February 15, 2014
We were now headed down the east side of the Coromandel towards the Mercury Islands, a small group of islands that lie about 5 miles off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. The main attraction here is the largest island, Great Mercury. It’s a beautiful hilly island, much of it grassy pasture but with patches of pine forest. It also happens to have some of New Zealand’s best beaches. There aren’t much in the way of cruise-worthy islands in this area of New Zealand, but Great Mercury is special enough that yachties willingly travel out of their way to visit this place.
We’d visited two anchorages at Great Mercury the previous year, Parapara Bay and Peachgrove Bay, and thought they were both very special and beautiful. Today we had light winds with a forecast for a westerly direction during the night, perfect conditions for visiting a bay on the island’s east side: Coralie Bay.
This side of Great Mercury is the more rugged side, subject to the conditions of the open ocean. But Coralie Bay is surrounded by rock islands and submerged rocks. These create a natural breakwater to take the brunt of the sea conditions, leaving the bay itself calm and protected in reasonable conditions.
We arrived and found ourselves amid swells crashing off the rocks and shoreline. This would be very intimidating if one didn’t have a chart! Thankfully we did and carefully made our way through what felt like a pass between all the rocks. Some were visible above the surface; it was the ones we could barely see below the surface that were the most worrisome. Often the only sign of their presence was the breaking water they created. Below, photos of our approach to the bay (click to enlarge any photo).
Once through, we found ourselves in a big, calm bay. Right off, we could see this place was unusual looking. For one, the bay was strikingly attractive, seeming perfectly rounded and rimmed by a long white beach. Grassy hills, wandering cows, and craggy cliffs with overhanging pohutukawa trees added to the classic “ideal New Zealand bay” attributes. What was unusual was all the white! The banks, soil, beach, and the towering white cliffs of Mohi Mountain just south of us were all shades of chalky white. It seems much of this island’s east side is made up of limestone. Below, some photos…
And a panorama that shows a small north bight in Coralie Bay…
We weren’t alone in the bay, but there was plenty of room to anchor. Once set, I took some photos before going below to make lunch. We were both tired from the trip and needed to take a rest for awhile. When the sun got lower, we planned to go ashore and do some exploring. –Cyndi
