DIVING STRAIGHT IN

JANINE AND MICHAEL HAINES,
TAWAKI ADVENTURES, TE ANAU
When Tawaki Dive came up for sale, Janine and Michael Haines dived right in and bought it. A year and half ago they had purchased The Adventure Store in Invercargill which deals in all aspects of outdoor adventure, including diving, hunting, climbing, kayaking, surfing, fishing, camping and skateboarding. They also run a teaching facility called Southern Aqua Adventure, in Bluff, teaching beginner through to instructor level divers and they have been operating charter boats around Foveaux Strait and the Stewart Island region for 14 years. It sounds a pretty busy life, but they recognised that Tawaki would tie in well with their other businesses and give them an excuse to work in Milford Sound.

“Just being there is an adventure in itself,” says Janine. “In fact, the beauty of it sometimes overwhelms US."

Janine and Michael have been diving for about 20 years. They both have a passion for the outdoors and bought Tawaki because they recognised the potential to grow the business in the future. They provide a personalised outdoor experience with not only diving or snorkelling, but also sightseeing around Milford Sound. The adventure starts when customers are picked up from their accommodation in either Te Anau or Milford and taken on board the Kiri Waipai where they are given guided tours and can also dive if they want to, as well as have a nice cuppa or hot soup. Janine runs The Adventure Store and takes bookings for tours while Michael takes customers out on the water.

Janine enthuses about her favourite part of the job, booking people in for the experience of a lifetime and hearing how excited they are, then listening to them talk about how they’ll be back. “Meeting lots of people is just a real buzz,” says Janine. “And when we see their smiles after a trip, we know we’ve done a good job.”

The couple is already planning afternoon and evening tours for sightseeing and snorkelling. “See you on the water,” says Mike.”