Episode 2 // Snorkeling in New Zealand!

Snorkel in. You look like a pro man, you're being filmed. Hold your face. Snorkel in. Snorkel in. Put your snorkel in. Welcome to the second episode of the Epic Family Road Trip. We're the Van Sterling family. Two years ago we decided to sell everything we have and trade it for experiences together as a family. Along the way we focus on our three core values. Work, play and care. We like to work hard, we like to play hard, but most importantly we like to show that we care as we travel around by leaving the people we meet and the places we visit a little better than when we found them. This week we had the unbelievable opportunity to go snorkeling at a place called the Poor Knight's Islands. These are a set of islands that are the remnants of a volcano from many, many years ago that erupted and then collapsed. It's an hour or so boat ride from the harbour, the mainland, out to the island. And the unique thing about them is that they're part of the East Australian Current, the EAC. You probably remember that from Nemo. And because those waters are warmer, it really makes a microclimate around these islands. The other thing is that it's in the South Pacific and the waves come in from the south and they hit the islands and then they create, the guy told us they create an eddy around the islands, so kind of a whirlpool that's circled back to this side of the Poor Knight's Islands that we went diving, bringing in all kinds of nutrients and plankton and things that fish eat. The guy called it a nutrient-rich soup, which attracts all kinds of wildlife and fish. I mean, just tons of stuff there and big schools come in and just hang out there. And it looked like all the smaller fish were on top of the schools and then you go down and they're a little bigger, the kingfish, and then you go below that and they're even bigger. Something unique about the fish here is it's a world biosphere preserve. So it's an area that no fishing has ever been allowed at, at least since the 30s or 40s. And so the fish are very friendly and they are actually, in their whole lifetime, they've never been fished, most of these fish. So they're not afraid of humans, so it kind of takes you back to how they would have been originally and you can swim amongst them, which is really neat. You don't probably experience that in areas that aren't a game preserve. So you could swim in the middle of it. Yeah, reach out and almost touch them, which is really fascinating. When you're going from this beautiful surrounding that you know so well and then you put your goggles under and it's just like it hits you and you're in a whole different world. So halfway through the day after we dove at the first place, we got back in the boat to warm up and to get a bit of food. Thank goodness it was only soup. Yeah, they had soup so that if you get seasick, you're not chunking it up. It's more like broth. Yeah, and then he had coffee and tea, so we warmed our bodies up, but he also took us on a cruise around the island to see the other side, which I believe was the south side, I can't remember. Yeah, the south side. But what was that like? That was insane. A lot of waves and tunnels. I had never seen such big arches and rocks and everything. Most of the arches are sitting beside the other family. They're kind of scared because we thought we were just going to look at it, but then he went through it. Especially that first one. From a distance, it looked the size of the boat. And he's just going straight for it. And as we got closer, it obviously was big enough to take it over. Yeah, but on the sides, still, the waves were crashing. They were. He'd have to really know how to drive. He was a good captain. He'd go into it. I was wondering because sometimes he would turn into it, but the wave was going there. So as he went, he'd get it. That was really neat. And there's some really unique species of wildlife, including some kind of lizard that only grows there. And apparently it's been there. Only grows there. Only lives there. But it used to roam with dinosaurs. Really? Yeah. I didn't hear that. It's the only place in the world where that lizard lives. And how big is it? It's big. It's like a beast size. And it has a third eye. Yeah. What? And it's a dinosaur. It's basically, it was a dinosaur and it's still here. What are they called? I forget. Lizards that are like dinosaurs with third eyes. So one of the highlights was when we came around the corner, we saw a huge cave and we actually went inside it. And it's apparently one of the largest in volume in the world. And that was pretty fascinating. All the different colors. Now it's a huge cathedral dome. So you'll see on the video he plays the flute. It just has a beautiful echo. After the cave experience, we went to our final dive spot, which was under a big arch. So that was a unique area. It had the most fish though, right? Yeah. Just because of that arch and the walls that went so deep. Yeah. The sun was perfect there. And the guy explained that fish, what did he say? They like to hide in the shadows, probably right on the edge of the shadow of the sun. Yeah. And that was their experience. When you go snorkeling, you look for where the sun is coming across. And right in the edge of that, in the shadow, you'll find the bulk of the fish. We're walking into the marina to get on a boat and go snorkeling today. The boat sets sail at 8.15 and comes back at 4.30. So it's a full day on the water. We're going to go snorkeling. Woo! Another day.