We went to Great Barrier Island for a week to shake off some of the rust on our skills as well as “break-in” stuff on Charisma after a six month layoff as well as just because it’s such a stunning place.
Well, success was declared on all accounts. We broke the toilet, found the water maker to need some (minor) repair, made some abysmal choices in anchorages and paid for it in the middle of the night AND we had a fine week! We really enjoyed the time spent there even though we now have a 28 item list of things we need to do before leaving for Fiji (OK, two of them we have already completed).
Chalk it up to more South Pacific Adventuring. We both agree we want to go back to this place when we have more time to explore – maybe on our way back in November (when it will be summer down here and not quite so chilly).
To help ease our way back we had a fantastic 40 mile beam reach in 15-18 knots of wind and three foot seas, doing 6 and 7 knots all the way. Truly a great way to end the week.
The anchorages were so pretty...
...I can't help but posting some.
The oysters, plucked right off the rocks, couldn't have been fresher or taste better with our evening Charisma.
The full moon smiled upon us.
The moonlit anchorages were magical.
Bye, bye Barrier Island. Hope to see you again soon.
And the dolphins came to say "goodbye, come back soon".
You gotta get some new music for the moonlight dances. Maybe a slow waltz. One you can do on the boat, not the water.
Yum, those oysters look really good. But I didn’t see any cocktail sauce.
The photos do make the place look magical. Glad you had a good time and didn’t disturb the Water Patrol any more.