September 18, 2013
This calm sunny afternoon was perfect for motoring up to the renowned Bay of Islands area, which as the crow flies, wasn’t very far away from our Malaka Bay anchorage. But since much of it’s either too deep or too shallow to anchor, visiting yachts generally enter via its north end, entailing a trip up and over the long skinny islands that somewhat enclose the Bay. One nice thing about this ride is that it lies behind the protective reef that surrounds Vanua Balavu; making for calm waters.
Below, our (very) approximate 8-mile route up to our chosen anchorage in the Bay of Islands. (If you want to see Rich’s post about how horrifyingly off our charts were for this area, here’s a link.)
We rounded the northernmost island, then headed back south into the rather large area known as the Bay of Islands. Glancing at a satellite photo, this would seem to describe only one small area of scattered rock islands. If you look closely, though, you can see areas of shoreline are actually tucked behind close-lying islands. That’s one of the things that makes this area so magical: all the hidden holes! This is truly a wonderland for dinghies and the sort of area that makes having a kayak aboard worthwhile.
As we motored further south, our surroundings became more and more beautiful. Basically this area is made up of dark craggy islands with patches of bright green vegetation sprouting wherever it can get a foothold. Behind the islands, to the east, a long mountain ridge bisects northern Vanua Balavu, and its tall steep cliffs form a dramatic backdrop to the area.
The islands are all shapes and sizes: rounded monoliths with sheer rock walls, pointy cones, big and little mushrooms, and huge boulders. While they differ in shape and size, they all share a unique feature: an undercut above the waterline which gives them a toadstool appearance.
The water under these overhangs has some of the brightest, most electric colors of blue and green we’ve ever seen. It appears at times as if someone has set up neon lights below the water. I don’t know the explanation for this phenomena, but I do know it’s stunningly beautiful and what makes the northern Lau able to visually compete against the turquoise waters and white beaches of the southern Lau.
Our problem now was choosing an anchorage. The first possibility, the easiest one, was really lovely, but we continued on. Another anchorage appeared, a large teal pool surrounded with sheer rock walls dotted with thick green vegetation, a small island at the back of its bay. That one was really hard to pass by, but we wanted to see the innermost spot just around the next corner (the subject of the next blog post).
Below, a gallery of photos as we motored to the Bay of Islands (click to enlarge and scroll through gallery below). –Cyndi
