Cruising in the Hauraki Gulf

January 19, 2002 - Cruising in the Hauraki Gulf

From Christmas day though the first week of the New Year, Auckland seems to roll up its sidewalks and shut off the lights. If you have a boat, or know someone who does, you are most likely to be out cruising around in the spectacular islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

I got into the local holiday spirit by provisioning Moonshadow and inviting good friends Kevin, Barbara and Cate for a trip out to Great Barrier Island, 50 nautical miles northeast of Auckland. “The Barrier” is the largest, most remote, and I think, prettiest of the islands.

We began the trip with a light nor’westerly breeze, but just as we past the Noises Island group and sailed into open water, the breeze and swell went forward making the trip a bit uncomfortable. One of our old sailing friends, suspecting this might happen, suggested an alternative stopover for us. We heeded the advice, bore away to the east and headed for Motukahaua Island, off the shore and in the lee of the northern tip of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Motukahaua Island is not much more than a rock, which from above has the shape of a molar tooth, with a small bight of protection from northerlies opening to the south. With room for only three or four boats, “Happy Jack’s” is a tight anchorage, but with all sorts of native New Zealand plants clinging to its surfaces it is certainly one of the most beautiful in the gulf. Being the holiday season, the Pohutukawas (also known as Kiwi Christmas trees) were in full bloom with their bright red flowers.

We spent one blustery night in Happy Jack’s, having to re-anchor around midnight when the wind shifted 180 degrees. At least we had more favorable winds for the trip north to Great Barrier.

We hoisted the anchor the following morning and sailed up to Whangaparapara Harbour on the southwest shore of Great Barrier Island. The clouds had mostly cleared and the winds backed to the west so we had a swift and pleasant reach across the Colville Channel. In an easterly, with ocean swells sometimes starting thousands of miles away in French Polynesia, this little twelve-mile stretch of water can be really ugly.

We spent two days and two nights in Whangaparapara, which was a whaling station up until the 1950s. There are no public utilities on this part of the island, so the locals must make their own electricity and collect their own water. Most of the residents are alternative lifestylers who cater to the tourism trade and mingle with Aucklanders who have a “bach,” or holiday cabin, on the rugged island. We spent one day hiking 15 kilometers round trip to some lovely hot springs on the eastern side of the island, and had a soak in one of the small pools of sulfurous, warm water.

With the weather settled a bit, we set sail the next morning up the west coast of Great Barrier Island. Passing through the very rugged Broken Islands group, we made our way north into Port Fitzroy. Port Fitzroy is a very large protected body of water that has two rather narrow entrances. With six or so major bays and many more little “gunk holes,” it is a fantastic place to spend a week or four cruising, and still find good protection from any sort of weather.

Even though there were hundreds of boats in the various bays, we managed to find a small spot, which we had to ourselves for a day or so in a little cove called Kiwiriki Bay. This is also known as Twin Island Bay as it has two rugged rocks that drape the entrance to the well-protected bight.

With pleasant weather greeting us on New Year’s Eve, we decided to work up an appetite for our New Year’s Eve dinner. We set out at 0900 and dinked around to the next bay where we hit the trail to Mount Hobson. We ascended the 626-meter (1,940-foot) mountain on the “easier” southern route. The last part of the route was more of a root, as we ascended, hand over hand in a near vertical climb using the roots of the trees clinging to the side of the mountain.

The summit of Mount Hobson is the highest point on Great Barrier Island, so the views are spectacular when visibility permits. On this day we had clear views of the entire island as well as some of the surrounding islands in the Hauraki Gulf.

After lunch at the summit we headed down the northern trail. This trail is more popular as it is mostly wooden stairs for the last 200 meters to the summit. For those of us heading down, the trip was, as they say in New Zealand, “easy as.” Along this route are the Kauri Dams. Early settlers dammed up the creek felled the ancient kauri trees and then released the water to wash the logs down to the sea. The two ruins of the old dams are a reminder of this environmental violation of the ancient kauri forests of Great Barrier Island.

Back at sea level, we were joined by friends Neil and Hiralme who ferried over from Auckland to join in the New Year’s Eve festivities on board Moonshadow. After a big dinner, various yachting friends who had come out to the Barrier for the holidays joined us. The CDs were spinning and the party went on to the wee hours.

The second of January brought us a fresh, warm nor’easterly, so we headed out the Man-o-War passage back to Auckland. We set the spinnaker and had a nice seven-hour run back to Auckland. After cleaning up Moonshadow, we headed over to the America’s Cup Village to watch the arrival of Assa Abloy, the first of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet to reach Auckland.