We set sail on Auckland Anniversary weekend

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.

We finally set sail

Its been so long since we've gone out there. I've missed it so much. Its good to go out for the long weekend when the weather is so perfect too. The wind was blowing in the right direction too, and we pretty much sailed all the way down the harbour and past Rangitoto on a single tack.

We decided to go into Mullet Bay at Motutapu since it was nice and sheltered. Its been a while since we've been here. It wasn't so crowded either which is a bonus. We were able to get good anchorage and then settled in.

I took Kien for a swim in the somewhat frigid sea. It was nice to be able to do this. I enjoy diving off the back of the boat into the deep water. It feels adventurous and wild, even though I'd freak out (and more than likely not) dive into deep blue ocean. Believe it or not that scares me to no end! The thought of it makes me shudder. But here in the calm of a beautiful dusky bay in the Hauraki Gulf its amazing.

Kien was so cold he really needed to have a bath afterwards. So a hot bath he got.

Weekending

Ha, funny how we are always looking forward to the weekend. Even the little one, who has no idea how lucky he has it being at primary school where there's zero pressure. He thinks he's being hard done by when he has to go to after school care! He asks me every day whether he is going to Fernandos - and the groan I get from him when I say yes is as outrageous as if I had said he's got to do homework for 3 hours. All he does is play at Fernandos! And he loves it too! Kid, you have no idea...

Jef and I look forward to the weekend - who doesn't? After waking up early and spending over 8-9 hours working every day for an entire week we feel pretty spent by the time Friday afternoon rolls around. Yay for the weekend. Yay for a break. Yay for some fresh air (figuratively and literally) away from offices and air conditioning.

Last Saturday we headed out to visit friends at their farm in Clevedon. I was hungry! It as my last weekend for foraging (I was on my 18th day at that point) and I was ready to eat just about anything (and everything). We got to the farm and ate plums and peaches from the orchard. It was satisfying, but we needed something else. So off we went for a walk across the paddocks to the beach opposite their farm in search of oysters. The tide was out so it was the perfect opportunity to get ourselves some protein. Kien was more than happy continue jumping on the trampoline instead of coming out on the long trek with us.

We finally got to the spit and the rocks and collected some oysters in our onion sack.

Just enough for a decent feed.

They were not big oysters, but provided us with some much needed protein.

_______________________

Sunday we went for a sail. It was windy out there and was blowing in the opposite direction from where we needed to go. After zigzagging all the way up the harbour we decided to stop at North Head and anchor up at Devonport. It was actually a pretty good spot to anchor; nice and sheltered tucked away in Torpedo Bay.

Kien wanted to take some selfies. He was being so silly it was hilarious. He could not stay still to save himself.

Finally!

It was such a fun way to spend time together on a Sunday. Now I'm looking forward to more weekending!

Good bye Auckland city, hello Hauraki Gulf

Finally we set sail. It's been way too long since we were last in the Hauraki Gulf anchored up somewhere. It's been one very busy year indeed and finding the time to use the boat has been difficult. But once we have set sail it feels so wonderful and you make all these promises to yourself that you'll try harder to make this happen more often. On Monday 28th we left our Westhaven slip and said good bye to Auckland central as we sailed off.

We haven't been out much this year on the boat, mainly because Kien gets rather sick if it's too bumpy. But now that he's big enough we get to try sea sickness medications for him. I got him some Sea Legs as well as some homeopathic lollipops. They seem to have done the trick!



We anchored at Motuihe for the night. This island is always a nice stop that's relatively close and easy to get to.





Ducks almost always come to visit us when we are anchored here. I came prepared with stale bread at the ready.





He loves feeding the ducks.

Summiting a volcano

...albeit a dormant volcano, but Kien has been talking about giant craters and volcanoes for quite some time. We've been promising him a trip to Rangitoto, and on Sunday we delivered. It didn't take us too long to sail there, although we did have to throw in numerous tacks in the process.

Once we anchored in McKenzie Bay we kayaked to the island and made our way up.





Kien was so excited seeing all this new stuff he walked practically the entire way on his own two feet! (as opposed to getting a lift with me and then I've got an extra 15kg to carry).





Made it!



We stopped for some lunch and took in the gorgeous views.







Then the long trek back down to the shore.







Day trip done. One hour left before the tide was completely out and we were cutting it close as we left the bay, almost running aground. The depth alarm went off at 1.9 meters - phew, we didn't get stuck.

Finally we sail away

I wanted to get away on Boxing Day but the boat wasn't ready, and we decided we would get packed and get going first thing yesterday. Well that didn't happen because Lynette texted to tell us to come spend the day/night at the farm and break in the new pizza oven. Well how could we turn that offer down? So we spent yesterday/last night at the farm scoffing wood fired pizzas made from homemade dough and leftover Xmas ham with fresh pineapple. Lots of fun was had in the kitchen singing/dancing/rolling dough/adding toppings/eating - good times! 

We did well to get away from the farm mid morning, finish our last bit of shopping for perishables, get on the boat and stowed 436 million bags away, and finally set sail. Kien was keen to get to a sandy beach, and after promising him he would have plenty of time play when we got to our chosen destination for the night. 

So we got here an hour ago.

Still waiting....

When the kid finally wakes up we will kayak to the beach with bucket and spade, and he can dig and make sand castles to his hearts content. I'm hoping it will be soon!