Originally posted on December 29, 2014, by cruisingrunner
These are the four main townships in The Bay of Islands, and here’s my take on them so far.
Opua —
1) This is an international port of entry, so it was our necessary first stop. The clearing in process was swift and efficient. They took all our frozen meat, fresh vegetables, dried beans, and honey, but that was well understood ahead of time, so we weren’t too grumpy about it.
2) The marina is large, but it has a limited number of berths suitable for a catamaran. The laundry facilities are clean, and every machine worked when I was there. It costs $4/load to wash and $3/ load to dry. More expensive than home and American Samoa, but quite a bit cheaper than other places we’ve been. There’s also an ATM machine in the laundry room. And did I mention all the machines work? Shower facilities are modest, and you have to leave a $20 deposit in order to have a key and then on top of that you have to pay for hot water. My showers typically cost $4, but it was nice to have high pressure water. The ladies in the marina office were always pleasant and helpful.
3) Any sort of boat related service you can imagine is right there in the vicinity of the marina. Chandlery, sail maker, outboard mechanic, welder, etc., etc. It’s pretty expensive for parts, but it’s nice to be able to get what you need.
4) The only grocery store, a small general store, has high prices, but it’s easy access to fresh baked bread, milk, limited produce, eggs, and most other staples you want to grab without bothering with a trip to Paihia or Kerikeri.
5) Options for eating out are pretty limited. There’s a small cafe open until 5pm, which is where we spent pretty much our entire first afternoon drinking wine with some of our friends who had also just arrived. You can get pizza at the general store on Th, Fr, and Sat evenings, and it is good pizza, but a little expensive. We did this for Tim’s birthday. The last option for dining out is the Opua Cruisers Club, which is open every night except Mon and Tues, however, we never did frequent this establishment.
6) The anchorage is large, but it’s a pretty crappy anchorage. It’s at the mouth of a river and the water is pretty dirty, so we never made water there. The current gets pretty strong, up to 2 kts at times, so it’s not unlike anchoring in the La Paz channel back in Mexico. When the wind picks up from the East the fetch can get quite large, and if the current is in the opposing direction there can be substantial standing waves.
7) There are sailboat races every Wed and Fri evenings, and although we never participated, we were an unintentional obstacle for one of them. It had been a particularly blustery day and Exodus wasn’t behaving and was swinging out of sync with all the monohulls and I guess we came pretty close to hitting s/v Iguana, so Tim spent some time finding a spot to reanchor. I had been in Kerikeri all day and when I got back there was a sailboat race going on and we were anchored pretty much in the middle of the channel. We got serious dirty looks from some of the captains, but surprisingly nobody said anything. I spent the afternoon in hiding with a glass of rum.
8) Staying in Opua without a car can be a bit isolating, since there’s not much there but the marina and all of its services. However, in the Bay of Islands, it seems to be the home base of all the international cruisers, so you can almost always find a friend amidst the crowd of boats.
9) There is a hiking trail along the water that leads from Opua to Paihia. I have run/walked it a couple times, but never made it all the way to Paihia, because the last bit is right along the water and must be done at low tide.
10) A bicycle trail along an old railway path (including at least one tunnel) leads south out of Opua. You can find the trail head right next to the boatyard. I’ve run a few miles down it, but it goes on quite a bit further, being a bicycle trail and all.
11) The Marina Shop, a marine insurance broker located in between the cafe and the laundry room, lets you use their wifi for free. Seriously, they just give out the password, and they haven’t changed it since we got here. So, you can get your internet fix for free while having a latte or getting your laundry done.
12) Although there’s really not much of a town in Opua, there is a small school, and some yachties have been known to briefly send their kids there.
Paihi —
1) Paihia is the closest town from Opua at about a 10-minute drive
2) It’s possible to anchor off the town with westerly protection, but we have yet to do that. Since we bought a car, we simply drive in when we need to.
3) This is your quintessential tourist town with very little character. Every other shop is a souvenir shop, and the cafes and coffee shops feel like they belong in an airport or a strip mall. Cruise ships periodically bring mass amounts of people, and the town puts on a craft market especially for them.
4) The library has free Wi-Fi, but don’t even bother trying it when the cruise ship is in town, because it seems the cruishippers would rather stand around the library grounds checking their Facebook pages than explore the town.
5) Two small grocery stores (Countdown and Four Square) are easily accessed in the middle of town. There is a huge Countdown store just outside of town that has been closed due a dispute between the landowner and the store owner.
6) A small farmers market takes place every Thursday afternoon.
7) There is a restaurant called Alongside with a huge deck right on the water with nice beer and tasty snacks. The evening we were there the outdoor heaters weren’t on, but they gave us blankets to wrap around our shoulders. Also, a “pitcher” of beer is a glass of beer, and a “jug” of beer is a pitcher. We learned this the hard way.
8) We also had dinner at Jimmy Jack’s, a BBQ place. It was OK, but I would not recommend the prawn and avocado salad.
9) New Zealand seems to put great emphasis on the signing of a treaty between the British and the Maori back in 1840. The Waitangi Treaty grounds are right near Paihia. In fact, it’s about a 3-mile round trip run along the water from the Paihia wharf to the Treaty Grounds.
10) Right past the Treaty Grounds is a small parking lot at the trail head to Haruru Falls. This was a nice and not too challenging hike that took about 1-1.5 hours each way. The waterfall is not a very large drop off, but it’s a wide fall in a horseshoe shape, so it was still a pretty nice view. We were there after a serious rainstorm, so the flow rate was high, however, the water was a yucky brown color from the runoff.
Kerikeri —
1) Technically, Kerikeri is not “in the Bay of Islands” since it is inland a bit and not right on the coast. But it is the largest town in the area and one frequented by all the yachties staying in Opua, so I wanted to include it. It is about a 30-minute drive from Opua.
2) There are wineries with tasting rooms near Kerikeri. And the wine’s not half bad.
3) Kerikeri is where you have to go if you have serious shopping to get done. There are two large grocery stores at either end of town, a Countdown and a New World. And don’t ask for a shopping cart if you need one, because they are called trolleys or trundlers.
4) There are several cool clothing stores, and by cool, I mean they have overpriced clothes for teenagers, and we popped into one to get the boys new flip-flops. Except they’re not called flip-flops, they’re called jandals.
5) You can find stores equivalent to The Container Store and Home Depot right in Kerikeri, and in the nearby town of Waipopo you can find stores equivalent to Target, Best Buy, and Big 5.
6) They seem to love their stationary stores in Kerikeri. There’s no fewer than 4, and those are just the ones I noticed.
7) There is a McDonald’s and a Subway. The boys were more excited over the Subway than the McDonald’s. I guess it’s been longer since we’ve seen one of those, since they have a McDonald’s in Papeete and Pago Pago.
8) We savored coffees and desserts at La Taza del Diablo, which is a coffee shop with a great vibe, but it did take them about 30 minutes to bring our coffees.
9) The nearest Vodaphone store (think AT&T mobile) to Opua is in Kerikeri, and we purchased phones, iPad sim cards, and computer dongles, so we can be totally plugged back into the grid. We couldn’t get AT&T to unlock our iPhones, so we just bought little cheap Nokias, and we are having to remember how to text using just the number pad. Later, we also learned that you could buy Vodaphone sim cards and dongles at the Marina Shop, the place back in Opua that lets you use their Wi-Fi for free.
Russell —
1) I love this town. Unlike the others, it has history, charm, and character. Like Paihia, it is also a tourist town, but it does a better job at not rubbing your face in it.
2) There are two anchorages to choose from. The main Russell harbor is called Kororareka Bay, but our guidebook steered us away from that one saying, “lots of private moorings, ferries and a large number of recreational and commercial vessels coming in and out make this a poor anchorage.” So, we anchored around the corner in Matauwhi Bay, where there are also lots of private moorings close in to shore, but the bay is shallow a long way out making lots of room for anchoring behind all of the moorings.
3) Getting to the town of Russell is easy from Matauwhi Bay. Just tie up your dinghy at the small dock attached to The Russell Boating Club then take the short walk (1/4 mile) to town.
4) The museum is worth a visit, and we picked up the Heritage Trail guide for 1.50 which gives a map of a few hikes and descriptions of historical sites along the way. Heritage Trail 1 is just around town.
5) Heritage Trail 2 takes you up to the northern tip of the peninsula called Tapeka. We did a family hike up there, where there is a great picnic spot and beach where the boys played paddle ball.
6) Heritage Trail 3 takes you to Long Beach. I followed this on one of my morning runs, and Long Beach really isn’t very long, but it’s a pretty spot, and a trail at the north end takes you to a nudist beach. So I hear.
7) The town is packed with great restaurants and shops, but it’s pretty expensive.
8) They call their waterfront walkway “The Strand” and it’s lined on one side with the aforementioned restaurants with outdoor seating and a tree lined grassy area on the other, between the walkway and the rocky beach. We spent Christmas here, and there were a lot of people on holiday, and on a marginally sunny day the grassy area was packed with sunbathers, while I was wearing jeans and a light long sleeve shirt. I guess I still haven’t fully acclimated to the cooler weather.
9) Our first evening in Russell we had dinner at Hone’s pizza. It’s a great little outdoor pizzeria, but the pizzas are small and thin crust, so not too filling. When we got back to the boat Brenden said he had 5 pieces but he’s still hungry.
10) Right near the Russell Boating club is a Mulberry tree, and on more than one occasion we’ve enjoyed a fresh berry snack on our way to town. There is also a community garden and a large grassy area, great for playing paddle ball.
11) There are two small grocery stores in town, both Four Square.
12) We would totally make this our new home base rather than Opua if I could figure out where to dump trash and where to do laundry.
Yesterday, we also visited the town of Kawakawa on our way back from the Kawiti glowworm caves. However, I’m not even giving this town billing in my blog title. Let’s just say there’s a reason this town’s main claim to fame is their public restroom and an equally good reason why no restaurants are listed in the guidebook. If you need to stop for lunch, just pass this town on by.
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 