Whangamumu Harbour

As we entered the harbour we were first approached and then overtaken by a customs vessel that eventually anchored right where we wanted. With nothing to hide and assuming they were stopping only for lunch (or perhaps to investigate us) we anchored right by them. As expected, they did drop their dinghy and a couple of officers came over and asked us the usual questions before leaving.

We were also followed into the natural harbour by a pod of dolphins which stayed there for the rest of the day unceasingly frolicking in the water. At first there were two other boats in the bay but they all left eventually leaving us alone in the bay with the dolphins as company.

After the customs guys had left I had a go at fishing and soon had two small fish aboard which Ben promptly dispatched with the application of rum to the gills. We left them in a bucket to rot a little as they were to be our lobster bait overnight.

Shortly after lunch we dinghied ashore to the old whaling station. From their we took the hiking trail west, over the ridge (with excellent views of the bay) and down the other side. Again, this hike took us through such changes in scene that it felt like we were in a lot of different places. We eventually reached a dusty road on the far side and with no better plan turned around and walked back.

Back at the abandoned whaling station we headed upstream a few minutes to find a waterfall and some pools in which we dunked our feet.

Back in the dinghy we spent a while gradually approaching the dolphins who were still playing around in the bay. We ended up quite close and just drifted for a while taking pictures. One of the dolphins was larking around with some kelp which it ‘wore’ around it’s dorsal fin. Sometimes it would dive down and lose it’s crown only to pick it up again on the next pass. In the pod was a baby dolphin which seemed just a few days old. All the rest of the pod would give a similar sound as they came up for air. Each time the baby came up it was a significantly tinier ‘phoot’ sound which sounded incredibly cute.

At 5pm Ben and I dinghied a mile or so out to the rock where our guidebook claims lobsters can be caught. There were a number of other floats there so that may confirm the abundance but at the same time provide competition. We lowered our trap with about 55 feet of line to the float. Unfortunately the float ended up under water slowly getting deeper. Ben took one for the team and dove into the cold, jellyfish infested water to retrieve it. We tied another line to the first and again set it. This time I realized we’d drifted away from where we first wanted to leave the trap so we hauled it aboard and set it a final time. Fingers crossed.

The evening finished with curry and a movie.

Today we’ll press on south aiming to get to Tutukaka by tomorrow where we hope to get some internet service.