Exploring the Moana After a Tsunami Warning Cancelled

Disclaimer: I do not recommend disregarding Tsunami Warnings and Advisory Notices

Ruaumoko threw a tantrum on 2 September 2016 off the coast of Te Araroa resulting in a 7.1 magnitude earthquake and Civil Defence issued a tsunami warning, - which included Otaipango - that later they cancelled although they did advise "Expect unusually strong currents and unpredictable water flows near the shore. Say out of the water and off beaches and shore areas."

Now I had already planned the day before to go and wander around in the moana this day and even through CD had issued the warnings and advisory notice, the day was fine and the tides were good so off we went. One of the first things I do every time going into the moana, regardless of warnings, is from the cliffs looking down to check the currents, wind, waves, birds, clouds, smells, surf sound and rocks. All of these are tools that when used correctly will let you know what is happening and what will happen in a few hours at the beach and if you know how to read and interpret them correctly then it is easy to work out if it is safe to go in and where to go. So after assessing the main Otaipango and deciding it was not safe there we went and checked out Kauere which passed the safety test and in we went.

As usual we had a wonderful time, seeing the usual suspects as well as discovering beautiful and new creatures we had not seen before and of course, no wandering around would be complete without spotting at least one wheke (octopus) and this one was a cheeky little poser! Check out the full post to see what this one did LOL

Disclaimer: I do not recommend disregarding Tsunami Warnings and Advisory Notices

Posted on September 2, 2016 10:24 PM by tangatawhenua