No time was spent in Whangerei. We were up relatively early for a big egg on toast breakfast and then a 45minute drive to Tutukaka. There we completed the required forms for our ‘Perfect Day’ trip. We boarded a boat and met the crew lead by Captain Luke. A really bumpy 23km trip in the open ocean took us to Poor Knights Islands. There we had over 2 hours of time to snorkel, kayak, swim or stand up paddle. The Poor Knights Islands is a protected Marine Reserve and World Heritage site. It is pristine!
With wet suits on we snorkelled in open water, along the rock edges, into caves and through rock openings. The water was so clear. Just sticking your face into the water while sitting on the boat ramp allowed you to see amazing coloured seaweed and fish! My sightings in the first 20 minutes were: big grey fish, school of medium black fish, hundreds of little fishies in all sorts of colours, a pair of monster brown fish. Technically these may have been coral fish, spotted black grouper, yellow-banded perch, banded coral shrimp, rainbow fish, elegant wrasse and the blue-headed wrass. I have no clue. Some folks spotted a few sting rays. Ryan came across large snappers and a blue nose and a bunch of others. An underwater camera would have been so very delightful at this point.
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After drying off we had some lunch on the boat and then Captain Luke took us on a tour around the islands. Lots of info about the first settlers, the possibly reasons for the ‘Poor Knights’ name, about the birds and wild life on the islands, about how the site was declared a reserve and about how DOC maintains the sites. Very interesting stuff delivered with passion and humour. We pulled into the world’s largest sea cave; Rikoriko Cave. It was astounding. Beautiful colours inside.
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A less bumpy ride got us back to back to Tutukaka close to 5pm. From there we drove northwards towards Bay of Islands. We stopped in the town of Kawakawa for their toilets. Oh yes – this is a major tourist attraction that all research told me we should make an effort to see. The Hundertwasser toilets designed and built by Frederick Hundertwasser. They were indeed pretty cool.
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Our drive for the day ended in Haruru Falls with our camp site overlooking the river and the falls in the distance. For supper - a gastronomic feast of tuna mayo sandwiches.
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Day 4: about 150km travelled (by van). Poor Knights Island circled in red.
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