Makogai Island - Fiji

As we approached the island of Makogai we had to pass through a gap in the reef that encircles the island.  As often happens, we caught a fish just as we approached the reef.  This launched us into a routine where we head upwind, start an engine and drop the sails.  Oh, and we also had to avoid hitting the reef.  Rich dragged in the fish and it turned out to be a 25lb tuna.

A quick stop at Poor Knights Islands

At the end of our 3 week exploration of New Zealands Northeast corner we stopped at the Poor Knights Islands: a marine reserve located about 30 miles from our "homebase" in Whangarei.

The anchorages at the Poor Knights are marginal at best.   Thankfully, the wind and swell were quite low for two days straight.  We dropped our anchor on a pile of rocks and set out in the dinghy to explore.

South Minerva Reef 2019

After a week at Minerva North we said goodbye to our new friends and sailed 17 miles south to Minerva South reef where we were the only boat.  We dropped the anchor and not long afterwards the sharks showed up.  The water was so clear we could see them circling on the bottom.

On the second day Norwegian-flagged Malisa showed up to keep us company. 

At low tide the next day we explored the East side of the reef with Atle and Ann Marie and found it was quite different from Minerva North. There were piles of coral boulders lying all around the area we explored and the reef is about half as wide as the North reef. It was a short walk to get out the outer edge. Once there it was fun to just stand and watch the huge waves coming in from the open ocean. As I stood there they were slowly getting closer to me. The tide had turned and it was now rising. After about 15 minutes waves were breaking a few feet in front of me and I was ankle deep in water. The walk back was in significantly deeper water and took much longer. You have to watch your step because there are many clams, sea cucumbers and starfish in the shallow water. Rich found several "lobster holes" and grabbed a lobster for each boat. He found one spot with many slipper lobsters and he pulled one out briefly for me to photograph.

Slipper lobster

The coral is wonderfully healthy at Minerva South as are the fish. Like Minerva North, there are big beautiful parrot fish in certain spots that are really great to see. And there are always small grey reefs sharks off the stern of the boat! We saw 2 of the largest groupers we've ever seen at this reef.

I included a drone video Rich shot earlier this year that shows the entire Minerva South reef from above so you can get a sense of its size and shape.

Windy Wellington

Three Sisters

Prior to our 10-day road trip through New Zealand's North Island Rich combed travel guides and websites to find dozens of points of interest and hikes.  We put them all on Google Maps and planned a meandering route down the West coast and back up through the middle trying to connect-the-dots.

Yesterday we were rolling down a coastal highway when we caught sight of one of the outdoor attractions. The Three Sisters are large rock formations sticking up out of a beach next to tall white cliffs.  They are located at the mouth of a river that empties into the ocean.  Lucky for us it was low tide and we were able to make our way along the river to where it emptied out onto a broad open beach.  It was a beautiful spot.  The sun was getting low in the sky and the quality of the light was amazing.