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Oneroa is a bit of a holiday destination which means the high street is full of places to eat, shop and buy houses.

I tried to catch up on some sleep in the morning but failed so we went ashore late morning to have a look around. The beach was hard and flat allowing the dinghy wheels to work well for us. The town is up above the beach so after a small climb up the winding path we found ourselves in the middle of the holiday weekend hustle and bustle.

We had a little walk around visiting the tourist center. We didn’t go too far as Helen has developed a bit of tendonitis in one of her feet. We visited a pharmacy to pick up some ibuprofen and were again impressed by the medical knowledge of the assistant. Here in NZ the pharmacists have a lot more medical training than we’re used to. You can’t just buy something, they want to make sure the product is appropriate for the symptoms and have the knowledge to help. Not that this isn’t true too in the US and UK but the service here always seems better.

After Helen popped a couple of pills we ate lunch. Helen had fish and chips and I had a pizza. After lunch the pills seemed to have worked and eased Helen’s pain. We headed back to the boat for the afternoon where we caught up on emails and sleep.

The anchorage reminds us much of the Caribbean. That’s because it is now filled with boats, presumably all out and about for the long weekend. Packed anchorages were common in the Caribbean but rarely seen since – the last time being off the marina in Tahiti. Well – there’s Opua too but not like this.

Now we’re here in Waiheke we’re going to have to work out what to do. We need to rest Helen’s foot a bit and not do anything too strenuous. I want to get to Auckland soon which is less than 15nm away now. Wind and weather will dictate when and where we go and what we do as ever.

Another pleasant day yesterday. We went ashore to walk to the bay to the north for a pie lunch. At the dock we noticed a lot of activity. It turned out the ferry delayed by weather since Tuesday, three days earlier, was on the way in.

Walking along the road we ran into the folks who we met at the hot springs who had intended to return on the Tuesday ferry. We also ran into Mary, met the previous day, who was in a similar position.

After our walk and lunch we returned to the boat where we prepped her for the trip. We put two reefs into the main anticipating some strong weather across the channel. I had to go up the mast to retrieve the courtesy flag line which had snapped and fouled in the strong weather.

Avoiding alcohol we retired early to be woken by the alarm at 2:45am.

The passage wasn’t as bad as we feared, in fact it was as good as I hoped. Better still, the moon was full which we hadn’t anticipated. The incoming tide was not interfering with the swell and we had winds in the low 20s. The current in the channel was left to right so we had to aim 15 degrees to port to go in the direction we wanted. Nevertheless we made 8-9 knots over the channel.

Helen went for some shut eye as we rounded the Coromandel peninsular. She missed all the fun. We lost the wind so I motor sailed for a bit – for a while having to bring in the head sail. When the wind returned it was light. I removed the second reef and later removed the first. Then the wind picked up. I reefed the head sail to lose some speed then reefed the main. Now losing some wind I took the reef out of the head sail. By then I was boiling hot with all the effort.

By the time I woke Helen things had settled down for a straight run into Waiheke which we made in good time eventually anchoring in Oneroa Bay.

We chose this bay because of it’s good holding, protection from the south and civilization ashore. We’re ready for some. As we sit here more and more boats are piling in. It is Easter weekend after all. It should be quite a crowd by the end of day.

While breezy it was a nice day yesterday. We did a wash in the morning and the laundry went out on the lines. We went ashore late morning with the idea we’d walk to the bay to the north of us and visit the shop. Within minutes of being ashore we met a woman, Mary, walking her dog in the opposite direction. I asked her if she knew a little about the currents in the area. She did and soon we were chatting and walking together. She owns a small property on the island. She was due to take the Tuesday ferry which has yet to get here due to the same weather conditions pinning us here. She had tenants flying in and so she’s homeless and staying with a friend. Mary was walking her dog to the bay to the north too so we ended up walking this leg together. Along the way she gave us the idea to walk further to the better shop in the next bay round.

In the end it was two bays round and we were ready for lunch and the healthy cafe there. After feeding we picked up a few supplies then headed back. It seemed a lot further going back, probably not having someone else to chat to did that.

Close to the wharf we ended up chatting to another sailor about channel conditions. The long and the short of it is we really should leave a bit after low tide. The currents reach 3 knots and if they opposed the prevailing winds it can be nasty. If they oppose our desired direction they would be a pain.

The forecast for Friday is still strong. For Saturday it’s lessening and on Sunday the winds will have shifted to the south making travel in that direction awkward to say the least. If we leave after low tide on Saturday we’ll arrive in Waiheke after dark which we should never do coming into an unknown anchorage. It looked impossible. Until we remembered there are two tides each day. And that gives us a great opportunity.

Our current plan is to leave about 3am on Saturday morning, catch the favourable currents through the channel and round the tip of the Coromandel and get to Waiheke Island in time for breakfast. We haven’t entirely decided where to anchor but we can make our minds up today. We’ll also prep the boat today so we’re ready to go as soon as we wake up. Early night tonight.

We’re getting over being off the internet. It’s a bit of a trauma at first but soon we feel quite liberated. There is nothing we can do. Nothing to respond to urgently. No news of the outside world. Nothing. It’s kind of nice for a bit. And that’s what we like when we’re up in the islands. Wasn’t expecting it here but we have it. We did consider moving the boat today but that smacks of desperation. One more day won’t hurt. I’m sure we’ll connect once at Waiheke.

The big event of the day (relatively speaking) was moving the boat. We’d begun to get a little fed up of the chop that had built up within the bay where we were as well as the sudden slams from chunks of wind that would find us around the hill.

With the winds now forecast to be coming from the south east for sometime we headed for nearby Shoal Bay where we’d last visited in the dinghy to find shops. On the way over we left our shelter of Mulberry hill encountering 40 knot winds just south of the hill where the land allowed the wind through. It gave us an idea from what we were sheltering ourselves from.

Shoal Bay was less protected from the wind than where we were but it was sheltered from the incoming swell. What is more, the wind was more even which promised some return on the wind generator which hadn’t been helping much in the strong occasional gusts we’d been experiencing. We first attempted to anchor in a big gap in the mooring field but our anchor slipped. That may be why there were no moorings in that spot as the holding may not have been good. Our second attempt was just outside the mooring field where the anchor set solid. We put out a lot of chain and settled down.

The first thing we realized is we have no internet access here. Oh well. We’re cut off. It’s not a bad thing from time to time. We expect it and plan for it up in the islands but it’s not expected here less than 50 miles from New Zealand’s biggest city. Just goes to show how remote NZ can quickly get. So all our email chats will just have to wait until we reconnect with the world.

NZ coastguard and their maritime service communicate regular weather forecasts on VHF and we can still download weather data via the SSB so we can still make our departure decisions from here.

We remain stuck here. Tuesday was the worst forecast day with winds potentially up over 50 knots. We were well protected behind the hill here but were slammed every now and then by 40+ knot wind blasts. The bay has become quite choppy and uncomfortable.

Looking at today’s forecasts we may move south on Friday. Each day we consider moving somewhere less swelly here in Traphena Bay. With the wind easing today this may be easier to do.