Hauraki Gulf - Island Excursions

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    Posted: 06 May 2012 at 7:14pm
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Keen to learn a bit more about the Islands in the Gulf, find some good spots to go for swimming, picnics, etc ... and maybe even some fishing on the way home:)

Anyone know of or recommend any good spots, easy landing, etc out on the Islands, Rangitoto, Motutapu, Rakino, Motuihe, Browns, etc

Cheers
J


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Wanda_Ra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 May 2012 at 11:37pm
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How big is your boat mate? makes a difference in some places.
 
Rangitoto -  lighthouse end, Mckenzie bay, has a sandy beach and great fishing in the reefs just off the beachThere is also two more north east.Can beach my 4.7 safely. At the other end of rangitoto is Islington bay,its a good safe harbour in rough stuff.Plenty of water at all tides.Abel tasman sailed his ship tween Rangi and motutapu so the creek must have been a little deeper then. The bay on the other side of Gardiners gap is just mudflat at low tide. Most of the rest of the island is very hazardous to your boat and just exposed rock. Has 7 lava caves that ive found,one of which goes under the sea for about 500 metres towards north head.It has dozens of Batches on the island.
 
Motutapu island - Joined to Rangitoto by a bridge. Home bay has a reasonable beach and a campground with water etc.The island has multiple bays with sandy beaches that you can beach a 4.7 on.Mullet bay is a quiet bay and sandy bay is a nice spot for a picnic.Emu bay has a 20ft strip ancient footprints preserved in the ash from Rangitoto if you explore a little.
 
Browns island - the north western side has a sandy beach and good acces at hightide abut has exposed rocks/reefs at low tide. There is an awesome little cove with a sandy beach on te north eastern side facign islington bay.Has a small rock exposed at mid tide smack in the middle of the bay.best to anchor off the beach as it shelves the last 5 ft steeply when the tides out Awesome beach,great sheltered swimming off the beach and a reef system about 50 metres off the beach to the right holds snapper all year round.
 
Motuihe -A real gem when the weathers right.Safe anchorages all over, dependant on the wind direction, except for the cliffs at both ends of the island.The bay with the wharf will be standing room only during sumer at times with yahcts anchored within reach of each other. Awesome fishing off the wharf at night,and off the rocks tween the cliffs and crusoe island as the channel comes right in close.Has a camping ground with water,toilets and showers. Can be tropical warm in summer.Was a world war1 prisoner of war camp and has a bit of history.The big old Olive tree at the bottleneck of the beaches is 170 years old and most of the olive trees in NZ come from cuttings of this tree.
It has recently had 15 spotted kiwi and sixty tuatara released on the island.
 
Rakino - a lot more poofy than it was when i was a kid.Sandy bay is somewhat protected by sandybay island and is where the ferry docks.It has a shop or two for supplies and icecreams.Homebay and Woody bays are very nice to anchor up and go ashore from. Its an awesome place to kayak around with more than a few sea caves and rockgardens. Swimming in most beaches is pretty safe and clear.
 
The Noises -  used to kayak out here or take the 12ft tinny powered by a 7hp back when i was 14/15/16. An awesome place to get away from it all, i used to spend weeks out here on my own at xmas holidays when i was still at school. The biggest island ,Otata, has a lighthouse on it and a hut to sleep in. The hut has a gas cooker and is maintained by the Auckalnd Canoe club which has custodianship of it.There also used to be a vege garden reasonably maintained during summer. If your out this far in a smallish boat and the weather packs in,just pull the boat up on the beach till the weather clears rather than chancing a hazardous trip home.  20 feet off the beach near the hut used to be the best scollop place i knew of.  There are penguins  that live under the hut at night. The other island  Motuhoropapa doesnt really have a boat safe place to go ashore but you can if you have a yak. About 100 metres north east of Motuhoropapa is a huge rock that has nearly been split in half by the sea.At high tide its just a rock but at low tide you can kayak or even take a 12 foot tinny into the gap and head north as the northern part of the island is hollow.It is also massively deep as well as my 50 metre anchor rope could never touch bottom. The water out here is very clear and you can often see Cetaceans.  
They must have updated Google earth as you can now zoom in and see the hut at the southern end of Otata.Used to be just a blur.
 
Though Tiritiri Matangi is well worth a visit or 3 and has bunk accomodation. Ponui,pakatoa and Rotoroa islands can be awesome to explore as well if you ask the owners nicely.    (Just off Ponui island is  tiny Karamuramu Island. This is the sole place where McCullums chip comes from, since 1908.As a kid just about every footpath and a lot of driveways used to be made of this small red stone in Auckland.)
If you think you are too small to make a difference,try sleeping with a mosquito in your tent.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Sufishent Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 May 2012 at 7:40am
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Great reply - thanks for sharing
You can never have enough fishing tackle
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote CanadianJohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 May 2012 at 8:09am
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awesome post brian.

jme, there are a few books around you
might find helpful. "anchorages of the hauraki gulf" i think one is called. available at the library. will try to remember the other ones.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jme. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 May 2012 at 5:57pm
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Wow! thanks Brian, that's a great post and overview of the Islands. Really appreciate the effort you've gone too..I've copied that for future reference and am definitely going to make some plans to explore them this Summer.

I have a 4.3mtr Stacer Alloy boat, pretty stable for it's size and maneuverable in tight spots but as the size suggests, has it's limitations with regards to weather and sea conditions.

Thanks to you too CanadianJohn, will check out my local Library and see what I can find.

Cheers
Jamie

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Wanda_Ra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 May 2012 at 7:20pm
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Its not the perfect days that you have to worry about as they sort themselves out.You could take a 12 ft tinny clear across to gt barreir on those days. Its when the weather turns baad by the time you have decided to up the anchor.  At those times Rakino may as well be halfway to aussie as both sides of Motutapu can get murderous to get through.  It was times like that i was glad i had a smaller craft as i could simply beach it and wait out the weather even if it meant a cold night on the beach.  Though you soon learn to listen to inner rumblings that the weathers about to turn sour.
 
Didnt touch on Waiheke, it has some relatively deserted golden beaches even as the extension of parnell it is today.
MAN O WAR anf Hook bays are seldom visited by land and are awesome for exploring.There is also the old Stony battery world war 1 & 2 tunnels several kilometres long fro the kids to play in.  Also has a signposted Flagged route for snorkling through some interesting places.
 
All in all several lifetimes worth of exploring ...Thumbs Up
If you think you are too small to make a difference,try sleeping with a mosquito in your tent.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jme. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 May 2012 at 7:58pm
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Thanks for the tips mate. Yeah, I've heard that about that area too, particularly with a smaller boat. I think for the first time I'll wait until we have a stretch of good weather ahead to be reasonably sure of a safe window. But like you say, on those mint days during summer will be a lot of fun. 

Wicked!, cheers  for the extra info on Waiheke, have added that to the document I've saved.

Hoping the weather will sort it's self out on the weekend so I can go for a dawn fish, want to try around Motuihe & Browns Isld. Wink


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