Into the ocean!

Boxing day this year was a feast for the eyes rather than the usual feast and Aunt Jeans. Off we went to Leigh to see the Goat Island Reserve up close and personal. Meeting up at the Octopus Hideaway our adventure hungry travelers suited up for an afternoon of snorkeling. Mom was not feeling well, so her and Mary-Ellen sat out while I prepared to guide the boys through the deep blue waters of reserve. This would be the family's first experience in the ocean waters of New Zealand (other than feet). In their blue suits we took to the water, our eyes looking for movement in the slightly murky waters. 

Unfortunately the tide was high, so many of the fish were quite deep and difficult to see, but there were definitely still lots of creatures to see. Large schools of Parore were particularly interesting to see as these 50-70 centimetre fish congregated in the deep waters of the channel.

Many a time, I would here questions of "what's that" through snorkels, or "whoa" as I guided Dad and the boys through the beautiful waters. There were little equipment issues, which worked great so that everyone got to see as much as they could. The level of excitement, was stellar, and felt so nice to be able to take my family into the world I love so much. Several times we came up, deciding where to go next and with high levels of intrigue, discussing the different fish we were seeing, wondering what they were. Then we would don our masks and head back in, floating along the surface and in Geoff's case, even getting down a metre or so to get a closer look in his extremely buoyant suit.

We were able to see lots of red moki (a large red banded fish), parore (the heavy bodied fish with a large stripe along the dorsal surface), goatfish (scrounging the bottom with its chin barbels), leatherjackets (an elegant, mottled trigger fish), and spotties (aptly named with a large spot on their side). The most prominent fish was the snapper, a large pinkish fish with iridescent blue spots, which frequently followed us along.

All these fish set against the backdrop of recovered reefs and kelp beds. It was quite a different experience to the snorkeling any of them had done before, and hopefully a bit more informative having their own personal guide. They all seemed to enjoy it, even Mom taking pictures from the rocks, undoubtedly dreaming of her chance later in the trip. It was for me a wonderful time having my family with me and sharing my love of the ocean.

Regrettably, we called our snorkeling off in order to make it for our movie. We packed up our gear and left goat island behind for Matakana. Here, the lord of the rings junkies got one last experience, seeing the final hobbit movie in New Zealand. We piled in at the last minute into the decadent movie theatres and watched it in 3D. The movie theatre itself was an experience with the large chairs, ice cream, and very intimate atmosphere. We headed home to meet Mary-Ellen and Dad who had a meal of snapper (not from the reserve!). We again made for a earlier night as we would move into the second leg of the trip!