Jef and Kien kayaked to the island when we were anchored in Waihaorangatahi Bay. Here are some photos Jef took whilst on the island.
Jef took some videos of Kien running through those birds on the wharf. I did a light edit to string them together. Here's a link to “Motuihe wharf” — Kien running with the birds on the wharf.
We decided to take the yacht out for the remainder of Auckland Anniversary weekend. Jef had taken Tuesday off work to have a extra long weekend. It seems like forever ago that we had taken the boat out. It was good to be out on the water.
We had zig zagged all the way out of the harbour with the sails up, and once we got past Okahu Bay we decided to motor the rest of the way to Motuihe. If we had all the time in the world then, sure, we would have slogged it out for another 3 hours, but since we had set off late in the day it wasn't a good option. We anchored in Waihaorangatahi Bay, which was very full at this hour of the day. Always enjoy seeing the city from this vantage point.
The following morning I had to dive off the back of the boat into the frigid water...actually the water wasn't too bad once I was in. But prior to that we had visitors pop over.
Jef and Kien went off to the island on the kayak to do some exploration. I hung around on the boat and enjoyed the quietness.
That evening Kien and Jef did some fishing with the bait they foraged from the shore...and Kien caught me dinner! But in all the excitement no one took a photo of the snapper on the line. I sizzled the whole thing up in the pan and it was delicious. Then we settled in to another night, with hardly any boats around because for a lot of Aucklanders they had to be at work the following day.
The last time we were here was way before Kien was even a thought. Jef and I went to Splore music and arts festival at Tapapakanga Regional Park once upon a time when we first got together (when we were mere teenagers hehehehe). The Saturday that was the start of Auckland anniversary weekend Lynette was going there with her family and a truckload of stuff for a fun filled beaching experience. Jef was getting the yacht ready for us to go out for the long weekend, so I was in charge of entertaining a Kien - which, if left to his own devices would be on one all day! No no, there's sunshine and fun to be had at the beach. An hour and ten minutes after we set off from home we were there.
Wow, the water was so warm! We swam all afternoon, and Kien enjoyed kayaking around with the other kids. Lynette had brought everything (and almost the kitchen sink). They barbequed up some patties and chicken skewers for dinner. We hung around until we were one of the few stragglers left.
We then drove back to Lynette's family farm to pick up fish heads, marlin steaks and fresh eggs from her chooks. What a fabulous start to a long weekend!
