Green Island at Great Barrier

Leave a reply

Matt and I found a little bay tucked up near the hillside with a small mountain behind us.  Green Island Bay offered us good protection from the strong easterly winds.

We were not sure this would be a good anchorage as there was no “anchorage” mark on Navionics or No Foreign Land.  But we nosed in to 5 meters depth and dropped the hook. 

We are so glad we came here.  It is a really pretty bay, very calm, and relaxing.

We’ve had a lot of rain lately which has made the hillsides and Green Island very green.

Our own private bay.

Ashore there are 3 sections of beach.  One small section on the left is soft sand and beautiful.  We landed the dinghy here and went exploring.

Unfortunately, the other two sections of beach are rocks.  With shoes they are navigable, but not comfortable on the feet.

But we made the most of the little 3/4 of a mile walk from end to end.

Cool Drone Shots

It is hard to picture how pretty this bay is until you see the drone shots.  

Matt took one photo shooting out of the bay (top) and into the bay (bottom).

Be sure to check out our amazing smoke out at Smokehouse Bay.

Green Island Bay on No Foreign Land.

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.  

We were at Green Island Bay at the beginning of April 2026.

Smokehouse Bay: A Cruisers Paradise

Leave a reply

Smokehouse Bay is loved by all boaters, cruisers, and locals.  It is a spot where we can go to cook out, bathe, do laundry, and congregate with each other.  

It is a very large bay with room for loads of boats to anchor in.  

The photo on the right is Sugar Shack and our friends Jim and Pam on Roam (Catana 472).  We also had our friends Midnight, Chaos, Fundango, and Zipper here.

The land was purchased by the Finn Brothers, built by their nephew Eric, and donated into a trust to remain a public spot. 

All of the facilities have been donated and are free for all to use including:

  • (2) grills
  • (1) Smokehouse
  • (1) Pizza Oven with pots, pans and accessories
  • (1) Toilet
  • (1) Hot shower and inside bathtub
  • (1) Outside bathtub 
  • Hand wash laundry machines and drying lines
  • Book exchange
  • Tons of Seating

There is an informative welcome board giving you the history of Smokehouse Bay.  Below are photos of the smokehouse, grills, laundry, and seating areas.

In February, we met Dan and Lexi and enjoyed some BBQ.

There was a fairly large gathering here during our visit but we scored a table and a spot on the grill just in time for dinner.

Pizza Making

Matt and decided it was time to to try out the pizza oven.  We brought all of our pizza making ingredients (dough, black olives, chorizo salmi, green bell peppers, mushrooms, cheese, and sauce).

The pizza oven come stocked with pizza scoopers, pans, and all sorts of stuff.

It took a while to get the fire going.  Most of the sticks and pieces of wood we found were wet from the previous rain storm.  

But, after about an hour we got it going.

Of course the rain came while we were heating up the pizza oven.  We hid by the oven to keep dry and warm.

Feast Time

Over the weekend, the good weather brought out all the cruisers at Smokehouse Bay.  It was feast time!

One of the cruisers was celebrating her birthday and she and her family hosted a massive pizza and cake extravaganza.  It was great fun with loads of kids, pets, and cruisers enjoying the nice weather.

The next morning we had unusually calm and glassy conditions. 

It was so beautiful to see the sky reflected on the water.

Everyone loves stopping in for a visit at Smokehouse Bay!

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events. 

We were at Smokehouse twice.  Once in February and once at the end of March 2026.

Great Barrier Becomes Great Again

Leave a reply

We were anxious to get off the boat after the massive storm.  We needed to stretch our legs, enjoy the sunshine, and find gratitude in nature.  Several cruiser friends of ours were anchored near by so we enjoyed a few hikes on Great Barrier Island and a huge feast.

Glenfern Sanctuary Loop

We did this loop with our friends Dan and Lexi a month ago.  However, it is so very pretty that it is worth doing multiple times over.  The Glenfern Sanctuary Loop is an easy hike/walk that takes about 1-1.5hrs.

There were 8 of us from 4 different boats.  Roam: Jim and Pam, Chaos: Mark and Karen, Fundango: Scott and Joanne, and Sugar Shack.

Warrens Loop and Waterfall

The day after the massive storm we hiked Warrens Loop to a waterfall.  We figured the waterfall would be massive with all of the extra rain and it did not disappoint.

I thought the trail would be totally muddy, but it actually was not too bad.  This is another easy hike/walk that takes about 1hour.  Well marked trail through a super lush forest.

The waterfall was gushing with tons of water pouring out over the rocks.  It was stunning.

There was so much water that it was spilling over making multiple falls.

We took a different route on the way back.  We followed the river for about 100-200 yards, crossed over the river and came to another trail.  

We ended up crossing the river 3 times.

Port Frizroy

We moved to Port Fritzroy because we needed a change of scenery.  We were not planning on staying long as this is typically not a great anchorage. 

We had a super foggy morning that sure made everything look beautiful.

Matt went for a paddle board while I met our friends for breakfast.

Our friend boats were planning on doing dinner at the Port Fritzroy Boat Club.  It is a simple affair, but pretty tasty food.  

The next morning we went to Orama which is a Christian center that hosts Saturday morning breakfast.  

They had a small menu but everything was delicious!!  

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.

We were at Great Barrier from mid-March to end of March 2026.