Three Kings

Friday April 5th Dave left on "Back In Black", a 60 ft boat that he worked on a bit last year, to head to the Three Kings Islands. This group of islands is about 35 miles northwest of Cape Reinga, the most northern point of New Zealand's mainland accessible by car, where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meet. The first night they anchored in North Cape and in the morning they began trolling toward the Three Kings. Three nights were spent at Three Kings, with tons of fishing. They caught 2 striped marlin while up there, along with 1 mahi mahi, and several squid. 

The area is teeming with wildlife. They saw several really cool species of birds including the Mollymawk, a type of albatross with wingspan from 6 to 8 1/2 feet wide. They also saw 4 types of whales, Pilot, Blue, Pygmy Right, and Killer. On Tuesday they began cruising back south and hooked up on a third stripped marlin near Cape Kari Kari . This one was the biggest of the trip weighing in at 346 pounds. After landing this one, they took the boat into Whangaroa Harbour to weigh in. Jill drove up about an hour to meet them for the weigh in. Once the fish was down

from the scales, we all celebrated. We took the boat over to Kingfish Lodge, a bar/restaurant/lodge on a nearby island. We hung out at the lodge and stayed overnight on the boat tied up to their dock. It was a great fishing trip for Dave. Last year there were plans to go to the Three Kings several times, but the weather never allowed it, so this was a much appreciated trip. The owner of the boat, Greg, had a perfect trip and enjoyed having Dave as crew, and Jill as a guest on the last night. On Wednesday the guys brought the boat back to Opua and concluded the trip. Success!