December 9, 2013
Our plan was to head out to the Bay of Islands for a few days before heading down the coast. I thought it would be fun to anchor in some bays we hadn’t visited last season, none of which had any must-do hikes we needed to accomplish. Overall we were on a loose, relaxed schedule, one of the benefits of seeing a place for the second time.
The day’s weather was much as it had been the past few days: variable, a times calm and warm, then cloudy and cool, then windy with a bit of rain, then back once again to calm. It wasn’t the easiest weather for which to make a cruising plan; so we decided to head to an area on the mainland and save the islands for better weather due to start the next day.
The mainland coast in the Bay of Islands has several areas of peninsulas, bays and coves. These mainland bays are generally not as beautiful as those in the islands, but this doesn’t mean they aren’t perfectly nice places to visit.
One such area is Manawaroa Bay, actually a large area containing several bays including Orokawa Bay, Te Hue Bay, Assassination Cove, Opunga Cove, plus some very shallow coves further in.
This area is partially enclosed by the long, skinny Orokawa Peninsula which gives it some protection and makes it suitable for variable weather. This was our destination, and once there we planned to chose a bay.
Below, a map of the area. Approaching from the north, you first spot Pareanui Bay (on the outside of the Orokawa Peninsula). Just across from this, on the inside of the peninsula, is Orokawa Bay. The peninsula is skinny enough to be a mere isthmus between the two spots.
We motored into Manawaora and toured the bays. I’d been intrigued by a couple of spots, but on closer in inspection they weren’t appealing for various reasons. Below, a photo tour of the area.
A little further in was the popular Te Hue Bay, which looked like a fun place to walk around but the land was privately owned. After spotting a dinghy on the beach, I’m not sure that stopped anyone from going ashore.
After looking at, and rejecting, all the other spots, Rich pointed to our final option, an appealing-looking bay and one I’d hoped to visit last year by car but we never got there: Opunga Cove. We motored over to check it out. –Cyndi
