Wow, just returned from a wonderful long weekend up north with Darren's Aunt Carol and Uncle Bruce. His aunt and uncle are semi-retired so spent the entire long weekend showing us around their neck of the woods. They owned a convenience shop in the small beach resort of Oakura Bay working 5 am - 10 pm, 7 days a week. It was one of only two shops where they sold petrol and beer too so THE shop of this beach getaway. Big life change for them leaving their jobs in Tauranga and moving 5 hours north with their three children. We toured the area of beaches, mountains, farm lands covered in sheep, goats, and cows rolling green hills meticulously groomed with gorgeous ocean vistas EVERYWHERE.
We also visited Carol and Bruce's eldest son, Grant and his wife Kerri and their girls in their gorgeous new home in KeriKeri. Their home looks out into cow, deer and sheep filled fields. There are NO predators here in New Zealand. So there are bee hives galore everywhere. Goats, sheep and cows roam freely from paddock (grazing field) to paddock. Everyone makes farming look so easy here.
On Sunday Bruce took Darren out fishing on his boat named Miss Beer-having, ironically enough for a man who loves a cold beer one of his boating rules is no alcohol on board. Good rules and a really great man and wife team. Bruce and Darren caught two 37cm red snappers, two travellis, and a blue codfish. There was a monster that got away but they were not sure what it was perhaps a mako since that seemed to be the large catches that were happening that day. There was a youth fishing tournament this day as well and one kid caught a mako about 40 kgs. on a 3 kilo line.
While they were fishing I went on a day long diving trip to The Poor Knights, a marine reserve off the east coast of Northlands, north and west of the North Island. The Poor Knights are a series of small islands about 23 kms off shore and home to lots of interesting land and sea creatures. There were two boats of divers that went out. A boat full of novices and a boat full of technical divers. Amazingly enough I was on the second boat. There were about 15 of us and all in small groups. Some of the folks dived independently with incredible equipment including these jet propelled hand held underwater scooters. Three divers with 5 tanks each. They dived 60 meters for 90 minutes. They even visited some caves that few have visited. This was the first day in almost 6 months that we were able to visit The Pinnicles which are two islands part of The Poor Knights Islands but a few kms. to the south. Here we dived Tie Dye Archway which was amazing. We were surrounded by a school of about 40 giant sting rays. They were so close that you were looking directly into one of their eyes at times. This is the same critter that killed Steve Erwin so I was a bit nervous. At one point our guide said that I kicked one with my fin they were so close. As you look up from 20 meters toward the light in the sky through the arch there they were floating above us layered straight up to what to what looked like the tip of the archway. Just spectacular!
We also saw Lord Howe coral fish not native to The Poor Knights but carried over as larvae with currents from Australia. Here these bright yellow and black striped reef fish live out their lives. They cannot breed because the waters are too cold for their eggs but it is amazing to see sub-tropical fish in a cold water dive with not one but 2 layers of 7mm neoprene on my body, yikes! We also enjoyed crayfish, gray, yellow and green moray eels, red snappers, kingfish, and pink and blue mao mao fish. At our second dive site we saw three species of nudi branches including clown, gem and white nudi braches. The white nudi branches have a little red skirt. They are like beautiful underwater slugs!
We then enjoyed a delicious dinner of fresh snapper Bruce and Darren caught and homemade chips (French fries), beer and our favorite Smith cider with passion fruit and oodles of laughter and grand conversation at Bruce and Carol's beautiful home in Whangarei.
