Monthly Archives: May 2024

Northland: Bay of Islands & Whangaroa

We have slowly been making our way North as we continue to explore the Northland area of New Zealand.  There are so many beautiful islands, motus and bays that one could explore the Northland for months and still not see everything.

Since we only had 3-3.5 months of sailing around NZ we decided to focus on the NE side of the North Island (Northland).  We played in the blue area.

Cape Brett and Piercy Island

As we head North we pass by Cape Brett and its beautiful lighthouse and the famous Piercy Island (also known as Hole in the Rock).  We had super calm conditions with light winds and no swell.  There were tons of birds all over the place and they waited until the last minute to scatter on our approach.

We continued on to a small island called Otehei Island which has a beautiful restaurant beach bar.  It was super, super shallow on approach so we took it very slow and anchored in 3m of water (that’s pretty shallow, even for us).  But we went ashore and enjoyed a tasty lunch as we watched the people and enjoyed the beach.

There was some really bad weather forecasted so we headed into the Bay of Islands the next day.

Bay of Islands

We only planned to stay in the Bay of Islands for a few days as there is a known barnacle problem here.  After spending so many days cleaning our bottom we did not want to have to do it again.  But, there was no “safe” place for us to go with these predicted winds so we decided to go into the marina at Opua.  The only reason we are here is to meet with a few vendors.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and tied up in our slip.  We met with Kim at Masterpieces in Canvas who is doing a few more projects for us. We also met with Roger at North sails who did a free evaluation of our sails and we met with Matthew Duckett our sparky.  We also were able to do several loads of laundry, dump our trash and recycling and get a provision run.  The weather did come and we saw 38kts of wind and lots of rain.  So, we hunkered down inside our little cave. All in all a super productive 3 days in the marina.  

We were anxious to leave the marina, mainly because of the barnacles.  After leaving the dock, we headed North to continue our Northland adventures.  We are trying to make our way to Whangaroa but first we stopped at the famous Cavalli Islands.

Cavalli Islands

Many cruisers and locals told us that the Cavalli Islands are a must see.  We did not start looking at anchorages until we were 15nm away from the Cavalli islands. Probably not our best move.  What we found was that there is only 1 official anchorage, strange.  Well, we found another one at Motukawanui Island.  We anchored at Waiiti Bay and it was lovely.  We had it all to ourselves.

Waihinepua Bay

 We anchored at 34°59.802S / 173°48.969E in 5m of mud.  This is a really protected, pretty, small bay.  There is a bach on one side but not much else here.  The sand on the beach was rich and soft giving us a beautiful array of colors.

Love this photo.

Whangaroa Bay

We got lucky and were able to use a friend’s mooring located near the Whangaroa Boating Club and Cafe. 35°02.554S / 173°44.775E in 6m.  It was a short dinghy ride to shore where enjoyed a nice hike up St. Paul’s Rock.

There are two great hikes in Whangaroa Bay.  They are St. Paul’s Rock hike and Duke’s Nose Hike.  We do St. Paul’s Rock hike first to warm up to Duke’s Nose Hike.

St. Paul’s Rock track climbs steeply through regenerating manuka bush to the top of a volcanic plug (St Paul’s Rock) with spectacular views of the Whangaroa Harbour. Chains are installed to help you climb the last 30 metres.  First we walked up the steep road about 1.5 miles before starting the track which was about 25min straight up 500meters.

The name ‘St Pauls’ was given to this rock in the 19th century due to its domelike similarity with St Paul’s cathedral.

The chains were helpful when scaling the rock wall.  Yet, Matt still did the climb in flip flops.
We had some really beautiful views at the top.

Views of the Whangaroa Harbor, marina, and mountains.  The lower right photo is a shot of their fish farms which are plenty in this harbor.

Duke’s Nose Hike

Duke’s Nose Hike (kaiaraara-rocks) is literally straight up from the minute you start.  But luckily it is a short 45-60 minute incline. You can access the Duke’s Nose Hike from the water at Rere bay (which is what we did) or inland along a 6hr hike from Whangaroa Bay.

The trail starts behind Lane Cove Hut in Rere Bay.  You can actually rent out Lane Cove Hut for you and 5 of your friends if you are interested in an overnight.

It sure does look like a nose – or maybe a hawk’s beak?

This trail was pretty cool because someone dug out foot holds using the tree roots which made it a lot easier to climb up and down.  Also, DOC (Department of Conservation) installs these diamonds to tell you which trail you are on (they come in many different colors) see bottom right photo.

This trail has two rails that you use to climb straight up (in case you are not a rock climber).  Going up was fairly easy but going down was a challenge as you can’t see where to put your feet.

But the views were spectacular.  There is a nice reel of me climbing down on our svSugarShack instagram and facebook pages.

Simply breathtaking.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  Adventures in this blog post occurred in early March 2024.  Did you read about the amazing bird sanctuary at Tiritiri in our last blog post?

Cruise the NE Tip of the North Island

Last season, 2023, we were pretty much focused on boat projects and only left the dock for 2 weeks.  During that 2 weeks, NZ was hit with a cyclone that flooded the Auckland airport.  Not the best sailing experience for us.  So, this season, 2024, we decided to try again.  Since we only have 2.5 months we will focus and cruise only the North East tip of the North Island of New Zealand.

This is a summary of all of the islands and anchorages we visited on the NE side of the North island.  A highlight reel with hyperlinks back to the blog post associated with each island (in case you missed it).  

This is a long post meant mostly for cruisers as I list out our lat/long location for each anchorage and the anchoring conditions.

Hen and Chickens

We anchored at Urquharts Bay for a few days of hiking then made a short 40nm cruise for the Hen and Chickens island chain (blog Hen & Chickens).  I just love the name!  We anchored at Starfish Bay off the Whatupuke Island. (35°53.565S / 174°45.024E anchored in 9m of sand, great holding).

Great Barrier Island

We make several stops at Great Barrier Island.  Our first stop was at Whangapoua Bay which has a very sad history. We dopped the hook at 36°06.849S / 175°25.806E in 5m in a sandy area with really good holding).

Our next stop is Haratonga bay which has an exclusive beach.  We were hiding from some strong winds and nasty swell. This anchorage proved to be a nice place.  (Anchored at 36°10.017S / 175°29.321E in 8m of sand with rock solid holding).

Rakitu (Arid) Island – The Cove

Holy moly this place is absolutely gorgeous!  This is by far one of our favorite places in New Zealand!  We anchor in a U shape spot called the Cove on Rakitu Island (also known as Arid island).  There is a small sandy beach with lots of caves at water level to explore.  We drop the hook at 36°07.224S / 175°29.618E in 4.5m of water.  There were some large boulders on the sea bed so be careful with your anchor chain.

Matt broke out the drone and captured some great shots of the boat. Read our blog on Rakitu.  A must see!

Mercury Island (The Mercs): Coralie Bay

The winds were not perfect, but it was a window to head south from Great Barrier Island to Mercury Island.  We “pinched” close to the shifty wind and were able to sail for the first 4 hours but then we lost the wind and ended up motoring the last 1.5 hours.  Either way, it was a gorgeous day to be out on the water. 

We arrive to Coralie Bay with 7 other boats.  Not the ideal anchorage, but still very pretty and super calm.  We meet our friends Mirko and Daniela from Yum Yum and Leigh and Linda from Moon Shadow here.  Anchorage at 36°36.353S / 175°47.612E in 4m of water.  Note, there is a rather large rock around here.  We avoided it but if you have a draft longer than 1.5m I’d avoid this spot.

Peachgrove Bay

A very popular and large anchorage on the south side of Mercury island.  We dropped the hook at 36°38.301S / 175°48.5064E in 8m of water.  We happened to visit the island during a long 4 day weekend so it was pretty crowded (for us).  Evidently it was no where near as crowded as it gets over the holidays.

Bumper Bay

This is truly a beautiful bay!  I highly recommend a stop here if you get a chance.  We dropped the hook at 36°38.248S / 175°46.707E in 4m of sand/mud with good holding.  We met up with our friends on Yum Yum (Daniela and Mirko) for dinner.

Coromandel

Little Bay

We left Mercury Island and headed to Matarangi Bay to do a little provisioning.  It was not a pleasant stop, very exposed bay, with a difficult dinghy landing on the beach. 36°43.550S / 175°40.116E in 6m of dark sand/mud with good holding.  We would not recommend stopping here unless you “have to” provision.

After we got some fresh food we headed to Little Bay for the night.  Really pretty beach, but a bit rolly with this particular wind direction.  But we did have a lovely sail here.

Squadron Bay

We sailed around Coromandel’s tip and decided to anchor on the west side of the island.  We landed at squadron Bay which was so peaceful and calm!  Despite there being close to 20 boats (mostly small fishing boats), it was the perfect little anchorage.  We anchored at 36°49.373S / 175°26.019E in 5m of mud with good holding.  Sprawling hillsides dotted with cows.

Papakarahi Bay

The winds were shifting so we moved to a new bay less than 5nm from Squadron Bay.  It was super quiet and peaceful as well.  Anchor down at 36°48.481S / 175°26.617E in 5.5m of mud with good holding.

Ponui Island

We crossed the Firth which was a tricky little passage with huge gusts and a choppy swell.  We dropped the hook at Ponui Bay, Chamberlaine’s Bay.  Anchor down 36°49.942S / 175°11.416E in 5m on a sandy bottom.  Home of the very rare, white Ponui donkeys.  The three land owners do not allow visitors to come ashore, I went anyway for less than 10 minutes to meet these friendly beauties.

West Ponui Bay

Beautiful little anchorage with good holding.  Stunning sunsets.  Anchored at 36°52.253S / 175°09.790E in 2.5m of sand/mud.

Waihike Island

We stopped at several anchorages off Waiheke Island.  Beautiful island and a must see!

Man O War Bay, Waiheke

Super large anchorage with a beautiful sandy beach and a delightfully tasty winery.  We drop the hook at 36°47.368S / 175°09.487E in 4m of water.  There is a 2+ meter tide so be careful anchoring here with a deep draft. 

Owhiti Bay, Waiheke

Gorgeous bay with a long sandy beach to walk on.  An easy dingy ride to Garden Cove which is stunning but precarious entry into the bay.  In Owhiti we dropped the hook at 36°45.758S / 175°08.771E in 6m of sand/mud with good holding.

Rangitoto Island:  Islington Bay

This was a short overnight for us but the bay was really pretty.  Anchoring position 36°47.224S / 174°53.818E in 4m of mud with really bad holding.  We tried several times to anchor in this bay and had a difficult time getting the hook to stick.

Rotoroa – Home Bay

Rotoroa is a beautiful wildlife preserve with lots of fun tracks to walk!  We anchored at 36°49.283S / 175°11.749E in 5m of mud with good holding.  Great fun walking the trails around the entire island.

Maraetai Bay 

Off the main island is a small bay called Maraetai Bay where we stop to provision and pick up our friend.  We only stay for a short while, but we dropped the hook at 36°52.397S / 175°03.105E.

Rakino Island: Woody Bay

We are starting to make our way back north.  Our first stop on a rainy day is Rakino Island, Woody Bay.  We had this lovely little bay all to ourselves as we anchored at 36°42.905S / 174°56.606E in 5m of sand with good holding.

Kawau Island

The weather was shifting so we decided to go to Kawau Island to hide from the forecasted winds.  We anchored in Shark’s bay by ourselves at 36°25.566S / 174°49.653E in 6m.  We also anchored at Dispute Bay 36°26.284S / 174°49.768E in 4m (low tide 2.4m). Super pretty near the Coppermine ruins.  Another must see is Kawau Island.  We really enjoyed this place.

Tiritiri Matangi

We went to Tiritiri Island for the day during super calm conditions.  The anchorage is not protected at all so not a good place to stay overnight.  We anchored at 36°36.233S / 174°53.079E in 7m.  But the island is a bird preserver and there are some great hikes.

Main Land – Anchor Bay 

On our way North we stopped at Anchor Bay which is just off Bluebell Point for the night.  Our anchorage of 36°21.990S / 174°50.043E in 7.5m.  This pretty bay had a bit of a roll or swell but the hillsides were super lush and there were several long beaches to explore.

Urquharts bay (Whangarei River)

This is a great big bay perfect for arriving and departing into Whangarei.  We needed to drop off something to a friend so pulled in after a beautiful downwind sail from Anchor Bay.  This time we anchored in 7.5m of water at 35°50.877S / 174°31.804E.  We only stayed overnight and left early the next morning to Tutukaka.

Whangaruru Bay

Well we skipped Tutukaka much to our dismay as our friends who have a bach (beach house) were not there.  We ended up at Whangaruru Bay in a little nook called Teparaparapa Bay.  Dropped in 3m of sand at 35°21.696S / 174°21.463E.  We only stayed for the night so no big adventures.

Otehei Bay

We found this super shallow anchorage in front of a long white beach and it had a lovely restaurant/bar Otehei Cafe!  The entrance was really shallow even though it was high tide.  We did not realize that there is a marked channel which the ferries use (so use it) and then we anchored to the right at 35°13.426S / 174°13.862E in 3.2m.

MotuMaire Island

We returned to Pahia so I could catch a bus to Whangarei.  We dropped the hook behind two small motus in pretty shallow water.  It was mid-tide when we arrived and we dropped in 3.8m of water at 35°16.376S / 174°05.508E.

This is a cool snapshot of our travels during the month of February 2024.  Starting at great Barrier (the end of the line with no ship on the right), to Arid Island, to Mercury Island,  around the tip of Coromandel, Waiheke Island, Ponui Island, Rangitoto, Tiritiri Matangi, Kawau island, Urquharts bay, up toward the Bay of Islands (where the ship is)….and we continue on North.

Cavalli Islands – Motukawanui Island

We head north to the Cavalli Islands.  We dopped the hook at a beautiful bay called Waiiti Bay on Motukawanui island.  Our anchor spot is 35°00.478S / 173°56.115E in 4m  We had the bay to ourselves and it was glorious.

Waihinepua Bay

 We anchored at 34°59.802S / 173°48.969E in 5m of mud.  This is a really protected, pretty, small bay.  There is a bach on one side but not much else here.

Whangaroa Bay

We got lucky and were able to use a friend’s mooring located near the Whangaroa Boating Club and Cafe. 35°02.554S / 173°44.775E in 6m.  It was a short dinghy ride to shore where enjoyed a nice hike up St. Paul’s Rock.

Waitepipi Bay

We moved the short distance over to Waitepipi Bay so we could do the Duke’s Nose Hike.  We anchored in 7m at 35°00.276S / 173°43.890E.  Super quiet bay with no other boats.  Rere Bay which is where the trail starts had several boats so we decided to come here for some solitude.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog posts occurred between late January-March 2024.  In our last blog post we take you to Limestone Island where we learn about its rich history as a cement quarry.