Orokomai Bay and Shakespear Regional Park

[Kyle]From Tiritiri Matangi, we motored the short distance to Orokomai Bay on the south side of the Whangaparoa peninsula, opposite the island. There, we would be better able to find protection from the strong westerlies forecast for the following few days. We ended up anchored in the lee of high cliffs topped with big mansions. We had inadvertently stumbled on none of Auckland’s most well-to-do areas. From where Begonia sat, we could just see the Auckland skyline peeking out from behind the headland.

Another dose of heavy rains was coming, but for the moment, we were expecting a day of sunshine, so we set off for a day in the park.

Orokomai Bay is very shallow, nearly drying out completely at low tide. When that happens, the locals come out in force to rid the bottom of its shellfish, which are supposedly tasty. We set off about then and got as far up the bay as we could with the dinghy. It didn’t take too long before it was too shallow for the motor, so we punted the rest of the way to the spot where we grounded. From there, we dragged the dinghy to the water’s edge and then as far up the shallow beach as we could with my back still being a little tender. I wanted to accompany Maryanne on her walk instead of laying in the bottom of the dinghy saying, “Ow, ow, ow!” all day while the sun cooked me like a Christmas ham.

From our anchorage tucked behind the cliffs, we went ashore and found a place to land the dinghy and walked around the giant Kiwi protection fence looking for a way into the Park.

Waterfalls and Fantail

Forest, grazing fields, and beaches - a mix of environments

From Orokomai Bay, the southern part of the remaining peninsula is taken up by Shakespear (with no e) Park and reserve (The Northern part is used by the military). Our first encounter with it came as we encountered an elaborate perimeter fence at the beach. Large sections of the park have been set aside as protected reserves for ground dwelling and nesting animals. The electrified fence had regularly spaced predator traps on both sides and vestibules with shoe cleaning stations and double doors that can’t be opened simultaneously for humans who want to go through. New Zealand really takes the protection of its native species very seriously. The fence must have cost a thousand dollars per meter to construct, but the park was free of charge. We never saw one as we hiked many of its trails, but we would have gladly stuck a tenner in a “donation for the upkeep” box.

Shakespear is another great place for a nature walk. There were thick forests full of ferns and crisscrossed with vines and open meadows with views of the Auckland skyline and the whole Hauraki Gulf, all filled with gregarious singing birds. On the way back from the next bay over to Oromokai, we finally saw a field full of sheep. We’re always hearing about how they outnumber humans five to one here, but so far, we’ve only seen scattered ones at great distances. We have definitely not seen more of them than the friendly people at this point.

Back at the beach and through the fence (self) checkpoint, I noticed they had a camera on a motion detector. It was mounted at knee height and seems to be there for the purpose of helping them enforce the “No Dogs” rule.

Quail and Oyster Catchers

By the time we made it back to our dinghy, the water had come up far enough that we no longer needed to drag it down to the water. In fact, it was tugging gently on its anchors at a depth of about a meter. All we had to do was wade out, climb in and then punt towards Begonia until it was deep enough for our motor. We had just enough time for a quick swim to wash off before the clouds moved in and the skies opened up. I guess we could have just waited a little and gone out on deck with a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap, but what was done was done. We got to hide in the dry cabin while Begonia got a ten thousand liter rinse of her own.

Back to the Dinghy and return to Begonia

Tiritiri Matangi Island

We passed by Beehive Island on route to Tiritiri
and arrived in good time for sunset

[Kyle]Dave and Lyndon were right. Tiritiri Matangi was amazing!

We squeezed into the little bay to the north of the jetty and dropped anchor as close as we dared to the beach amongst two other boats. The wind was supposed to build in a day, making this an unsafe anchorage, so we had to see what we could while we were there.

We also had distant views of the Auckland skyline

We were up early the next morning loaded with a backpack full of water and all of the other supplies necessary for a whole day’s hiking. My back was still pretty sore, but I was determined to get out and make the best of it, so I took a hiking pole to use as a cane and off we went. Our plan was to get as far as we could before I couldn’t take it anymore.

As we went on, I gradually loosened up a bit and found that I could walk just fine as long as I paid special attention to not tripping or stepping into any unexpected holes. Those were a real killer.

The island is just wonderful. In the early 1900s, it was a largely deforested sheep ranch. After that stopped, a program of bringing in native plants began and went on for several years. Once the island was considered to be both sufficiently reforested and free of dangerous introduced predators such as stoats and rats, native fauna was released into the bush. It is now run as an open reserve for many of the area’s native species, primarily birds.

Hobbs Beach, and the ferry landing

Tiritiri now seems like a beautiful botanic garden that is just filled chockablock with birds. We were unfortunately there on an off day for the conservation staff, so we missed out on any of the guided walks they offer. Instead, we got to pick our own route, which gradually morphed into almost an entire lap around the island on their well maintained trails.

Kyle's hiking pole did the trick and we were soon enjoying the birds
The Tui bird (a commoner in the area)

We were really impressed with the island. Not only were the facilities for the visitors top notch, but they had clearly invested a lot of time and effort into making it a good environment for the animals living there as well. There were nest boxes scattered through the forest and they had plumbed a whole water system on the island just for refilling drinking troughs and birdbaths with plentiful, clean water. Many of the birdbaths were placed a respectful distance from a bench, where visitors could sit and watch.

The amazingly presented trail-side nest of the vulnerable stitchbird (hihi), and the native NZ robin

We saw almost every species of New Zealand bird we’d been hearing about, except, of course for the nocturnal kiwis. One of our favorites was the Tui, an extroverted bird with long, beautiful songs who seemed to use any excuse to show off its repertoire. Another was the Fantail, a tiny little bird with boundless energy who really seemed to enjoy showing off. They would land on a branch an arm’s length away and start chattering away, presumably about all of the day’s birdy gossip. They would flit from one spot to another, making a point of showing off their outsized tail feathers all the while. They would happily go about doing this for a full minute or two before finishing their diatribe and going on their way. They were frustratingly hard to photograph because even though they were right there, they wouldn’t sit still for more than half a second. By the time you got one in focus, it was on the next branch over. Fortunately, we had hundreds of chances at it.

Stunning scenery and blue skies!

The coast on the very far side of the island from Begonia was just one viewpoint after another of jaw dropping scenery, made even more beautiful by lots of giant Pohutakawa trees in full bloom. We wanted to explore every side trail and linger at each pretty spot, but we knew the onshore wind was coming and we would have to be on our way, so we started across the island for home. Along the way, Maryanne made the spot of the day when she sighted a Ruru, also known as a Morepork or Tasmanian Spotted Owl, sitting motionless high up in a tree. We checked later and found that their population is considered stable enough to not warrant protected status like all of the other birds on the island, but we saw loads of those and only the one hard-to-find owl, so we were pretty happy.

And, of course, the birds...
Takahe, Bellbird (I think), Morepork and the 3 Oystercatcher chicks

When we got to the beach, we nearly walked through three Oystercatcher chicks. Their camouflage is so good against the pebbles that you can only see them when they are moving. When we passed too close, they all toddled over to mom for shelter and adorably plopped down by her, virtually disappearing again.

The bay was full of boats, most of whom seemed to have stopped only for lunch or a brief swim on the way to somewhere else. By the time we had hoisted the dinghy and had a snack, it was just us and one other. We saw them pulling up their anchor just after we had cleared the bay ourselves.

{Maryanne: The forecast meant we needed to move on, but we'd have loved to have explored the island several times over. Tiriti Matangi translates to 'a place tossed by the wind', so we figured we should take the forecast seriously and say farewell to Tiritiri.

Kawau Island

[Kyle]Since our anchor wasn’t dug in so well and the wind was forecast to increase the following night, we had a short stay and left the next day for Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

The strong wind hadn’t arrived yet, though, so we had just the faintest breath of tailwind to push us along. We decided to try out our new second hand spinnaker. It is much lighter than our other one (listen to us!). This kept it from collapsing under its own weight and kept us moving slowly but surely south. The seas were calm and the sun was shining, so we didn’t mind. We even got a mid-sail visit from a pod of dolphins who left us after figuring out we had no bow waves in which to play.

The "new" spinnaker is a bit on the skinny side, and has a few patches, but we're glad to see it works

Along the way, inexplicably, I slowly developed terrible back pain. I couldn’t trace it to any specific event. I was just fine in the morning, I had a relatively sedate day of sailing and by the time we set the anchor, I was a hunched-over invalid. This used to happen to me all of the time, but it has been years since I have had anything other than mild soreness. Oh, well. At least we’re not in the yard. A couple of day’s convalescence might be was just what I needed. It even rained a bit so I don’t feel like I was missing out on any fun.

Kawau has plenty to offer ashore, including what is reported to be a very friendly yacht club. It is even home to Lin and Larry Pardey, who got everybody into sailing in the generation before Cap’n Fatty. I was up for absolutely none of that because I was trying my best to avoid anything that hurt my back. Plus, it was my Birthday.

That lasted about an hour or so, until it became apparent that I needed to completely disassemble, clean and reassemble one head. This involves a few things I really don’t like: uncomfortable positions, big messes to clean up and fixing things that were working just fine yesterday before inexplicably packing it in. The job took all damn day and left me unable to get up off of the floor without assistance. So much for getting better. {Maryanne: Note I begged Kyle to rest and let me fix the head.. he absolutely refused and I didn't argue any further!}

We mostly just rested and enjoyed the sunset views

While I was doing all of that, Maryanne was cooking away up in the galley. She even did all of the dishes before I even had to see how many there were. When I was finally satisfied that I really was finished, I took a shower, had a swim and then took another shower just to be sure. She then sat me down with some warm food and a bottle of wine, which she followed with Birthday brownies (She had originally planned to make me a cake, but after reviewing my batter/frosting options that morning, I had decided she should modify the cake into brownies). That made for a nice end to what has to be one of the worst Birthdays in memory.

The following afternoon, we got a visit from Dave and Lyndon on their boat Parera. They had decided it would be easier for me than sailing over to, and then climbing up the hill to their house in the mainland. They allowed that they were happy to have an excuse to take the boat out.

We caught up with each other’s last year and I picked Dave’s brain for his extensive knowledge of sailing in New Zealand. We continued over dinner and before we knew it, it had been dark for a while. It’s summer here, so that meant it was nearly tomorrow when the party finally broke up.

By the time Maryanne and I stirred, Parera was already gone. They returned a couple of hours later bearing fresh food from the sea: an already filleted snapper and a bucket full of scallops. Maryanne loves scallops. It was obvious Dave was a career teacher (so was Lyndon). After a demonstration of the shucking process and then patiently talking her through each step, he had her deftly performing the task by about the sixth one. The snapper became fish chowder for dinner.

A visit from Parera came with delivery of many goodies, from Mince pies to fresh snapper and scallops - AND a lesson in opening scallops.

We still had a few hours of daylight left, so on Dave and Lyndon’s recommendation, we set sail for Tiritiri Matangi Island.

Hen and Chicken Islands

[Kyle]After Urquhart, we sailed to Islas Pollo y Pollo, or Hen and Chicken in English. We tucked up into a little bay between islands and dropped our anchor onto a bottom of rounded stones.

On the sail across we spotted several of the Little Blue Pengiuns and had a 'fly-by' of Dolphins

I know this because the water visibility is great here. Also, because the alarming noises the chain was making afterwards made me want to go take a better look. I decided if the kids around here could do it, so could I and I went for a swim.

Yeeeoooow! That water is cold! Still, I persisted and was rewarded with not only a better understanding of the state of our ground tackle, but also views of waving seaweed and giant schools of curious bright blue tuna-like fish, who kept following me around almost as if they thought I was going to feed them. I dove to the bottom a couple of times to look at one thing or another and discovered the “warm” water is back at the surface. Enough of that!

It isn't permitted to land, but we could still explore the coast from the dinghy and meet the locals

Maryanne wasn’t listening to any of my recommendations about the swimming and instead opted for the “Rocks and Birds” tour by dinghy. We poked around a few inlets and sea caves before the building wind drove us back to the comfort of Begonia’s cabin for a warm meal. Even with the door shut, we could hear the birds calling out to each other as they roosted for the night. It’s so nice here.