Bay of Islands, New Zealand: Waiting, Working, & Winging

Anchored out front of Opua, we have access to stores with needed boat parts and hiking trails. At night, we hear the kiwis and morepork.  We say “Bon voyage” to our trusty dinghy Little T, as she gets passed on to another cruising boat heading to the tropics; we hope she holds on tight, as it’s looking to be a rough passage.

We are waiting for that elusive weather window to head from New Zealand to the tropics and it is not coming easy! Time to connect with old friends, make new friends, do boat projects, work, and dig into school.

Anchored off Paihia briefly, attempts to wingfoil turns into tow-foiling due to light winds, while I manage to dinghy to town for a much-needed massage. To Robertson Cove, where we anchor with two other Antares catamarans and enjoy visiting, a hike to the peak at sunset, and wingfoiling. Calder continues to make progress, working on jumps currently.

Woke to a lovely calm morning, moved to my favorite Moturua Island for Mother’s Day weekend, where we enjoyed hiking amongst bird-filled manuka trees on this predator-free island.

We were drizzled on, enjoying a rainbow whilst having a glass of wine on an island cliff at sunset with friends.  I decided that I would claim the month of May as a celebration of…me! Well, it is Mother’s Day this month and my birthday.

Lauren and Cora spoiled me with lemon poppyseed bread and chocolate lava cake. For my actual birthday, I was treated to a dinner that made up for my last year’s birthday. (As a reminder, my last birthday was on the worst day of weather on our way from New Zealand to Fiji; I may just have been in my bunk tearfully feeling sorry for myself.) So, just waking up in a calm anchorage was a big improvement from last year! We took the car ferry from Opua to Okiato, where we drove to Sage Restaurant & Vineyard in Paroa Bay, which came highly recommended to us. As we sat out on the terrace with a view of the Bay of Islands, we enjoyed the Trust the Chef 5-course experience, having them surprise us with each course. It was one of the best meals that I’ve ever had, and definitely made up for last year’s birthday!

Anchored off the town of Russell for 3 nights, where Calder had some very gusty foiling conditions ranging from 10 to 35 knots within minutes. He has been pushing himself to do jumps, which he enjoys. In Russell, we ate Thai food, hiked to the Big Chair (it’s a big chair) and Long Beach (crazy swell on the yes, long beach), played games of Mafia with friend boats, went fishing, and I even joined the locals in the boat club to do a Zumba session.  We sent Cora off on the Happy Ferry over to nearby Paihia to have a sleepover with a friend.

We continue to watch the weather with disbelief. There is a BFH (Big Fat High)…avoid….then low after low after low….waiting. It’s winter and hats with pompoms and thick woolen slippers have showed up at our corner grocery store. We tested our heater and it works to heat up the boat, as well as the cockpit when the sides and now back curtains are on; good to know for Alaska. Boats are trickling out steadily. There are stories of dismasting and broken parts, making it easier to stay put and watch another low. The weather is laughing at us, with the forecast actually looking like an evil grin with teeth bared.

Predict Wind simply states: “Didn’t succeed to find a route until max motion limits were ignored.” Departures have warnings of roll, vertical acceleration, and increased slamming.

More time to enjoy New Zealand, a most wonderful country! We drove to Auckland again to pick up our passports, staying the night with the crew of Wild Thing 2 in their land abode.

The next day we hiked around North Head, a historic coastal defense fort at the entrance to Auckland Harbour, featuring extensive military tunnels, bunkers, and gun emplacements dating from the late 19th century through World War II that you can explore.

More waiting meant more time to tidy up projects (solar being our big one), prep passage meals, and do more provisioning.  I finished reading my books on Australia and New Zealand and started two books on Vanuatu. I’ve enjoyed walks with Cora.

We cheered on the 17 boats leave Opua on the Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge, an iconic race where solo sailors navigate 1,200 nm across the notoriously demanding Tasman Sea to Australia’s Gold Coast.

We escaped the docks one last time out to Paradise Bay at Urupukapuka Island to meet up with other teen boats.  Calder & Cora caught snapper (a big bronze whaler shark gobbled up the scraps) and I enjoyed hiking the island with friends. It is one of my favorite islands with birdsong abounding. It was great to catch up with people and we played the most epic euchre game of our life.

Back to Opua to prepare for a potential departure to Vanuatu. Looks like this really might be it, fingers crossed…