Tuesday 14 December Cavalli Islands

What we could see of the Cavalli islands this morning was beautiful, rugged hills, lots of greenery and promises of a good walk. What we could see of the mainland 1 mile the other way was zilch due to the sea mist. There wasn't any wind to blow it away either.

After lunch the pea soup fog cleared a little so we decided to move the 7 miles into Whangaroa harbour, reputed to be the most sheltered harbour in NZ. With the electronic chart, GPS and radar we were soon at the entrance to sanctuary, a 200m gap in high cliffs. On the way here we'd passed islands which were occasionally glimpsed through the mist and had our first sighting of the little blue penguins. Cute little chaps just floating by.

Whangaroa Bay looking inland

Once through the narrowish entrance the harbour opened up into a into big, deep fjord like bays. The fog had gone and the sun was coming through. We motored 2 miles into the harbour and dropped anchor off Whangaroa town. There was one other visiting yacht, a french vessel. Whangaroa, pronounced with a 'ph' not 'wh', is a small town, one hotel, The Marlin, a Marlin fishing club, a small marina filled with sport fishing boats, a general store, a collection of modern houses clinging to the steep rock face behind the water and overlooking it all a volcanic plug named St Paul. On the opposite side of the harbour is the smaller town of Totora and a matching volcanic plug named St Peter.

These days Whangaroa is dedicated to, and owes it's living to the sport of big game fishing a few oyster farms in the shallow bays and the tourist trade guessing by the number of motels and B&Bs.

The night was silent and as calm as the proverbial mill pond.