Waking early Carrie demonstrated some mental balance by declining to joining her parents for a morning swim. Jose claimed it was a great way to wake up. I found simply waking up a great way to wake up so again felt secure in my own decision not to join them.
After breakfast we set off in light air (ie we motored) and headed round to Man of War Bay on the east side of Waiheke. (NOTE – I am unable to show any more than one position per blog entry so when we stop twice I tend only show the second spot)
The anchorage was very calm but we wanted to make sure the holding was good. Backing down on the anchor the first time was not successful so we raised the anchor, moved, dropped it again and this time it set.
We were then off ashore and with 5 of us it was a breeze getting the dinghy high up on the beach. Our goal was to walk up to Stoney Batter, a gun emplacement built during WWII. When we got there we were quite surprised as to the extent of the system. Expecting something perhaps built into the cliff, we actually found an extensive tunnel system with underground munitions storage areas and underground command and control centers. Being managed by a trust there was an entrance fee but lots of great information. It turned out to be very interesting.
We had a late lunch back on the boat finishing off the last of the fish caught the previous day which we again ate raw. John and Carrie, this time, went for a quick dip afterwards before we fired up the motors and headed west to Huruhi Bay.
Here we dropped the anchor and with daylight now beginning to fade Helen said her goodbyes. I took our guest ashore in the Dinghy and said my goodbyes too. It was sad to see them go as we’d had such a good weekend with them.
We finished the day with a light dinner and watched a movie.
We now have six days before we head back to the Viaduct Marina in Auckland where we will await Sam’s arrival. We will not go far now but have yet to make any plans. Just to tease us, the weather gods have left open a wonderful weather window for the ride up to Fiji for five days now. No doubt it will soon close and only open a crack some time after we’re all ready to go.
Having guests aboard changed the pace of the weekend. We don’t usually move twice a day on our own, mainly because we have the time. It was quite refreshing to change the pace for a while as it made things different for us. However, the winds are forecast to remain pretty light until Wednesday so right now there’s no rush.
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