Date: 9/10/15 Position: Oke Bay, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand
We have spent a couple of glorious sunny days here in Oke Bay in the beautiful Bay of Islands. Today we had the company of a pod of six Bottlenose Dolphins. They spent the day swimming around Ambler and the other boats in the bay, occasionally putting on a great show of acrobatics. Between listening to the gentle 'pshh' sound of the dolphins as they surface and take a breath and the 'doof' sound as gannets dive bomb around us in search of fish it has been a very relaxing day. Oke Bay has a beautiful small sandy beach and is surrounded on three sides by high bush clad hills. We have made several dinghy trips with the curious dolphins cruising close by to the fresh water creek in the corner of the bay to fill up our water containers. As well as going ashore and following the walking tracks out and around the peninsula to enjoy the stunning view of the Bay of Islands.
Yesterday we enjoyed a short kayak before a south westerly change arrived. Wayne gathered some oysters off the rocks and we explored a neat little bay called Whapukapirau Bay with its own selection of beaches and a waterfall just beyond the beach. On our way back to Ambler we kayaked over to the other yacht anchored in Oke Bay. We got rather excited when we saw that the yacht 'Zeehaen' was from Sydney. Louise and Rob on board are one of the few Australians we have met in New Zealand. We have really enjoyed their company in the last couple of days.
Since it has been so long since the last blog....my apologies as we have been having too much fun, I'll just give you an overview of where we have been.
After spending three weeks on the hardstand in Whangarei Ambler went back in the water on the 15 August. We were out for longer than we expected due to quite a lot of rainy days which slowed our progress on outside jobs.
The next twelve days we spent enjoying Whangarei Harbour, moving around the different anchorages, kayaking, walking and surviving the tsunami. The tsunami warning came through soon after an earthquake off the coast of Chile occurred. It was expected that the east coast of New Zealand would have a 0.3 - 1.0 metre wave hit sometime around midnight. We chose the most suitable anchorage and monitored the situation. In the end we didn't feel anything. If the predicted wave height had of been higher than two metres we would of just headed out to sea. We also enjoyed catching up with Brad and Gloria from the yacht 'Kindred Spirits'. We had met Brad and Gloria on the hardstand in Whangarei.
On the 27 August we had a bouncy ride out of Whangarei Harbour with a strong run out tide against a 2m swell which created quite steep and short waves. That excitement only lasted for a short time before we rounded Bream Head and headed north to Tutukaka Harbour. We had a pleasant day sail up the coast with great numbers of Buller's Shearwaters flying across our track or resting in huge rafts on the water. We entered Tutukaka Harbour around mid afternoon and dropped the anchor in Pacific Bay.
We spent three nights in rolly Tutukaka Harbour. It wasn't too uncomfortable and provided us an opportunity to get our sea legs back again. The first day we spent walking from Tutukaka to Ngunguru around the headland and beaches and back along the main road. That evening we had a delicious meal with Richard and Susie from 'Siapako' who have now finished their circumnavigation of New Zealand and are back at home in Ngunguru. The next day Susie generously took us on a road trip otherwise known as a Tiki Tour to the area north of Tutukaka. We saw beautiful lush green rolling countryside which reminded us very much of Tasmania and stunning coastline with picturesque white sandy beaches and clear green water. It was a different aspect seeing the coastline from the land compared to the many miles of coastline we have seen from Ambler. It was great to see something beyond where our legs could walk or ride us and our arms paddle us. When we arrived back at Ambler we had great joy watching a Little Blue penguin swimming after a school of small fish nearby. Finally the penguin managed to catch a small garfish and we watched it only metres from the boat trying to get the fish into the right position to swallow.
On 30 August we had a brilliant day sailing north to Whangaruru Bay. It was sunny and warm with just enough breeze to keep the sails full. We lost count of how many penguins we saw that day. That evening we anchored in Mimiwhangata Bay in clear green water near a white sandy beach with cows grazing on the hillside beyond. The following day was calm with light winds so we made the most of the settled weather by kayaking back out around the headland and out around the outlying islands of Otawhanga Island, Wide Berth Islands and Rimariki Island. There were some stunning pinnacles, arches, reefs and pebbly beaches amongst these islands. We pulled up on one of the tiny beaches for a break and collected heaps of plastic bottles, thongs and other plastic paraphernalia that had been washed ashore. We were able to fill the whole front storage area of the kayak to full capacity with all the plastic we collected. On the seaward side of Rimariki Island we saw several seals in amongst the reef either swimming or soaking up the sun on the rock shelves. They hardly noticed us as we glided silently past their sleeping forms.
Whilst we were having breakfast the next morning we heard the familiar 'pshh' sound of dolphins breathing close by. We went out into the cockpit to see a large pod of Bottlenose Dolphins busy herding fish in the bay. Dolphins work as a very efficient team to round up a school of fish. Before long the gannets arrived and the water was alive with splashing fish, dolphins and gannets. It was a great way to begin yet another beautiful day. Later that afternoon the wind shifted so we had a wet sail to windward across Whangaruru Bay and into Whangaruru Harbour to anchor in the lee of a peninsula in Oakura Bay. The shoreline of Oakura Bay was lined with baches, the New Zealand equivalent of shacks or beach houses.
Over the next several days we ventured further into Whangaruru Harbour anchoring in different spots and kayaking around the shoreline of the harbour and as far as we could reach upstream in the mangroves at high tide. We also had a walk ashore in North Whangaruru which is on a narrow isthmus.
On 6 October we left Whangaruru and alternated between motoring and sailing until we reached Whangamumu Harbour a short distance further north up the coast. Whangamumu is a gorgeous harbour surrounded by volcanic cliffs with many interesting caves of different sizes and shapes at the waterline, bushclad hills, a long sandy beach and the only sign of civilisation are the remains of an old whaling station. After dropping the anchor we were keen to get in the kayaks and go and explore the stunning cliff faces and caves close up. We had a marvelous time kayaking around the entire shoreline of the harbour and entering some of the bigger caves. Some caves seemed to go on for ever, others reverberated the boom of the surge as it came in contact with the end of the cave, a few had beaches at their ends and our favourite became a T intersection of two caves at the base of a sheer cliff. It was amazing scenery and just reinforced the power of nature. That evening Wayne got lucky with the fishing line, of course the big one got away but he did catch a small snapper that we had to throw back. At least the fish were biting as we haven't had much luck in the fishing department since Stewart Island.
The next day we had an awesome sail on almost flat seas north to the Bay of Islands. We tacked right under the impressive headland of Cape Brett with its lighthouse looming high up above Ambler's mast. After tacking we were able to shoot through the gap between Cape Brett and Piercy Island. Piercy Island is a magnificent lump of rock 159m high with a distinct arch bigger enough for charter boats to pass through. After sailing past the face of Piercy Island we tacked again and headed into the entrance to the Bay of Islands.
Our plan for this summer is to enjoy the Bay of Islands for a few more weeks. Then find a safe and secure mooring to leave Ambler on and buy a van to go and explore the inland areas of this beautiful country. We want to tramp in the mountains and ride the terrific MTB tracks and trails we've heard about.
All is great on board. Kathy and wayne
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