Note - I wrote this yesterday up at the Bay of Islands but there was no Internet access where we stayed. We are now back at Celia and Hugh’s. I’ll add some photos tomorrow and write up today's events tomorrow.
Tues 16th – set off for the Bay of Islands. Drove through the industrial/retail area on the west side of Auckland (Highbrook) to pick up Highway 1 going north. Actually got held up in queues of cars. Amazing. Drove over Auckland harbour bridge and carried on up through North Shore City. Orewa is where the motorway finishes and we drove on to Warkworth, Wellsford, Te Hana, Kaiwaka and Ruakaka. We didn’t stop until we reached Whangarei, when we had coffee and cakes at a pleasant park cafe.
We hit the road again, going through Hikurangi, Whakapaka (I think that’s my favourite), Towai and Kawakawa, where we left highway 1 and drove up to Opua and finally Paihia. A total trip of 286Km and around five hours duration (we stopped for around an hour at Whangarei).
I’m including all these names for the benefit of our Dave as he likes all these vowels. We are staying at a place called “The Retreat” for two days. It is called the Retreat as it has retreated us back around thirty years. It is a collection of cabins perched very precariously on the side of a steep hill. The road is a cutting through a forested area. Just a track really. The entrance is at road level but everything else is supported on stilts. The whole place moves around when folk walk about. Bit like a very small earthquake. What makes it great is the view. We are looking out over the Bay of Islands and it is just fantastic.
After we arrived, mid-afternoonish, we unpacked and took off for our first look around Paihia. A lovely little town where all the ferry and leisure boots depart. We booked our trip around the Islands and bought a few things and returned to the cabin and had a very nice meal and crashed out really early. It is very tiring doing not very much at all.
Wednesday 17th – up early and Hugh drove us down to Paihia for the 9:00am departure of our Hole in the Rock Cruise. This was brilliant. The weather has been great. Clear blue sky and bright sun. Dead calm sea. No bother at all. Our first port of call was the short hop across the bay to Russell. This is an old whaling town that had a bad reputation for waywardness (to put it mildly). It used to be the Whaling Centre for the whole Pacific region around here but now it is a lovely tourist town.
We sailed around Tapeka Point to take a close look at the first of the islands we were to visit on our trip. There are over one hundred islands but some are just lumps of rock so no good worrying about them. There are around 20 or so major islands or points of interest (that’s just my opinion) and we saw most of them. Anyhow, Motuarohia was the first point of call. And very nice too. Now, bit contentious this, but something weird is happening in New Zealand. All the old, sensible, English names are being phased out and new Maori names are being applied on a major scale. Even the tiniest brook or stream now has a completely unpronounceable Maori name.
This Motuarohia, for instance, is actually called Roberton Island. Captain James Cook anchored the “Endeavour” off this island and the Roberton family were tragically killed here. I would have thought that was a reasonable reason to retain the proper name. Anyhow, we then moved on to Moturua Island and round to Motukiekie Island. See what I mean. What’s that all about?
We took a sneaky peek at Otehei Bay. Do you remember the American author Zane Grey? Well I do. Ok, a bit before my time as he lived here in 1926. The bay is on the island of Urupukapuka (I’m not making this up!) More later. We then sailed through the gap between Okahu and Waewaetorea (how many vowels is that?) Believe me, it is a very narrow channel. Anyhow, we made it and we were then out in the Pacific. Still very calm but a bit of a swell. Nothing for us experienced mariners to be concerned with.
Away, away, in the distance was our destination. Motukokako! Normal folk call this Piercy Island. Bit easier to pronounce. No? Yes? This island was named by Captain Cook after the First Lord of the Admiralty at the time. Now, as far as us Europeans are concerned it has been called that for 200 years or so but now you have to call it Motukokako. Why? Anyhow, this is the home of the Hole in the Rock and we sailed through it. Not sure how as it is not quite as wide as the boat and is a bit turbulent. On the other side we messed about a bit then back through it again so the captain could show us what a clever lad he was. We then got distracted by a shedload of fish milling about, Just waiting to be caught.
The hole in the rock is right at the tip of Cape Brett Peninsula. This is a quite narrow strip of land attached to the mainland but the whole thing could just as easily be another island. But it isn’t. At the very end of this is the Cape Brett lighthouse. It was erected there in 1910 and manned until 1978 when it was automated. We then turned around and headed back, taking a look at Deepwater Cove (see – a proper name – tells you all you need to know).
We returned to Urupukapuka and got off the boat. This really is a very pretty island. We had an hour to walk up to the lookout and take a load more photos and get our breath back and stroll back down to the boat. Very nice.
We then set off back but we left the boat at Russell and had a bit of a look around and then we all had lunch. A most excellent lunch, in fact. Val and I had a seafood platter for two. Very tasty. Had nice Pinot Gris from Palliser Bay. A match made in heaven! We then looked around a little more and got the ferry back to Paihia and thence back to The Retreat. Had a light meal, typed this up and saved it until we get back to civilisation and the wonderful world of the Internet.
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