Tiritiri Matangi

 

Today we sailed away to Tiritiri Matangi, a bird reserve island in the Hauraki Gulf. We were ferried ashore three at a time in close proximity in a tiny zodiac. As soon as we began walking away from the beach we heard the birds. It was a delight after a lot of the fairly silent bush we have walked through recently. There were heaps of stitch birds, tuis, bell birds and some saddle backs. Sadly we missed the redident takahe family on our quick swipe up and around. Due to tide times today we had to be back at the berth before 3pm, so not long on the island, but enough to appreciate what a gem it is a short ferry ride from Auckland. Next time an all day picnic. The girls had a rushed swim back at the yacht before we lifted anchor. 

Sailing home in a stiff breeze we got up to 6 knots, which put us on a lovely lean. Not so lovely for Gordon lying down, each time we tacked he was leaning a different way and in danger of being deposited on the floor. We made it back to the berth with 0.5m of freeboard on an outgoing tide....close enough.

Just because we love walking, Peter, Jenny's brother took us on a local tour of the beaches this evening. Debbie, his wife, and  Ross collected Chinese takeaways and met us down at the beach. then we walked into the sunset perusing the fancy houses and increasing our km for the day.





































Sorry about the large amount of photos. Bruce is becoming quite the proficient photographer and it's hard to choose


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