Cruising on the Hatea River

[Kyle]At the early afternoon high tide, we left Wangārei Town Basin Marina, and headed a few miles down the river, just past Norsand Boatyard, where we set anchor by Limestone Island. As the name hints, this used to be the site of a big quarry and cement plant at the beginning of the last century. Now, it's a protected reserve that is crisscrossed by walking trails.

We were up early to do a lap, followed by a climb to the top for views that stretched all the way from Whangārei to the sea. It felt good to get out and have some leisure time that wasn't surreptitiously sneaked in while running an unpleasant errand. Once we had our fill, we returned to Begonia and spent the rest of the day enjoying the views as we swung back and forth through the tidal cycle.

Exploring Limestone Island (in the Hatea River)

Early the next morning, to catch the ebb, we weighed anchor and headed down to Urquhart Bay, near the Hatea entrance. There, we had lovely, warm sunshine as we walked the loop to Bream Head and back amongst a dozen or so other widely spread groups.

Urquhart Bay

Then it was time to head south. Ordinarily, I aim to move every other day or so, but heavy rain was in the forecast. Leaving early would allow us to experience it at anchor, rather than on the way, so I reset my 4am yard alarm to make sure we would have enough daylight for the trip.

In this case, we were headed for Kawau Island, about forty miles away. With the day's forecast being for light tailwinds, we would need as much time as we could get.