Great Barrier Island: March 30th to April 8th

Aotea is the Maori name for Great Barrier Island. Capt. Cook named it in 1769 for the shelter and protection it provides to the Hauraki Gulf. The island is only about 55 miles from Auckland but it could not be more different.

Rugged and remote it has an abundance of native forest, marine life and birds. It is part of the Hauraki Gulf Marine park system and protected because its natural and cultural heritage is rich, divers and unique.

Also, rich in history, from the 1840’s the island’s natural resource has attracted European settlement. A number of industries exploited the island’s forest, minerals and migrating whales. Copper was mined here along with gold and silver. The Kauri forests were logged, only a few original kauri forests survived. The Great Barrier Island was also the site of a number of shipwrecks and you can see two grave sites mark these terrible disasters. 

Our first “port of call” on GBI is on the southern tip at Tryphena Harbor. This is the main ferry port for folks coming from the main land. There is a small village with a couple of restaurants, and bar, store and post office. It is also home to the GBI Social Club, with pool table, food and movies on Monday nights.

The next stop for us is Whangaparpara Harbour. ( here the wh makes the f sound so it is pronounced, faan-guh-para-para).  It is here that you can see the remains of the old whaling station and timber mill. Also in this very lovely bay are a wharf and the Great Barrier Island Lodge. A great place for dinner and drinks. We have a wonderful meal here, the managers are very nice and have traveled to the states and knew my home town of Santa Cruz and knew much of the Northwest as they traveled from California to Alaska. We anchored in graveyard bay, and yes there is a small “pioneer” type grave yard with about a half dozen grave sites. The oldest we saw was from 1910. From here we can hear all the exotic birds, the kaka a large brown noisy parrot, the ever changing song of the tui bird and the wekas, the “chickens” of NZ as the Māori and settlers both used them for meat and eggs.

We then sail to the large much protected Port FitzRoy Harbour. This port is made up of many different bays and it is fun to explore. In Kiwiriki Bay we are befriended by a pair of Pateke (Brown Teal) ducks. The Pateke are among the rarest ducks in the world. GBI is home to almost two-thirds of the remaining world population. They swim (and beg for food) around us for two days.

I have a goal of catching a snapper while I am here. For snapper you have to jig for them and one of the places I am told where you will have success in near one of the many mussel farms here. Mel drives me out to one in the dingy; I jig and jig no luck… I have caught a couple of Kahawai which are good to eat but the snapper is illusive.  We move to Rarohara Bay as we are going on a tour the next day. Tom and Kim from Exit Strategy will meet us here and go with us.

As part of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park system much work is being done to restore the native vegetation and bird life on GBI. One project here Glenfern Sanctuary. A privately owned pest fenced sanctuary. Started by business man and adventurer, Tony Bouzaid, it is committed to creating a safe haven for native species. We take a guided tour of Glenfern and learn how this project is providing pest free (or nearly) environments in its efforts to preserve and restore native birds and forest. We walk through regenerating old growth forest of Kanuka, Manuka, Puriri and Kauri trees. We even get to cross over a suspension bridge into the canopy of a 600 year old Kauri tree. A very beautiful and informative tour.

After our tour at Glenfern we meet with our tour guide for the day, Steve of Go Great Barrier Tours is set to take us around the island. Steve has lived on GBI for 20 plus years. He is a great guide and gives us the history from Maori times through present. GBI residents (about 700 full time) are an independent and self-sustaining lot. While it has been offered many times, there is no cable power here. All residents produce their own power through solar, wind, and generators.  We tour the magnificent east side of the island with its beautiful beaches and vistas. Surfers come from all over New Zealand to ride these waves. We are so glad we took this tour as it is difficult to sail around this side of the island and the seas and winds are rarely favorable.

Too soon our time at GBI is up. We are leaving on the April 8^th we leave to start our trip to Opua and make final preparations for our May departure for Tonga.

Another trip to GBI is on our must do list when we return as we have just scratch the surface of this unique island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kawau Island March 25-30

After a very blustery sail from Waiheke Island we arrive at Kawau Island and anchor in Mansion House Bay. Kawau Island is north of Auckland in Hauriaki Gulf. The island was once a mining settlement (mid 1800’s) and later became the home of New Zealand Governor George Grey (1862).

The Mansion house was first built as the mining superintendent’s home during Kawau’s copper mining days. After Gov. Grey purchased the home he enlarged it as pictured. He was a collector of plants and animals as was common for wealthy Victorian gentlemen. He planted hundreds of different trees and plants and introduced many exotic and native animal species to the island, including zebras (they all died because it was too cold for them), peacocks and wallabies, (they are still around).

Of course this caused havoc to the native species of plants and animals and work now continues to restore the natural vegetation in the reserve. The house and grounds are now a Historic Reserve administrated by the Department of Conservation.  We toured the house and it is beautifully restored with period furniture and artwork, all very interesting, (no pictures were allowed so none on the blog).

Like most of the island here there are numerous walking trails and we spend a couple of days exploring the interesting floral/fauna and views they provided. Many of the trails have you imagining you are walking through a forest primeval, with a canopy of massive fernwoods, pine and  Manuka trees. One trail was especially interesting as it showcases a very large Redwood tree planted by Gov. Grey in 1864. I hope the pictures I post will do it justice.  

We heard from a kiwi friend of ours that if you go to shore at dusk you can perhaps see the wallabies as they forage for food.  With camera in hand we head to shore. As there is a wallaby fence around the grounds we hike out beyond it, nothing…. I then leave Mel and hike further up the trail while he stays put. I am gone for about 10 minutes and when I come back he has seen two. We then continue to stroll through the open field (where they are said to come out) but nothing. So I with the camera missed out.

After a couple of days exploring here we sail out to North Bay. On the way we take a day sail to test out our new light air sail, it works great. Along the way we see Orca’s two pairs of mother and baby, and our first sighting of blue penguins.  I get a couple of great shots of the Orca’s but the penguins are shy so the picture is not so great.

We settle in at North Cove as we have a very special invitation to meet Lin and Larry Pardey. If you are a cruiser you may have heard of this couple. They have written several books and articles on world cruising. They live here on Kawau Island and we meet them for drinks at their home. They have a lovely home overlooking this beautiful bay. We have a nice evening sharing experiences and getting to know each other. While they may have several thousand of sea miles under their keel and us, uhh, not nearly as many, we still have common experiences to share and we certainly listened to their words of experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiheke Island (again, this time on Mazu) March 18 - 25th

 

Yea! We are back in the water again. After many delays, umpteen dollars and cyclone Lusi, Mazu made it back in the water. We were so glad to have our home floating again. I turned on the freezer and fridge (items we could not use while out of the water as we have a “keeled-cooled” system) and it appeared that all systems were a go. Unfortunately the next morning I noticed that the fridge was no longer cool. Darn we forgot that it was on the frits before we left.  A refrigeration company was called and a service man (Ross, who also is a fishing expert and gave me lots of advice on fishing)  figured out the issue and we soon were up and cooling again. A run to the store for provisions and we were ready to go.

Our first shake down  cruise was  to Waiheke Island. We decide to motor so we could concentrate on the ins and outs of our new chart-plotter; soon we are nicely tucked into a nice anchorage on the west side of Onetangie Bay. We celebrate with a couple of cold beers and enjoy the sunset and burgers off the grill, now we are really living again.

The next day I am anxious to try out my new fishing lures, I want to catch a snapper which I hear are everywhere here, we get a late start and miss the prime fishing time, no fish, but we get a nice dingy cruise in. We then move over to the East side of the bay and meet up with our friends on Double Diamond and Exit Strategy. We have drinks on Mazu then meet on DD for and tasty dinner, great wine and a spectacular sunset. Our plan is to go to shore tomorrow to walk to some of the small wineries that make Waiheke a popular tourist destination.

Waiheke walking wine tour:

Melody and Jeff pick me up in the morning; Mel is sitting this excursion out as he is not really into wine. After a nice lunch we start our hike up to the winery trail. While the steps up are steep we are rewarded with a great view of Onetangi Bay. We meander down a few streets and soon find the correct road to the first winery. We do not stay as the tasting room is not open only the restaurant. Here is where it gets fun. The trail to the next winery is through the vineyards. It is  interesting to see the grapes and vines up close. Soon we arrive at Obsidian Winery.

Obsidian winery, like most on Waiheke is very small, but they produce all their own grapes and produce the wine themselves. We are well taken care of and sample several different wines. Each one is very good. It is hard to make a choice, but I purchase a bottle of their Chardonnay. We were then off through the vineyards again to the next.

Waiheke is a very hilly island and parts of the trail is very steep, but it is very pretty and soon we are at Stonyridge winery. The setting is very pretty so we sit and have a glass of water. The staff does not seem to notice us and as it is running late we decide to carry on to the next place.

Wild on Waiheke winery and brewery is unique as they have skeet shooting and archery as activities you can participate in while you sample their beers and/or wines, some combination. Unfortunately they are closed when we arrive, so no shooting for us. They do let us have a beer and relax.

The bus stop is right outside their place so we take the bus back to Onetangi Beach. Our little group will split up in the morning with Double Diamond and Exit Strategy going on to other anchorages. We will stay for another day while we decide where to go next.

Here are some pictures from Waiheke Island:

 

 

Stonyridge Winery

Stonyridge Croquette Club

 

 

 

 

Waiheke Island, Pasifika Festival, and Cyclone Lusi: Auckland New Zealand February 16 - March 15 2014

 After two months home to visit family and friends, we are now back in New Zealand.

Mazu was left “on the hard” at Half Moon Bay Marina. We had new bottom paint applied installed new chart plotters and various other maintenance items done.  Luckily there is a small motel right next to the marina so we did not have to always stay on the boat while it was in the dusty yard. We expected to be on the hard for the first two week of our return but as always, things took longer than we thought. So here we are still on the hard, waiting to splash, any day now.

On weekends we try to have some fun. One day we took the ferry from here to Waiheke Island. Let me back up a bit. Auckland is in an area called the Hauraki Gulf. There are many islands in this area most accessible by the ferry system here. Or for us just a short sail away.

Waiheke Island:

 In the 70’s Waiheke Island was a mecca for hippies and bohemian artists, now it is a popular Aucklander get-away, with its many wineries, long sandy beaches, and historic village.  The island is quite large and very hilly. It will be our first time driving on the wrong side of the road as we have rented a car for the day.

Our first stop is the Saturday Market in the town of Osted, a mix of yard sale and crafts, with lots of food booths thrown in. I purchase some yummy local honey. We are then off to circumnavigate the island by car. This proves to be very stressful for both of us, as the roads are very narrow with no shoulder, and it is after all Mel’s first time driving on the wrong side.

We manage to have a great lunch at Onetangi beach. We see several boats at anchor here it looks like a great place to hang out.  The scenery is spectacular with many views of the Hauraki Gulf and Auckland City.

 

Pasfika Festival:

As New Zealand is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world it hosts a yearly celebration of Pacific Island culture, the largest one in the world.

Western Springs Park a very large park in Auckland is transformed into 11 Pacific Island villages where you can experience the food, music, arts/crafts, and dance of each island. Each village has its own stage, for performances, and market area where you can buy food or local crafts. Many of the islands represented were ones we have visited on our way here. It was fun to hear the music, see the dances and the craft works. We also got to “preview” Fiji, where we plan to sail this season.

For the first time Hawaii was represented. We were treated with a performance by the world famous Hawaiian singer/songwriter/guitar player Keola Beamer, a highlight of the day!

 Cyclone Lusi:

We sailed to New Zealand to get out of the cyclone “belt” of the Pacific Islands, so we were surprised to read that one was heading our direction… yikes!

Mazu is still sitting on the hardstands out of the water. While she is ok to go back in we decide that with a lack of a secured marina slip our best bet is to keep her in the hardstands while we high tail it to a motel for a few days.

The wind blew and it rained a bunch but all in all Lusi was less of a hit as predicted. Still I was glad not to be on the boat during those high winds. As we rode around the bus after the worst day we were surprised to see very little wind damage and /or debris on the roads. And best of all our boat was safe and sound.

Next week we will finally return to the water, get our barring’s and start cruising again… 

New Zealand Sunset

 

A lot has happened. We crossed the Pacific Ocean and made our way to New Zealand. You can see all our South Pacific adventures at www.sailblogs.com/member/mazuadventures.com

I will soon return this blog as we continue our exploration of New Zealand and the South Pacific.