Christmas Eve dawned with strong winds and the threat of rain. Paul had to work until midday, so Helen was left to prepare the boat. So just past midday, Paul raced back from the office in Parnell to the yacht club. Once arrived, the 240 Volt equipment (dehumidifier, kettle, heater etc) along with a couple of large bags of winter clothes (not required in an Auckland summer – even if it is wet and windy!) went into the car boot. A quick change to boating clothes and at 1330 we cast off, destination Great Barrier Island.

Now the wind was 20 to 25 knots, which was actually in Tai Mo Shan’s useful sailing range. The prevailing wind at Auckland is South West, and Great Barrier Island is usually a bit of a down-wind blast. Of course, Christmas Eve and the wind was, well pretty much East with a bit of North. This meant we could sail pretty much direct to Port Fitzroy on a tight reach. Our speed would mean the effective wind was more like 25 to 30 knots, and pushing into the wind blown chop. Ah well, at least we did have a sailing angle and so could head direct to our destination. We set off and held a good speed of 5 to 6 knots smashing the chop. Ah, yes, and as we left the rain started. Fortunately we have the hard top and our clears are still pretty good so we stayed dry sailing in the rain albeit with reduced visibility. So, pushing hard into wind, with a reasonable heel angle and a fair bit of movement as we hammered the chop we blasted past the Noises clearing the inner Hauraki Gulf. A couple of hours later and the wind started to swing a bit more Northerly. The forecast was for the wind to swing Westerly in the afternoon, and it was now late afternoon, so for once the forecasters could claim they got it right – nearly! Anyway for us this changed our sailing angle and we would have to tack to get to Port Fitzroy. So, a longer sail with a tack and still hard on the wind. A quick look at the chart and Kawau Island here we come – ah the ability to change plans; wonderful! So a course change of 90°. Now that changed things and. we were now on a broad reach, cross and down wind. An easier ride with the chop, and Tai Mo was unleashed at over 8 knots! Even the rain let up, and a small pod of dolphins came to say hello and then carried on chasing the tuna (we saw those as well!). Of course this could not last. Some 5 miles off the gap in the reefs near Kawau the wind dropped, pretty much completely. One minute a good 25 knot push, the next 5 knots. We were in flat water, with dark water flecked by white spume all around us. The clouds were speeding around us, but above us they were just being ripped apart. It felt like being in the eye of a cyclone! Sure enough a few minutes later and the wind was back; a Westerly. Well full marks to the forecasters. Of course, Kawau was pretty much, well West of us. So back to hard on the wind, but only for a few miles, soon covered. Around the corner to the calm water Kawau Bay, drop the sail, past Mansion House Bay (pretty full with anchored boats) to a nice sheltered spot deep in Bon Accord harbour. So, not Great Barrier Island, but to Kawau by 2030, the long way at 39 miles, but at a reasonable speed.

Christmas Day was bright with a gentle breeze. Nice, and Santa had called. So Christmas decorations, Christmas Trees on the table, and lots of presents. A full fried breakfast, with champagne, and then the ducks went into the oven. More wine, cold duck sandwiches, food, wine, food, wine, food, wine, oh and some rum. Christmas Day was, well good for the winter padding!

Boxing Day was another bright day with light Southerly winds forecast, and dying off. So 0900 and we were underway motor sailing slowly downwind past Kawau, then catching the 2 knot current as it flowed through the North Channel, a nice boost. Even better, as we cleared Kawau the wind was enough for the motor to go off and we were doing what Tai Mo Shan does best; sailing. All sails up and 5 knots through the water then 6 as the wind filled. We had our hand lines off the stern and just off Little Barrier Island got the ‘click’ as something took the lure and pulled the line through our bite indicator (OK, a clothes peg). Helen slowed the boat by turning into wind Paul pulled the line in. On the end was a Kingfish, a sleek fast predatory fish renowned for the fight it puts up. As it got closer Paul could see it was comparatively small and so decided not to gaff the fish. This meant that the fish could be returned alive, but it also meant pulling up 12 Kg of seriously upset strong fish on the steel trace – race gloves were in order. And there it was, Paul wrestling the 65 cm long 12 Kg lump of slippery skin surrounding muscle and teeth. A quick phot and back it went to grow a bit more. Yes, the legal limit for Kingfish is 75cm – that’s why it is a Kingfish! Excitement over and it was back to sailing until the wind died as we passed False Head. A nice sail across, and then a gentle motor in through the Man O War passage (which is a good 20m wide with big rock (well islands) either side. Helen felt at home as we glided through a calm Port Fitzroy to drop the anchor in our old haunt, Ghost Bay, at 1455. Great Barrier Island, better late than never! And as the tide dropped we found a dozen nice juicy Green Lipped muscles.

The next day, the 27th, saw light winds and a chance to catch lunch. Which we did, 9 nice ‘pannie’ Snapper, from 30 to 40 cm. Several smaller fish went back along with a Red Snapper (colourful, bright red but not as tasty a proper Snapper!). Light winds and Great Barrier is a joy to drift fish. That night we met up our friends with Pete and Linda from West Park. They had sailed up in their small yacht ‘Bill’. A good social evening followed.

The 28th saw us meet up with other friends, Dave and Linda, on their 35 foot motor boat, ‘Fair Catch’. A trip ashore to meet up with old friends Sven and Patricia; it was great to chat and catch up. Even better, Sven was more than happy for us to wander on his land, which is a fair chunk of the Island! Dave and Linda have a couple of dogs so we relocated to a small bay just off Sven’s old cowshed, which had better access to let the dogs ashore. With the two boats close together, we had a social evening with fresh mussels and fish on the BBQ.

On the 29th Paul decided to walk on Sven’s land. First up was to 360 Hill. Sven had cut and maintained a good path through the bush, so the walk should have been easy. Of course, it started at Sven’s house by the water and zig zagged up the hill a little way. The Sven had obviously got bored and so driven his bulldozer (the subtle way of making a path) straight up the hill. So, a nice straight path at about 30° up. OK in places it was a bit … steeper. Still the top is mostly clear of tea tree, so the view, from 204m up (according to the chart), is worth the climb. It was a nice sunny day so all of the peninsula was clearly visible. Perhaps even better, the top of the hill was in a small breeze; so a bit of a cool down as well. After that was the stroll down, not so easy at such a steep angle. And then along another track Sven cut a few years ago right along the peninsula. This was a good track right thorough the tea tree, with occasional patches of pine and other trees. Now Sven’s land, like all of Barrier is quite steep and dotted with small hills. Most are covered in bush, so are not worth the fight through the tea tree as the view from top is very limited. However, a couple have rocky tops. One, Walter Hill, has a rocky top with steep sides. Paul has looked at it on past visits, and even tried fighting the bush to get to the base of the rocks. Each time the thick bush has proved just too much. Not only is Tea Tree 5 to 20 feet high, but it grows as a really thick bush and is near impenetrable. However, a few Km down Sven’s track and Paul spotted an old side track, fairly overgrown. It did seem to head to the base of the hill, so Paul followed it. As the track climbed the bush seemed to thin, still difficult going, but thinner. Then a bit further, and there was grass between the Tea Tree as the slope steepened. Now that can be scrambled up, and so Paul did. 100m in and the tea tree and grass turned to rock slabs at about 45°. The rock was rough with a good grip, so the scramble continued and hey, presto, the summit was reached. Paul had conquered Walter Hill (charted at 218m). The view was great, blue sea, green bush, blue sky and brown rocks. Most of the rock around the summit was precipitous, always makes the view better! A good look around, breather and time to go down. A look at the way Paul had come up showed a steep rock face, a bit tricky to go down. Um. But there were sheep on the top of the rock, and they cannot go up steep rock slopes. Another look around and there were the sheep tracks it the grass. It was still a steep scramble, but beat the rock slab! Down at the base and back on track (literally). The walk finished at the South of Sven’s land, just past a set of his beehives (yes, quality Manuka Honey!). Onto the cliff, a sit down and admire the view. Again, wonderful. The steep cliff drops away to the green bush and then the sea. The clarity of the water is outstanding, so the colour of the sea ranges from turquoise, through azure to a deep blue. There were a couple of boats pushing though the water leaving white wakes. Off on the horizon Little Barrier Island was a dark lump with a cap of white cloud, and South the huge lump of Coromandel sat dark in the distance. And then in the mid distance, sea birds started diving into the water, a fish work up. And then to cap it all, dolphins started playing a few 100 m off shore, jumping, diving and generally having a good time. Can it get better? Well, yes, it was nice getting back on board Tai Mo Shan and having a nice warm fresh water ‘solar’ shower – followed by a rum!

The 30th saw us sail a few miles North to Katherine Bay in very light winds. As we arrived the wind dropped to nothing. Ah well, it was a nice sunny day, so it was out with the fishing gear. We had a gentle drift down the coast, motoring slowly between the fishing spots. The fish were equally lazy, still at 3 pan sized snapper (lots went back as undersize) we had dinner sorted.

The last day of the year continued the strange weather of all year – thank you El Nino! - easterly winds and the threat of wind and rain. So it was back to our usual spot in Ghost Bay, anchor deep in the mud and lots of chain out. Securely anchored we decided to explore the small river at the head of the bay. We had previously pushed up the river as far as the first houses hidden in the bush. This time, emboldened by the high tide we pressed on up the small river. What a treat! A small slow flowing river, clear water, grass and bush on the banks, trees and bushes overhanging the water, sun shining though the leaves, with the sheer walls close to the sides showing rock bluffs as they rise up 50m or so. We pushed on gently 500m or so until the river got too shallow for the outboard to clear the stony bottom. And there, tucked away from the world, a shack. We didn’t see the occupants but a certain banjo tune was evident – in our minds anyway! (For those who do not recognise it watch the film ‘Deliverance’!). On the way back we had a look at the graves from which Ghost Bay gets its colloquial name. The grave is old, one of the early settlers Annie Sanderson who died in 1893. The poignant thing was that she is buried with her infant daughter, aged 2 months who died 2 days after her. The grave is well tended, with a clean painted white picket fence and rose bush struggling against the elements. There was an addition since our last visit. A small stone to the side of the main stone remembers Verley Clyde Flint, who died in 2010, aged 90. He was the grandson of Annie Sanderson! The evening saw us on board with Dave and Linda playing cards, drinking and putting the world to right. As the New Year approached we went back onto Tai Mo Shan. The bells ring out at midnight, well the single deep ringing bell from on board – the AC/DC track Hells Bells, at full volume – Helen wore headphone unplugged and still complained! (Later during the week we kept running into people who swore they had heard church bells at midnight!)

And the New Year started as we hope it didn’t continue with rain and wind. A day on board. Still the next day was social as we met up with Sven and Patricia; some rum evaporated!

The 3rd of January saw Paul back up Walter Hill, just because he could. The view was great, especially as the clouds were low, and scudding along at the level of the top of the hill. The 4th saw us back in the dinghy in the wet and wind. This time we went up the river at the end of Twin Island Bay. This one saw us push up the head of the bay through the shallow water, dodging the mangroves to the start of the river. The river was not navigable, so we tied off and started walking up the side of the river. This was a small river, but there was evidence of some significant floods with deadfall piled 10 feet high! Still it was only drizzling gently! A little way in and we came across the DOC track. This was well maintained and started a very pleasant walk through the bush up the valley, gradually leaving the river as it climbed up. At the head of the valley the path got steeper, and steeper. Paul pushed on to see the view; an interesting decision as the path got even steeper and steeper. Still, a few hundred metres, the top of the ridge and a nice view. There was then the very steep step down, lots of steps down! Perhaps Helen was sensible to have taken a breather!

The 5th saw rain, lots of rain. Nice to fill the water tanks, but it kept us on board. We headed out the next day to go fishing but the wind was strong enough to drift us too quickly to keep the bait on the bottom. So bigger sinkers and a couple of pan sized snapper later we headed back in. We decided to have a change and anchor in Red Cliffs Bay on the edge of Port Fitzroy. However, the flat bottom on the depth sounder proved to be sheet rock and stones, so no grip for the anchor. Ah well, back to Ghost Bay.

Thurs 7th January saw a clear day with a nice North Easterly wind set in. So a full reversal; we are used to down-wind to Barrier, and into wind back. The NE wind meant a nice down-wind run to get us to Waiheke. A slow start got better as the wind increased; 46 miles in 7 ½ hours, a nice pace. Along the way we saw some whales blowing a few hundred metres away. The only problem was that our Furuno GPS had broken. No great problems apart from the fact that the autopilot used the speed input from the GPS to trim its output. The autopilot worked, it just set off an alarm every couple of minutes. Annoying, but solved using a boat hook to allow the correct button to be pressed whilst one was comfortably sitting in the cockpit. So, overall a nice trip to Huruhi Bay. As this bay faces South West we do not normally anchor there. With a North Easterly though it offers good shelter and is very pretty with Surfdale village at the head, and reserves to the side.

And on Friday, the wind swung South Westerly, the prevailing wind at last. Unfortunately Huruhi Bay got choppy, so time to move, around to Oneroa a nice 10 mile sail to the other side of Waiheke. This is another stunning bay with a wide sweeping beach of yellow sand with small white breakers. The west side has low rocky cliffs with bush and a few houses. The East sees more small bays with yellow sand nestling amongst the small rocky cliffs. The South and East are fairly well developed (for NZ) with several houses. Indeed, the village of Oneroa offers some of the best shopping on Waiheke. In our case this meant ashore for a nice Greek Mezze lunch, and an Italian dinner. It wasn’t cheap, but the food was very good and, well civilisation is nice after a spell in/near the bush!

And Sunday saw us heading back to Bucklands Beach Marina, a nice push into a moderate South West wind with the sun shining. Not too bad, just it was work the next day!

The picture – the view form the cliff towards Coromandel – a picture!