Given that Ben wanted to perform some additional testing on his website and that I was keen to download a few more topographic maps we remained near Russell for the morning during which time I changed the oil on the genset. I don’t know if it’s my ears but it always seems a little happier and smoother after an oil change so I like to do this as closer to the 200 hour mark as possible. Despite the solid motoring we did to get into Opua by Thursday evening, our 13 weeks average genset time is still only 1.5 hours per day. This may not seem much but it seems to bring round the oil changes with seeming regularity.
With this all done and lunch behind us we set off to Motuarohia Island – also known as Roberton Island.
On arrival we found several boats already here but it turned out they were all day trippers, either personal or commercial which meant by the evening we had the anchorage all to ourselves. The anchorage is stunning. Despite all the wonderful places we’ve anchored in the last two years and a bit this area really is amazing. We are surrounded by small islands and mainland with sweeping geography covered by incredibly diverse flora.
Once we felt the anchor had settled we dinghied ashore. As it was low tide we hauled the dinghy quite high tying it to a stake in the ground to ensure there was no chance of losing it. We first explored the rocky area on the isthmus separating us from the north side. Here there were interesting tidal pools and channels with kelp swaying backward and forward in the currents. We climbed around, up, over and through (ie, through a cave/passage and out the other side) the rocks. The rocks appeared crumbly but were instead very firm and easy to grip onto allowing us to make our way clinging to the sides of rock faces at times.
We then took the made trail to the lookout point over the bay. There we stayed a while as the view awesome. Just soaking it all in. On the way down we took a less maintained side trail to see where it went. It was an interesting scramble through the trees that ended in a dead end.
Later on Ben and I decided we’d set the lobster trap I’d bought in Opua (not sure if mentioned this before). We used some steak fat as bait (not sure if this is any good yet) and took it out in our dinghy to sink it out of the arc of our chain. We attached a float marked with our boat name so we could retrieve it the following morning. While setting the trap Helen drew our attention to a small pod of dolphins up close to the shoreline. We slowly angled towards them and they came towards us leaping out of the water. They passed almost within touching distance continuing to fart around in the water, having a lot of fun.
We are now internetless so it’s back to the side band radio for blogging and communications with land. It’s a nice feeling to be cut off for a bit.
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