Coromandel and Northwards 36:25.5S, 174:50.3E

Serenity of Swanwick
Phil and Sarah Tadd
Sat 1 Feb 2020 23:47

We left Waiheke with little wind and drifted across toward the Coromandel peninsula. We had explored some of the East coast but had yet to visit the west coast and the town of Coramandel.

We spent one night off Rangi Pukea Island, nice but a bit rolly, then went into Name Bay for a bit of peace. A lot of the land around here is private so you can’t go very far from the beach, a lot of time was spent on board, Sarah is making a storage roll for our courtesy flags and Phil is puzzling over the engine which still isn’t quite right. On Saturday we moved round to a sheltered spot opposite Coramandel town with the intention of shopping on Monday.

Planning out the flag roll, like the one for signal flags but to hold 60 courtesy flags

Coeomandel town is accessed by a narrow channel through mangroves at high water.

A short walk up to the Pa allows a view of the harbour and town.

Kauri trees were planted on the slopes here in 2014 to represent the 40,000 Kauri planted on the peninsula since 1999 as part of the regeneration of native habitat. Those trees should be old enough to produce seeds in another five years or so. The local primary school are involved in the Kiwi dream of eradication of pests and predators to allow the reintroduction of native species like the Kiwi.

Year 6 have decorated rat traps for the site.

Then we moved on to Waiheke, Onetangi Bay, and Swan Beach, Waiau Bay, a gradual progression northward. There was a good phone signal here so we were able to take part in a  teleconferencing Ocean Cruising Club meeting for Regional Officers and Roving Rear Commodores with participants from as far apart as Australia and Sweden.

Then on again to Mahurangi Harbour and Kawau.

View down to our Mahurangi anchorage

We managed a couple of short but steep walks from Mahurangi and had a good sail up to Kawau. The next move will be back into Whangarei and lots of boatwork.

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10