As my year comes towards the end, the focus shifts onto who is going to become the new scholar. After much anticipation and some quality applicants, the 2009 Australasian Our World-Underwater Scholarship was awarded to Matthew Carter, 24, from Dunedin, New Zealand! Matt’s background and interests lay within the field of marine archaeology, and already […]

During the DEMA show I met Michael Aw, the author of the essential and advanced guides to digital underwater photography. He  invited me along to his and Mathieu Meur’s workshop in Manado, Indonesia during the second week of February. Underwater photography is something I have always loved and I already owned Michael and Mathieu’s book, […]

The 5th of January found me flying across the Tasman Sea to visit Jade Berman, the 2003 European Scholar in Wellington, New Zealand. I had already spent a few weeks with her whilst in Indonesia and we organised some activities in New Zealand where she is currently co-ordinating the scholarship while pursuing her PhD on […]

Besides lots of sheep, the north east coast of New Zealand has had three Ex-Navy ships prepared and sunk as artificial reefs over the past 10 years! These popular dive sites, have added to the diversity of diving that can be had in this scenic country. The Ex-Greenpeace vessel, The Rainbow Warrier, started the trend going down 22 […]

The marine reserves of New Zealand were somewhere I wanted to explore as part of the scholarship and the Poor Knights Islands are the pinnacle of Kiwi diving. This group of islands, located 24 km off the coast of Tutukaka (approximately 2.5 hrs north of Auckland) is New Zealand’s second oldest marine reserve, and has […]