The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.
[password] Segeln
[position]17 40.000s 177 23.000e
[status] Vuda Point Marina, waiting for the right weather to NZ
[speed] 0
[heading] 0T
[weather]20% cloud cover, 15-20se, bar. xxxx, flat sea.
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[password] Allegre$$e
[position] 35 18.7 S, 174 07.3 E
[speed] 0knts
[heading]
[status]Arrived in Opua at approx 2315 Sunday evening. A beautiful Sunday sail down the Northland coast - somewhat different to the preceding days :-) A week to windward from New Caledonia wasn't ideal but at least we didn't get caught in any tropical storms! Mind you - salt crust on the mainsail as far as the third batten tells its own story. Happy to be back - just awaiting customs and quarantine clearance on a lovely still morning in Opua/
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5-20 metres.
Butterfish, sweep, blue cod, butterfly perch, sea perch, and red and blue moki. Good invertebrate life on walls and rock lobster hidden about the place. A few kingfish and kahawai in summer.
Near the entrance to Port Hardy.
Source: DIVE New Zealand Magazine
Algal covered reef extending from 5 down to 25 metres.
Sweep, blue cod, butterfly perch, sea perch, red moki and blue moki inhabit the reef. Rock lobster can also be found in cracks and crevices and the more observant can also spot sea horses and nudibranchs. Schools of kingfish and kahawai arrive in summer.
Can be quite exposed in westerly wind or swell.
Southwest D'Urville Island
Source: DIVE New Zealand Magazine
Large granite boulders with little macroalgae as the granite regularly scours off keeping the boulders clean.
A close look at the boulders reveals triplefins, flatworms and nudibranch, including the large yellow warty Wellington nudibranch. Common fish include blue cod, blue moki, and various wrasses. It is hard to ignore the stars of the show here, the furseals that roll about around you from the colony on Tonga Island itself.
