Cruising the Fabulous Hauraki Gulf! Southern End.
Coastal cities abound across our world, and many of them are beautiful, wonderful and exciting places in which to live and to visit. We have sailed on Avante to many port cities and have been to many more on our land-based travels, but from a “life on the water” perspective, Auckland with its island-studded Hauraki Gulf right on its doorstep cannot be beat. While Sydney, Australia, has a much bigger and more spectacular scenic harbor, once you exit the harbor through Sydney Heads, you are in the big ocean with no islands in sight for a very long distance. Auckland’s harbor is not as impressive, but upon exiting the harbor, the whole Hauraki Gulf with its many islands is at your fingertips to explore. An interesting coastline invites you to head north. There is the Coromandel Peninsula, protector of this gulf to the east, to investigate. Plus, it is only 50 miles or an easy day’s sail out to the Great Barrier Island which magnificently protects this gulf from the northeast and provides some of the region’s best cruising. Added to all those wonderful spots in which to adventure, from a sailor’s perspective, the Hauraki Gulf also has some pretty good wind as many who followed the 2000 America’s Cup held here witnessed.
No doubt about it, the waters of the Hauraki Gulf beckon. Animal life of all kinds have found its sheltering waters and shores, and for good or bad, human life has taken hold. “Get thee down to the water,” the beaches call. “Get thee out on the water,” the waves call. And the public responds. Within minutes of leaving city life, you can be down on a beach. Within an easy 1 1/2 hours, your sailboat can have you anchored in an island bay feeling far removed from the bustle of the city. If that bay or island doesn’t please you, there’s another one a short hop away. How many major port cities can offer such a quick escape so easily and readily? None that we know of. Auckland is tops in that category!
Tuesday, November 24th – Avante backs slowly out of her slip. The First Mate is at the helm while The Captain releases the lines. We are off! With 18 days left before we are scheduled to catch a flight back to the States for the Holidays, we intend to cruise as much as we can. Because it is early in the week, we decide to first head south to Auckland and cruise around some of the southern islands where there will be fewer boats around than on the coming weekend.
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It’s a beautiful day as we head out into the Hauraki Gulf. Bright blue skies, scattered clouds, warm sun but no wind. Thus, we motor along ….. but for right now, at this very minute, we are just plain delighted to be out on the water and heading off to our first island anchorage.
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We turn south along the coast toward Auckland, and in the light breeze, we are able to raise the jib to motor sail. The coastline slips by. We can see beaches nestled below cliffs or curving along bays, but for the most part, the land seems to first rise steeply from the sea and then continue more gradually up hill. This is not flat coastal plain where only those right on the ocean have a view. Here, though you may not be right on the ocean, wow, can you get a view!
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Under these benign conditions, we decide to do a tour of Auckland Harbour. Rounding the corner into the harbor, the Sky Tower dominates the landscape. Despite the fact that this is a very busy commercial harbor, today is extremely quiet. There are no huge freighters slowly moving in or out, ferry service appears to be at a lull, and few other boats are motoring around the harbor.
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No doubt about it, this is a picture-perfect day to be cruising Auckland Harbour!
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Auckland is known as the “City of Sails”. With its mild climate and the fabulous sailing ground the Hauraki Gulf offers, that is no wonder. Supposedly 1 out of 3 households in Auckland own a boat. Cruising by the marinas at the foot of the Harbour Bridge and looking at all those masts, who would doubt that?
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We motor to just below the Harbour Bridge before turning around to head out.
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It may be quiet out on the water, but at a major shipping hub near the entrance to the harbor, cranes can be seen slowly moving, and container-carrying vehicles are busily scurrying around the yard. Auckland is definitely a commercial port.
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In the Louisiades of Papua New Guinea, we had ordered a new flag pole from a native wood carver. Pulling it out of storage in the port aft cabin, we “raise the colors” and sprightly motor on past Brown’s Island in the distance.
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Our destination is Waiheke Island, the second largest island here in the gulf, and one of the most popular and populous. Once covered with Kauri forests, it is now given over to vineyards, sheep and cows. Not only is it popular with tourists and vacationers, its easy ferry access to Auckland is quickly making it into a commuter’s paradise.
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We drop anchor in Huruhi Bay. In a few weeks with summer heating up, this island will quadruple in population, and our anchorage will be filled with boats. For now, we relish the solo quiet.
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Wednesday, November 25th
– There are a few small towns at first, but as we motor along the
southern side of Waiheke Island, the land develops a rural look with
rugged green hills and wide shallow bays. We are both reminded of
cruising in the San Juan and Gulf Islands in the Pacific Northwest.
Even the cloudy skies and light rain are similar.
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When we round a point and turn up the southeastern coast of the island, the land takes on a more “ruffled” appearance with one small cove following another. Each little cove has its own beautiful home set in a magnificent manicured pastoral setting. We have found the high rent district! Estates would be the best explanatory word for some of them. Maybe a little over the top for a simple island home, but the settings are magnificent.
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Man O War Bay is our
destination. It’s huge. The First Mate assumed the name came from the
fact that a whole fleet of battleships could be anchored here, but The
Captain tells her that Captain Cook gave the place its name. So
impressed was he with the massive Kauri trees that once were here just
waiting to be used for the masts on his Majesty’s Man O War ships that
the thought and name held.
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After lunch, we dinghy ashore for a hike to a place called Stony Batter. What kind of name is that? It comes from a geological phenomena that is unique to this area of New Zealand. The hills are covered with vast fields of volcanic boulders that are the remnants of once extensive lava flows. The boulders were edged and fluted with the acidic water from the many trees that once covered the land. Now split and fluted, covered with lichen, they have a surreal appearance as if “sprinkled” there by some giant’s hand.
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During WW II, Stony Batter was a massive military holding. Here, secretly, the placement of four 9-inch guns along with their supporting maze of tunnels was undertaken to protect the Auckland coast from a feared Japanese attack. The very boulders themselves were crushed and used for the tons of concrete needed to build these fortifications. What a defensive position overlooking the bay this fortification had!
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Fortunately, the guns were never needed, and now the site has been dismantled and left to the boulders and the sheep that graze amongst them. If only they, the sheep, knew how good they had it! The view is wasted on poor sheep, but better them than a suburban sprawl. How thankful we are to be able to walk these hills and enjoy it all more or less as nature intended it to be!
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We are impressed by the pastoral, bucolic beauty of the island. Sheep and cows dot the pastures. Vineyards slope gently down to the ocean. The variety and intensity of the green foliage, the deep blue of the ocean and the wide expanse of sky all combine to make this island just about perfect. No wonder Waiheke draws people like a magnet.
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Auckland is blessed with a
mild climate, but that doesn’t mean it’s balmy. Summer and school
vacation are just around the corner. The annual migration to the water
is about to begin, but in The First Mate’s opinion, the air has a bit of
warming up to do. We start most days with a layer of fleece, though we
do end up shedding that layer at some point during the day. Most days,
it’s on an again/off again exercise, as we go from mostly overcast to
occasional “fine spells”. That’s the description given by the marine
weather forecasting service for the brief periods of glorious warm
sunshine that break through the cloud layers. “Fine spells” – we soak
them up!
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Under a not so “fine spell”, The First Mate admires the view through the new dodger. No more distorted, wrinkled plexiglass windows. With the new dodger raised about 3”, she can stand under it without having to duck to see out, and from the helm, she has an unobstructed view right through it. She’s so very delighted. The Captain is, too, though he now can’t as easily see over the dodger. However, he’s much more amenable and flexible than she is!
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Thursday, November 26th – Life on the boat these days is relaxed and somewhat lazy. For those of you who have kept up with this narrative, you know how often The First Mate has lamented the hectic pace of their cruising schedule as we scurry from place to place. Here in the Hauraki Gulf, we have no particular place to go, no definite place to be and nothing necessary to do. Added to that is the fact that sailing distances are not all that great. So, what’s the hurry?
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After a late breakfast of The Captain’s favorite, Eggs and Rashers, we pull anchor and motor over to Rakino Island. It’s a beautiful day even though winds are light. We anchor in West Bay and enjoy the view into the afternoon. Tonight, it is warm enough to sit out on deck for dinner. What a treat!
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Friday, November 27th – The Captain has been following the weather with its forecast of heavy rains this weekend. We could sit them out somewhere at anchor, but do we want to do that? Not really, especially when our marina is a short distance away. Also, our friends, John and Lyn Martin, have invited us to join the ICA Rally group at their annual Christmas Dinner Party at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland Harbour. That sounds much more fun than sitting in a boat being pelted by rain.
Raising anchor, we return to Gulf Harbour Marina, clean ourselves up and head down to the RNZYS at 5:00. What a delightful evening! Kiwi cruising friends, John and Ankelien McIntosh, whom we had first met in Minerva Reef several years ago and then spent some time with in The Kingdom of Tonga, were there, and it was fun to see them again. The highlight of the evening was a presentation on cruising Indonesia with a rally that John and Lyn put together. It must be said that The First Mate has never really been interested in going to Indonesia. The Captain has even less interest. Too hot, too humid and a lot of red-tape and waiting (and more waiting) with customs or with just about anything.
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We are given a different view. We meet some people from the Indonesian Tourist Bureau. They are enthusiastic and encouraging. The slides of last season’s rally are great. We even know some of the boats that are on that rally and have heard positive comments from them. The First Mate’s radar is turned that way. Not so The Captain’s. Not yet. One never knows though, does one? Indonesia in 2017? Oh, well, maybe ……….. !