Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve was rated by Cousteau as being one of the top ten diving spots in the world, so I knew this was a snorkel trip we couldn’t pass up. The islands are 24km off the coast near Tutukaka . We went on Dive!Tutukaka’s “Perfect Day” cruise. It was a great experience with beautiful scenery and wildlife, and we were lucky to have great weather. The boat was huge and could carry 65 passengers, but we only had 15 on ...

We had a long, difficult drive today so we set the alarm clock and were on the road by 7 AM. We stopped along the way to photograph some big Kauri trees. Kauri, which used to be plentiful, can live for 2000 years and only grow in Northland and on the Coromandel Penisula. The trees used to be harvested for timber and for the gum which is an important ingredient in varnish. We drove through Auckland at 10AM and were thankful that it wasn’t rush hour. The high...