Scuba Diving in the Hen and Chicken Islands
Trip Start
Oct 26, 2011
1
4
17
Trip End
Nov 18, 2011
What I did
Goat Island Dive
Taranga Island and Lady Alice Island
Leigh, Northland, New Zealand
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Aside from being crazy seasick, it was a good ride. Once in the water, I felt a lot better and we went under to about 50 ft where we swam through a kelp forest, waving in the surge. We saw several types of fish, including a large porcupine fish, a type of puffer, and red and blue moki, along with a lot of sea urchins (I ate some sea urchin roe/sushi later).
The second dive was at Lady Alice Island, farther out. There was some current, which created a few challenges, but we still had a great time, saw more fish and went a little deeper into the crevices and kelp forests. Brian and Nora were gracious hosts, and we enjoyed chatting with the other divers who were after spiny lobster (they brought back four for dinner). These lobsters have no large claws.
When were got back to the shop, we hung around for awhile and shared a locally-brewed beer with Brian at the local pub, talking politics and diving variables, before returning to Auckland. A band was rehearsing in the pub, acoustic and original. I was dying to go listen and see what make their guitars were. Kids were playing on the lawn with their pups, and their mothers chasing them before they fell. I finished my beer and felt happy.
We took a few photos at the dock before heading back. It was a great day.
