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| Our Circumnavigation of North Island |
We
had a nice last few days at Great Barrier Island. We headed around to Port
Fitzroy to try to get some diesel, but we mistimed it and the pumps were
closed. So we bought hot dogs and ice cream instead and headed back to X-Pat.
We then headed around to Kaiarara Bay to anchor for a few days.
On
Thursday, we headed ashore and completed a lovely but steep walk up to the
Kauri dam and then onwards up to the top of Mount Hobson. The dam was used when the logging industry in
the area was at its peak. Timber was piled up in the water behind the dam and
then released to flush all of the logs down the valley. It must have been a
spectacular sight when it was released. There is not a lot left of the dam now.
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| The first of many suspension bridges |
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| The Kauri Dam |
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| ... and the steps just go on and on and on |
From
the dam we climbed steadily upwards to the top of Mount Hobson (621m). The
views were spectacular back across the Hauraki Gulf and we could even see X-Pat
anchored down in the bay, looking very lonely. Having not walked very far for a
while the 14km return trip was a bit of a shock to the system! We were both in
need of serious lubrication that evening!
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| The view from the top of Mt Hobson, X-Pat is in the bay. |
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| The panorama |
Whilst
enjoying our sundowners we had a visitor on board in the form of a Pateke duck.
These birds breed only in New Zealand and the world population is only 2,500
birds. It was therefore pretty special that this one came to say hello.
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| The rare Pateke duck |
On
Friday we left Great Barrier Island and headed back to Urquhart Bay on the
mainland. This was a distance of about 45 nm and we had been expecting an
easterly breeze, which would have made a nice downwind sail back. Unfortunately,
the breeze didn’t materialise and we ended up motor sailing the whole way.
One
anchored in Urquhart’s Bay we went into boat maintenance mode. Pat dived down
and scrubbed the hull to get rid of the slime and marine growth, which had
accumulated over the last couple of months. We also serviced the engine, which
has been put to good use over the last few months.
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| Checking the rig in preparation for the next adventure |
On
Monday we headed into Marsden Cove Marina, passing our friends, Stuart and
Sally on Blythe Spirit who were just leaving. They had obviously heard that we
were coming. The maintenance work continued today and tomorrow we are heading
home to Pymble for a month of fun with the family.
Next
instalment May …..
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