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For an explanation of photos, position cursor over photo. January 2007
The weather forecast was good, so it was off to the Cavalli Islands where we
were greeted by the most fantastic dolphin show. A huge pod of dolphins was
playing in the Cavalli Pass. The escorted us to our anchorage, playing in the
bow wake, jumping, flipping, and even smiling at us. There were dozens of them
and they stayed in the bay for nearly an hour. After anchoring we jumped in the
dinghy for a closer look and were not disappointed as the show continued.
The weather was forecast to take a turn for the worse, with strong winds
developing. The Cavalli's is not the place to be in those conditions, so we
headed back to Opua on Jan 8. There we caught up with Alan and Diana, friends of
a friend of mine from Virginia who had put us in touch by email. Alan, Richard,
and I went out for a round of golf at the KeriKeri golf club, followed by drinks
at their house. It's always fun to make new friends! We also spent a
rainy, windy day shopping in Paihia, where we saw a large platter made of
ancient Kauri wood that we really liked. It would be perfect for our house in
Virginia. Kauri is a native tree and about 40,000 years ago a bunch of it was
covered by a huge swamp and was perfectly preserved. Now it is used to make wood
products like bowls, and artwork. The platter we liked was made by a local
artist, Alby Hall, who has a studio at the Kauri Kingdom factory, about an hours
drive north. We decided to visit there on a future date.
The winds were abating, so on Jan 11 we set off for nearby Parekura Bay where
we found a nice anchorage. We set off to hike to the old Whangamumu Whaling
Station, a walk of about 3 hours round trip. We started on a road, continued
through a sheep pasture, climbed through dense forest, descended down grassy
knolls to a beach, to the final leg, a climb over rocks to the ruins of the
whaling station. In the late 1800's and early 1900's. whaling was a big industry
here. Not much remains of the old station, but there is enough, combined with
the helpful diagrams and signs, to understand how the whole operation worked.
After our return and a brief siesta, Bradley and I set off for a hunting
expedition and returned with fish and mussels for a great dinner. Jan 13 was a
rainy day, but that didn't stop us. Richard and I set off for a walk along the
gravel road towards nearby Rawhiti. Wrapped up in our rain gear, we enjoyed the
occasional heavy downpours. We found a fabulous local trail and explored the
local war memorial and Maori cemetery. We climbed to enjoy some spectacular
views and saw an incredible house being built.
On Jan 14 we moved a couple miles to Urapukapuka Island, where we enjoyed an incredible hike. The sun was out, visibility was great, and the scenery was fabulous. We worked up quite an appetite and decided that scallops would be just the thing for dinner. Bradley and I assembled our dive gear and we dinghyed to the scallop site. Forty five minutes later, we surfaced with enough good sized scallops for a nice feast. Since we caught them (well, you don't really have to catch them, you just have to find them and pick them up!), Richard got the job of cleaning them. We had a seafood chowder made of leftover fish and mussels, and the fresh scallops. A great dinner! On the 15th, we had an appointment at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom in Awanui,
about an hour and half drive north from Opua. There we toured the factory, met
two of the artists, and saw many amazing and beautiful wood pieces. We looked at
several variations of the platter we liked and settled on the one we liked best.
Richard also had a great time shopping for gifts and admiring the wood. From
Awanui, it is a short drive to 90-Mile-Beach, a very long stretch of beach
leading to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of the north island. Here we had
a chance to be good samaritans. The weather looked good again so we sailed back to the Cavallis where Bradley
and I made our first attempt at diving for crays (lobsters, but without the
claws). It took awhile to find a lobster - they live in cracks in the rocks and
you have to look for their antenna sticking out. Finally we found one - then all
that remained was to catch it! Bradley has a lobster catcher - sort of a lasso
on a stick. The idea is that the lasso opens up, you put it around the lobster,
then tighten it and - voila - dinner!
Next it was off to Stephenson Island. Along the way we had the fishing line
out the back and we had a strike. Richard had the task of bringing the fish in
and soon he had landed a nice skipjack tuna! As we got the tuna aboard, Richard
was putting the fishing line back out when it immediately got another strike!
Another tuna! Richard seemed to have the magic touch. He claims these were the
first two fish he's ever caught in his life! On Stephenson Island we
enjoyed another great hike and Bradley and I continued our lobster hunting with
great success. This trip yielded three large fellows including one who was
caught, but then briefly got away as we were transferring him from the noose to
the carrying bag. He shot away from Bradley right towards me, so I just stuck
out my hand and grabbed him, thankful that they don't have claws! Soon he was in
the bag and hours later, they were in a pot.
On Jan 21, we decided to head north to explore some areas we had not been to before. The forecast looked favorable, but as we set sail it became clear the wind was not going to cooperate. After two hours of trying to head north, we gave up and decided to go south to Oke Bay. Richard caught another fish and we hooked two others that got away. The sail to Oke Bay was smooth and by evening we were quietly at anchor. On Monday, we planned to do the long hike to the Cape Brett lighthouse. The plan was for Richard and me to depart from Oke Bay, estimating it would take 4-5 hours to reach Cape Brett. Bradley would then go by dinghy to Deep Water Cove, which is a 1 1/2 hour hike to the lighthouse. Then we would all return to Deep Water Cove. All went according to plan - Richard and I arrived after 4 1/2 hours to find that Bradley had already reached the lighthouse and was returning. We agreed that he would go collect some mussels for dinner, then come back to pick us up at Deep Water Cove in 3 hours, leaving us time for a nice rest at Cape Brett before the return hike. When we reached Deep Water Cove, Bradley was there, but we soon learned he had never left as the starting mechanism for the dinghy had fallen apart (it has a rope pull starter). There was a sailboat in the anchorage and they had worked on the dinghy trying to get it started for a couple hours with no luck. Fortunately, they were heading for Oke Bay, so upon our arrival, we boarded their boat and they towed our dinghy back to Shear Madness. Richard, who used to work on lawnmowers, and Bradley took everything apart and were successful in getting the starting mechanism fixed. That meant that instead of an immediate return to Opua, we could stay for some more mussel collecting and spear fishing! On Jan 24, we returned to Opua where Bay of Islands Race week was in full swing. On the way, we were able to see some good sailboat racing with dozens of boats competing. Some of our friends from Auckland were crewing on various boats so we found them and shouted some encouragement. Richard's time aboard had come to an end. He would take the bus to Auckland where he would spend a day seeing the sights before heading to the airport for his return trip. As we would learn soon, his return trip sounded just like Betty's - late plane, missed connection, a hotel in LA, booking problems, and an arrival home 24 hours late! |