With the luck of the draw and some good weather, me and a few of AFC members ended up going on a spearfishing mini-trip to Noises just before the end of 2022. It was a great way to wind up the year.
The Noises
The Noises is a group of tiny islands, more like islets and rocks North of Rangitoto Island. Together they form a chain of ancient rock stretching from Hunua Ranges to Tawharanui, to Cape Rodney (think Goat Island). Rakino and Motutapu Islands are part of that chain, but not Rangitoto, which is only 600 years old.
The name Noises probably comes from a corruption of the French name Les Noisettes (hazelnuts) given to the area by Durmont D’Urville in 1827. It does go with the landscape - spooky rocky outcrops sticking out of the sea. Very picturesque and somewhat unsettling.
Early bird gets the fish
After a few initial hiccups we launched from Takapuna boat ramp. The trip took us about 20 minutes at very comfortable 30 knots. There was no clear plan for "where to" and the first stop was the channel between Motuhoropapa and Otata Islands just to see what's out there.
What we saw was a marine environment under pressure.
Plenty of fish in the sea no more
It was not exactly a kina barren like Auckland's East Coast, but it's getting there. We added to its degradation by taking 2 snapper (not me, though). I spent most of my time feeding kina to reef inhabitants at the Northern tip of Motuhoropapa. The damage to my ego for not being able to score a fish was offset by the self-righteous pride for not contributing to the ecosystem demise. It was quite a dissonant feeling.
The second stop was Ahaaha Rocks. Those were truly just rocks, not even islets, poking out about a meter above the sea.
We anchored a safe distance away and swam to where the action was expected. The tidal current was OK with plenty of other boats around in case any of us needed help.
I found an interesting reef, again on the Northern side of the rocks and was exploring its shallows. The deepest I dived was about 12 meters. It was dropping off further, but the bottom looked barren and featureless. I do not know how to spear in that environment or if it's even worth spearing there. All the action was around the cliffs and crevasses in the top 10m. There was snapper, parore, blue maomao, demisels, marble fish and one pompous silver drummer. Surprisingly, there was not much kina. The few spiky balls I could find were large and tucked away into holes. The moment I dropped one kina out into the open it was attacked by a hungry mob. There must be enough snapper to keep the kina under control.
I think the rock I used for cover was the same rock where Ollie Craig shot a snapper.
Avian freediving
At one moment the school of parore I was watching scattered as if there was a predator. And sure there was - a small bird crashed into the water and disappeared behind a rock. I did not see it going up. It must have swam away underwater. The reef went quiet for some time after that. Did they expect another raid?
As always, I was the last one out of the water with everyone waiting for me in the boat. The final destination for the day was another group of rocks near Ruapuke Island. Unlike Ahaaha rocks, that outcrop was flat and spread out.
If I don't find trouble, the trouble finds me
I swam between two plateaus in turbulent water looking for something worth shooting, but all I found was trouble. My float was caught in a gap between sharp rocks, the line tangled and I could not free it for quite a while. Loosing my gear would be very embarrassing. Getting close enough to pull it out would risk being cut up by the barnacles, so I kept circling, kicking as hard as I could and generally behaving erratically in poor viz to attract more trouble.
Before any more trouble found me, a big wave dislodged the float and I made a dash for deeper waters. Seconds later something big swam past me. My heart jumped, the speargun went up, but the "thing" didn't look exactly like fish - it was a small bronzie checking me out. A Christmas Bronzie. I named it Santa.
In the end, everyone got at least one fish except me. My bragging rights this time will be what a great environmentalist I am for not being able to shoot any.