Thursday
This hard-won anchorage has proved so lovely that we haven’t moved, letting us explore another, rather oxymoronic, aspect of Cruising: staying put.
Our spot is sheltered between two islands, with little beaches (both white and black sand) on either side, tree-studded cliffs stretching down to the water, and easy access to the hiking trails. It is a passage through to open ocean, but a couple of arms from either island stretch across, somehow reducing the potential swell and leaving us with gentle ripples broken only by the wake from the occasional tour boat to rock us.
It does not have turquoise water and unending beach, but it also has less visitors camping out for the Waitangi Day weekend. The neighbors we do have tend to be day-trippers, here to paddle-board or kayak, shell-gather or beach-dream, then leave us to our deep water peace once more.
So we may not have gone to Waitangi Day, but Waitangi Day has come to us.
Now that’s an anchorage!
We tried to hike on Waewaetorea, but unlike Urupukapuka, there was no access from that particular beach. So we opted to repeat yesterday’s trek with the intention of completing the entire route this time.
Slight digression.
In Fiji we shared a sundowner with Jeanne Socrates, a friend of Jeff’s, who happens to be the oldest woman to circumnavigate the globe single-handed multiple times. At 82, she is quite the character. I had no clue who she was when she first came aboard, but she quickly filled me in with some crazy stories of her adventures, including beaching her first boat in Mexico. Also…she didn’t start sailing till she was 50. Yet more proof that you are never too old to learn.
Anyway…I digress in my digression.
Jeanne’s main concern at the time was the unexpected passenger on board her 38-foot sloop: a large Norwegian.
Unfortunately, not a blonde Viking, but a brunette rat.
Which brings me to the point of my digression: the ease with which certain species travel around the globe. Jeanne moored at a marina. A rat ran up a line, took up residence in the hold, and travelled with her around the Yasawa Islands. One ending to that story could have been the rat finding its way into her dingy, Jeanne going on shore to some deserted paradise, and voilá, said rat has now found itself in a whole new world. What damage could ensue? I realize this is basic stuff, but having a close-up encounter brings it home in a whole new way.
Because here we are, on these carefully maintained island preserves, filled with myna birds and tuis and fantails and swamp hens (yes, my birding buddies, I am learning) and who knows what else. Thanks to Jeanne’s dilemma, I have a visceral understanding of the reminders to wash your gear and leave your pets behind. The NZ authorities have good reason to be so stringent about what you bring from other countries, either on a boat or on a plane. This beauty is worth the sacrifice.
“When you come upon these shores
Treat them then as though they are always yours
For when you see the chapel we make
Damned be he that should forsake.
I’m forever walking betwixt the sand and foam
The hightide erases my footprints
The winds blow away the foam
But the sea and the sand last forever.”
A plaque on Waewaetorea.
While part of the Department of Conservation, Urupukapuka is not a member of Project Island Song. As I mentioned yesterday, sheep dot the south-western hillsides, and over in Cable Bay and Urupukapuka Bay, the flat lands leading down to the water are filled with tent villages complete with portable drying lines, barbecues, and seating areas. Families, groups of young people, everyone is settling in for a weekend of waterborne fun and clearly making the most of the beauty on their doorstep.
Back to our hike.
This time we managed the entire 6 miles (AllTrails did not measure the quarter-mile from our beach access to the official track) without difficulty.
Well, sort of without difficulty.
Like an idiot, I left my water bottle behind when I thought we were headed for a quick trip on Waewaetorea, which left me a leeetle thirsty by the time we got back on board.
Leona decided to keep David occupied with a plumbing question while I made dinner.
Cruising or voyaging. I guess some things remain the same.
