The Hauraki Gulf

From Urquharts Bay we made our way south into the Hauraki Gulf. We stopped for one night at Kawau Island before moving on to Coromandel Harbour. We’ll try to stop at Kawau Island again later in the season. There is a lot there to explore.

We went to Coromandel Harbour in order to meet up with our friend Russell Layton. Russell and I worked together in Beijing for several years. He has a home on the other side of the Coromandel Peninsula and drove over to see us. Russell was good enough to meet us on the opposite side of the bay instead of the town side because the town side completely dries out at low tide. Otherwise, we would have been stuck in town after lunch waiting for high tide so we could leave.¹

After a lunch at one of the many eateries along Coromandel’s main street, we jumped in Russell’s car and drove north along the coast. The views were stunning. We stopped and had a look at the Colville General Store, grabbed a coffee from a local cafe/roaster and enjoyed a walk on the beach. It had been far too long since we’d seen Russell. It was great to catch up.

Te Kouma Harbour

From Coromandel we made our way a short distance south to Te Kouma Harbour. It was the busiest anchorage we’ve seen so far in New Zealand but it’s a large area with several options for anchoring. We were there a few days while we waited for some stronger winds to blow themselves out. We enjoyed several walks on the surrounding hillsides.

Waiheke Island

We made our way to Man O’ War Bay on Waiheke Bay. Along the way we spent time anchored off both Rotoroa and Chamberlains Bays. Both anchorages were beautiful.

Man O’ War Bay was yet another picturesque anchorage. Ashore there is a winery and restaurant. Further up the road are some WWII era bunkers and tunnels. It took us well over an hour to walk to the tunnels, but we were rewarded along the way with stunning views of the green rolling hills and the ocean beyond. We arrived in time to join a guided tour through the tunnels. It was fun to walk through the labyrinth of tunnels and hear about their history. Exploring the tunnels was well worth the long walk to the site. We enjoyed lunch at the cafe upon returning to Man O’ War Bay.

From Man O’ War Bay we made our way along the south side of Waiheke Island stopping in a couple of bays along the way. We enjoyed several walks along the coast, and wandered around the village of Oneroa on the west end of the island where we enjoyed being in civilization and picked up some much-needed groceries.

The nearer we get to Auckland the busier the anchorages become. We stopped at Islington Harbour and then spent a weekend anchored at Rakino Island. The boats were packed into Rakino Island, a situation we would normally avoid but we enjoyed the hubbub. It was a fun change.

Back to Work

We have enjoyed several weeks of cruising without worrying too much about boat projects. It’s time to change that. Our mast track is damaged. Currently, we can’t raise our mainsail past the second reefing point which makes for slow sailing in these light summer winds. While we’re repairing the mast track, we’ll get some other jobs crossed off our to-do list. We’re lining up some trades people to help. To do the work we need to be at a dock. We’re waitlisted to get dock space in Auckland. Hopefully, something will become available in the next few days so we can get in there, get our jobs done and see some of the city while we’re there.

1. We spent a few days in Coromandel Harbour and noticed that boats start arriving in the harbour a few hours before high tide, anchor, dinghy into town, do what they need to do, return to their boats and then leave the harbour. All before the tide gets too low for them to access the town or grounding their boat. ↩︎