5 November 2024 -New Zealand

We woke to a lovely quiet and still morning in Opunga Bay. The sun came up and it was so still and peaceful. We had an enjoyable breakfast as Joyce made bacon and eggs. I thought we should move on to another bay as the island was private and we could not go ashore very far.

We motored over very slowly to Urupukapuka Island which was a reasonable size island and we went into Urupukapuka Bay which was a lovely U-shaped Bay with a u-shaped beach at the end. We anchored in about 5m of water. We had seen a few quite large dolphins on the way. We had a light lunch and then went ashore. The sand was very soft and we went in about 6 inches every step. We pulled the dinghy up the beach and then there was a sign showing us the walks on the island which was all owned by the Department of Conservation. We went on a circular walk which took us up the hill so we had magnificent views over the island and of Stormbird at anchor in the bay. See the picture of the day. This was a very pleasant walk during which we saw sheep and birds and had magnificent views over the islands. Erika had a swim whilst waiting for us to return.

We returned to Stormbird and then we decided to move on to another bay round the promontory called Oke Bay. We motored on round and anchored in the bay with one other boat there. I took the ladies ashore and they went for a swim and I returned. Keith and I had a quiet beer on the aft deck in peace. We got out the new folding chairs I had bought in Opua which were good. The old ones were rather rusty and I had to repair them a couple of times so they were buried in the bins.

I must say the scenery here is stunning and ever where you look it is beautiful with rolling hills and islands, trees of all types including palm trees and ferns. It takes your breath away and it is so remote and there is little sign apart from the odd hut of habitation.

I collected the ladies later and then we had an enjoyable supper of pork chops, mash and pureed carrots followed by cheese and biscuits.

It had been an enjoyable bay and we had been in 3 lovely anchorages in one day.

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