Category Archives: New Zealand

Rotoroa, the Drunk Island

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Back in 1911 this beautiful wildlife sanctuary used to be a rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol abusers.  The Salvation Army owned and operated a very successful center in Rotoroa servicing over 12,000 New Zealanders.  The locals refer to this as the “drunk island” but I’d like to think of it as a truly beautiful natural wildlife preserve.  This island was largely self sufficient with vegetable gardens, farms, and orchards being cared for by the patients.  

In 2005 the program and center were shut down.  Now the land is being leased and brought back to its former glory with natural plants, vegetation, and wildlife.  There are 6 tracks around the island that make it most inviting to visit.

Our friends on Yum Yum (Daniela and Mirko) come with us as we circumnavigate around Rotoroa.  We decided to take the North Tower Loop track (light blue) from the center of town to the Southern Loop track (red), then on to the Walking Track (orange) which connects back to the Southern Loop Track (red) and finish on the original North Tower Loop (light blue). A total of 9200 steps, 3.1 miles and 50 floors.

The Rehabilitation Town

We took Sweetie to the jetty and hauled her out on shore and then made our way into town.  We found the jail which had two detention cells built before 1918.  These cells were to dry out rebellious drunkards on their arrival.  Super small quarters.  We also found the butchery and a beautiful church which was all closed up.

The Beautiful and Rare Takahe Birds

From 1898 to 1948 the absolutely beautiful takahe bird was thought to be extinct. Now, there are about 400 in New Zealand and we had the privilege of seeing 5 of them!  They are sort of shaped like the native Waka birds, but they have the most colorful feathers that remind me of a peacock.

Before and After

We stood in the same spot where a photo was taken in 1910.  Obviously it has changed a lot with only a few buildings left standing.  A marked improvement in my opinion.

The Tracks

We continue on our tracks and have some beautiful views of the south anchorage.

We come across the unique sculpture by Chris Booth in memory of Jack Plowman. 

The North Track

We make our way around to the North Loop track where we stop to enjoy Men’s Bay.

And just when Daniela and I were feeling left out we came across Ladies Bay

We found the island cemetery which has a headstone dating back to 1911.  There are 19 marked graves of patients and staff, and one unmarked grave.  And a few more views just because they are so pretty.

It was a truly beautiful day for a walk or hike.  It was not a particularly strenuous walk and the tracks were well marked.  I’d recommend it if you are visiting Rotoroa.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred in the middle of February.  Did you read about Stony Batter in our last blog post?

Stony Batter WW2 Bombardment

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Our friends on Yum Yum (Mirko and Daniela) join us for a hike on Waiheke Island to an WW2 heavy coast defense battery called Stony Batter.  The actual website for Stony Batter and their contact and tour information can be found at www.stonybattertunnels.nz.  It was a 2nm dinghy ride to a small beach to get to the start of the trail which was straight up!  Seriously small trail (maybe for cows and sheep) that was vertical through the woods and forest.

The walk was straight up hill, then across several fields, up a few more hills, and over a few fences.

We passed by lots of animals on this hike…cows, sheep, waka (bird) and funny enough they all stopped what they were doing to look at us.

We arrive to the tallest peak and finally see the Stony Batter in the distant valley.  I love the funny face someone painted on the rock (lower left photo).  Matt is on top of a rock on top of the hill (top left) and the 3 remaining concrete gun replacements can be seen on the top right photo.

Stony Batter

Stony Batter has 3 concrete gun emplacements and an extensive system of underground chambers connected by stairs and tunnels.

We first come across the foundations for the Carpenter Store, Lister Engine Base, Auxiliary Engine and Lighting Plant, the Public Works Building and a ventilation shaft.

I will let you read about the history at Stony Batter, if you wish, but here are a few photos that we came across as well.

They had a cool little museum at Stony Batter where you could sign up for a tour, which we did!

The Underworld of Stony Batter

You can only see the underworld with a tour guide and as luck would have it we arrived 10 minutes before the tour left!  Us at the entrance to the tunnel which is 7 floors below the earth’s surface.

We visit a supply room which now is the home to the precious heritage findings (top left), a meditation room (top right), the engine room (middle two photos) and the plotting rooms (command center) (bottom two photos).

The engine rooms contained three diesel engines and generators which powered the lights in the tunnels, the equipment and the guns.

The top photo is the image of the stairs that take us 140m below the earth. The top right photo shows a part of the tunnel that was not completed. Just for fun, a picture of a latrine, and the exit from the tunnels.

The Gun Emplacements

We continue making our way around Stony Batter to find the gun emplacements.  We found #2 and #3.  The third gun emplacement was never finished so we moved on to the 2nd one.  We climbed down a sketchy ladder and got an up close look at the center.

It said “no entry” but we did not see it until we were climbing back out – ooops.  They did have signage down there so I think it used to be public.

The curator recreated the overall defense for Auckland.  The top right ship was a German ship that destroyed a NZ passenger ship “in accident.” The top left submarine is Japanese that threatened their security and safety.

More epic views on our way back down the trail.

And a gorgeous panorama shot of the anchorage and Northland islands.

There are 2 tours that you can take.  In 2024, a 25-minute tour costs $25NZD. A full 55 minute tour for $30 which takes you to all of the cool places we visited.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog occurred on Valentine’s Day!  Be sure to check out the rare, white donkeys we encounter in Coromandel.

Coromandel: Rare Donkeys & A Shipwreck

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We left the very beautiful Mercury Island on an interesting weather window.  Our plan was to head to the top of Coromandel and around to the west side for better protection. The winds were predicted to be light and slightly on our nose, but we can “pinch” (point into the wind) pretty well at 35 degrees.  So, we set out only to have 1-3kts of wind on the nose.  Way too light and in the wrong direction for a sail so we motored the first few hours.

Then we cleared the top of Coromandel and we found the wind.  We enjoyed beautiful sailing with full sails up, 17-19kts of wind on the beam.  It was gorgeous!

We dropped the hook at Squadron Bay along with several other boats.  But it is a big bay with plenty of room.  Super pretty green rolling hills dotted with cows!

We had beautiful sunsets and decided to stay for a few days.

The next day we were down to 1 other boat, but it filled up at night with more fishing boats.  It is a super calm, quiet bay giving us a truly peaceful anchorage.

Coromandel Harbour

We picked up the hook and moved to the Coromandel harbour, Papakarahi Bay because we heard there was a market within a few miles of the bay.  Lots more cows and goats in this bay that we had all to ourselves!

There was a regatta going on in the next bay over.  In the bottom left photo you will see black things in the water – that is a clam or mussel farm!

Ponui Island

We cross the Firth of Thames which was a truly unusual trip as the steady 17-18kts of wind turned int 33-35kt guests.  Sugar Shack had a double reefed main and genoa for a short while before we decided to drop all canvas and motor that last 8nm.

Ponui Island (red arrow) is just off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand and right next to Waiheke.

We ended up at Chamberlaine’s Bay on the north side of Ponui island which is right next to Waiheke.  Lots of boats hiding out here.  Ponui island is owned by 3 very wealthy families that farm the land.  They don’t live there and the don’t allow visitors onshore which is a disappointment as there were lots of hillsides begging to be explored.

There are 2 really cool things here though!

The Ponui Rare Feral Donkey

The first and by far the best is the rare, white, short (3′ tall) feral donkeys.  These donkeys are the descendants of 3 animals imported from Australia in the 1800’s.  They were left to roam free and eventually bred down to these white / light gray little donkeys with round bellies.  

They were technically on a farm that we were not supposed to visit.  But I could not resist, so please forgive me land owner for saying hello, for 5 minutes, to your adorable donkeys.  See the funny video I posted on Instagram on 12 February 2024 for more donkey antics!

They were super friendly, not feral at all and just walked right up to us.  There were also lots of cows, sheep and goats.

The Pupuke Shipwreck

This was super sad to see.  The Pupuke was a ferry that grounded at Ponui island.  It was left to rote until the late 1960’s when a man purchased her with the hopes of reclaiming her heritage.  However, she was too far gone so they blew her up!  All that remains is her steel frame and her enormous prop.

We circled around her by dinghy at first to ensure there were no metal shards in the water.

Then we headed to the shore which had half of the ship buried in sand.

Totally cool little island. I would certainly come back to Chamberlaine’s Bay to see the donkeys and enjoy the beautiful sunrise!

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  This blog post occurred in early February 2024.  Don’t miss our blog on Mercury Island as it is a true gem!