Photo: Afternoon view over Port Abercrombie with the Mokohinau Islands beyond seen from Maungapiko Lookout
With Astarté gone, and being surrounded mostly by sport-fishing boats or families trying to water-ski behind their outboard dinghies, by Tuesday morning (April 18th), it felt like it was time to move to another anchorage. To do a bit of sight-seeing and fishing first, we motored out through Man O' War Passage and through the Broken Islands (which we had so admired from our hike). We watched some bottlenose dolphins frolicking in the bow wave of a sailboat going in the opposite direction, admired the some keyhole-openings in rocky islets, and viewed the Australasian gannet colony on the slopes of Mahuki Island. However, there was little wind so we did not raise the sails, there was a bit of rolly swell, and since no fish were cooperative, we eventually returned to Port Fitzroy Harbour and to a new anchorage in Kiwiriki Bay, where Astarté had sat-out Cyclone Cook.
Rocks with keyhole-openings in the Broken Islands
The Mouth of Kiwiriki Bay in morning sunlight
The following afternoon we set-off east along the Kiwiriki Track, up the small river at the head of Kiwiriki Bay. After an hour's hike, including slogging up a very steep, slippery section of track to the end of a ridge overlooking our bay, Randall decided to turn around so that he could take his time on the tricky descent (luckily, he had brought his hiking boots and walking stick).
Randall scrambling up the steep part of the Kiwiriki Track with Tregoning just a speck in the bay beyond
Cliffs and pinnacles on the south side of The Hogs Back seen from Maungapiko
I went to the end of the Kiwiriki Track, where it joined the Forest Road, and then along a short detour to the top of Maungapiko Lookout at 280 m (918 feet). The weather was satisfyingly cooperative for highlighting the attractive local scenery, including rugged pinnacles to my north, along the south side of The Hogs Back Mountains. There were also fine long-distance views, including the distinct cone of Rangitoto to the southwest (and with Auckland's Sky Tower and other skyscrapers visible with binoculars) and Whangarei Heads on the skyline to the northwest. I returned to the dinghy on the tiny beach at the trailhead to find Randall carefully scrubbing all of the mud off his boots, a measure both to keep the dinghy and Tregoning clean but also to try to help prevent the spread of kauri die-back disease.
Randall scrubbing his boots at the trailhead on Kiwiriki Bay with Tregoning beyond
On Thursday, while Randall enjoyed a very relaxing day on Tregoning, I spent the afternoon walking the other way (north) on the Kiwiriki Track over to Kaiaraara Bay. From the top of the Bush Beach Track, I followed the familiar path to the Kaiaraara Hut and then south along the Forest Road. I continued past the point at which we had emerged from the South Fork Track at the end of our long hike up Hirakimata until reaching the start of the Line W Track which returned me to the Kiwiriki Track. The loop took me three hours going at a pretty fast walk/jog and with little stopping time other than to clean my boots at the end. There were no obvious hilltops or exceptional views but when I returned to Tregoning, feeling very well-exercised, the goal-oriented part of me was happy to highlight more accomplished trails on my Aotea map.
The distinctive bark of young kauri trees on the Kiwiriki Track
Being relatively late in the season, I saw only one other person on the whole hike but with the weekend approaching, the boat population in the anchorage, which had been 5 on the night we arrived, swelled that night to 13. Apparently, there were plenty of boaters still keen to make the trip to Aotea while the autumnal weather remained tempting.