Went out to the Goat Island Marine Reserve, off the coast of Leigh, north of Warkworth. The protected marine reserve is home to a variety of fish and marine life extending over a considerable distance. Most people scuba, snorkel and swim between the beach and Goat Island itself for safety.
We spent just over an hour in the water. While the weather warmed up, there were alternating currents of warm and cold that kept it fun. The stronger currents kicked up more sand though, and visibility was limited for parts of the swim. The most plentiful fish were trevally, the largest I saw about 18 – 20 inches. I also saw a few schools of sprat, a couple kelp fish, parore and a snapper.
Swimming in the ocean for the first time in ages reminded me how annoying it is to catch a mouthful of water.
I’d also like to point out this is the third major case of fraud since I arrived in New Zealand. First, we had the Milford Sounds that was actually a fjord. Second, the Glow Worm caverns that actually had glowing maggot shit. Today, we went to Goat Island that had no goats. What the hell!
For those curious, the name ‘goat island’ was actually a pretty common name for small islands very close to a coast. The original explorers would leave a couple goats on such islands to provide food for any stranded people or shipwrecked survivors. According to the signs, there is no evidence that goats were left on this island. However, there were pigs left on the island for the same purpose, but they had the good sense to swim to shore during low tide.
