December 16, 2013
It was a long trip from Tutukaka to the north Hauraki Gulf/Kawau Island area. The day was hot and still, which was perfect for passing by the notoriously gusty Whangarei Heads area. We took turns on watch, huddling under the dodger for shade and giving ourselves an occasional spray with the cockpit hose to keep cool.
After we passed Whangarei Heads, Rich went below to nap, and I took over watch. At one point, I noticed a small sea bird hopping across the water. I’ve never seen this before and had to wait until he did it again before I believed my eyes. I wondered if Rich would believe me when I tried to describe this. I don’t think he quite did, but nature was kind and the bird repeated its performance when Rich was watching. He even managed to get it on camera.
The other interesting thing that happened on my watch was appearance of building thunderheads over the mainland. They didn’t appear to be coming our way, but I kept an eye on them. The sky over us was blue and cloudless, the air still, but the clouds continued to build over the mainland as we continued south.
I had made a great plan for us to do some mainland cruising in the north Hauraki Gulf. This is the Matakana area of New Zealand, full of wineries and a terrific hike in on the Tawharanui Peninsula. As so often happens in cruising, those plans went to hell in a hand basket.
It started with a weather forecast. It seemed the winds would come up and blow right into our planned stop in Omaha Cove at Leigh; so we had to pass it by and continue on to the more protected Christian Bay. We dropped anchor and were greeted by darting swallows and right behind them, some of the clouds we’d been watching. An afternoon thunderstorm began shortly after that, but it didn’t last long.
We still had time for a hike. I hadn’t studied the area very carefully, and when I took a hard look at the map I was surprised to see how far away the Tawharanui Peninsula was! Even the nearby wineries I thought we’d visit were too far away. Oops. After kicking myself for not being better prepared, I realized it would be better to come back and explore the Matakana area by car.
With that, I informed Rich that the planned walk was being postponed for another trip (not that he even knew what the walk was as I hadn’t told him yet–sometimes it’s better to let it be a surprise). Instead, we’d drink some wine and enjoy the scenery from the cockpit, then head for Kawau Island in the morning. Again, since he hadn’t been expecting anything special, he wasn’t disappointed (or relieved might be the more accurate word).
Below is a gallery of some of the fascinating (and somewhat worrisome) cloud displays we saw as we neared the north Hauraki Gulf area. –Cyndi
