Wednesday 17 February 2010

South of Kawau

Hi
Well, today we sadly took our leave of Kawau and said goodbye to the Pardeys who very kindly autographed the book of theirs which we had bought. It will be very useful and something to treasure as it has a huge amount of very useful practical information all distilled from their own very varied experiences. We also said goodbye to Darren and Melinda on "Mischief"; we hope we catch them again in our travels. We motorsailed from Kawau as we needed to make water and charge the batteries. Our first stop was Moturekareka Is. where the wreck of the "Rewa" is situated. She was a 3 masted barquentine and was purchased and then sunk by the then owner of the island about 100 years ago as a breakwater. Unfortunately as she was being scuttled she swung on her mooring and more or less blocked the bay instead of protecting it! No Resource Consents in those days! As she was originally built of iron there isn't much left of her now.
We then continued on to Tiritiri Matangi Is. which is a DOC owned island off the end of the Whangaparoa Peninsula. There has been extensive planting of native species over the last 20 years or so (a lot by volunteers) and the island is now home to a wide range of endangered native birds. We had a great walk up to the lighthouse which once was one of the most powerful in the world and then walked back to the beach via a wonderful walk where there were bird feeding stations and bird baths. We stopped at several of these and were lucky enough to see Saddlebacks, Stichbirds, North Island Robins, Kakariki (a native green parrot), and the usual Tuis and Fantails. The island is a tribute to all the people who have laboured over the years to produce such a stunning example of seriously endangered native bird species. We had quite by chance met some of Jim's old neighbours in Birkenhead on Kawau and then met them again on Tiri! It's such a small world because we had also seen a yacht they used to own (a Stewart 34 called "Patea") at the Cavallis and the BOI a couple of weeks ago. Jim spoke to the new owners in Oke Bay in the Bay of Islands then.
We are now anchored in Woody Bay on Rakino Is. We were going to carry on to Waiheke but will do that in the morning. It is very peaceful here - not too many other boats. It's Jeans (Gina's) birthday tomorrow but she says she wasn't born until 10 in the morning so there is still time for the skipper to assert his seniority! Finding a plank of suitable size for the walking thereof will be a priority or maybe just being tipped in the tide will do!! Either way a red letter day.
Our new position is:
Lat 36 degrees 43 minutes south
Long 174 degrees 57 minutes east
Cheers,
J & J (G)

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.