A magic day at Tāwharanui
Tāwharanui is one of my favourite places. The pest free sanctuary and marine reserve is on a peninsula on the east coast, just over an hour's drive north of Auckland and overlooks Kawau Island to the south, and Ti Point and Leigh to the north.
We headed out early (for us at least!) on the 30th December to beat the traffic and were rewarded with a shady spot under a pōhutukawa tree, and a simply magic day at the beach.
As a marine reserve the snorkeling at Tāwharanui is always interesting and with the visibility nice and clear it wasn't long before we spotted a number of fish including, red moki, young kahawai, leatherjacket and a stingray feeding. A couple of hours later my brother was out again and started waving us in for another look - he'd seen a large school of bait fish with kingfish coming in to feed on them. Back in the water we were barely four metres from shore when the school of kingfish - perhaps 30 - 40 of them - cruised past us and headed north - couldn't believe being so close to these large fish!
We kept snorkeling for another half hour, with solitary kingfish coming to check us out from time to time and a number of other smaller fish close to the rocks. I just wish I'd had a GoPro to capture some of the action! Out of the water the dotterels and oyster catchers were busy on the beach, and we could see gannets and terns working just off shore. They soon headed in and the gannets were diving into the shallows just metres from where the kids were swimming in the waves. We spotted the shadow of a school of fish moving along the beach, and then we saw why - some dolphins had come into the bay - unbelievable!
A pod of six including one juvenile were herding the baitfish and chased them right into the surf, apparently quite happy with the number of people at the beach and in the water. Their behaviour included tail slapping and coordinated aerial leaps, as well as surfing in and turning at the last possible moment - incredible to watch! I managed to catch a few photos while trying to keep my (not at all waterproof) camera out of the surf! There are some photos below and a video to follow.
