37th Post New Zealand

37^th Post

Oh dear oh dear oh dear! (As Piglet was wont to say). How can that have happened? It’s rather a long time since we updated this Blog. Sorry, our only defence is that we have been having rather a good time. But more of that anon.

Proof, if proof were needed, that we really are in New Zealand.

We arrived in Opua in New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday, 14^th November, 2012 after a relatively quiet crossing from Tonga.

The NZ authorities are very strict, but efficient, helpful and considerate.

Having made radio contact and given them an estimated time of arrival, we were directed to the marina’s quarantine berth. It was too late in the day to clear customs, so we were told not to go ashore,  but to await a visit from customs, immigration and bio security in the morning. This arrangement suited us very well, allowing us to get a good night’s sleep before clearing in.

Opua has a large and well managed marina with a host of yacht repair specialists. It also has a well stocked chandlery, a laundry and a good, small local shop. Oh yes, and a hire car rental.

All in all an excellent port of entry for ocean sailors. As we were to find out, it is also an easy place to spend far too much money!

It is to be expected that after an ocean crossing one would have a fairly long list of jobs. And so it was.  High priority was to fix the fridge. We really, really needed cold beer. Then there were sails to repair. Willis sails in the nearby Kerikeri made us a replacement genoa for the one we blew out in a bit of a squall on the way across from Tonga. The main sail also needed some TLC and this was provided free of charge. All in all, I think we got very good value for our not inconsiderable amount of money.

 Just a small part of the beautiful Bay of Islands.

We were not surprised to discover that our walking muscles had atrophied. Tonga and the other Pacific islands are not famous for their mountain walking potential!  Our once white but sturdy legs now resembled well tanned matchsticks. A few local walks from Opua were pleasant enough, as were one or two in the Bay of Islands, but we needed bigger hills to prepare us for New Zealand’s mountains, bush tracks and tramps.

Ironically we also had to go shopping for walking kit. To this end we hired a car for the day and drove to Whangarei, a large busy town 30 miles south of Opua. We found an excellent camping/tramping shop and made the owners’ day by kitting ourselves out with tent, sleeping bags, inflatable mattresses, pots & pans, stove, walking boots and dehydrated trail food. If this goes on we shall have to buy a bigger boat!

Just before we were due to leave Opua ,we suffered a wee set back. I had climbed the mast to replace our old fashioned incandescent anchor light, with a state of the art LED. (Have you ever noticed that spending money can become intoxicating? One can easily be led into thinking, “Well it’s only a little bit more compared with what we’ve already spent”.)

While aloft, I took the opportunity to inspect the rigging wires. To my horror I discovered that two of the wires holding up the mast had a broken strand! There was no debate and no doubt that all the standing rigging would have to be replaced. The prospect of the mast falling down in mid ocean is not conducive to a good night’s sleep.

The local rigging shop was flat out with work and not too keen to take on the job. However, I managed to persuade them by offering to do all the mast climbing myself. There are nine wires in all. I would take one length of wire down and carry it to their workshop as a template for the replacement. Then take a second one down and repeat the procedure. I therefore had to climb the mast eighteen times in all. I got quite good at it in the end.

We decided that Christmas presents were off this year!

Urupukapuka island (Bay of Islands)

A few days before Christmas we escaped the clutches of Opua and went exploring the wonderful Bay of Islands. The bay is packed with delightful islands and anchorages to suit all wind directions. It’s very busy at the height of the Christmas holiday season, but by being a little canny and paying attention to ones navigation it’s possible to avoid the crowds.

On a walk on Urupukapuka Island we came across a group of DOC (Department of Conservation) people erecting a fence to protect a nesting dotterel with eggs in her nest. We got chatting to the lady who had asked us to keep clear and were subsequently invited to come and have a closer look. I’m often amused/puzzled that it’s OK for them to disturb wildlife but not us. Anyway, it was a lovely sight that we might otherwise have missed.

Rain and strong wind were forecast for Christmas week and the prediction proved to be  correct. (The NZ met office provide excellent forecasts. I think they may have a slightly easier job than their counterparts in the UK). We were treated to the tail end of a cyclone in Fiji and were subjected to 40 knot winds and driving rain.

Nevertheless, we found a well sheltered anchorage in Omakiwi Bay and on Christmas day itself, during a lull, managed to get ashore for a short walk. In the afternoon we visited Barbara and Michael from the USA on their yacht Astarte. Michael had helped run a very useful HF radio net for cruisers crossing the Pacific.

Oke Bay – Bay of Islands.

We couldn’t miss this opportunity to top up our water tank.

Sometimes when doing this, we even have a shower.

On Boxing Day the storm passed and the weather reverted to its seasonal benign mood. We sailed the short distance to Moturua Island and had a curious encounter with Tom and Vicky aboard their beautiful wooden S&S yacht ‘Sunstone’. “Was your yacht once called Sloper?” they enquired. Well indeed it was. It transpired that they are members of the Ocean Cruising Club and know Jeremy Knox, it’s one time secretary, and first owner of Sula/ Sloper. Pippa and I have often thanked Jeremy (in his absence) for his modifications in making Sula such a good strong cruising yacht. We have since been in email correspondence with him and he is delighted that Sula/Sloper is once again doing what she is best at doing: i.e. sailing the world’s oceans.

Cape Bret, to the South of the Bay of Islands.

Most boats will go anywhere, but most skippers (including Sula’s) won’t.

(Credit – Ian M)

Our last outing before leaving the Bay of islands was to attempt the Cape Bret Treck. It’s a good 12 mile walk there and back, with many ups and downs along the peninsular from Oke Bay. Well, sad to say we didn’t make it. We tried our best, but just weren’t fit enough. At Maunganui Bay just two miles from the head we gave up. The path dropped steeply down to sea level. It was hot and we were tired and thirsty. We just couldn’t face descending and then having to climb all the way back up again. Oh what wimps we have become!

Sailing past Cape Bret was quite another matter. The sun shone, we had a gentle breeze most of the way and our reliable Beta engine stepped in when the wind stepped out.

We stopped overnight at Whangamumu. Then Tutukaka on our way to Whangarei.  Parua Bay, just inside the entrance to the Whangarei river was lovely, peaceful and sheltered. It’s just a shame that we dragged our anchor in the middle of the afternoon. Fortunately the only thing to be dented was my ego. 

 Mt. Manaia from its summit.

Our ascent of Mt Manaia near Bream Head was to be our introduction to the DOC steps policy. A lovely walk, spoiled to some extent by the placing of hundreds of expertly constructed wooden steps. I’m not convinced that they are to control erosion. More likely it is political correctness making the mountain more accessible. Nevertheless, we enjoyed much of the walk, most noticeably the summit. (Not in the photograph above).

We arrived at the end of the steps, but could see that there was a pillar of rock to be climbed to reach the true summit. I remarked that it was a shame that the top couldn’t be reached. “Oh, but it can” answered a local hill walker “We used to do it a lot when I was younger, (He was a lot younger than us!) it goes down there, round the corner, then a scramble to the top”. So off set Pippa and I. We didn’t much like the look of the scramble we found. It was almost vertical, had good, but rounded holds and a sheer drop of a hundred feet or so. Feeling that discretion was the better part of valour, we backed off. Our guide called out to us, “Not that way! Climb the groove to your left.” I had already looked at this groove and dismissed it as being too hard. However, it did lack the fall potential of the other way, and it turned out to be easier than it looked. A good job too as later we would have to down climb it. Our kind guide waited until we were safely back on the tourist path before disappearing into the bush. His kindness and good sense quite made our day.

No, not a Kiwi, but a Weka. Similar, both are flightless

but the Weka has wings and is not at all shy.

Our next port of call was to return (this time by boat) to Whangarei. After a lovely sail up river, we found a berth at the Town Quay, bang slap in the middle of the town. It was just fine. We could use our bikes to access everything we needed and everything we needed was within easy reach. Our privacy was secured by a copse of trees in a park. We could not have wished for more.

On the 10th of January we met up with Steve and Anna Sutcliffe, friends of ours from Pembrokeshire. Both of them are respected naturalists who are happy to try and educate those of us who are not. They had a camper van and we a hire car, and our, as yet, unused tent. We were to spend the next three days in their very congenial company.

During a short estuary walk we saw (after they had been pointed out) Fairy Terns, Banded Dotterel and Stilt.” There you are,” remarked Steve, “we have been here for twenty minutes and have seen two of the rarest birds in the world!”

Anna joined us next day for part of our Bream Head walk. The first part was up a steep ridge from a surfing beach. Looking back at the view we saw surfers doing what surfers do best. But amongst the surfers were two pods of Dolphins. The next sight was just stunning! As we watched, alongside the surfers, Dolphins were surfing down the waves? Wow!

Urquhart’s Bay

That evening we were invited by a family camping in our field in Urquharts Bay, to join them for supper. They had apparently caught too much fish that day and needed our assistance to eat some of it.

The first item we were offered was an NZ version of ‘poisson cru’. They said that they rarely cook their fish, preferring just to squeeze lemon juice over them, marinade or smoke them according to taste. Next to their caravan, they had a portable fish smoker that was being put to good use. Quite a day!

The Queen Charlotte Sound

(The very north of NZ’s South Island)

Our next adventure was with another two Pembrokeshire friends, Steve and Lynne Brodie. They emigrated to NZ ten years ago and are taking time out from work to complete, in stages, the Te Araroa Walkway. This connecting series of tramps traverses the whole of New Zealand: from Cape Brett in the North of North Island to Bluff in the extreme south of South Island.

Leaving Sula safe and sound in Whangarei, we caught the overnight bus (the loser cruiser) to Wellington via Auckland and then a ferry to Picton in the Queen Charlotte sound. Pippa had taken the precaution of booking a ‘Top Ten’ camp site. We were directed to their Tent Village, but were unimpressed by the small patch of grass in a corner of the site, with several cars parked on it. I found a better place and prepared myself to do battle should anyone try to evict us. As it happened no one did. The facilities on offer however were astonishing. A kitchen with microwave ovens, fridge, hot running water and tables and chairs. We also found a barbeque. The toilet had piped music!

We met up with Steve and Lynne the following day. They had just finished a five day tramp, but seemed remarkably fresh to us. We caught the inter-island ferry to Ship Cove to start our own four day tramp. It proved to be a very enjoyable walk in excellent company. Though most attractive, it was not at all wilderness. We had well groomed footpaths all the way. We didn’t even carry our camping kit, preferring to have it delivered to our next camp site by the inter-island ferry. Steve had some rather illiberal views regarding the use of walking poles, but apart from that the trip was a great success.

Our four day Queen Charlotte tramp with Steve and Lynne

  

Steve and Lynne had two long road sections of their Araroa walk to complete. So we took their spare kit to Havelock for them in our hire car, and headed for Smith’s Farm campsite. This suited us so much better than our previous campsite. The amenities were much the same, possibly better, certainly there was no piped music in the toilet. Best of all we found a lovely secluded place to pitch our tent in the shade of a large tree.

The following day saw us on the Pelorus River walk. At Captain’s Creek we called a halt, we were hot, weary and as it was a there and back walk, only half way through. The lure of the cool (no, cold) water was irresistible, we stripped off and with gay abandon plunged into the icy water. But not for long! The Sand Flies attacked en masse, even before we were clear of the water. It was impossible to stand still long enough to get dressed, so, stopping only long enough to grab our clothes, we ran to the protection of the nearby DOC hut.

We arrived back at the start of our walk, hot, sweaty and tired in the heat of the day. The nearby, well named Emerald Pool winked at us. But what about the sand flies! However all was well. It seems the vicious beasts don’t like the afternoon heat. We had a lovely swim and then stood with arms akimbo pretending to be Cormorants drying their feathers in the sun.

Our sojourn in the Queen Charlotte sound was almost over. There was time, however, for a farewell supper in a Havelock ale house with the Brodies, before they set off on a nine day tramp and we caught the Loser Cruiser back to Whangarei and Sula.

Woolshed Bay.

The socialising, however, was far from over. That well known Pembrokeshire raconteur, sailor, cowboy (literally) and builder of the Sydney Opera House (apparently), Neville Hopkins, was in town. He was on a tight schedule, having been sailing in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Islands with his cousin and her husband, before flying off to Australia.

We spent a lovely afternoon in Parua (Woolshed bay), eating drinking and catching up with Neville and meeting his relations Leslie and Mark.

We were kept in harbour for a few days awaiting a fair wind to take us to Great Barrier Island. On the 7^th February the wind allowed us to head off, but unfortunately it soon died, so we motored the best part of 40 miles to Karaka Bay in Port Abercrombie, Great Barrier Island. It is an easy anchorage to approach, so it was of little consequence that we arrived after dark.

The following day a boat approached bearing yet another friend, and two pirates! Denise and Martin are two friends and ex work colleagues from my Prince’s Trust days. They are now living and Denise is working, at the Edmond Hillary OPC. We spent a most enjoyable few days in their company, catching up, meeting their children for the first time, and trying to sail in light winds with a foul hull.  

Whangapoua Creek from Mt. Hobson

As Denise wasn’t working on the Sunday (well, not all day), she and Martin went surfing on the East coast of the island. They crammed their kit, the children (and their toys) plus us into their van, then dropped us off at the start of Palmer’s track that led us through the Windy Canyon and up to the summit of the island’s highest mountain (627 metres) Mt. Hobson. From the summit we were able to walk down anther track and so back to Sula. Therefore having traversed the mountain. Always a fine way of doing a climb.

It was great to meet up again with these truly lovely people after far too long. However, they had work to do and we had an island to explore, so after three days it was time for us to move on.

Smokehouse Bay, Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island.

One job that desperately needed doing was to scrub off Sula’s Hull. The last time it had been done was in Tonga, and the small amount of weed we had on arrival in NZ had thrived during our time in Whangarei. Smokehouse bay was the place for such a job. It has been fitted out by NZ yachties with not just scrubbing posts, but also with fresh running water, a bathroom with hot and cold water,(hot water heated by lighting a wood burner) toilets, washing lines and of course a smoke house. All these facilities were free of charge!

We have spent seventeen delightful days exploring Great Barrier Island and could happily spend more. We have met up with old friends, we have climbed the highest peak and have circumnavigated the island. We have witnessed the stunning spectacle of a pod of dolphins leaping clear of the water and frolicking in our bow wave for over an hour! And we have seen a Bryne whale!

New Zealand is a big place and there is so much for us to see and do.

Our next port of call will be Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf. A mere 30 miles sail from here. But that story I will tell another time.

Best wishes

Dee and Pippa.

What do you call this rig? Seen in the Bay of Islands.

Both masts are unstayed and carry a junk rig.

Apparently it was designed by a farmer and goes like stink.