Month: April 2013

April 1, 2013

Today’s good news: it was Easter Monday, the final holiday of the Easter weekend and the day the crowds go home. The bad news: a weather system was coming on Thursday and we wanted to be in Auckland before it arrived. This meant that we, too, needed to get going if we wanted to see some other places on the way to Auckland. The good news: The other places were fairly close by so we didn’t need to rush out of here.

Kawau Island’s other claim to fame is that Lin and Larry Pardey, famous sailors who’ve written numerous books, have chosen to settle here. We asked around and heard they are amiable folks who don’t mind a chat if you run across them. We figured we’d go visit their neighborhood and maybe we’d get lucky and run into them.

We went ashore and asked for directions, but it seems it’s quite a long walk to North Cove. We heard there might be a shortcut; so we decided to attempt it. It was a nice walk, but it only went to a bay over the hill, and we would have ended up in someone’s yard if we’d followed it any further. We gave up at this point, but maybe we’d try again someday.

We arrived back at the boat, had some lunch, then pulled up our anchor and headed to our next destination: the Motuketekete Island Group. –Cyndi

April 1, 2013

After treating ourselves to coffee drinks and a goodie at the Mansion House’s cafe, it was time to get some exercise and take one of the walking trails in the area. We wanted to see the ruins of the old copper mine; so we opted for the Lady’s Bay Track, which would give us a view of the mine and Dispute Cove alongside it, an anchorage we wouldn’t otherwise get to see.

The walk turned out to be pretty spectacular, winding through pine, fern, and native bush forest with beautiful views of the north Hauraki Gulf. No matter how many walks we take in New Zealand, each one manages to be different in some way. Kawau’s unique features are the tall pines which carpet the ground with pine needles, orangey-brown soil contrasting with dark green water along the rocky shorelines, the sight of a darting weka or two as you walk through the forest, and the view of boats sailing amidst islands backed by a mainland coast not far away. Kawau is definitely an place like no other.

Above is a gallery of photos from our hike. The old copper mine is on the bottom left of the gallery. As always, click any to enlarge and scroll.–Cyndi

April 1, 2013

Kawau Island’s biggest claim to fame is the Mansion House and its grounds. The Mansion House is somewhat reminiscent of the Hearst Castle in California. In the late 1800s an eccentric Australian millionaire bought a large area of property, built a mansion on the shore and made the grounds his own personal wonderland filled with exotic trees, plants and animals. He imported wallabies and kookaburra birds from Australia and added zebras, monkeys and peacocks to the mix.

The house and grounds are now open to the public, and while the zebras and monkeys are long gone, the wallabies and kookaburra linger to this day. Peacocks freely roam the grounds along with weka, one of New Zealand’s brown flightless birds much like a banded rail. There’s a nice little cafe where you can have a bite and enjoy the scenery and wandering birds.

We soon learned there are a lot of weka on Kawau, and like the kiwi their haunting cries float from the hills. The difference is the kiwi are nocturnal and you’ll only hear them at night. Between the weka and kookabara calls that can be heard by day, and the kiwis and the mooreporks (small owls that make a persistent soft hooting call) at night, this island has quite a bird soundtrack. (People who stay in Mansion House Bay in the spring must also get to experience the unforgettable piercing dawn screams of the peacocks.) –Cyndi

March 31, 2013

March 31, 2013

We had some trepidation as we headed to Kawau Island from Great Barrier Island.  It was Easter Sunday, and we knew it would be a big weekend for boaters.  The question was just how crowded would it be?

We came up over the north end of the island through a pass between Kawau and the mainland.  Kawau looked interesting, rocky and pine-forested, with some very nice homes perched on the hillsides.  We passed a couple of nice-looking bays, but our destination was Bon Accord Harbour: a long, deep harbor cutting right into the middle of the island.  In that harbor are several anchorages to choose from, including the bay with the famous Mission House, and Smelting Cove with the area’s yacht club.  We chose Stockhouse Bay, which sounded nice and less likely to be crowded than the previous two options.

When we turned into Bon Accord, we were shocked to see the number of boats, then relieved to see they were mostly bunched up in Smelting Cove by the yacht club. Stockhouse Bay had a scattering of boats, but there was plenty of room for us.  In answer to our question, Easter can get very, very crowded.  And seeing all the boats by the yacht club, we gave up any ideas about going there for Easter Dinner.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on our boat enjoying the scenery and giving the stink eye to anyone who thought about anchoring too close.  Many New Zealand boaters have the unfortunate tendency to ignore the rules of anchoring when it’s likely to be crowded (and sometimes even when it’s not) and start thinking in terms of making the anchorage a parking lot and “parking” in the “parking space” right alongside other boats.  (This is the reason Rich and I avoid cruising here during holiday seasons.)

As for the scenery, it was really striking.  It was one of those evenings where the sun is shining but the sky is darkly and cloudy in the distance.  There were areas of shallow water which glowed light blue in this light, contrasting with the orangey-brown soil onshore and the deep green of the pine trees.  Pohutukawa trees draped over the water at the edges of our bay.  The longer we were here, the more this island grew on me.  There was a really nice feeling to this place.

That night we had city lights on both sides of us.  One was from an actual city on the mainland across the channel. The other was from the city of boats by the yacht club. We’ve never seen anything like it. Here’s a previous post with some pictures.

One very pleasant surprise this night was to hear the call of the kiwis from the hills around us.  It seems there are a lot of them here, and it’s a magical sound to fall asleep to.

Above is a gallery of photos of our arrival to Kawau, including passing up over the north end of the island and the surprising sight of the boats crowded into Smelting Cove.  There are a few shots from the Bon Accord Harbour area, and a shot of our bay, Stockhouse Bay, on the top left. –Cyndi