Mokohinau Islands & Great Barrier
Juliet was true to her word and in the warm waters of Tutukaka she swam a 500m round trip to the marina entrance and back. A great achievement given her previous reluctance to stray more than a few metres from the boat. Porridge has been ever popular on this trip taking preference over all of the expensive muesli and today was no exception and we polished of the last of the oats. It will be muesli for brekkie tomorrow! With anchor weighed we were off to the Mokohinau Islands. These islands are only accessible by sea and you are only allowed to land on Burgess Island which is also host to the Mokohinau Islands Lighthouse. We anchored in the small bay on the southern side of the island but realised that with the swell still running from the earlier gales it would not be safe to leave the dinghy ashore. Mick the skipper had walked to the lighthouse on previous occasions and elected to drop us all ashore and return once we had finished our walk. Timing the swell we all managed to make it ashore without incident and across a somewhat derelict old quay. The remnants very narrow gauge rail track served as the pathway to the lighthouse. Once oil powered, the lighthouse is now battery / solar powered and is visible from up to 19 miles away serving as a landfall beacon for those crossing the pacific heading for Auckland. The view from the top was as ever spectacular, a word often used in writing this blog but never without good cause. Ross was put through his paces, not a regular walker the steep climb to the top was enough to get the heart rate up and fortunately the defib got to stay in its locker.
A short swim and we were on our way to Great Barrier Island and Smokehouse Bay. Juliet prepared the pork and apple casserole en route so once we were safely anchored we all sat down to an excellent dinner before jumping in the dinghy for a trip ashore. Smokehouse Bay has an excellent wharenui te reo (meeting place) for boaties with a wood fired pizza oven, BBQ, smokehouse and even a wetback boiler for a bathhouse. The ladies couldn’t resist and Pearl and Juliet both took the opportunity to take a hot bath. This is no ordinary bathhouse, whilst private and secluded it boasts a huge picture window overlooking the bay. There is also a camp fire but during summer months, sadly this has to remain as cold ashes due to the fire risk.
The ladies insisted on paddling the dinghy back so the engine remained quiet which is more than can be said for the raucous laughter and loud encouragement from the occupants!