SV True North

 It was finally time to head to civilisation and leave the islands behind for a few days.  We sailed the short distance to Russell where we could find good shelter from a forecast strong wind.  We dropped anchor outside a large mooring field filled with yachts.  That evening we took the dinghy into the Russell Yacht Club dock and had a very good roast pork dinner at the club.   The next day we headed over to the Russell town dock in the dinghy to see the picturesque town and then take a hike up to the flagpole above town.  The flagpole is a very famous site in New Zealand because it was built as a signal flag by the British but the Māori kept cutting it down because they were unhappy with their treatment by the British.  These events caused a long war between the Māori and British.  When peace finally came the Māori cut a large tree, carried it up the hill and replanted the flagpole symbolising the peace between the groups. A poinsettia in a garde...

 We had a very short passage from Paradise Bay to our next anchorage off Motuarohia Island.  This island has a very short hike up to some World War II lookout ruins and then continuing on to a lookout platform.  The other attraction is a saltwater tidal lagoon which has a snorkeling trail.  The lagoon was almost dry when we visited because it was low tide at that time. Andrew at the lookout viewing platform The view from the platform - the island in the background was our previous anchorage The trees were laden with mosses

 We finally made it to our most northern point of our 2024 New Zealand trip, the Bay of Islands.  This area is one of the most popular cruising regions in New Zealand.  We anchored in Paradise Bay a beautiful and clam anchorage off Urupukapuka Island.  The next morning we took the dinghy to the beach and set out on a hike around the island. Our hiking route and stats The trails took us around the shoreline going from the beaches up to the high headlands between them.  There were lots of good views of the Bay of Islands from the high viewpoints. Looking back on our anchorage as we climb the first headland There were many gorges down to the ocean from the high areas And views to the neighbouring islands Towards the end of the hike the path took us up to the centre of the island before returning downhill to Paradise Bay. Up at the top.. And back down to Paradise Bay - True North is seen through the trees.

 We sailed back to the mainland from the Poor Knights Islands and anchored in Mimiwhangata Bay.  The forecast was for strong winds from the south / southeast for the next few days and Mimiwhangata looked like a good spot to anchor behind the point on the south side of the bay.  The map showed several hiking trails around the bay so the next morning we set out to walk around the southern point. Our hike route and stats The weather was threatening but held off for us.  The hike took us through pastoral fields, along ocean beaches, up steep forested slopes and down into rainforest micro climates.  It was a very enjoyable hike. True North at anchor just above the tree at the left. The hike started walking through farm pastures The cows kept a close eye on us and kept their distance  Note the huge ferns growing in the trees Along the ocean beaches… And then uphill through the pastures and eventually into the forest And finally down into a rainforest micro-climat...

 After departing from Great Barrier Island I decided that the weather was calm enough that we could visit the Mokohinau Islands to the north.  There are not many good anchorages in the Mokohinau group but I thought we might just get away with anchoring at the very south end of the Island group.  When we arrived we found the anchorage was not well sheltered so we proceeded to motor around the island group looking for a better spot.  We almost gave up but as we came through a channel between the islands in the middle of the group we could see between islands a very sheltered spot with a small entrance between two islands opening out to a larger anchorage area.  The location turned out to be spectacular! Tucked in between islands - note the hole in the rock to the right of True North. The lighthouse on the island at the top of the picture is our next hiking destination  The next day we set out to Burgess Island to hike up to the lighthouse.  Burgess is th...