Thursday, December 22, 2011

Bay of Islands to Whangarei

 Our last night in the Bay of Islands was spent in the lea of a small island huddled down out of the wind. What a peacefulWe, mellow night it turned out to be. A great way to start the trip down to Whangarei.
 This rock formation can be found at the very tip of Cape Brett which we had to go around before heading  south towards Whangarei. We set sail and began our beautiful journey down the east coast.
 While we were beating up wind this classic boat was smoothly reaching down wind with its two man crew who yelled "Merry Christmas" to us as they passed by. These Kiwis are a friendly bunch for sure.
 A gorgeolus bay welcomed us to the entrance of Whangarie Harbour and here we dropped anchor.
 The warm sunshine, blue skies, and velvet green hills beckoned to us; we just had to do a hike and embrace this beautiful day on the land, before heading to the town full of people and cars.

 Sidewinder patiently waited as we strolled this incredible ranch land for a few hours. What a treat!
 Smugglers Cove reminded us of our beloved 9th Street Beach on a clear sunny morning. It was stunning.
The crimson flowers of the majestic pohutukawa trees "herald the arrival of Christmas" on the north island and they are everywhere in this area. They remind us of the beautiful old oak trees on the ranch and it was great to walk among so many of them on this hike. We returned to Sidewinder refreshed and ready for the cruise up the estuary to our new location, Whangarei .  Christmas will be wonderful here. Enjoy !!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've been catching up on your travels after not having checked in a while. So glad to hear that everything is going smooth.

Pleas drop me a line if you come to OZ. Love to hear from you guys.

Fair winds

Daniel