New Zealand; Cruising the North Island’s west coast, the Abel Tasman and the Womad music festival…

For Kai and Jaiya, the excitement of stopping traffic at the bridge to cruise out of the basin was shadowed by having to leave their friends in Whangarei; We had a farewell party hooting at us from the giant rocks at the river’s edge as Tika headed out towards Marsden Point…

Above left and right; goodbye Whangarei! Middle; we admire some of the spires we climbed as we pass by Whangarei Heads…

We headed north and rounded Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga Wairua) This legendry piece of water where two seas meet is said to be the place where deceased Maori spirits leap into the ocean to return to their ancestral homeland. It often whips up wild, spectacular, swirling clashes of colliding tides. We had none of that and silently slipped from a calm Pacific Ocean to a smooth Tasman sea in the middle of a dark night…. two days later we pulled into Raglan- a rugged, west coast surf town. We had a very important, 13th birthday to celebrate…

Kai’s birthday breakfast included sumptuous waffles and his first ever coffee (a mocha) We had a cruisy day lazing around town and finished it off with lip-smacking fish and chips from the wharf. His birthday wish was an awesome multi day hike so we told him to do some research and come up with a plan for a tramp on the north of the South island. He busied himself with maps and trail plans for weeks. I wasn’t quite expecting the walk that Kai eventually proposed…I was musing a 2, 3 or maybe even a 4 day family hike…The Abel Tasman possibly? some, flat coastal walk? Stay tuned for the next post to see what he (and I suspect, somehow that Russ got involved) created for us….. Happy birthday Kai!

Jaiya decided to spend her Christmas money on an epic morning horse ride. We crossed streams and rolling hills all the way down to a vast,  glossy, black-sand, west coast beach… beautiful!

Raglan has a sand bar lacing across the entrance to the harbour that can be tricky to cross. We were told that the town only sees a cruising yacht every 10 years! In truth, we can’t claim to be the trail-blazers here as we were inspired to stop at Raglan by our friends who had called in only a few weeks before….

The standard line for shop keepers in touristy towns everywhere is “where are you from?” or “here on holiday?’ In Raglan, the local shop owners often learnt that we live on a yacht and we were surprised that almost everyone already knew about us “oh- you’re from the orange catamaran in the harbour!!’ We felt a little bit famous in Raglan 

With true, kiwi hospitality, on a daily basis we were offered the use of a car by the friendly locals. One day we accepted and drove around to check out some of the more famous surf beaches around Raglan. A hip vibe, good coffee and shops full of artisan-made items gives Raglan a soul-full, organic feel. In clothes shops we met the designers and owners, even the tee shirt shops sold tees with hand painted, original designs. There was no McDonalds in sight…

Russ wanted to leave pre-sunrise but I was nervous about running the pass in the dark. A local we had made friends with dinghied over and asked “are you still planning to leave in the morning? eeerrr I think you should go and check out the swell” Russ and Kai took his advice and whizzed off in Tika-Taka for a look…only to find breakers running right across the bar. Jeeze I’m glad we didn’t try to get across in the dark!

As it was the swell was dropping but the following morning, you’ll be pleased to hear that we waited sensibly until daylight and sat watching the swell for a good half an hour before we made our run for it. Just as Russ said “we’re through!!” a set came at us and we nosed dived into two big waves. It wasn’t unsafe but we certainly had to hang on! They broke behind us and at that point we really were through… headed south on an overnighter to the Abel Tasman National Park on the very top of the south island. 

Below: A Raglan local snapped this shot of Tika heading out of Raglan Harbour….

Above; The Abel Tasman National Park- beautiful beaches….and many (protected) oyster catchers.

In the Abel Tasman, we hung out in secluded bays interrupted only by the occasional water taxi dropping off hikers for the Abel Tasman Coast Track, a long trail winding over beaches and across ridges between Marahau in the south and Wainui in the north.

We spent our days doing school in the morning and walking sections of the track in the afternoons. A whole week was spent in Awaroa; the bay that has it all; a long, golden beach, access to the walking trail and to top it off; a delightful resort with a cafe, wifi and wood-fired pizza oven. It was filled with appreciative hikers; booted feet up, beers in hands and blissed out smiles on their faces.

We explored brackish rivers in Tika-Taka, climbed boulders, splashed about in rock-pools, chilled out in sandy coves and traversed swaying swing bridges; what a playground!

We anchored just off the Tonga Island Marine Reserve and observed some members of the resident, fur seal colony as they lounged on the rocks calling to each other….

Family time at the Abel Tasman National Park; I love the pictures that capture both Tika-Taka and Tika behind us in the bay…

Meanwhile in home-school…We have been learning all about impressionist artists and doing pastel drawings and oil paintings in Claude Monet’s short brush stroke style. We tried to depict the colour and light of the impressionist era!

Top right; The Japanese Bridge by Jaiya. Pastel on paper. Inspired by Claude Monet 

Below left; Venice Twilight by Kai. Pastel on paper. Inspired by Claude Monet 

Below right; ‘St James Church, Kirikeri’ (unfinished) original oil panting on board in the style of Claude Monet by Jaiya

Below;’ Tika-Taka’ (unfinished) original oil on board in the style of Claude Monet by Kai

We left the beautiful Abel Tasman and retraced our steps 100 nautical miles back to the North island; to Port Taranaki – New Plymouth.

The WOMAD music festival was on and we had a rendezvous with three other (yachtie) families we had met crossing the Pacific for some live music and festival vibes….yeeeeww!

Next Post; Our epic, 8 day Nelson Lakes hike!

 

This entry was posted in The Sail.