Circumnavigate Waiheke Island. – Day 1

Back at the ranch, Andy and I are gearing up to do an extend paddle. The plan is to paddle to Waiheke Island via Rangitoto then back via Brown’s. Who knew such fun can be had so close to Auckland! There is a little weather blowing through as we set up at Ferg’s. We are backed to the gills. As we clear the sailboats and duck under the pier the weather show up. Over our shoulders you can see the storm engulf downtown Auckland. Sky city disappears in a grey curtain. That curtain is heading out way. But as it turns out it really is a good thing. The winds hit 25 knots and the passage is whipped up. A fantastic following sea. Andy and I are screaming down to Rangitoto. The sounds that a boat makes when it catches the wave! I could hear Andy coming! Knew that he was about to shoot past me. Swoosh. We sailed into Rangitoto and pulled out at the little DOC dock (that’s a joke son your supposed to laugh). We had a quick snack and we took a tour of the Island. Waiheke is only 600 yrs old. As with many volcanic islands its birth was quick. Because of its short history only native plants have evolved on this big block of lava. It is covered with Pohutukawa trees. The Kiwis call them their Christmas tree. In December they bloom all over in bright red flowers. The way that they cling to the rough rocks and cliffs of the coast line impresses me.

After a hour or so we head off to Waiheke. The wind is still our friend and we pull in to the harbor at Matiaria Bay as the sun peaks out around some very dark clouds. We made the crossing in four hours.

Andy has a friend on the island that he wants to see if we can hook up with him. So while I sit and enjoy the sunset Andy trots off on foot to his friend’s house. He comes back in 20 minutes and I have the water boiling so I make up some tea to warm us up. Now we need to find a place to camp We launch out and find a little pocket beach near Whetumataru Point (the southern end of the bay) and we beach up and make camp. As it will be close to the full moon we are wary of the high tide mark so we tie up the boats and we set up as high as we can go. All night we wake up and take a peek at the water level. The tide comes up close but falls short of the boats.