Opua and the Bay of Islands

Bay of Islands

Opua
At about 9.00am on our day of arrival, we were boarded by Customs/Immigration, Ministry for Agriculture and Food (MAF) and a sniffer dog. Everyone was pleasant and friendly. We were given lots of information about Opua and the Bay of Islands and several small gifts including a miniature bottle of Mount Gay Rum. This was a first – being given alcohol by Customs. All our remaining potatoes, three coconuts and our honey were confiscated. The sniffer dog found nothing and we were cleared in for 6 months with no charges to pay.

Later that morning we checked into the marina. We ate huge beef burgers at the marina café and drank our free bottles of beer. There was a well-stocked shop nearby and we were ecstatic to see clean, fresh fruit and veg (no creepy crawlies), vacuum packed cooked ham and fresh milk (no more UHT). Next stop was the shower block. Sheer bliss! I stood under a hot shower, but I was only allowed 4 minutes of joy for my dollar. Fortunately, I had two dollars with me. By late afternoon, I was able to get some sleep while Jeremy emptied and refilled our water tanks from the tap next to our berth. He must have looked ragged because a man passing by gave him a pizza, so that was supper sorted!

The nearest town was Paihia, about 5 miles away. As there was no public bus and no marina shuttle bus that day, we hitch hiked. We were picked up by Brian, the MAF officer who had taken our potatoes the day before. Paihia was lovely. It had everything we needed within short walking distances and soon we were fixed up with NZ currency, food, a local SIM card for Jeremy’s mobile and a Vodem device to give us access to the Internet via Vodaphone. A local boat owner gave us a lift back to the marina.

Soon Jeremy was like a child in a toy shop checking out the various products on sale at the two chandlers and the electrical shop. Within a few days we had new anchor chain, a new dorade vent (remember one was knocked off in the Panama Canal) and several LEDs. I found the hairdressers and booked myself in for a cut and blow dry plus a free massage and hair treatment. Amazingly, the hairdresser and his partner had recently sold their shop at Onchan in the Isle of Man called “Kaha”. There was a large self-service laundry and I think it took two half days to do our washing, including the 15 tog duvet, which got wet with sea water during our passage to NZ.

It was lovely to meet up with some British boats again. James and Lucy on the catamaran “Snow Leopard” invited us to share their hire car and go to the Bay of Islands show. We had a great day with hot sunshine, food and drink tent, bar, best cakes, flower arrangement, embroidery etc. There were children showing calves, sheep, hens and horses. We watched a leading rein class and some hunter trials. Jeremy correctly identified the winners. It was so good to smell the grass and see the landscape, which was just like north Lancs or the Yorkshire Dales. We all went to see the oldest stone house in NZ and the oldest wooden house at Kerikeri. We found out later that Wattie Bigwood’s daughter works in the stone house. Wattie on yacht “Cariad” had been anchored near us in Tobago last year and we’d met him again in Trinidad. Now he has just arrived in the Marquesas.

John and Chris on “Sara II” had caught two tuna fish on their way to NZ. They gave us two fillets, which we had for supper one evening, and the day before we left Opua they invited us for dinner, where we ate more lovely tuna and fresh strawberries with yoghurt. They also gave us useful information on marinas and boatyards in Whangarei, which they had visited in their hire car. We declined their offer of a night away in Northland as we had to move from our berth the next day.

Russell
We anchored about 5 miles away from Opua, close to Russell Boat Club. There, a board said they were serving roast lamb, mint sauce and veggies that evening, it being Sunday. We booked for two straight away. The town of Russell was once the capital of NZ and a centre of the whaling industry, notorious for its pubs, brothels and riotous living. Nowadays, it’s a pleasant, tourist town offering trips to watch the whales and dolphins in the Bay of Islands. Our Sunday roast was magnificent with 8 different vegetables and lashings of gravy. Naturally, we had to have desserts and draught beer. We were almost overwhelmed, as it was a year since we’d experienced such delights.

Roberton Island
This lovely, small island is about 6 miles from Russell by sea. We anchored off the beach at the second attempt and took the dinghy ashore. It didn’t take long to explore the beach area and to climb up to the lookout, where the views were superb. Captain Cook landed here and had to fight off the Maoris. We had only ground nesting birds to face, which warned us with their wings to keep clear. We both swam, but I wore my wetsuit. It was still cold in the water.

Urupukapuka Island
This was a 4 mile motor from Roberton Island and the first day I wore shorts in NZ. We decided to walk a trail around the whole island (4 hours). Places of interest were marked with information boards. What we didn’t realise was the trail had many steep uphill and downhill parts, which made our sea legs ache and our heart rates quicken. The views were stunning out across the ocean on one side and over the Bay of Islands on the other. We rewarded ourselves with glasses of beer at the one and only café and refused to let small measures and short change spoil our day. Tourists beware.