March 2020 - Bay of Islands
We had the chance to go for a two day sailing trip in the Bay of Islands. We spent the night on a mooring ball at Urupukapuka island, and then the next day anchored at Roberton Island in the same anchorage that Captain Cook used in his voyage of discovery. We had a great time hiking on both islands, and Urupukapuka in particular was full of great bird life.
We had the chance to go for a two day sailing trip in the Bay of Islands. We spent the night on a mooring ball at Urupukapuka island, and then the next day anchored at Roberton Island in the same anchorage that Captain Cook used in his voyage of discovery. We had a great time hiking on both islands, and Urupukapuka in particular was full of great bird life.
|
|
|
| Sailing in the Bay of Islands! | ||
|
|
|
| Beautiful Urupukapuka island, our stop for the night. | Beautiful Otehei Bay; our sailboat is moored on the right. | A lovely bay on the other side of the island. |
|
|
|
| Beautiful views of the bay | The rocky coast out to sea | |
|
|
|
| Looking up the island | ||
|
|
|
| Otehei Bay, well protected from all sides | ||
|
|
|
| Our boat at the mooring | ||
|
|
|
| Hiking around the island | The permanent residents of Urupukapuka Island | |
|
|
|
| Maintaining the population | ||
|
|
|
| Relaxing back on the boat as the sun sets | Dinner prep! | In the morning, another day of sailing |
|
|
|
| Beautiful Roberton Island | We anchored in this lovely lagoon, which is the same place that Captain Cook anchored in when he stopped here on his first voyage of discovery to New Zealand. Our boat is the leftmost in the picture. | |
|
|
|
| Rocky coast on the ocean-facing side of the island | ||
|
|
|
| Exploring the island | Our boat at anchor, fortunately still there when we finished checking out the island | |
|
|
|
| Anchored in the lagoon | A red-breasted dotterel | A variable oystercatcher |
|
|
|
| A kelp gull | A gray gerygone | A terrifyingly ugly tui. I don't know if he's sick or molting, but it looks pretty rough. |
|
|
|
| A tomtit | A silverye | A bit puffed up! |
|
|
|
| A North Island saddleback | A pair of saddlebacks actually kissing | They were being extremely flirtatious |
|
|
|
| A New Zealand fantail | Hence the name! | |
|
|
|
| A whitehead | Doing some real acrobatics! | |
|
|
|
| An Australasian swamphen | A buff-banded rail | A silver gull (red-billed variety) |
|
|
|
| A sacred kingfisher | Another one in a bush |