February 3, 2014
All things must come to an end, especially in the cruising lifestyle. Silly season (the New Zealand holiday season) was coming to an end, and it was time for us to head out cruising before making our way to Tauranga. Our plan was to spend time visiting more islands of the south Hauraki Gulf plus the Coromandel Peninsula. Below, a map.
Note that while Kawau and some scattered islands to the north are also considered part of the Hauraki Gulf, they’re so different in look and character that they’re not on my map. I like to think of the North Hauraki Gulf and South Hauraki Gulf as two separate areas, separated by the natural barrier of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
In the South Hauraki Gulf so far, we’d visited the charming islands of Rakino and Motuihe, plus visits to Waiheke Island. This time we planned to see the cojoined islands of Rangitoto and Motutapu, plus Ponui (aka Chamberlains) and Rotoroa Islands, revisit Waiheke island, and cruise the west side of the Coromandel Peninsula.
(Note: Two of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf, Pakihi and Pakatoa, are privately owned so were not on our list.)
This transition from city life to cruising life is a good spot to put a hodgepodge of photos from the past month that didn’t quite make it into my previous posts. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge and scroll.) –Cyndi
