Incoming! (Gannets)

Gonzo got a fright when he saw this! Easter Island?

I left Whitianga at 8:00am with the proprietor and a couple from North Carolina seeing me off. The gentleman from NC had taken an interest in the kayak the previous day and was a very fit looking man of 65 or thereabouts. I gathered from our conversations that he himself had done some noteworthy kayak trips on rivers. Mention of a bicycle trip of 500km suggested his activities were not focused entirely on kayaks.

The day was cloudless and not even a whisper of wind stirred the water’s surface this morning. Gonzo was positively ecstatic with the conditions whilst I had half my mind on the injured shoulder and a lingering stiffness if not twinge.

Shortly thereafter, this distraction was well and truly put to one side as we exited Mercury Bay and began to head south with Gonzo suddenly hollering “INCOMING!!!” Up ahead 40-50 birds were dropping from a great height with wings peeled back against their bodies in a streamlined manner and plunging into the sea. They would plunge one after the other into the ocean in quick succession. It brought to my mind images of the WWII Battle of Midway in the Pacific with the dive bombers from both sides attacking opposition ships.

These birds were later to be identified as gannets. I had seen them on numerous occasions but only singly, or sometimes in pairs, either flying or ore often than not floating on the ocean’s surface. They are predominantly white with black wings and canary yellow heads.

My research latwer produced the following and it helps the reader understand what I was witnessing -

The gannets are large black and white birds, with long pointed wings and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, with a wingspan of up to 2 metres. The other two species occur in the temperate seas around southern Africa and southern Australia and New Zealand.
Gannets hunt fish by diving from a height into the sea and pursuing their prey underwater. Gannets have a number of adaptations which enable them to do this:
they have no external nostrils;
they have air sacs in their face and chest under their skin which act like bubble-wrap, cushioning the impact with the water;
their eyes are positioned far enough forward on their face to give them binocular vision, allowing them to judge distances accurately.
Gannets can dive from a height of 30 m, achieving speeds of 100 km/h as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds.
The gannet's supposed capacity for eating large quantities of fish has led to "gannet" becoming a disapproving description of somebody who eats excessively, similar to "glutton".

Hoping to capture the image on video I made my way closer thinking we’d probably missed our opportunity when the sound of a bird hitting the water just to my right made me turn. I noted the foaming stream of bubbles marking its entry and the resultant path through the water less than 5m away. The responsible party then bobbed up right in front of my bow and directly in the lens of the camera providing irrefutable proof of the close encounter.

Whilst I was still coming to grips with how near to us this had taken place, Gonzo yelled again and 3 or 4 birds in quick succession pierced the water’s surface to the right and left of us. It was incredibly exciting and a review of our footage showed that we had caught these images on film. Whilst not up to the standard of a David Attenborough documentary they leave no doubt as to the proximity of this exciting occurrence.

We were still pinching ourselves when we paddled into Cathedral Cove where an amazing archway and tunnel joined two beaches. The water was turquoise and would not have been out of place in French Polynesia. As we paddled on we happened upon a small opening in another headland and with the tide low and swell next to non-existent ventured inside. A small sandy beach, probably under water at high tide, was revealed. I was stunned at just how cool this spot was whilst Gonzo remarked “A perfect spot to hide looted treasure!”

More amazement followed when we noticed a huge arched opening in the cliffs. Water the colour of brilliant jade suggested deep water as we paddled into a magnificent cavern. It was as deep as it was high and we turned a wide circle within its belly before pointing the bow outwards to the bright sunshine.


“You could hide a whole pirate ship in here.” added Gonzo with his thoughts somewhere distant.

Despite all this wonder I was struggling today. My shoulder was playing on my mind whilst a couple of minor incidents had me feeling irritable. I had not slept well and this may have contributed to it, however I had inserted the camera inside its waterproof housing forgetting to turn the viewfinder inside out. This meant that I was unable to aim the camera accurately. It necessitated a stop on a small beach to rectify the problem. It is not advised to conduct such tasks in the company of sand and salt but the day was so perfect I risked it.

I completed the task but a wave promptly filled the cockpit with water and I had to begin the process of pumping, bailing and mopping the cockpit dry. Just as I neared completion another wave repeated the dousing and I had to begin the task again. Gonzo found this very amusing but I was not happy. At some stage during this process I managed to lose one of my Ipod’s earpieces. I also had to stop to urinate on 3 occasions within a few short hours and was cursing the fact that I’d consumed 4 glasses of water upon waking. Each stop - two at sea and one utilising a conveniently located rocky outcrop - meant more stoppages and disruptions to achieving the desired groove required to cover distances over multiple hours.

I also felt stiff when I thought I should have felt refreshed and strong after the two day layoff. Fortunately I would loosen up later in the day but had to endure a couple of uncomfortable hours before doing so.

At 12:15pm a slight breeze (10 knots?), picked up from the NE and I immediately picked up the rating and finally got into the rhythm that had been lacking all morning as I chased and surfed the small bits of chop known as ‘runners’. Over one ½ hour period I covered a distance of in excess of 6km, making up for some of the day’s earlier tardiness. The GPS would later indicate that the kayak had reached a top speed of 24.4km/h. Only time will tell how realistic this measurement was?

At 2:00pm we reached our destination. Slipper Island was surrounded by shallow and crystal clear waters. It was easy to understand why snorkelers and divers were attracted to this place. That it was teeming with fish life was confirmed when we spotted what at first appeared to be water rippling to a far greater degree than the waters around it. With a couple of seagulls sitting amongst it, I paddled closer. I wondered if a current must be running quickly over some shallower water in the spot, when just at the moment the bow touched the outer edge of this disturbed water, the surface exploded as hundreds of fish of about 12”-18” jumped and threw themselves all about. This happened another couple of times and on each occasion the thrashing fish made the water boil wildly. Again, we were able to capture this on camera and we hope that it will not be long before we can load this footage onto the blog site for everyone to see.

We pulled into a sandy beach beside a jetty and located an English couple. I thought they must be a couple carrying out maintenance or the like, but later learnt they were in fact responsible to the management of the campground I was seeking. They had been on the island since July and were not due to depart until next year. What an amazing gig! In hindsight they may have been expecting me to pay them there and then for the right to camp however I misinterpreted any suggestion of this. They certainly walked with me all the way back to the kayak and mentioned the price of $20 as they pointed me to a spot a couple o bays further around. Maybe if I’d turned back for a look I’d have seen them standing there with their hands held out, mouths agape.

One other piece of news they did impart was that the site was occupied by a large school group. I think they thought this might affect my desire to stay there but as anyone who knows me will attest, I could not wait to get there and discover who my new friends would be! After so many hours in the kayak and only Gonzo to converse (?) with I could not wait to be amongst like-minded persons. The thing with children, no matter what age, is that they simply want to have fun, and I am of course, a big kid, albeit an older one. Amongst children I could be as immature as I wanted!

As I rounded the final cape and entered a tranquil bay I was met by a flotilla of brightly covered sit on kayaks and their 14yo riders. I had covered another 40km to this point. A mini tent city lay just off the edge of the sandy beach and it was here that I met the teachers and advised them that I was quite happy to set my tent up off in a corner.

The BB Twins helped!

A tranquil bay that fronted the campsite.

Later I would have two delightfully confident and cheeky girls put my tent up for me. They introduced themselves as twins - they were not - but I shall refer to them as the BB Twins. The most apparent similarities they exhibited was a pretence to laugh at each other's shared jokes, and the fact that similarly brightly coloured braces flashed when they smiled, which was often.

I also met a young kayak instructor who was helping conduct activities and she was extremely helpful as we poured over my maps with her identifying possible stopping points and landmarks for me to watch for over the coming days.

Gonzo enjoys pulling out the large maps and charting a course.

At another point in time I had a group of boys huddled around as I recounted the story of my stay at The Ghost Resort i.e. the night spent on Pakatoa at the deserted resort. In unison they encouraged me to recount the story again when another drew up to our cluster.

Later that night I would be invited to share some fish curry and rice with the adults which I gratefully accepted. I helped dry pots and pans as an indication of my gratitude.

I went to sleep as the children played a game of Burma Rope in the early darkness. I fell asleep easily as their distant laughter enfolded my tent with the sounds of frivolous innocence and a time past.