Thurday we were out of the wind and swell, tucked nicely in Farmer bay. B was able to finished off sewing the cushions on the starboard side of the saloon.
Friday we ventured out and around the corner to do some fishing. B caught a nice snapper for dinner, before we returned to Farmer bay where it was still more shelter from the wind and swell.
Sunday we moved to Motuketekete island where B was brave enough to swim in cold water ashore to collect more shells. If anyone has a spare 12 million dollars the island and its two bedroom cottage is up for sale.
Monday we made our way back to Tindalls Bay, Whangaparaoa. It took us a while as we had diverted our course to help a kayaker who had called on channel 16, asking for help as he fell in the water about 1 mile offshore of Army bay and couldn’t get back on his kayak. The coast guard arrived just in front us and so he no longer required our assistance.
In the afternoon we borrowed Darrens jeep to go to do some grocery shopping and in anticipation of high winds we moved across to Swan Bay for the night.
Sunday morning everything was still. The water was like glass as we departed Whangaruru. With a very lite wind behind us and a sunny sky we headed south. We started by setting the sails in a butterfly configuration (main one side and headsail the other). It wasn’t long before the wind changed. The wind was getting stronger as the day went on so we stopped at Tutukaka.
Tutakaka is a well sheltered harbour with a little bay and a marina. Monday we ventured ashore and walked along the peninsular to the lighthouse. The views were stunning. Tuesday we loaded the laundry into the dinghy and went into the marina. The Marina has a few shops and cafes, so we stayed for lunch.
Wednesday we headed further south. With the wind on the nose we motorsailed most of the way. We were escorted by a pod of dolphins for part of the way. As we cruised past we also spotted a couple of whales and a seal which was obvouisly asleep with its fins up above water . We made it all the way to Kauwau Island by 6pm and anchored in Farmer bay.
We have spent the a few days in Araawaroa Bay on Moturua Island recovering and doing a few repairs. I have put a temporary pully at the top of the mast to hoist the main sail because the pully for the main halyard has seized. The dinghy has been repatched, so it might stay inflated now. B has been working on recovering the cushions in the saloon.
Tuesday we went to Pahia to do the laundry and more shopping, planning to start heading south to Auckland. By midday we were done and went and anchored in Otaio bay on One of the biggest islands of Bay of islands. We were thinking of doing a big hike on the island on Wednesday afternoon. However the night had been a bit windy and uncomfortable and despite the light winds forecasted for the day it seems to increased already so after our walk on the beach (actually on the 3 little beaches that surrounding the bay) we decided to head back to Awaawaroa bay for more shelter. It had been a rainy afternoon anyway and hiking wouldn’t have been fun.
Wednesday it was an early morning start ( early for us in this cold weather is 10am !). We motored around Cape Brett with a flat sea and no wind. We saw a lot of little penguins and thousands of birds sitting on the water flying away as we were going through them. By 1pm we anchored in Whangamumu harbour for a sheltered afternoon and night.
Friday morning we went ashore to check out the old whaling station and then took a long walk to the top of the surrounding hills. Whangamumu is a stunning uninhibited bay surrounded by high bush covered hills well known for some good nice hiking tracks. In the afternoon we fished off the back of Imagine and caught a snapper for dinner.
This morning we set off south again, stopping at Whangaruru. It’s not as sheltered here in the South westerly wind, but we are out of the swell.
We have made it to New Zealand! The trip was great with light winds and sea. We made good time and arrived in Opua at 3am Wednesday, which means we made it in seven and a half days. It took untill lunch time to clear customs and rain and high winds had set in. We went across to the marina chandlery for glue to repair the dinghy, then we headed across to Russel for shelter and to sleep.
We got up late on Thursday. B bailed out the dinghy before we went ashore to get some groceries. We then motored to Awaawaroa Bay where we will spend a few days here recovering from the trip.
Tuesday morning there was no wind, so we had to motor all the way to Denarau. We anchored, had lunch then ventured ashore in the dinghy. We called at Customs to see if we could check out and leave early hours of the morning. No. We had to book an appointment a day in advance. So we booked an appointment for as soon as they opened at 8am Wednesday. We then went and did a little grocery shopping and returned to Imagine.
We were up bright and early this morning and was at the customs office at 8am. It was 9.30 when we phoned the number on the door. The customs guy said he didn’t think anyone was going to leave today, so he wasn’t going to come into work today. After explaining we had booked with him for 8am he said he will come in about an hour. He turned up at 11.45.
We are now on our way to New Zealand. We will have limited internet untill we get there, so no more pictures till then.
Sunday morning we headed south again. The chart showed two little islands that were out of the wind and should give us protection from both the south westerly and the easterly swells. Vanu Livu and Navadra island looked ideal, but as we got closer the south westerly swell turned more westerly. When we got into the bay there was a small swell finding it’s way around the island and into the bay. We dropped anchor anyway as we were hot and wanted a swim. By the time the anchor was set we were surrounded by eight black tip reef sharks ranging from 1 to 1.3 meter long. That was when we realised we weren’t really that hot and didn’t need a swim. They circled Imagine for about half an hour. We have swam in bays with one or two reef shark there, but eight was too many. We hauled anchor and headed further south to Malolo Lailai island (opposite Musket Cove marina far enough from the crowd). We have been here many times before and knew it is a good anchorage.
Monday morning we dinghied across to Musket Cove marina to do drop off the laundry. When we got back we cleaned the hull (for NZ biosecurity) . We went back to the Marina for lunch, picked up the laundry and filled the jerrycans with fuel. We spent the afternoon relaxing.
