Category Archives: New Zealand

Whangarei Town Basin Marina

We are so thrilled to return to Whangarei and the Town Basin Marina!  We love it here!  

Evidently, we are not the only ones who love Whangarei as their moto is “Love it Here!”

Town Basin is a beautiful marina located in the heart of Whangarei.  Walking distance to restaurants, a few bars, grocery stores, marine stores, hardware stores, gift shops, and more!

Guests can utilize the Black Ball Yacht Club facilities for social hour, or hang out in the marina office with wifi, showers, toilets, laundry, and a book exchange.

The Town Basin Marina staff are absolutely amazing.  They are extremely knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, and resourceful.  You won’t get a better welcome than at this marina.

This is the lovely staff including Brian, Sharron, and Kara!

Several hundred boats berth here on either floating docks or pilings. We tend to go to the “catamaran” dock (see featured image).

The marina ends at the Canopy Bridge which lights up beautifully at night.  I love the reflection of the colored lights on our enclosure.

There can be a pretty high tide.  We saw 3 meter difference between low and high tide.

Don’t miss reading about how we celebrated Fiji Day in our last blog post.

Find Town Basin Marina on No Foreign Land.

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.

We were in Town Basin Marina from late October to early November 2025.  We sure do hate to leave, but it was time to haul out at Norsand Boatyard.

20th Anniversary of Adventuring

Matt and I were married in St. Thomas during an intimate ceremony on the beach at sunset.  And today, we celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary overlooking the beach at sunset!

Our marriage has been full of great adventures spreading across 33 countries and over 50,000 nautical miles. 

We’ve learned new languages, tried unique foods, and experienced many different cultures and spectacular escapades. 

And we’ve done it together without kicking the other off the boat.

20th Anniversary

We enjoyed some lovely cocktails and dinner at the Quay Restaurant.  I highly recommend the Autumn Sun cocktail decorated with little pink hearts.

The Surprise

Matt had mentioned going to Whangarei Heads to watch the sunset. 

However, after driving around for a little bit he turned onto a super sharp, steep driveway. 

I was totally confused and had no idea where we were going or what he was doing.  

SURPRISE!  He rented a bach (beach house) for the night!  We did not have to spend our anniversary in the boat yard!

What a lovely and romantic surprise. 

It was a sweet, little bach with sweeping views over the river!  Perfect sunset viewing.

The beautifully decorated bach has 3 bedrooms that sleeps 7 people.

There are 2 stories, a large deck, a patio with a pizza over, a game room, laundry room, and access to the beach.

We enjoyed a lovely bottom of rose as the sun set.  

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on 11 November 2025.

NZ Bound #3: 0 to go, Arrived safely

Rafted at customs dock waiting on officials.

Our fastest trip. 5 days and 20 hrs. Some bouncy, some nice, some motoring, but everything fast…

1192 nm miles averaging 8.5 knots. Only a couple of squalls with only a scattering of rain.

Chilly but happy to be here

The crew.

Now time for some good solid sleep ..

And back to the regular programming..