April 1, 2013
Aside from Kawau, there are only a few small islands in the North Hauraki Gulf. Three if them lie just south of Kawau and make up the Motuketekete Island Group. We considered stopping at Motuketekete, but since it’s private we opted to check out neighboring Moturekareka and Motutara islands, connected by an isthmus at low tide.
Moturekareka was striking, a small hilly island covered with pine trees. There’s a beach with an old wreck near the shore, deliberately sunk there to form a jetty and create a cove. The connected island, Motutara, was tiny but interesting. Both looked like fascinating places to explore, but unfortunately this island group had one more thing: other boats. It seemed the Easter crowd hadn’t quite dissipated yet. We could have squeezed in but considering how deep remaining anchorage space was, it would have taken more determination than we had. We decided to head on.
Before we left, we went in very close so we could see the islands and get some photos. Unfortunately it was cloudy so I didn’t get a very good picture of the cove formed by the sunken Rewa. Still, this looked like a neat place, and we hoped to have a second chance to come here one day.
The first photo in the above gallery shows a view of the three islands of the Motuketekete Island Group (as seen from Kawau Island). On the right is our approach to Moturekareka. –Cyndi
