Another island and another cyclone

Out of action!

Our lovely blue bay.

Blue trevally.

Too young to board!

The suit was wrong - nothing to do with the body!

Poor Knights.

Snorkelling through a cave.

Dolphins bow riding.

Our fishing spot but not today.

Cyclone Wilma hit us friday night with 24hrs of rain and very strong winds. We were cut off from Russell for a while by a fallen tree and landslip. The whole of Northland was cut off from the rest of NZ by floods and landslips on route 1 the lifeline to Auckland. Another jigsaw finished but at least no worries about water for the rest of our stay as the tank must be full. A trip to Kerikeri showed the extent of the damage with landslips and evidence of recent floods all the way. The river walk at stone house had great logs left up in the trees 30ft above the normal river level and the Haruru falls reminded us of Niagra for the speed of water going over the top and the spray above. Our lovely bay turned yellow from the landslip wash and other debris and there were few boats risking a collision with the many large logs being swept out. Monday was calm and sunny and we risked a booking on a trip to the Poor Knights Islands for Wednesday. Drove to Tutukaka for the 40min crossing then snorkelling in the clearest water we have ever been in. The Islands are a nature reserve with no landing and the marine reserve around them with the clear water place them in the top 10 dive sites in the world. The weather was perfect with calm, sunny conditions. Huge shoals of trevally on the surface could be clearly seen and dolphins played in the bow wave for most of the crossing. The only nesting place in the world for Buller's shearwaters, who migrate from the arctic, and flocks of storm petrels gave us a wonderful bird display. We snorkelled with shoals of demoiselles, trevally, large snapper, marblefish, blue mau mau, and sponges all set with wonderful background colours. Both had a go at paddleboarding and managed to stand and paddle the boards! A quick trip round the gannet colonies of the Squires pinnacles on the way back finished a fantastic boat trip. Too tired for a proper meal even when we got home but what an amazing day.