We had winds shifting out of the North so we decided to leave the pretty little island of Rakino and head to Kawau Island.  There are several bays to anchor within Bon Accord Harbour but we dropped the hook in Shark’s Bay all by ourselves.  Bon Accord Harbour is the large bay that nearly bisects the island into two.

Kawau has a very interesting history from cannibalism to a high end resort and a brewery.  Over 90% of the 5,000 acres are privately owned.  We visit the remaining 10% which is owned by DOC (Department of Conservation).

Mansion Bay

The most famous anchorage on Kawau is Mansion Bay which has a very rich and diverse history.  The house was originally built for the copper mine superintendent on the island.  It was later purchased by a Sir George Grey, the Governor who spent a fortune developing the home and island from 1862 to 1888.  The jetty is thought to be the oldest surviving jetty in NZ!

Many exotic animals were introduced to the island including peacocks and wallabies which are still roaming the island today.  We did spot one baby wallaby on our walk and he just stated at us – see our Instagram (svSugarShack) for the video as it is too cute!

Sir Gray hosted many notable royals, famously wealthy people and local and national politicians.  The house and the jetty are Category 1 registration for historic preservation.  He owned the house from 1862-1870 and then sold it.  The house went through several owners, was converted into a bed and breakfast before a brewery bought it and subsequently sold it.  It gained popularity during  1951 and 1975 when the property was run as a vacation resort. 

Many cruisers would come ashore, purchase liquor from the brewery and go back to their boats.  When the bottles were empty, they would break the glass and dump it into the bay.  75 barge loads of broken glass were removed when they dredged the bay!

Tour through the Mansion

I took a self-guided tour through the mansion and was pleasantly surprised by the antiques inside.  I start at the parlor where I come across a square piano from the 1800’s!  Then I pass through the dining room, the kitchen and the glass floor showcasing the cellar.

The house boasts of 33 rooms but only a handful are accessible to the public.  I visited the library which only has a small portion of Sir Grey’s books.  Several bedrooms and a children’s sitting room full of toys from the 1800s.

A few old photos were on display which I could not resist sharing with you.

Walks Around Kawau

There are several trails along the property which we decided to explore.   We start at Mansion House Bay, walk to Momona Point, then past Farmer Bay to Ladies Bay, then down to Dispute Cove and on to the old Coppermine.  We returned via the Redwood track to Two House Bay and back to Mansion House Bay.  Matt and I basically followed the entire dotted line/track in the upper photo.

Ladys Bay

This beautiful little spot was once a swimming spot for ladies only. It is truly beautiful and it is a shame that it is contaminated with asbestos debris (bottom two photos).  The top right photo is Matt at Momona Point.

For some reason, many of the trails had “danger” signs making most of the trails inaccessible.  Well, we were not going to have any of that!  We asked a few of the workers on the grounds and they said that we could go as long as we knew we entered at our own risk.  A massive storm took out a lot of trees so the Momona Point Trail and the Redwood Track were both “closed” but we went anyway.

We were very careful, don’t worry.  As you can see we had to climb over and under a lot of fallen trees which were simply heartbreaking to see.

The Accidental Coppermine

Copper was accidentally found on Kawau Island and was mined from 1844 to June 1852.  The copper ore became too difficult to extract, because most of the mine workings were below sea level and had to be constantly pumped free of water.

The Coppermine sandstone building housed the steam engine and pump in 1854 which kept the mine free of water. You can see the copper (blue) in the rocks (top left photo) which are gorgeous blues!

We come across two of the of the mine shafts.  You could go inside one but we did not have a torch and then we encountered a gate stopping our progress.

On the way back, on the Redwood Track we encountered the one beautiful and towering redwood tree!  We also find the funniest mode of transportation – a floating picnic bench.

Smelting House

There were problems with the combustion ore during the sea voyage to Australia or Wales, so they built a smelting house in another bay off Bon Accord Harbour.  It opened in 1849 and was NZ first smelting house.  The smelter stopped working properly in 1855 and was closed shortly after that.

The walls were unstable so the entire structure is blocked off by a fence.

Kawau Boating Club

Near the Smelting House is the Kawau Boating club.  Matt and I decided to have a light lunch with them prior to exploring the smelting house.

Spit of Sand

We passed Beehive Island (Taungamaro Island) which is a small spit of an island surrounded by a little beach and a much larger reef.  At high tide all you see if the pretty beach surrounding the mound of land.  But at low tide you are gifted with the beautiful lava formations.

On approach you see the reef below through the crystal clear waters.  It was simply gorgeous.

The beach was actually covered in shells, but at low tide when the lava rock and reef bed are exposed it was super pretty.  It was really cool to see the rock formations and variations in color.  These little red eyed birds were showing us around.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  This blog occurred during late February.  We party with a Kiwi and a Scot and make merry sailing around Waiheke Island.