Having waited in Minerva Reef for suitable winds to blow us towards Tonga, we finally made the decision to leave on Wednesday 30th (yesterday).

The day before had been busy with an early morning reef walk or rather paddle with Michael and Lilianne, Canadians on a yacht called Meikyo. They had launched their dinghy and outboard whereas ours was still stowed on the foredeck. The reef itself is devoid of marine life apart from sea slugs and the odd hermit crab.

In no wind and clear skies the afternoon lent itself to a snorkel/dive trip to view the remains of a Japanese yacht that had struck the reef and sunk some years ago. There was little left apart from half of a stripped out hull. The water is crystal clear, but again in 9 metres there was little marine life around apart from the usual small reef fish.

We also took advantage to hoist the new main and make adjustments to the reefing lines, as well as make changes to the staysail and new genoa.

Leaving the reef through the narrow pass was a reminder of the Tuamotus, though in this case the current was going in the same direction as us, though the wind was straight on our nose, creating large stopper waves. Our first 24 hours at sea was as challenging as ever, and varied between romping along on a broad reach under genoa alone, to an incredibly uncomfortable ride last night, with heavy rain and then quickly backing winds and large 4 metre swells.

We plan to pass Tongatapu, the capital, early tomorrow morning, and continue north to Vavau.

Distance run 154nm.

Update from Minerva Reef

This reef and lagoon is about 750nm north of NZ, 400nm SE of Fiji, and 350nm SW of Tonga, which is where we may be heading for! There is one entrance/exit through the reef, happily on the leeward side, and then a 2 mile passage to the other side of the lagoon, where we are anchored in 15 metres, and in some shelter from the coral reef. There are now 17 yachts here, though there are almost daily arrivals and departures.

The wind is constantly moaning through the rigging, we had gale force gusts last night, and we have all bar 1 metre of our 65 metres of chain out! Graham and Avril, Roving Rear Commodores of the Ocean Cruising Club on Dreamaway, who we first met at Niuatoputapu, are anchored 30 metres away, the rest are US/Canadians/French/Germans. Currently it has been too rough to consider launching the dinghy and socialising or walking on the reef at low tide, which we hope to do in the next few days.

So apart from waiting for the weather, what are we doing? While Bob has been doing engine-room bits off and on and baking bread, Elaine has put the sewing machine to good use. Amongst other mending, she is cobbling together courtesy flags for Tonga and Fiji.
PS. It is getting warmer!

After 24 hours of uncomfortable seas, 2-3 m swell and 20-25 kn winds we came through the pass at north Minerva Reef at 1500 this afternoon and are now safely at anchor in the lagoon in the middle of nowhere! About 14 other yachts have had the same idea, like us all waiting for favourable conditions to take them either to Tonga or to Fiji. It will be a welcome break after quite a taxing and challenging passage so far.

Judging by the weather out there this evening (more heavy squalls and 30kn winds) we have made the right decision and are likely to be here for a few days. As ever though, we will be studying the forecast daily to determine when to move on. Stopping will also give us the opportunity to attend to some minor maintenance that is not easy in a seaway and catch up on much needed zzzzz’s.

Distance run: 171 nm

PS. It is NOT warm!

Our comments yesterday about not a squall in sight were soon to change! We managed to sail from the early afternoon, but by nightfall squalls were prevalent leading to significantly increased wind and careful sail handling. The new digital colour radar was excellent in showing their progress and track, but there was little avoiding action we could take. Sleep was broken during the night, whilst we dealt with too much wind, and then no wind. Happily the promised breeze has now filled in, and we have a constant 20 knots from the SE, a beam reach with just the new genoa to power us along at between 7-8 knots.

We are now on target to arrive at Minerva Reef around lunchtime (local) tomorrow. It is likely that we will stop off, as we did not visit last year on our way south to NZ, and it is a renowned anchorage for yachties in the middle of nowhere!

Distance run: 123 nm

As the wind decreased yesterday late afternoon, we poled out the genoa to goosewing and get a better angle to head NW for Tonga. Sails were set for the night – or so we thought! A wind shift at supper time (why always then?!) had us on deck furling the genoa, stowing the pole and flying the genoa to windward. That was after Bob had dealt with a minor generator problem – it wouldn’t start!
Then the wind died totally and sails were flogging. The answer was to furl the genoa, drop the main and start motoring. This at 2 am!

The rest of the night was cold but as peaceful as it could be with the purr of the engine in our ears. Today we felt the welcome warmth of the sun and have shorts & T-shirts at the ready for tomorrow.

Getting to grips with our newly installed Raymarine chartplotter/radar is exciting and keeping us occupied. But of course we’re continuing to run the charting system we’re used to in parallel until we’re fully au fait with the new gismo! The digital radar is superb for picking up squalls in glorious Technicolor – rather like changing from b/w TV to colour (pix to follow).

Distance run: a measly 114 nm
According to the latest forecast, we should be sailing again in 24 hours’ time instead of wallowing…
More reports to follow.

Any notion of the Pipistrelle crew being hypothermic for the first two days out of New Zealand is unfounded thanks to thermals, fleeces, wet weather gear etc. – in fact probably similar clothing to what we’d wear in May if sailing in the Solent! Cold and boisterous conditions with winds of up to 30 kn (naturally at night) and 3 metre swells. Fortunately while the ‘on-watch’ person monitors progress mainly from below thanks to the interior autopilot and pilot saloon, the ‘off-watch’ person snuggles under the duvet with a hottie for company.

Our decision to leave Opua, NZ on Friday was shared by at least 20 other boats all taking advantage of the good six day weather window to get well on the way to either Fiji (the majority) or Tonga where we are heading to visit the Ha’apai group. We missed out on these pretty islands when we went south last October. From there, we’ll sail to Fiji to explore and catch up with many of our friends.

After a few expected teething problems, the new mailsail and genoa are certainly making a positive impact on performance and speed. Money well spent!

Distance run:
Day 1 (Friday afternoon – Saturday noon) – 136 nm
Day 2 – 147 nm

Bay of Islands and other North Island beauty spots

Opua is tucked away to the south of the Bay of Islands, on the North East side of North Island.  It is a natural harbour with a modern marina, and a very large area to anchor, or moor. It is surrounded by hills, similar in a way to the west coast of Scotland.  The nearest town with ATMs and a supermarket is Paihia some 4 miles away.  Whilst a shuttle bus provides a nice profit for the operator, it is not very convenient, and coupled with the desire to explore as much of North Island as possible, we opted to buy a used car, with a guaranteed buy back price at the end of 6 months.  You can understand that we were very particular about the conditions……!

Because we planned to travel, leaving Pipistrelle afloat, and using Opua as our ‘home port’ we also arranged to rent a mooring some 300yds from the marina.  This removes a lot of the concern about the anchor dragging, as has happened to many other boats we know.

 

From our mooring - owner's house, boat and jetty!

The weather here is also not dissimilar from Scotland, and for the first week we were not only wearing winter woolies, but had the heating on!  It continues to be incredibly changeable, with low pressure from the Southern Ocean, following high pressure systems which emanate from the Australian continent, roughly every 5 – 7 days.  The winds as one would expect back or veer as the systems move, but we did not expect them to move so fast, or have rain with high pressure….!  When the sun shines it is hot, and skin protection is necessary.  Within an hour or two it changes, and we are back wearing fleeces!     These fluctuations mean the barometer reads as high as 1030 and as low as 1006 within a matter of days.

With our lives largely sorted after two weeks of getting to know our way around, our friends Ann-Britt and Ingemar arrived from Sweden for a holiday in New Zealand.  We last saw them when they spent two weeks sailing with us in February 2010 in the BVIs, Caribbean.  Initially we sailed in the Bay of Islands, and travelled locally by car.

with Ann-Britt & Ingemar at beach BBQ

The Bay of Islands is spectacular.  It covers an area that is roughly 10nm by 5nm, and from Cape Brett (of Hole in the Rock fame) to Cape Waiwiki has at least 30 islands, and we are told over 140 anchorages.  The islands are green, many of them 80 to 100 metres in height with woods and pastureland and paths to hike along.  We would describe it as an area of unrivalled beauty.  The following photos give a good impression.

Roberton Island and beyond

From Urupukapuka Island

On Motorua Island

...and another view!

Amongst other anchorages, we visited Army Bay where Bob collected a bucketful of green lipped mussels.  Oysters and scallops are also readily available, but the coldness of the water deterred us from swimming, let alone diving!

Mussels ....shortly afterwards served as dinner!

Still following in his wake, we saw the spot where Captain James Cook landed, and close by the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on February 6^th, 1840.  This was an historic agreement between the British Crown and the Maori that ended hostilities, and the date is now a national holiday. The Treaty House and Grounds were a must see, and in 1940 a meeting house was built to mark the centenary, and the grounds also house 35m waka taua, or war canoes!  It was here that we first got close to a Tui bird, distinctive with its white neck bauble and call, feeding on flax flowers.

The Meeting House

War canoes

Tui

Next was a journey north to Cape Reinga, almost the furthest northern cape in North Island.  One is immediately struck by the refreshing lack of litter and graffiti.  Land’s End in the UK is a disgrace in comparison, and the owners should take note and emulate what the Kiwis have created!  There is also much to learn here, and on the paved footpath to the lighthouse, there are numerous stone notices detailing sights or events.

Cape Reinga - where Pacific and Tasman meet

Our accommodation ....

On the way south we stopped for the night on 90 Mile Beach, staying in Hukatere Lodge, an amazing property set amongst the sand dunes where the hospitality is excellent, wild horses roam, and one can walk for miles in a wilderness.   We also met Harry, a very interesting character who was relocated to S Island as a child on his own, returned to N Island, has Manuka bees which are prized near Cape Reinga, and currently helps looking after guests who are staying at the lodge.

Harry - also mentioned in several books

Ornate entrance to loos

Kawakawa is just south of Opua, and has been made famous by the public toilets designed by Hundertwasser.  The Austrian born architect and artist’s work can be found from Vienna to Osaka, but he lived near Kawakawa from 1973 until his death in 2000.  The curved shapes and brightly coloured ceramic tiles and bottles are different from anything else we have seen, but are classic Hundertwasser!

Detail from a mural

After a few more days exploring the Bay, we set off overland for a 9 day tour.  Our first stop was on the west coast of N Island, to see the Waipoua forest, which is home to the tallest and oldest remaining Kauri trees in New Zealand.  The forest is home to NZ’s largest living kauri tree, Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest, with a girth of 13.77m, and a height of 51.5m.  It is thought to be around 2,000 years old.

The Lord

Kauri trees once covered much of N Island, and buried Kauri trunks have been found to be 45,000 years old.  The timber, like a hard pine, was used for shipbuilding amongst many other uses, and has a very attractive grain.  The trees are massive, and in one kauri workshop we found a staircase that had been constructed inside the kauri trunk, and was used by visitors to access the first floor.

We stayed at Matakohe, which was a sawmilling town in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  It is now home to the magnificent Kauri Museum that tells the kauri story, and has a complete reconstructed sawmill within it.  It also has an amazing collection of restored farm and wood machinery, complete sections of kauri trees, kauri furniture and carving and a very large collection of carved gum that comes from these trees rather like amber.  Both wood and gum are extremely valuable.

Prized gum display in vitrine

Expensive kauri bowls

Model fishing boat and mannequin

Steam driven sawmill

We then crossed to the east coast, passing through Auckland towards the Coromandel peninsula, and the winelands of Gisborne and Hawkes Bay.  The Coromandel will be remembered for its stunning views, excellent mussels, great walks, and the active gold mine in Waihi town, which is 63km NW of Tauranga.

Stunning Coromandel seascape

Cathedral Cove, Coromandel

We began our visit of Waihi at the Gold Mining Museum, which tells the story back to its beginnings in 1878 when it was very much a lottery as to whether the miners would be successful or not in their claim, through to the present day when the mine is operating 12 hours a day, 5.5 days a week.  The Martha Mine is an open mine, and from the viewing platform one looks over 200m down into the pit.  Huge lorries take 25 minutes to climb out of the depths, and every afternoon at 1500 dynamite is used to blow up more rock. The 100 year old Cornish pumphouse was moved several hundred yards to preserve it for future generations to see.  Gold is extracted from the rock by crushing the ore to a fine powder.  The resulting slurry is fed into tanks, where a process removes the precious metals.  Eventually after more processing gold and silver are deposited onto stainless steel cathodes, and eventually they are left with a 99% pure mix of gold and silver bullion.  Rock with as little as 1gram of gold per tonne can be mined economically using open-pit modern technology.

Cornish pumphouse

Digging for gold at Martha Mine

The drive over the hills to Gisborne was spectacular, and an early visit to a winery was a must.  Hawkes Bay is renowned for its excellent wine in NZ, and here we were able to taste the Sauvignons that the climate in the north of N. Island will not support.

Which wine to taste?

Gisborne was an overnight stop, followed by a 3 hour drive to Napier the next day, some 215km further south along the coast.  Napier is the real home to the NZ wine industry, with several large vineyards, and we arrived in time for a late lunch at the Mission Estate Winery.  It was established in 1851 by French Missionaries, and is NZ’s oldest winery and the birth place of NZ wine.

Mission Estate winery

We enjoyed an excellent lunch on the patio, and afterwards partook of the obligatory wine tasting!  Having found a motel for the night in Napier, we then explored the town, which was rebuilt in the early 1930s following a massive earthquake that destroyed the town.  Christchurch déjà vu!  Nowhere else in the world can you see such a variety of buildings in the styles of the 1930s – Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission and above all Art Deco, the Jazz age style – in such a concentrated area.  The architect was Frank Lloyd Wright’s teacher.

Napier and Hawkes Bay

Art Deco facade complete with familiar name!

More art deco ....

...and a masonic hotel

What! Tiki wine?

A further visit to the art deco wine museum complete with Tiki wine (Tikis are sacred statues found on the Marquesas!) was called for the next day by Elaine, before we continued our journey to Lake Taupo, 368km into the heart of North Island.  Lake Taupo is Australasia’s largest lake, and was formed by a massive volcanic eruption some 26,500 years ago.  It created a 660 sq km hole in the earth, and sent ash flying all over the world.  The resulting lake is cold, but that did not deter Ann-Britt and Ingemar from taking their customary early morning dip – the only place that did not occur was in the harbour at Opua, the large jelly fish floating by put them right off a swim!

The town is a busy destination for the tourist, and there was no lack of motels all vying for our business.  Having arranged accommodation, including a hot tub adjoining Bob & Elaine’s room, there was still time to visit the Huka Falls.  The source of the Waikato River is Lake Taupo, and not far from the source, the waters of the Waikato rush at almost 250,000 litres per second through a chasm and then over a 11m ledge to foam in a semi circular basin.  This is enough water to fill two olympic swimming pools!  It was an incredible sight.

Huka Falls

An excellent dinner venue was chosen by Ann-Britt and Ingemar in a restaurant overlooking the lake.  Unfortunately the visibility was not clear enough to see the snow capped mountains on the far side though the sunset was colourful and food and company more than made up for this minor drawback!

The next day we visited the Aratiatia Rapids, where water is released daily through a dam at a rate of 80,000 litres per second for 15 minutes 4 times a day, to power the hydro electric Aratiatia Power Station, the first of eight power stations/dams along the river.

Flood gates opening....

...a raging torrent for 15 minutes

Orakei Korako is a geothermal area that has more active gushing geysers than any other geothermal field in the country, and the silica terraces are reported to be the largest of their kind in the world.  It was certainly extremely active when we visited with its boiling mud pools and considerable flow of very hot water into the lake below very interesting.

Glorious mud...

Hubble, bubble ...

Our time with Ann-Britt and Ingemar was drawing to a close, and on their last full day with us we visited the Waitomo Caves, to enable them to go black water rafting.  We had done this on our last visit to NZ in 2004, thought it an amazing experience, so declined a repeat.  However, Ann-Britt and Ingemar went and thoroughly enjoyed donning wetsuits, booties, helmets, torches and sitting in an innertube to float through the caves to see thousands of glow worms hanging from the cave roofs.  They even had some drama when the inner tube that was Ingemar’s float was punctured and started deflating.

After a picnic lunch on the way to Auckland airport, we finally bid them a fond farewell, and made our way back to Pipistrelle.  Throughout their four week stay with us, we had reasonably summery weather – though having been in the Tropics for so long we still found it cold and did not swim.  They left just as another few days of bad weather set in.

Ann-Britt and Ingemar at The Meeting House

The next highlight was Elaine’s birthday just before Christmas, where we made a return visit to the Omata Estate winery, and were joined by our friends Bernd and Elli from Elbe.  The sun shone, the views out over the Bay were as spectacular as ever, and we enjoyed a great lunch and the first birthday cake Elaine has enjoyed in the last 9 years.  We were picked up from the Russell ferry, a 5 minute crossing from Opua, and driven back afterwards.  An excellent day to be remembered.

The wine ...

Birthday girl with prezzie!

On Christmas Eve, we slipped our mooring and headed out to the islands in light winds and warm sunshine – a mere 2 hour sail and at lunchtime we dropped anchor in a sheltered bay, went ashore, climbed a steep hill late afternoon and returned for supper – getting to know our NZ wines fairly well now, with a number of different bottles sampled and stowed!

Santa duly slid down the mast overnight and stockings were full on Christmas morning, after which we had an extremely leisurely and luxurious breakfast, of bucks fizz, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and croissants!  Late afternoon we moved to another bay, again in sunshine, off the island of Urupukapuka (otherwise known as Baker’s Island), lit the BBQ to cook a deboned joint of lamb plus various trimmings.  Dessert was Christmas pudding and brandy cream and it was such a treat to enjoy good quality ‘traditional’ Christmas fare.  The only item we forgot were Christmas crackers!  But for the first time in what seems like weeks we were even able to sit in the cockpit to eat!

Boxing Day saw us hiking round the island with Bernd and Elli who also joined us for the Christmas BBQ.  The scenery is just breathtaking and we stopped many times to admire the views (and catch our breath).

Silver Fern - the New Zealand emblem

Pipistrelle on passage in Tonga

After a very fast 6 day sail from Tonga we arrived here late on the afternoon of Monday 31st October.

Customs and Quarantine were on the ‘Q’ berth to take our lines, and stepped on board immediately to deal with formalities – paperwork and provisions. Fortunately very little was confiscated but sadly our ready prepared evening meal – a tasty goulash – was! Having been convinced we would arrive too late for an inspection and thus be able to stay overnight on the ‘Q’ berth we would need to eat. As it was, we had to vacate the berth once inspected, rapidly organise a berth in the marina and go alongside.

With no meal to eat, we had a good excuse to shower, and go out for a meal with Carlo from Italy on Ipanema and a French family. The lamb was delicious. Needless to say, we slept extremely well!

We sailed a total of 1,072 miles from Tonga to Opua and ran the engine for a total of TWO hours, so good were the sailing conditions.

So, amazingly we have crossed the Pacific – just 7,500 miles from Panama! Pipistrelle has kept us safe and performed exceptionally well. She now needs a rest – and so do we! New Zealand awaits.

Grey seas, overcast skies, blowing F5-6 with gusts of F7, making 7-8kn double reefed with staysail and VERY COLD! Where are we? No, not in the English Channel, but fast approaching New Zealand.

It is our last day at sea with under 50 nm to run to Opua. Elaine checked in to the Southern Cross Net on the SSB at 0730 and provided a position/situation report. But HF propagation was so poor, she could not hear the net controller so the information had to be relayed by another yacht. A common occurrence.

On the domestic front, all fresh fruit and veg, meat, eggs, cheese has either been cooked, consumed or thrown away in advance of inspection by the NZ authorities of all ship’s stores. We have, we think, remarkably little that can be confiscated.

Yesterday evening saw the wind pipe up to 25kn, while it was still daylight and just as preparation was underway in the galley for a sumptuous dinner. To reef or not to reef…..if in doubt REEF! With this second reef in the main Pipistrelle slowed down slightly but not sufficiently to produce the intended sumptuous repast and washing up would have demanded the whole galley to be gimballed in an ideal world. An exhausting exercise in balancing self, food and utensils! As the wind peaked at 30kn the 2nd reef was the right decision!

Now some daily runs (=24 hours, midday to midday) stats for the record: Day 1: 160 nm
Day 2: 174 nm
Day 3: 174 nm
Day 4: 178 nm
Day 5: 172 nm
Day 6: 171 nm

Our ETA at Opua quarantine berth is approximately 1700 this evening.

Getting the weather window correct for this 1100nm passage is vital, as a succession of high and low pressure systems are created off the eastern seaboard of Australia, and traverse east across New Zealand and across the Pacific. The winds rotate in the opposite way to the Northern Hemisphere, so with a high they are anti-clockwise, low pressure clockwise. The secret is to leave Tonga as the top of a high pressure passes by, and if a low pressure is following, head for the north of N Island, so as to pick up the westerlies and be in the right position to make landfall. If the pressure is too high, 1030+ the winds created by the squash or squeeze zone will be too strong, so stay at anchor!

Leaving Tonga has its advantage in that Minerva Reef provides shelter and an anchorage 250 nm SW of Tonga, in the event of bad weather forming over N Island when one plans to arrive. As we passed the reef at midnight the night before last, the low pressure following our high was following a track south of S. Island, so poses no threat. Consequently we carried on, not that a night entry would have been possible anyway!

The winds, or “breeze” as Bob’s son Andrew calls it, have been boisterous! Most people would term them as strong! We have not had less than 17kn from just forward of the beam, and last night we had a constant 24-25kn, gusting 28.5kn. We were sailing with one reef in the mainsail, and a number of rolls in the staysail. The 2nd reef in the main (we only have two, the second being deep) we would normally put in as the wind approaches 30kn. Happily as midnight approached, with spray flying everywhere, as well as green ones breaking over the bow, the wind started to ease. Now we are back to 20kn, which is forecast to continue for at least the next 48 hours. Whilst hardly comfortable sailing, we are achieving good daily runs, 174nm yesterday, looks the same or better today. You can see our position on the home page of the web site, ‘Where are we now?’

We download Grib files, computer generated weather maps, just after 1800 each evening, and from these we can see the weather systems from the east coast of Australia and Tasmania, across NZ and to the north and east of Tonga, for a 10 day period, so encompassing the complete area we need to watch.

As we approach NZ, it is becoming noticeably cooler, and winter clothing has been extricated from deep storage, as well as the duvet, as nights are very cool, even where we are now.

Based on our current position and speed, we hope to arrive late on the 31st (no Halloween party this year!), or during the 1st November.