Warkworth

Yesterday was an eventful Sunday my friends and me went to a Marine Reserve called Goat Island, I know what you are thinking… but let me correct you, I did not go to an Island which had goats but the reserve is called so because this Marine Reserve has many caves and the farmers used to use those caves sometimes for their Goats to rest… this reserve is conversed by the University of Auckland and the water is around knee depth as far as the caves and then it deepens as the Pacific Ocean comes closer. The ocean floor is fantastic and the water is crystal clear. We could see many Eagle rays which are a type of Sting ray, from the top but of course our boat was Glass Bottomed so once it was spotted we all jumped to the bottom and saw many of them one after the other... the captain told us that they were visible and close to the shore today because they had seen an Orca Whale in the morning which feeds on these fishes.

We also saw various sea weeds, Sea Urchins, Cook’s Turban Snails, caves and algae. Many fishes like Trevallis, Snappers, Blue Mao Mao, Goat fish, Red Moki, etc…

Eagle Ray

Goat Island is about 1.5 hrs drive to the North of Auckland i.e. 125 kms from South Auckland and it is some 30 mins drive from Warkworth in the East towards Leigh.

This cave is called Shark Mouth cave, I guess the shape suggests

The day was pleasant hence we had some traffic but otherwise it was a great experience... one our way back we took a diversion to Parry Kauri Walk... It was a beautiful sight of various Flora and Fauna. Parry Kauri Walk was a 30 mins walk into the Kauri forest. Kauri trees are 11m tall and have 7 m diameter. Their life ranges from 800-1000 years. We have seen a Kauri forest when we went to Bay of Islands too..

Parry Kauri Walk

The beauty about New Zealand is they don’t have many things but they represent each feature tastefully... I was thinking if our Indian Tourism also planned something like this I am sure we could make much more income from Tourism than what we make now.