Hike to Cape Brett Lighthouse
Ever since we first anchored in Whangamumu Harbour below the old whaling station in 2010 and discovered that there was a trail leading out to the lighthouse on Cape Brett, we have wanted to do that hike. Unfortunately, the access points to the trail are so distant from the Cape that one ought to plan for an overnight stop at the hikers’ hut located below the lighthouse. We have neither the equipment with us nor the inclination for such a venture. There is one option available to us, however, and that is to anchor in Deepwater Bay and hike up and over from there. That would give us about a 6-hour round-trip excursion. The problem with this option is that this is a deep anchorage, as the name indicates, as well as an exposed one, often with swirling winds. It is not an anchorage one might feel comfortable leaving a boat unattended for that amount of time. Thus, it looks like we will just have to be content with sailing by Cape Brett and its white lighthouse perched up on the hill.
Friday, February 19th – After the success of our Pipi venture, The First Mate is enthusiastically eager for another. (The Captain’s thoughts will not be mentioned.) Today’s Living off the Land lesson is going to be mussel gathering. Under a continuing dismal sky, we weigh anchor on Avante and head out following our local guides, Kevin and Jan, on their boat Extravagant to Waiwhapuku Bay or Army Bay as it locally known due to a WWII Army operation based there to mine the harbors. Anchored, we are just about to set out in the dinghy when the skies open up. When it looks like the rain is not about to stop anytime soon, we decide to forget the mussels and move over to Awaawaroa (Pipi) Bay. The rain finally does stop. Lesson plans are switched. On to oysters! The First Mate is delighted, for she does know about mussels but dealing with the harvesting of oysters is new to her. The Captain honestly doesn’t care, though he may prefer oysters over mussels.
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Equipped with heavy-duty screw drivers and hammers, Jan shows The Captain the best way to lever the oyster shell from its otherwise permanently glued-on position on the rocks.
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Hit just right and at the correct angle, the oyster shell pops off intact.
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A misplaced blow can pop open the shell which is not the preferred action at this time, but that’s not a problem as far as The Captain is concerned. He prefers his oysters in the raw anyway. Now a little lemon juice would be nice!
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One of the things about Living off the Land – be it one’s vegetable garden, the cow in the field, the fish in the ocean or the oysters on the beach – doing so takes work! Oysters collected, we each find shaded spots under the trees, and sitting on sand and rocks as comfortably as possible, we commence to pry open the shells. A few overly eagerly seabirds find us with hopes that we’ll throw out a tasty morsel along with the discarded shells.
We head back to our boats for the afternoon with plans to meet on the beach at 4:00 for a game of Kubb. What’s that? It is a Swedish lawn game or, in our case, beach game. A cross between bowling and horseshoes with team strategy required, one throws wooden batons at wooden blocks attempting to knock them over. The team that knocks its blocks over and then the King Pin before the other team does wins. Marion and Roger from m/v Amatheia join us, and fortified with beer and wine, we play until the rising tide engulfs the playing field (ie: pitch).
Knowing that we have more than enough oysters and even some clams left over, we invite Marion and Roger to join us on Avante for dinner. We start with The First Mate’s favorite way to serve raw oysters: Chilled Oysters marinated in Vodka. These are served as shooters here in New Zealand, but scared that she is going to choke on an oyster as she slurps down the vodka, she prefers a more civilized approach: served in a small cup or dish where the Drunken Oysters can be eaten and the vodka later drunk. We also serve up some oysters simply with a choice of lemon juice, tabasco sauce or horseradish.
The First Mate had earlier collected scallop shells on the beach and improvised an Oysters Rockefeller dish with the spinach, shallots and bacon she had on hand. More Pipi Fritters are made, and an Aioli Mayonnaise is whipped up to accompany them. Kevin serves up his mouth-watering Oyster Fritters. Marion and Roger contribute several home-grown lamb chops for the barbie, and with 2 hearty salads to round out the meal, what a feast we shared! Now, that’s what The First Mate calls Living off the Land!
Saturday, February 20th – It so happens that Roger is a Scuba diver and has his equipment onboard his boat. He offers to return with us to the spot of our anchor loss whose location we have saved on our GPS. It will be an easy dive to retrieve the anchor. The next morning, our two boats return to Opunga Cove.
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Captain’s Log: “Although the depth is only 20 feet, Roger finds visibility much less than a meter, and the bottom is so soft that he can easily sink his arm in to above the elbow. He has to keep his fins well away from the bottom or they raise silt. Roger exhausts the air remaining in his tank without finding anything. We speculate that the anchor could be buried without a trace of it above the surface.”
It was well worth the try, and thanking Roger with a nice bottle of wine, both boats continue on with their plans for the day. At least we are under a sunny sky. We first motor to Pipi Bay where we find s/v Sea Note whose owners, Chicgaila and Ray, we had gotten to know in Gulf Harbour. They had just arrived in the Bay of Islands. Meeting up with them out on our dinghies, we catch up with each other’s activities. They are sailing to Vanuatu later in April while we sail on to Fiji.
Our destination for the night is Omakiwi Cove. Returned to Avante, anchor raised, we motor out across Te Rawhiti Inlet and directly into 10 knots of wind. Upon arrival, we see that Catherine and Peter from The Southern Cross are already at anchor. We invite them to join us for Sundowners on Avante. They also plan to head to Fiji later in the season so we will keep an eye out for them when up in those waters.
Sunday, February 21st – We are going to meet Jan and Kevin in Army Bay for a second attempt at mussel harvesting. With a number of boats already in the bay on this fine summer afternoon, we find it difficult to locate a good place to anchor, and just as we are about to do so, the wind shifts from SW to N putting us off a lee shore. Not wanting that unfavorable location while we are off the boat mussel hunting, we motor across the channel to Sunset Cove on Motukiekie Island where we anchor Avante and then dinghy back across to Army Bay.
With buckets and equipment, we meet on shore at low tide to collect our mussels. The guys hike out across the rough rock and around the point. No mussels! Not a one! It had been several years since Jan and Kevin had collected mussels here, but at that time, the place swarmed with them. Not one to be thwarted, The First Mate switches to collecting a few oysters for tonight’s appetizer.
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As the afternoon wears on, boats begin leaving Army Cove. For most, the weekend is over, and it is time to return to port. Anchored in Sunset Bay across from Army Cove, we end up being the last boat left in the bay. Though this is not always the most secure of anchorages, we decide to stay in the quiet solitude by ourselves and maybe see why this spot is called Sunset Bay. As the sun sets, we see why.
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Monday, February 22nd – We motor back to Paradise Bay on Urupukapuka Island to do another hike on this great island. Extravagant is also at anchor, and Kevin offers to join us for the first leg. If we hike to Otahei Bay, Kevin tells us, there is a restaurant above the ferry dock and a small museum. Zane Grey once had a thriving fishing lodge here in the 1920’s. Great Idea! We’ll have lunch there, too.
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After lunch, we continue on doing a loop around the southern end of the island. We have now covered every trail on the island to our immense enjoyment! Hiking down to Paradise Bay, a photo shoot of Avante and Extravagant peacefully at anchor cannot be missed.
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That day we come up with a plan to at last do the hike to Cape Brett. New Zealanders are avid sailors. A J/160 is a widely recognized, responsive racer cruiser sailboat, and Avante is a J/160. Thus, Kevin, a Kiwi, would thoroughly enjoy an opportunity to sail Avante. The Captain and The First Mate would relish an opportunity to hike out to Cape Brett from Deepwater Bay. Is this a match made in heaven or what? A plan is created. Both boats will motor to Omakiwi Cove for the night. In the morning, we will all sail Avante out to Deepwater Cove where The Captain and First Mate will disembark for the hike while Kevin and Jan will watch Avante. Later, we will enjoy another fine sail on the return trip.
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Tuesday, February 23rd – 0840 – After picking up Jan and Kevin, we motor out and around Shag Rock and then turn north. It’s mostly cloudy with 5 – 8 knots of wind from the east. Captain’s Log: “Kevin takes us through the narrow but deep passage inside the rocks called Hat Island, and we turn northeast heading for Deepwater Bay. Winds out here are 12 – 15 kts. from E.”
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Deepwater Bay lives up to its reputation. We anchor in 60 ft. and put out 250 ft of chain. Winds are swirling inside the steep sides of the bay, and we know without a doubt we would never leave the boat unattended here. With our most competent watch standers, we have no fear.
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On shore, we find concrete foundation ruins and learn that this was the original location of Zane Grey’s fishing lodge before it was moved to Otahei Bay. Jan and Kevin hike to the top of the rise, but then leave us to our own entertainment. We hike on and up.
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At the top of the climb above the bay, we stop to look back at view. It’s no wonder this narrow bay with its steep sides catches and swirls the wind.
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The hike turns out to be as great as we had hoped and much more strenuous than we had expected. We are challenged by variety of terrains. All that’s lacking are creature-friendly meandering green fields. At times we are in deep woods with nothing visible through the surrounding trees but the path ahead.
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Then, suddenly, upon rounding a corner, a dramatic viewpoint will open up giving us a much-needed breather as we stop to enjoy the vista.
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Upon exiting a section of woods, we find ourselves looking down on the windward side of the peninsula. In the distance, we can see a narrow ribbon of track that will take us up the final ridge line accent. “The Lighthouse can’t be much farther after that!” pants a tired First Mate.
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The wind is increasing as we hike down the exposed hill to the unprotected cliff edge. The view is dramatic with the crashing surf below us, though the wind is enough to drown the sound of one’s voice.
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Turning away from the view, we start climbing up the ridge line. If she had known she was going to be standing way up there by that old telegraph pole on the left side and highest point of this photo, The First Mate might have had second thoughts about this undertaking.
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The sheer cliffs are nothing to fool around about or on. Thankfully, a secure rail has been installed along the most precipitous spots.
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At last, we crest the highest point, and there it is below us! Cape Brett! Lighthouse! Hole in the Rock! Sparkling Water! Blue Sky! Puffy Clouds! It’s magnificent!
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And — she made it! The Captain, already at the lighthouse, captures her final descent to the point.
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Sitting on the edge, looking out to Hole in the Rock, we give ourselves a well-earned rest and eat an energy-reviving lunch.
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Looking backwards to the Cape from a viewpoint on the return trip, The First Mate is amazed at the distance and terrain they covered. What a grand last hike before fly home to the States!
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Returning to Avante, we learn that Jan is not feeling well. We raise the anchor which, with 250 ft. of chain out, takes a while. Exiting the bay, 10 – 11 knots of wind from the E greets us. Raising the main sail, with Kevin at the helm, we sail deeply down wind toward Albert Channel. We had hoped to do a more lengthy sail across to the mouth of the Bay of Islands, but with Jan not feeling well, we all thought it best to get her back home to her own boat with little delay.
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Captain’s Log: “We retrace our steps into the passage taking Kevin’s shortcut inside of Hat Island rocks. We are able to raise the jib as we turn south and the wind angle becomes a reach. It is close to low tide now, so we stay in the deeper water to the east of Te Ao Island.”
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We leave Jan and Kevin in Omakiwi Bay, but we prefer to motor back to Paradise Bay for the night. Tomorrow, we will head into Russell and the next day move to our berth in Opua Marina where we will leave Avante while we return to the States for a month. Ahead of us lies the usual clean-up and organizing of maintenance work to be done while we are away. Thankfully, Avante is in good shape and nothing major needs to be done, but with several ocean passages ahead of us, we schedule routine checkups and professionally servicing.