Whale Bay and Whangamumu

Whale Bay
What a difference a day makes. We woke to grey clouds and the threat of rain. Once again (making 3 in a row) Jeremy dived on the anchor to dig it in properly. He was very cold afterwards. We went for a walk on the beach, but the caves I’d seen from the boat turned out to be disappointing crevices. It rained all night. The next day, on our way to Russell for provisions, in thick fog, we were hailed on the VHF radio by a NZ warship. It came quite close to us. We told them our destination and let them know we had cleared in over a week ago. They let us proceed.

Whangamumu Harbour

We left Russell before 8.00am. Visibility was better but dampness was hanging in the air. Nearing the most northerly point of the Bay of Islands, the fog closed in again and the radar was turned on, along with our electronic charts. Out of the gloom rose the high island of Piercy with Dog Island beside it. Piercy Island had a huge arch called the “hole in the rock”. We watched a boat motor through it. Trips to this arch cost $75NZ per person, but it is a magnificent sight. The fog cleared once we left Cape Brett behind us. Soon we were anchored off an old whaling station at Whangamumu Harbour. We went ashore and explored the remains of the whaling station. We were reminded of the shark station on Soay Island, near the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Our water bottles were filled in a fresh water stream and we clambered up a waterfall as far as we dared. Jeremy slipped and fell into a clump of thistles – not the best thing for his sore ribs. Then we saw several trails signposted and chose the shortest one, 30 minutes. It turned out to be largely uphill, very steep in parts, but it led us to a lookout with spectacular views. Back at sea level, Jamie, from yacht “Shannon”, gave us some abalones to try. He invited us to dinner but we had fresh pork to cook and had to decline. We weren’t too impressed by the fried abalones.