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Published: August 8th 2007
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We’ve done five dives now; one was called off because of rough seas. The first was a wreck called the Mataora, outside Avarua harbour. The wreck was broken up, and in places was little more than a pile of twisted metal. We didn’t see heaps of fish, but it was a good and interesting dive. The water was reasonably warm (24C) and visibility was good. We saw angel fish, damsel fish, some big lionfish, cod, crown of thorns, triggerfish, rainbow wrasse, threadfin butterfly fish, anemone fish, clownfish, checkerboard wrasse, blue spotted grouper and trumpet fish. The coral around the wreck was very plain, but appeared to be alive.
We hung around town (Avarua), having lunch at Trader Jacks, waiting for the second dive, only to be told that it had been called off due to rough seas. So instead we borrowed snorkelling gear from the dive shop and went in back near the hostel.
We actually saw a lot more snorkelling here than during the dive in the morning, including a huge moray eel.
Yesterday we managed two more dives, one a night dive. The first one was at a site called Paradise Reef, again just outside Avarua harbour.
It was an interesting enough site, but even less fish than the first dive. We did see some butterfly fish, angel fish, parrot fish and a couple of Spanish Dancers.
The second dive was at about 7pm. We went back to the Mataora. We’d seen a couple of whales outside the harbour shortly before setting off, but they had gone by the time we got out there. The Mataora was much better at night. The wreck seemed much more impressive by torchlight. We saw heaps more fish too, including loads of lionfish, trumpet fish, parrot fish, emperor angelfish, hermit crabs, Picasso triggerfish and bird wrasse. Most named thanks to a couple of posters at the dive shop! The new digital camera seems to be taking quite good photos underwater, so we’ll try and shrink some to post here.
Another two dives today, a ‘deep’ dive and a multi level dive. We went to two new sites and both had enough to make them interesting.
First up was “Edna’s Anchor”, a reef outside Avarua harbour (there are other dive sites around the island, but the boat is launched from the harbour so it makes sense to dive nearby!)
We went down to 30m and did a couple of things to test for any narcosis etc. We cracked open a raw egg, which just floated around in one lump until it was eaten by a remora fish. In addition to the usual fish, we also saw a stone fish.
Second dive was at a wreck called the Maritime Reefer. We did a multi level dive at this wreck, which was very broken up. Good dive, plenty to see including Moorish idols, cleaner wrasse, surgeon fish, box fish, snapper, banner fish, chocolate dips and the “usual” angel fish and butterfly fish.
The weather has remained warm/hot and clear, with the odd shower. Underwater temps of about 24-25C, and quite a few degrees hotter on land.
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