stuffed bread roll. The service from Dive North was superlative. The three divemasters just never stopped, very good underwater and so helpful on the boat, changing kit, even helped getting fins on and off. Really nice young kids too. Doing a bit of travelling and working to help fund it.

The second dive was a beautiful reef with caves and in many ways I enjoyed this one the best. For one thing, I dispensed with the wetsuit jacket and just dived in the long john, so I felt a lot more comfortable, and not so "blobby", more streamlined. There was kelp but not the giant kelp like in California but a shorter golden sort. Nice. Lots and lots of fish and bright sponges, many yellow, and some silver grey. We saw a moray eel, a massive scorpion fish and two large fish balls of some sort of silver fish. Very nice diving. Bit of a long surface swim at the end back to the boat.

Then on our way back the divemasters went in again with the trydivers onto a scallop bed and came back up with about 30 scallops, some of which we ate. They also cooked up some fresh pancakes which we had with blueberries and syrup. I was a pig and ate two LOL. No wonder the wetsuit was a bit restrictive.

It was a dash then to get us back to the dock in time for the last tender before the ship sailed. They decided to disregard the ban on their boat coming into the dock where the tenders were loading and unloading and just go in and we would jump off, or do as near a "jump" as can be done with a full load of diving gear and two cameras. As it was the P&O team did not look delighted to see our boat coming alongside but they cheered up a bit when they realised they were dropping off two passengers. We got back to the ship fairly quickly then and reflected on a lovely first day in New Zealand. A country which has already mightily impressed. Would certainly not hesitate to dive with Dive North again too. They were fantastic, so friendly, helpful and professional.

Got back on board and despite being totally knackered, had to get a pile of laundry on ready for our 6 days ashore. Luckily the deck 9 laundry was deserted and I got two loads on immediately. While they were underway, we packed a medium case with the stuff we will need for our tour of North Island. It will be very weird to get off the ship tomorrow and be on our own for almost a week. Too tired to face the dining room so we just grabbed a quick dinner upstairs. Intended to go to the late show to see the pianist but after a Monte Christo Coffee (Kahlua and Cointreau, YUM) in the Crow's Nest we were both half asleep and decided to turn in. We dock in Auckland at 0700 tomorrow and we have a hire car arriving at 0800 and then we're off on our adventure.