New Zealand (III)
Cruising in New Zealand (III): Trip Report, Bay of Islands, New Zealand – April, 2003
Contributed By: David, Ludia & Yan Booth on Moorings M3800 Catamaran “Island Time II”
The Bay of Islands is located in the north east of New Zealand’s North Island, at around latitude 35 degrees South and longitude 174 degrees East. To get there from the East Coast of USA took about 24 hours, using Air New Zealand from LAX (12 hours non stop), after a transcontinental flight from JFK to LAX. You cross the International Date Line a few hours before arrival at Auckland, so we lost a day, leaving Wednesday evening & arriving Friday morning.
We spent some time in Auckland & nearby areas, before leaving for the Bay of Islands, but it is possible to take a domestic flight to Kerikeri immediately upon arrival if you prefer. Kerikeri is about 30 minutes from the Moorings base at Opua Wharf, requiring a taxi trip. We decided, however, to use the bus service from downtown Auckland (bus station is at the “Sky City” complex where the highest building in the southern hemisphere is located — you can’t miss it — you can also bungee jump from it if you wish, about a 200 meter drop, we didn’t... because of jet lag... ha ha !!). The bus trip to Paihia takes about 4 hours, and passes through pretty scenery and some quaint towns, and on advice from Moorings we asked the driver to stop the bus for us at “the top of Opua Hill” before arrival at Paihia, and Moorings were there when we arrived for the short drive to the base at Opua Wharf. It is also possible to use a rental car, with drop off at Paihia, just about 10minutes taxi ride to the base (taxi cost NZ$10, or about US$6).
We did our own provisioning, going to a well stocked Woolworth supermarket just outside Paihia, where we were able to get everything we needed, then taxied back to the boat (taxi drops you on the wharf right at the boat – very convenient). It would also be feasible to take your charter boat and anchor off the beach at Paihia, then dinghy ashore for the short walk to Woolworth’s, but for that you would need to check the chart and have someone show you where Woolworth’s is located. Water depth and holding ground quality are also issues at Paihia, so this method would only work with the correct weather & tide conditions. There are also small stores next to the wharf at Opua and in Russell, which is the nearest anchorage to Opua, and convenient as a first or last night anchorage. Russell is a pretty town with lovely gardens with a semi-tropical feel; with palm trees, hibiscus, etc. For folks who like a large breakfast there are cafes in both Paihia and Russell that do the bacon, egg, sausage, home-fries, tomato, toast routine.Because we were using owner’s “Reciprocal Time” for our charter we had to book outside the high season, so we chose the beginning of April, immediately following the end of high season. This is Fall in the southern hemisphere, so we were anticipating some cool weather and probable rainfall. On arrival in New Zealand we were amazed at how green the scenery was after the summer, and this made it quite clear to us that the Kiwis experience a good amount of rain, summer & winter! There were only a few Moorings & Sunsail yachts at the wharf when we arrived, and in the case of Moorings, at least, this was because most of the fleet was in the process of being relocated to Tonga. By switching boats between the two bases Moorings are able to minimize their fleet at each base during low season, and importantly minimize the number of boats at risk from hurricanes during the summer months in Tonga. The preferred time for a charter in the Bay of Islands would be in the December to February period when temperatures would be warmer and bad weather less frequent.
We had a very good boat briefing (38ft Catamaran) and chart orientation on the afternoon of our arrival, and could have set sail that afternoon, except that we needed to do our provisioning and felt the need to relax a little. The sailing area in the Bay of Islands is quite small, but it is also possible to cruise to the north (to Whangaroa) and to the south, including southbound trips down the coast to Auckland (although we did not do this ourselves). The Bay of Islands is a wide bay between Cape Brett to the East and Cape Wiwiki to the West with, as the name suggests, several islands and many secluded bays offering sheltered anchorages to suit most conditions. Opua wharf is at the south west corner of the Bay of Islands located on the Veronica Channel.
On the day we set sail there was a low pressure weather system to the North which threatened bad weather for the next day, and as we were waiting for a package by mail we decided to day-sail, spend the night at a nearby anchorage just south of the town of Russell, then return to Opua the next day to pick up our parcel and enjoy the security of the dock during the threatened high winds and heavy rain. As things turned out the weather was not as bad as predicted, but our port engine cooling water stopped flowing due to a failed impellor, so we needed to return to the base in any case for repairs, and stayed overnight tied to the dock.
On day 3 we had a pleasant sail from Opua to Roberton Island for a visit to the lagoons either side of the lovely beach, and then continued to a delightful anchorage to the North-East of Moturua Island. We were the only boat in the anchorage and the scenery was exquisite. We dinghied ashore and walked on one of the island’s beautiful trails at sunset – really magical!!
Our Cat at anchor at Moturua Island, taken from walking track around island
Day 4 was rainy with poor visibility, so we decided to stay in our snug anchorage and explore Moturua Island’s walking trails further by taking a circular walk around the island. This trail links four beaches by easy to follow paths that rise up from a beach through woodland or shrub, including a magical period walking through a tree fern forest, and then descends to the next beach. The walk took us a little over 2 hours and was well worth the effort.
Day 5 we set off early, at 7am on a windless morning, for the comparatively long trip to Whangaroa. We left the Motorua anchorage via the narrow passage to the north, motoring in a northerly direction toward the distinctive “ninepin island” (which looks more like a sharks fin) at the eastern side of Cape Wiwiki, crossing the entrance to the Bay of Islands. There was a moderate swell so this passage was very lumpy, and the motion of our 38ft catamaran unpleasant, so we were all feeling unwell by the time we rounded the Cape. We then had a long motor to the Cavalli Islands, about 20-mile distance from our anchorage. After careful navigation to avoid the many rocks at the southern entrance to the Cavalli’s we headed for the double horseshoe bays on the main island (Motukawanui Island) and anchored in the calm waters of the southern bay for lunch, a rest and a walk on the beach. Later in the afternoon, with the onset of a steady easterly breeze, we hoisted the main, weighed anchor, unfurled the jib and set off to round the northern end of Flat Island, then continued west to the Whangaroa harbor, around 10 nautical miles distant. It was very pleasant to be sailing again in a fair breeze, and although the seas were still lumpy, the cat’s motion was much better than when motoring. The Whangaroa harbor entrance is quite narrow but is easy to find, and just behind the inner entrance beacon there is a small bay which is home to the Kingfish Club, where there is a good (but expensive) restaurant, with rental moorings available for NZ$10, or around US$6 per night. This is the only place in the Bay of Islands area where rental moorings are available, all others being privately owned. Whangaroa harbor is almost fiord-like, with multiple branches and steep rock outcrops on all sides. Because of the narrow entrance the waters inside the harbor were glass-like, making for a good night’s sleep.
Whangaroa Harbor – entrance is in middle of photo behind small island
Day 6: We decided to take it easy so our son could catch up with some of his schoolwork, and we arranged to tie up at the breakwater of the recently completed Whangaroa marina. We checked in for the marina at the local store, a 5 minute walk on the right, docking costs were NZ$25 for breakwater or NZ$15 for a slip (not feasible for our Cat). The harbor is below a lovely hill, with an exposed rock peak formed from the core of an extinct volcano, called St Paul’s Rock, and we found out that there was a trail leading to the summit, although from below it looked un-climbable. In the afternoon we hiked the trail and the views were spectacular. It wasn’t a long hike, maybe 45 minutes each way, and definitely worth doing if you like a nice view. It was steep in one area, but climbing chains had been shackled to the rock face, making for an easy ascent. We had an excellent dinner at the Whangaroa Big Gamefish Club at the Marina.
Day 7: Nasty weather was predicted, with 30 to 40 knot winds from the East, so a return to the Bay of Islands was not a good plan, and we elected to stay another night at the Marina (due to prompting of our son who had found some friends at the Big Gamefish Club last night). We did however sail & motor around the protected waters of the extensive harbor and visited some of the anchorage areas within the harbor.
The gales and associated rough seas continued for another two days, and so we stayed at Whangaroa, and on day 9 took a tour to the northern tip of the North Island (Cape Reinga), which turned out to be a great way to spend an enforced day on shore! We arranged the trip via the marina office/store, and were picked up at 07:45 am and taken to the bus pick up point at Manganui (45km away). We stopped at a place where they make furniture from “swamp kauri” – from logs that have been buried in swamp for up to 50,000 years – well worth a visit. After visiting the lighthouse and taking a walk at Cape Reinga to view the stunning scenery we crossed to the west coast, driving on the hard packed sand bed of a stream (with a stop to toboggan down impressive sand dunes) to access the so-called “90 mile beach”, which in reality is only about 60 miles long, and then drove along the beach (at low tide) for about half it’s length before crossing back to the east coast and back to our starting point.
Day 10 dawned with fair weather and light winds for our uneventful journey back to the Bay of Islands. We passed close by a headland with a memorial to the Rainbow Warrior, close by the Cavalli Islands. The Rainbow Warrior was the flagship of the Greenpeace organization, which was sunk in Auckland harbor, on orders of the French Government, to prevent it interfering in nuclear testing in the South Pacific, and was subsequently re-floated then sunk in the Cavalli Island area where it is now a popular dive site.
Day 11: We decided to visit the Treaty House and grounds at Waitangi, near to Paihia, where the original treaty between the Maori tribal chiefs and the British Government took place about 150 years ago, forming the basis of present day New Zealand. There are a number of walking trails from the Treaty House grounds, and we took a pleasant hiking trail through woodland and mangrove swamp (on a raised board-walk) to the pretty Haruru waterfall (which can also be visited by using a rental kayak from Paihia). This hike took about two hours, and we then took a taxi back to Paihia as it was getting too late to hike back the way we had come (we had used the dinghy to travel from Opua to Paihia, which took about 20 minutes, and daylight was beginning to fail as we started the dinghy ride back to the boat at the Opua Wharf).
Day 12 was a day for shopping and letting our son have a ride over the Veronica Channel on a Parasail, a large parachute towed behind a speedboat. We still had time for a two or three hour day sail, anchoring at Russel’s Matauwhi Bay for the night, then using a local ferry to cross the channel back to Paihia for shopping. Russell is a lovely town with nice restaurants – and is less touristy than Paihia.
Day 13: We sailed out to the main island area in the Bay, and anchored for the evening at “Paradise Bay” on Urupukapuka Island – arriving just before rain set in (again) - our 13 year-old son commented that if this was Paradise, he wouldn’t want to stay in Hell Bay. There is a network of walking trails on Urupukapuka Island, but walking through the brush in the rain got us quickly wet through, so we didn’t explore very far before checking the state of our rum rations.
Day 14 saw us make a leisurely trip back to Opua Wharf to end our charter – so we could pack our bags in good time for an early morning departure by air from KeriKeri to Auckland and then on to the South Island for the land based portion of our vacation. It should be mentioned that the weather in the South Island was MUCH better than we had experienced in the North Island, and the scenery was quite spectacular (as you probably know if you have seen the Lord of the Rings movies).
During the Bay of Islands charter we learned that Moorings was about to close down the base and move all their yachts from Opua to Tonga... very sad!! We were actually the very last charter to use the Moorings base — but as it seems that Sunsail will continue to operate there, and also at Auckland — it is still possible to charter at the Bay of Islands, and it is certainly a trip that is well worthwhile to take!