February 15, 2014
Today was a big day in that we were making the jump to the other side of the Coromandel Peninsula. This is a trip that’s best done in calm weather, making sure to time it so the boat is going with the current when going through what’s known as the Colville Channel. This channel between Great Barrier island and the top of the Coromandel Peninsula (known as Cape Colville) is miles wide, but a fair amount of water moves through here and it can get pretty nasty if the current is going against the wind.
We took off around 7:30am, and what a difference from yesterday! In today’s warm, pleasant weather, Waimate Island seemed so much prettier, and the string of islands going north looked more attractive and interesting. The sun was so strong today I actually put a hat on for awhile. Below, a photo gallery from the trip (click to enlarge any photo)…
And a couple of panoramas of the Coromandel Peninsula as we headed north…
It was nice to get to the top of the peninsula and have calm conditions and a good current with us. This area can be difficult, but today it was in a friendly mood. I found my own mood lifting as we got over the top of the Coromandel and started down the other side. Below, a gallery of photos from the top of the peninsula, including the odd sight of someone’s new office building being towed by a tugboat.
I will say there there’s an odd phenomenon that goes on with the Coromandel Peninsula. Since the east side is more exposed to open ocean conditions, it should follow that it should be the wilder, more rugged coast. But it isn’t. In contrast with the west side’s remote, alternative lifestyle feeling, the east side has beachy tourist towns and vacation homes of the city dwellers (mostly on the lower half of the peninsula.–the head of it is still quite remote). There’s a reason more people come here: it just feels sunnier, calmer, and more relaxed. The calm water offshore beckons people to swim, kayak, stroll the lovely beaches, and fish to their hearts’ content. Great Mercury Island, about 20 miles south from the tip of the peninsula, is particularly lovely and just a few miles from Whitianga, the Coromandel’s biggest town with a sizeable marina. In all, I’d say there’s simply a very different energy on the east side, both on and offshore.
Our next destination was, in fact, Great Mercury Island. It’s a place we’d visited the previous year, but today we’d be going to a new anchorage there. As we motored along, the current stayed with us. I studied my David Thatcher Guidebook for details on how to get into the anchorage and felt excited about going there. After a couple of rough days, it felt nice to have one like this.–Cyndi
