Having studied the time tables, we worked out the timing of our transit of French Pass. Te Aumiti/French Pass is "a narrow and treacherous stretch of water" between Rangitoto/ D'Urville Island and the South Island mainland. It has the fastest tidal flows in NZ, reaching 8 knots and according to sources, when the tide changes, the current can be strong enough to stun fish! We've been through many times before, each time a little different. We timed our arrival perfectly, however, this time, the tides were really huge and apparently changed direction a little later than described in the Almanac. We found ourselves battling to get through even showing 0 knts on the GPS for a moment or two, but popped through into Admiralty Bay.
Super hot day and mist swirling around the outer Sounds, Stephen's Island was wreathed in mist, as it had been last year when we circumnavigated Rangitoto. It was oily calm as we headed across the top of the sounds and very, very hot. The tide was with us and we had a very smooth passage around Cape Jackson, with only a few drop offs to navigate and then into Queen Charlotte Sound. Very typical Sounds winds led to sails up and down, changes of tack and not direction, all under the hot sun. There were more boats around than we have ever seen here and so ended up anchoring in Kaitapeha Bay just to the north of Tory Channel. There is a huge modern house at the head of the bay, but no one was there. We jumped overboard for a clean up (much colder than Onetahuti!) and then dinner in the cockpit again. Getting back into the swing of life on board.