Whangarei NZ

Date: 8/9/15 Position: Docklands 5 Boatyard, Whangarei, North Island, New Zealand

We are currently up on the hardstand at Docklands 5 in the lovely town of Whangarei. After a brief trip back to Australia to catch up with family we made our way north to here over a few days from Auckland. Our first anchorage was in the shadow of the 800 year old volcano Rangitoto as squally fronts crossed constantly. Then we had an exciting sail as we close reached to Gulf Harbour. Here we met up with Frank Holden and Jo who were a fund of knowledge and experience about cruising in Chilean waters. Our next leg was a slow sail in sunshine and light winds with the asymmetric spinnaker set as we covered the 18nm to Kawau Island in five and a half hours. The final 42nm run to Whangarei Harbour saw us beam reaching with a 15kn breeze and plenty of rain.

Whangarei Harbour is beautiful. We spent a few days anchored in Urquharts and Taurikura Bay which are just inside the harbour entrance. The scenery surrounding us was very picturesque with lush green farmland on the hillsides of the magnificent craggy hilltops and a scattering of houses along the foreshore. The water was a gorgeous greeny blue colour with a shoal of fish often breaking the surface of the water as they moved about near Ambler. We were also lucky enough to hear the sound of birdsong especially the call of oyster catchers as they flew past. It was a great spot to relax and also gave Wayne a chance to recover from a painful bout of sinusitis.

After a few restful days we travelled two and a half hours upstream on the incoming tide to Whangarei. The harbour reminded us both of the Tamar River back home with rolling countryside, areas of bushland and pockets of houses. Charlie, Doug and John from Docklands 5 did a marvelous job getting Ambler safely out of the water on the travel lift, her hull water blasted and securely held in her cradle. They were a helpful and efficient team.

We are positioned so that we overlook the Whangarei Harbour as it meanders its way under the new lifting span bridge to the town centre. It's nice to still be in touch with the water and its tides and birdlife even though we are on hard ground. Directly behind us along the waters edge are mangroves and everyday we see a beautiful kingfisher sitting silently in the branches watching intently for its next meal.

The weather hasn't been too kind to us lately with constant rain showers hampering our efforts on Ambler's outside jobs. But today has been a winner with no rain!

All is busy on board with preparations for the next leg of our adventure.

Kathy and Wayne

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