Mahurangi Regional Park

Today we headed about 30 minutes north to another Auckland Regional Park - Mahurangi. It was a lot quieter than most of the other parks, probably as it is a little out of the way. We scrambled up a very steep hill to get the most amazing views.



This is the view down over the campsite (where we will stay in the future) and Sullivan's Bay.







Whilst this is the view in the other direction looking over Mita Bay.

6 Months!!!

Well we've been here 6 months now, seems like much longer! So we celebrated with a bottle of NZ fizz followed by some green lipped mussels, clams and scallops. Now we are looking forward to our next 6 months here.

Goat Island

This weekend we headed off camping to make the most of the good weather. We went up north to Goat Island campsite, a bit basic but spectacular views from the tent.





Goat Island is a marine reserve where all the fish, crustaceans and plant life are protected. It is very popular with people snorkeling and diving to see the fish - the sea is so clear.





Although we didn't go snorkeling, you could see the fish quite clearly from the rocks. Snapper are the predominant fish here, along with the Blue Maumau.





We decided to take a trip on the glass bottomed boat, which can be seen in the picture above. This stops at the main reefs (rock not coral - too cold for that) where the fish gather and also a tour around Goat Island. There are many caves in the island which are apparently interlocking so you can swim through the island if you have a torch with you.




The highlight of the trip was the sighting of about 8 bottle nosed dolphins who were very playful, and seemed to enjoy showing off to us on the boat.







The evening back at the campsite was very relaxing with fabulous clear skies and a full moon to sit out to.