19 November 2024 -New Zealand-Waiheke Island & its surrounding islands.

It was a beautiful morning when we woke and I could hear the birds chirping at Koi Island nearby. I looked out for the Orcas but they were nowhere to be seen.

We had a good breakfast of squashed avocado on toast with a poached egg on top followed by coffee. It was going to be one of those lovely days but the wind was quite chilly and a jumper was required initially.

We upped anchor with a plan to explore the South and East coast of Waiheke. This meant leaving Rocky Bay and motoring initially along the South coast being as close as depth allowed. This meant we could see all the bays and coves which were very scenic. It was quite like Devon and some had little habitation and others had lovely houses with boathouses. We saw the odd vineyard and what looked like Olive Tree plantations. We continued ticking off the bays from the pilot book and chart plotter. There were very few boats about and it was if we had the place to ourselves.

As we were motoring I noticed a small penguin swimming at the surface and I was not sure who was more surprised it or me!. We came to the end of the South coast and rounded the corner and headed up the east coast. To the right is Ponui Island followed by Rotoroa and then Pakatoa. We followed the coast and looked at the bays and posh houses along it with the odd vineyard on the hills above. We planned to go to the Man of War Vineyard which is at the back of the beach in Man of War Bay on the Northeast side of Waiheke. As we continued up the coast we began to see the odd fish farm. The wind strengthened and its direction meant we could sail so we just put up the genoa and were soon sailing along at about 6 kts which was fine and we were not in a rush. We approached Man of War Bay and I checked the website of the vineyard and it was closed today. We therefore sailed past and North of Pakatoa Island but the wind died so we put the genoa away and headed for the gap between Pakatoa and Rotoroa Islands.

Rotoroa was for many years owned by the Salvation Army and served as an alcoholic rehabilitation centre for many years and therefore access was not allowed. However, it is now an island where NZ’s vegetation is being re-introduced and it is also a wildlife sanctuary and the kiwi is there. There is an Exhibition Centre there. We therefore headed round the west side and entered Home Bay and anchored. There was only one boat on a buoy and a wharf and as we were anchoring a ferry came in.

We had lunch and got the dinghy down and went ashore. There were quite a few people there and who came to take the ferry back. The island was very pretty and well-marked with paths and we came to the small exhibition which was all about alcoholism and the work that the Salvation Army did with some explanation of the recent plantings. There were some old buildings left such as the jailhouse for those who needed to be restrained. There was a chapel and a number of buildings where people stay. We walked across the island to the other side (east) to Ladies Beach where there were about 100 school kids here on a trip. This shattered the silence a bit so we walked up to what was called the North Tower – a viewpoint which looked over the Island and the views around it. The views were stunning and it was such a nice day. The picture of the day is the view over Home Bay from the top where Stormbird is anchored.

We walked down and returned to Stormbird and upped anchor as we wanted to see another bay on Ponui Island and which would be more sheltered as the wind was changing to the Northwest. This was only about 4 nm away and behind Kauri Point and called Apuapu Bay. It did not take long and we anchored and had a great 360-degree view beginning with Ponui Island with its sheep grazing to the mainland and Auckland skyline and over to Waiheke Island. We were sheltered and sun was out so we enjoyed sitting on the rear deck reading and having a cold beer.

Once the sun went behind the cloud we moved inside and had an enjoyable spag bol supper with broccoli. It had been a great lazy day of exploring and this is a beautiful area and we seem to be one of the few boats here and we have this anchorage to ourselves.

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com