After buying our car in Auckland and spending five days touring the city, we packed up into Fornaxia and took off for our first three sights in our road trip: Owharoa Falls, the Dickey Flats Campground, and Karangahake Gorge. Owharoa Falls Our first stop was Owharoa Falls in Waikino. The falls are just a 2-minute walk from…
David and I flew into Auckland to begin our 5-week road trip around the country. Day 1 – The Waterfront and New Zealand Maritime Museum Our AirBnB was just a block off Queens St, the main area of Auckland. We took a right turn and walked all the way down to the waterfront. The Waterfront…
We’ve just flown into Auckland to start our 35-day New Zealand road trip around the North and South Islands! Our tour started with five days in Auckland, and one of the popular things to do in the Auckland area is taking a ferry out to Waiheke Island. About Waiheke Located just 20 km off of…
Most boats cruising the South Pacific Islands come down to New Zealand to hide out from cyclone season. With easy access to the international airport in Auckland and plenty of marine services, it’s no wonder most cruisers haul out in Whangarei. Why We Chose Norsand Boatyard There are several boatyard choices in Whangarei. We did…
We spent three nights sailing down to Whangarei, which is about 26 miles as the crow flies away from Opua, but because both towns are way up their respective bodies of water, we actually went 85 miles around. Departing Opua The forecast for the next few days was dead calm, which is perfect as this…
After a rough passage down from Fiji, we arrived in Opua, New Zealand and did our formalities before docking at Bay of Islands Marina. Facilities The docks are very nice and Bay of Islands Marina is extremely well protected. When we visited they were finishing up an expansion project in the marina, and we were…
We pulled into the Q dock in Opua, New Zealand Saturday morning at 8 am, 167 hours (one week minus one hour) from when we left Fiji. Departing Fiji We had been hanging around Vuda Point waiting for a weather window. We’d had over a week of flat calm, so when a window opened up,…