Marine Information Bay of Islands  -  New Zealand One of the world's finest cruising destinations

NEW ZEALAND UPDATE

BY Commodores Burger and Nancy Zapf as published in the Seven Seas Cruising Association Commodores’ Bulletin July 2007-08-14

 

With permission from SSCA

 

For information on the Seven Seas Cruising Association please visit their website www.ssca.org or email them at office@ssca.org

 NEW ZEALAND UPDATE                                                                    

 We arrived in the beautiful Bay of Islands (BOI), New Zealand in late October, after several months of sailing through French Polynesia, Samoa and Tonga. There to catch our dock lines in Opua were SSCA Commodores Kurt and Katie Braun, INTERLUDE, whom we had met in Vava’u, Tonga. They have a lovely home overlooking the bay at Okiato Point, just across the water from the Opua Ferry.

 

Soon after our arrival in Opua we had a long awaited reunion with cruisers we met in the Caribbean in 1976, two German couples whose planned circumnavigations were aborted when they arrived in BOI and decided to settle there – along with several other former cruisers who’ve fallen in love with the area over the years. Among them were Eric and Susan Hiscock, pioneer cruisers from England whose books inspired us to set sail from Germany in 1975. During their final years they lived aboard WANDERER II anchored off Okiato Point.

 

The OCC- OPUA CRUISING CLUB: After securing HALEKAI in a slip at Opua Marina, we flew to Florida to attend the Melbourne convention and had a quick visit with our daughters, one on each coast. Though we had a great time, we regretted missing the annual Opua Seafarers’ Welcome, a week of festivities for the benefit of the hundreds of “boaties” who arrive in Opua each November, culminating in a big Thanksgiving feast. Begun by SSCA Cruising Station hosts / Opua Cruising Club ( OCC ) founders George and Dorothy Bateman, who emigrated from Canada in the seventies, it’s sponsored today by the friendly folks at OCC.

 

North Island: We did, however, return in time to spend the Christmas holidays in Opua. Every year the OCC generously lends their facilities to the foreign yachties for their Christmas Day Dinner. I volunteered to coordinate the effort this year and, together with lots of willing helpers, we put on a sumptuous feast of turkey and ham with all the trimmings for 50 people. Burger made sure that the turkey, stuffing and gravy were up to his standards. In the spirit of leaving a clean wake, we left the kitchen sparkling clean and passed a hat for a 50-50 raffle that raised $ 130 USD for the OCC Youth Sailing Programme.

 

The OCC welcomes cruisers who spend the season in Opua to partake in their regattas and weekend cruises and to frequent the Club bar and restaurant, which has very reasonably priced food and drink ( great fish and chips! ). They offer a temporary summer membership for the modest dues of $ 25 USD per boat. On New Year’s Eve we joined a dozen or so Club members on their overnight cruise to a nearby anchorage, where we had our first NZ “ barbie” on the beach.

 

We ushered in the New Year with a bonfire, fireworks and champagne. There was a rainbow at sunset and a full moon all evening. Burger played his accordion, and we

“sang to the light of the moon.”

At midnight we all joined in for Auld Lang Syne. It doesn’t get much better than that.

 

We had an extraordinary treat the first two weeks of January. Our old friends George and Erna Henze invited us to accompany them and their sailboat IMPULSE II for a cruise up the Northland coast. It was very relaxing as it required no planning on our part: we just followed in their wake while exploring the coast as far as Cape Kari Kari: the Cavelli Islands, Whangaroa Bay, Mangonui, and Matai Bay, to name a few special places.

Though it was NZ’s school holiday season, we encountered only a few other boats. We had gorgeous sheltered anchorages mostly all to ourselves: white sandy beaches, craggy cliffs, green hills with sheep, native bush, and clean, clear water.

Words can’t do justice to the natural beauty. A typical day had us sailing a couple of hours to the next anchorage; then the men would take one of the dinghies and spearfish for dinner. George’s fitness at age 75 is astounding: Burger hates cold water but bravely donned his wetsuit to accompany him; only once did they return without a catch; steak was a welcome change that night.

Afternoons we all went hiking along trails and enjoyed stunning vistas; sign markers told of Maori history and indicated where Captain Cook once anchored the ENDEAVOR. IN the evenings we smoked the catch ashore and picnicked on the beach or dined in one of our cockpits. Twice we anchored off little villages where we restocked fresh fruit and veggies and dined in restaurants. We also spent a couple of nights in BOI anchorages, also lovely but crowded with day trippers closer to the tourist centre of Paihia. The weather cooperated  splendidly; it was a magical time that left us with wonderful memories. It’s a shame that so many of the cruisers summering in NZ miss this most spectacular of cruising grounds, so easily reached from Opua.

 

After a quick provisioning and laundry stop back in Opua, timed to help celebrate the grand opening of the new OCC Clubhouse, we bade our friend’s farewell and left for the trip down to the North Island’s eastern coast to Tuaranga. We day-tripped with stops at one lovely anchorage after another: Whangaruru, Whananaki, Tutukaka – the phonetic Maori names are fun to pronounce. Then we spent a few days exploring the remote offshore Great barrier and Great Mercury Islands, where we plan to return to next year.

The mountainous Great Barrier Islands have several small, friendly villages, very low key tourism, and extensive hiking trails, one of which takes you to an ancient Maori dam. Great Mercury Island, 5500 acres of restored forest and extensive meadows complete with sheep, is privately co-owned by David Richwhite ( one of the wealthiest bankers of NZ ) and Michael Fay of America’s Cup fame. Yachties are welcome to anchor in the coves, swim off the beaches and go hiking ashore, though not where the houses are. Its remote location limits the number of boats – sailboats and sport fishermen-who take advantage of this very special place.

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