Jan 17, 2015 NZ Update

On January 4th we headed north to the Cavalli Islands and Whangaroa Harbour.

We stopped briefly at the Cavalli's on our way north, but stayed a little longer on our way south. The islands are remote, undeveloped and a national marine park. We had a great anchorage the first night in Waiiti Bay of Motukawanui Island (the largest island).  There was a beautiful sandy beach with great hiking trails leading up from it. The DOC have a rustic cabin and aluminum boat that you can rent if you don't stay on a boat that looked pretty amazing.

Then north to Whangaroa Harbour which is a stunningly beautiful fiord. It is a popular holiday spot for the tranquil anchorages and great fishing. We picked up my parents from the small harbor and headed out to the cozy anchorage of Rere Bay. The bay is surrounded by unique rock formations, has a river that is navigable at high tide, and radiant blue water. The water had finally warmed up enough to entice most of us in for a swim.

  

The entrance to Whangaroa Harbour

On January 6th Axel turned 10!

We celebrated with cupcakes that Gigi made and going out to dinner in Whangaroa. Earlier in the day we went on a breathtaking hike. We climbed up the Duke's Nose. It was not a long hike, but quite a vertical hike. The last part of the hike you have to scale up a rock face with the help of chains that are bolted into the rock. From the top we had the most gorgeous views of the fiord.

 Scaling the rock face with the help of the chains

The Duke's Nose with our anchorage in the background

We stopped at the north end of the Cavalli Islands on the way back to Opua. On our way there we caught 2 kingfish trolling and Gary dove and got 2 lobster. So we celebrated Axel's birthday in America with a great feed.

A day after getting back to Opua, we headed to Russell for the tall ships race. We raced in the modern classic boat fleet which consisted of boats built between 1950 and 1975, which encompassed a wide array of very different types of boats. There was also a tall ship and anything with 2 masts fleet. We had a great start and sailed a good race, but the ridiculous rating they arbitrary assigned to us ensured we finished last. The race course took the boats on a tour of the Bay of Islands, weaving in and out of the islands.  Aside from the unfriendly rating the race was really fun and the after party was even more fun. For the dinner, a hangi was prepared. This is a traditional Maori feast that is cooked underground. It takes days to prepare the pit and all the wood for the fire, then all day to cook the food. The special part of the meal were the massive mussels and the bread stuffing. It was really delicious!

We have been slogging through a lot of school this past week, and unfortunately we have a bunch more to do next week. Although after that we are going to tour the South Island for 2 weeks with a campervan.

Cheers,

Julie

 The Hangi pit and fire covered with rocks and metal

Jan 4, 2015 Happy New Year!!!

What a fantastic year 2014 has been for the Mitchell family. We have been extremely fortunate to be able to follow our dreams and sail through the South Pacific. We really could never have done this without the help of so many people. Thank you everyone.

As 2015 dawns we are looking forward to another exciting year of cruising.  We plan to cruise around New Zealand until April, then sail north to Fiji where we would like to spend 2-3 months exploring the many islands of Fiji. After that we will visit Vanuatu and New Caledonia on the way to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and we hope to work our way south to Sydney by Christmas 2015.

We have just spent a peaceful Christmas with my parents at the apartment they are renting in Opua. Santa was very good to everyone. Wetsuits and lifejackets were some of the many presents, but Axel also got a bike and Gigi a Kindle.

Everyone had fun with the crowns in the Christmas crackers.

After Christmas we headed out to cruise the Bay of Islands with my parents. They enjoyed the anchorages and the many great meals we shared, but unfortunately Mom got seasick and decided she didn't want to sail any more. They did stay on board for New Year's Eve, so we anchored off Russell to watch the fireworks from both Paihia and Russell. In order to stay up to midnight we had a game night and we played a ton of different games, including quarto, cribbage, trouble, loteria, picturica, and crazy eights.

Dad thoroughly enjoying himself in Whale Bay.

Gary has been spearfishing a bunch in NZ, but as you can see he needed a little more rubber to endure the NZ waters.

Currently we are anchored off Waewaetorea Island in a shockingly beautiful anchorage. The water is a brilliant blue, you can see the bottom, and penguins were swimming around Gary as he was paddle boarding yesterday. This anchorage has a white sand beach at the head of it and is surrounded by 2 Department of Conservation (DOC) islands (their equivalent to national parks), so you can hike on both of them. We have spent 2 nights here, both nights there are just a handful of boats anchored, but by the middle of the day a ton of holidaymakers come in to enjoy the bay then head out before dark. It makes it quite festive and alive.

Midday in the Waewaetorea anchorage.

Fair sailing and happy new year,

Julie