Round North Island - Great Barrier Island to Great Mercury Island

Leaving the heads of Great Barrier Island bound for the Corromandel

After our morning dive on the Taniwha Wreck we motored out into the chop, and like someone turned off the lights the wind and waves dropped and we were left with a glassy surface. It was only a short hop across to the top of the Coromandel Penunsula and before long we were in Sandy bay with the hook down and I was in the water going for a snorkel.

The glassy water as we approached Sandy Bay

Anchored up in Sandy Bay

Emma decided to get all Martha Stewart onboard and have another go at making some bread and have a go at not making another mooring block. The aim was a ciabatta bread and after getting pretty messy, beating the hell out of the batter to try introduce air into it we had to leave it to rise before baking so both hopped in the water for a swim. Our little swim ended up being a lot bigger and we went ashore, had a look around the beach before the swim back to the boat. Unfortunately the water was a bit stirred up so vis was not great and nothing to see.

The goop monster has come aboard!

The final result, not a bad looking loaf of bread...

Once back aboard it was time to bake the bread, the smell coming from the oven was amazing and we were hoping it tasted as good as it smelled! After baking we took it out and let it rest for a while before cutting into it and we were very happy with the results considering the epic fail of the last one, it was pretty light considering, maybe a bit more beating next time but hey its a win for us this time!

Beautiful sunset with Great Barrier in the distance

We spent the night chilling out as usual, watching some tv from the hard drive, playing more rummikub and taking more photos of the amazing sunsets we keep getting. But another day has gone by and its time to head to bed and get ready for the trip across to Great Mercury Island tomorrow.

Parapara Bay with Dulcinea anchored in the distance

The following day was a bit gloomy, bit chilly and to be honest we would have preferred to be relaxing down below but time was still ticking and we had to keep heading south (or there about). We rugged up but in true fashion for this trip it didn't take long for the cloud to burn off and the sun to come out. We pulled into a narrow little bay (Parapara Bay), dropped anchor and we were both into the water as the little sandy beach was idyllic, white sands and clear water called us. We played in the shallows for a while, snorkelled back to the boat and I even managed to spot a stargazer hiding in the sand. We lifted the anchor and tootled over to the nearby 'harbour' entrance as it was supposed to be ok for scallops but after 15 min of free diving I had not seen a thing so we headed into the shallower area in the dinghy and got some strange looks as Emma blasted around with me sticking my head into the water to look at the bottom. No such luck with finding anything so we moved again....and long story short I didn't have much luck other than the one small scallop I found.

Moving for the last time, heading towards Pukekoromiko Point

Sunset at Great Mercury Island

The spot we had picked was a bit rolly and after much glancing through the binoculars for a while at all the boats anchored over the other end of the bay we concluded the grass is greener on the other side (or in this case the water is flatter over there!) we lifted anchor for the final time today and headed over. How disappointed were we when we found that it was just the same as we had come from! Oh well, so we headed below to relax only to be very frustrated with sitting beam to the swell and rocking uncomfortably. Now that it was dark and cooling off it made it all the more annoying to get into the dinghy, drive out a stern anchor, drop it and pull the boat nose on to the swell. However it was MUCH more comfortable and we concluded it was worth it after watching several other boats roll gunwale to gunwale. We slept extremely well after a long day and a long time in the water swimming and free diving. But it was time to move on and head to the next spot...

Read about the next leg of our journey