Great Mercury Island, New Zealand
12/28/2007 - 01/02/2008
A rare occasion - a photo of Duncan at the helm.
Several hours of nice sailing and then several hours of motor-sailing took us up the west side of the Coromandel peninsula and around the top. Decision time. Keep on going or stop for the day with hopes of more wind tomorrow? Tomorrow's forecast is for light winds again, so we decided to continue our motor-sail on down to Great Mercury Island.
The Mercury Islands are made up of one large-ish island and several smaller islands that are wildlife sanctuaries. The big island, Great Mercury, is privately owned, but still accessible to boaties. Reports on these islands indicated crystal clear water, white sandy beaches, and lots of hunter-gatherer activities. Fingers crossed. Here we come Great Mercury Island.
Strange to see the Confederate flag in New Zealand. Perhaps its nickname of "Southern Cross" makes it popular? Or, maybe these guys are from Alabama?
No crops in sight. What is he spraying? While sailing up the inside of the Coromandel, this plane made many, many passes -- dumping as many as 20 plane-loads of this white-powdery stuff.
We had a great close reach in calm seas and light winds until we neared the top of the Coromandel peninsula. Then we motored-sailed down to Great Mercury island in calm seas and 3 knots of wind wind.
Hurihi Harbour, aka Mercury Cove or Home Bay, is the most popular anchorage. We stopped here for our first night. Lots of boats can crowd way up in to this harbour even though the charts make it look quite compact and shallow.
The next day, we motored down to the south end of the island in search of the purported crystal clear water. As you can tell from this picture, we were not disappointed.
At low tide, a beautiful white sand beach is exposed near the trees. Sweet.
Pulling in to Peachgrove Cove, we spotted a familiar boat - Mai Tai. Lane and Kaye were neighbors back at Bayswater Marina. We enjoyed a quick catch up with them.
This beautiful spot see quite an increase in boats during the day. Charter boats from Whitianga zip out to the islands and host people for a day of fun at the beach.
Another report on the Mercs indicated a bountiful sea was at our doorstep. At first, we did a quick snorkel near some rocks to look for fishes. Not bad, but a bit chilly.
Then, Duncan donned the scuba tank and dove for scallops with Robin in the chase boat. This was our first attempt at scallop gathering. Duncan did quite well getting 10 scallops (given how many people had already been diving for scallops here).
Okay, now what do we do with them? Open the shell. Easy. Getting the scallop and the roe out without grabbing the stomach and other less desirable bits proved more challenging. We need a demo.
The finished product... very fresh scallops cooked in butter. Of course, bubbles go perfectly with them. Yummy. The orange bits are edible (roe?) and quite tasty, although you will probably only see them served this way in a New Zealand restaruant.
We enjoyed lots of great kayaking and dinghying. Yes, we are still in New Zealand. Nice.
This fancy helicopter buzzed the anchorage
and then almost landed on this beach (missed that photo op).
Off it went. Perhaps this was the owners of the island?
Back to Home Bay we go for New Years Eve.
Idyllic Peachgrove Cove kept us occupied for several days. As New Years Eve approached, we wondered whether a we'd spend a quiet evening on Whisper or whether we'd find a group to join in celebrating the new year. Robin rarely makes it to midnight, so the quiet option is always a winner.
Off in the distance a couple of jet skis zoomed around the anchorages. These jet skis looked quite fancy - think Mission Impossible. They seemed to be stopping at every boat. Hmmmm.
One jet ski approached Whisper. The young driver informed us of the sausage sizzle in the wool shed near Home Bay on New Years Eve. Everyone is welcome. Bring your own drinks and join in on the fun starting at around 8:30. Thus, a New Years Eve plan was formed.
Let the party begin. Tons of boaties showed for what is an annual event at Great Mercury Island.
Little did we know one of NZ's most famous singers, Hayley Westenra, would perform.
Our neighbor ends up in a precarious spot in the first couple hours of 2008. Sounds of anchor chain dumping and maybe a prop on the rocks started the New Year with excitement.
We hopped in the dinghy and proceeded to the New Years Eve party after a yummy dinner and bottle of champagne aboard Whisper. Shortly after we arrived, the music started. Not knowing what to expect, we enjoyed the first few songs played by the DJ. Then, live music started. Robin remarked; "Hey, this singer is not too bad - that is a difficult song to sing." Duncan noticed someone nearby laugh at Robin's remark. Then, the band stopped to introduce themselves. New Zealand's top music artist for 2007, Hayley Westenra, dropped in on the party and was providing us with the entertainment.
The live performance continued for a few songs and then the DJs returned to play quite a few good, fun songs. In a rare occurrence, Robin stayed awake past midnight and we welcomed 2008 with a large group of boaties. Around 1pm - well past our usual bedtime - , we dinghyed back to Whisper. The stars shined and predicted high winds for the night had not yet arrived.
Robin crawled in to bed just as the sound of rain started on the hatch. Hmmm, is this the start of the high winds? Yep. Before Duncan made it to bed, the winds arrived and our boundary alarms started to warn us we were stretching out within our anchor circle.
With most people still at the party, we decided the best option for us was to move down to a better, less crowded anchorage. What a better way to start the new year - a little one hour motor in 30 knots of wind. Around 3 am, we settled in to the new anchorage. Looking back toward our old anchorage, we watched the line of navigation lights headed our way.
This huge boat was near our new anchorage. In the middle of the night, she served as an excellent navigational aid.
Guacamole and her sistership drifted a bit close to Whisper in the early hours of the New Year.
Watching the sun set over the Coromandel peninsula gives us time to reflect on yet another fantastic cruising destination in New Zealand.
Somewhere around 5am, Duncan heard the sound of engine very close to Whisper. He peeked up to discover a motor yacht dragging toward Whisper. Yikes. The poor guy was trying to pull in his anchor chain by hand. Just as Duncan decided to hop in the dinghy to go help him, his windlass started working. Phew.
After a few more minutes of shut eye, Duncan awakened to the sound of the Eagles Greatest Hits playing loudly and close! Emerging from the cockpit, he discovers two small sailboats rafted up and dragging onto Whisper. Duncan calls over; "You guys awake?, Hello?, Hello?, anybody home?". Eventually, two very hung-over heads popped out and while one guy slowly motored both boats away with the tiny outboard, the other guy pulled up the 10 lb anchor attached to a bit of string. Phew. That's already three "phews!" and 2008 is only 6 hours old.
As the sun rose, we finally managed to grab a few hours of sleep. Cruising in New Zealand continues to teach us to enjoy the great days (of which there are many), be ready for the windy ones (which there are a few) and always keep the fenders handy.