Most cruisers mention Bay of Island as being the ultimate cruising grounds in New Zealand, so we were eager to start exploring the outer islands. There are many anchorages to chose between, with lots of wildlife and a diverse hiking ground. We left the anchorage by Russell in time before a reported gale warning was going to hit the area.
We found a bay, Awaawaroa bay by Motorua island, to hide in from the weather, and stayed there for three nights. We got to hike around Motorua island just before the blow arrived, and again enjoyed the lush green hills and trees in contrast to the dark cliffs that New Zealand has to offer.
The captain brought the big camera, and took some more flower shots. He has truly become mesmerized by all of the lovely flowers we see everywhere. As it is spring here, there seems to be new flowers blooming all the time.
When the blow ended, we moved over to Motuarohia Island, aka Robertson Island, which is where James Cook met the Māori for the first time and supposedly drew the infamous line in the sand on the beach, and told the Māori that anyone crossing the line would be shot dead.
Obviously, the Māori did not understand his language, and he was in fact on their land, so they crossed the line and one of them was shot dead. This is just one of the stories we have learned about mis-communication between the European explorers and the Māori people before they found a way to communicate.
Robertson island is one of the “singing” protected islands in the region, and all predators to birds are currently extinct from the island. This means that we both saw and heard lots of birds onshore. The captain got some awesome shots of some we met on our hike.
Quite a few tourist boats visit this island due to its historic importance for the region. The morning we arrived at the anchorage there was a big pod of dolphins, which the tourists got really up close to enjoy. It almost looked like one of them could pet the dolphins from the beach.
The two Norwegian boats, SV Tempus and SV Yggdrasil (whom we hung out with a few days earlier), joined us at the anchorage as well. We enjoyed several social activities together, including celebrating Halloween.
After two nights by Robertson island, it was time for us to start heading towards Whangarei, where we were scheduled to get hauled out a few days later. We made a first stop in a bay as far out as we could get in the Bay of Islands, called Deep Water Cove.
There is a 4-5 hour hike from this anchorage to Cape Brett, where there is a lighthouse as well as an unmanned hut where hikers can spend the night. We enjoyed an early morning hike in breathtaking landscapes.
Right after our hike, we left the bay, and sailed past Cape Brett. As we rounded the cape, we got an excellent view of a famous tourist destination that many of the tourist boats visit, called Hole in the Rock. It is basically a tunnel in an island just off Cape Brett.
We “bay-hopped” down the coast to a bay called Whangaruru Harbour, where we stayed for two nights. This bay was surrounded by camping grounds, where there were a few RVs. It is still a bit early in the season, so the bay was very quiet. We enjoyed yet another hike, and visited the nearby town where everything was still closed. Come December, this area will be a lot busier.
We left Whangaruru bay in a hurry the day before we were scheduled to haul out in Whangarei, which was still 50nm away. The boatyard had forgotten to inform us that they needed to inspect the boat the day before. We made it into the river and anchored close to the boatyard by 16:00, and they inspected the boat shortly thereafter.
The next day, we woke up to thick fog, and slowly moved towards the slipway, where the staff at the boatyard was ready to receive us. Hauling out is always quite nerve wracking, but it all went as planned, and shortly thereafter, Noxoma was on dry land.
It is weird that we are now leaving her for almost six months, as we are planning to head back to Norway for winter and skiing season. We have never left her for that long, so we spent a week prepping her for life on the hard. We are sad to leave her, but also excited to meet friends and family back home. She certainly will be dearly missed during the time we are away from her.
