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