Poor Knights' Islands, NZ

[NorthernFocus]

While in NZ we took a day trip aboard a tour boat from Tutukaka out to the Poor Knights' Islands marine reserve off the east coast of the North Island near Whangarei Heads. It was a spur of the moment decision on a beautiful day and turned out to be one of the most enjoyable days of our holiday. Unfortunately I had no way to shoot any images underwater while snorkeling. The amount of sea life was unbelievable. But here are a few images captured from the surface.

1) On arrival we were greeted by a school of porpoise.



2) There was a NZ fur seal behaving exactly like a seal out of water in Alaska would behave.



3) I forget the name of these 1/2m long fish but there were large shoals of them feeding on the surface.



4) The islands contain multiple sea caves and arches. As a reference of scale, the boat passing through this one is about 25m long.



5) Our captain chose a much tighter one to ride through.



6) And nosed the boat up into another much smaller cave with a hole in the roof creating some nice light.



7) The islands are completely covered in pohutukawa (aka Christmas flower) trees which bloom slightly earlier than their counterparts on the mainland.



8) Of course I had to shoot a few birds. This is a fairly prion which is a type of petrel that nests on the islands.



9) And a wedge tailed shearwater.



10) And on the way back in we saw a blue whale feeding. Not exactly thrilling photography but it is always interesting to see new creatures and particularly when they are so rare.

[Craigie]

A great set of images Dan, if I had to pick one #6 just pips it.

[Donald]

Excellent stuff, Dan. What was that about being the beginner at landscape? A good photographer is a good photographer, is a good photographer!

[chauncey]

Those are superb.

[Mike Buckley]

Enjoyable narrative and photos. Great color!

[Rita]

What a great set of images. I can only imagine how much you must have enjoyed your trip.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for commenting, folks. If you find yourselves in that part of NZ with decent weather I highly recommend the trip. And we rarely do that sort of thing normally preferring to be self-guided. It really is a special place. I'd love to visit there in my own boat for a few days.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[bnnrcn]

Great set Dan

[Wavelength]

Excellent set of images

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for commenting, guys.

[madcrow]

+1 for Mike.