Two Aussies in the land of the long white cloud

Liz Coleman finds it is well worth the effort of crossing the Tasman to cruise New Zealand - even in winter.

I should have realised the ramifications of giving Steve a New Zealand (NZ) cruising guide as a birthday present.

Our original plan had been to sail from Brisbane to the South Pacific in May. Then Steve suggested we leave in February via NZ.

We spent two months researching the weather and talking to Kiwi yachties. We subsequently delayed our departure for two weeks waiting for the right weather window. In mid-February, Liberté set off from Sydney, bound for Opua. The dream had indeed become reality.

Three days into the voyage, a deep low formed in the Tasman Sea about 400nm to the north and blocked our route to Opua. Russell Radio advised that in heavy weather there was only one harbour safe enough to enter on the entire west coast — and that was New Plymouth, at the bottom of the North Island — around 400nm from our original destination.

And so eight days after leaving Sydney, Liberté arrived in New Plymouth, having zigzagged over 1200nm across the Tasman, beating the storm by a day.

People in New Plymouth went out of their way to help us. We were given a free mooring and later that day a local fisherman gave us a crayfish as a welcome gesture. We were quite a novelty because we were the first cruising boat that year to clear into New Plymouth.

From New Plymouth, we sailed 146nm south to Nelson at the top of the South Island — a friendly town with lots of backpackers, a large marina and a few cruisers.

The Nelson marina manager informed us we were the first boat to arrive that year which had not been beaten up crossing the Tasman.

Since arriving in NZ, we have subsequently met several Aussie boats that sailed to Opua, with no problems whatsoever. We have also met dozens of foreign cruisers who spend each summer in NZ and sail into the South Pacific each winter. The secret is to approach NZ from the north, unless you have a craving for a little more excitement in your life.

From Nelson we sailed in an anticlockwise direction through the top of the South Island, across Cook Strait to Wellington and up the east coast to Napier, Tauranga, Auckland and Whangarei, before finally making it to the Bay of Islands. It took us six months and 1340nm to reach Opua from New Plymouth.

Winter

So what have we learned about winter cruising in NZ? Even though it’s cold and windy, there’s much to see and do and, like the east coast of Australia, seeing it takes a while, so much so that we decided to spend a year in NZ.

The cultures are almost identical, with most Kiwis being slightly more reserved. Many of the products you know in Australia are present in NZ. They even claim to have invented Vegemite and Pavlova!

The countryside is generally wooded mountains, rivers cascading to the sea, eucalyptus trees, possums (a gift the British brought from Australia) and many, many islands. Almost all the populated cities lie on the coast.

Following are some of the places we visited in our first six months.

Picton

Picton is the port at the centre of the famous Marlborough Sounds cruising ground at the top of the South Island. The area is spectacular and you can cruise up streams surrounded by mountains and trees, with dozens of protected anchorages and islands to choose from. It is a short drive away from the vineyards region and a four-hour drive to Christchurch. It’s the port where the Wellington inter-island ferries berth. The ferries are large, fast and create a lot of wash, so stay well clear.

Christchurch and the bottom of the South Island

Christchurch is the capital of the South Island and around 200nm from Picton. Christchurch’s port of Lyttleton contains a very basic marina; locals advised it was better to anchor out. It is a 20-minute drive to the centre of Christchurch.

Christchurch is a beautiful and friendly city, with lots to see and do, including a tram ride around the city and a chairlift trip up a mountain. There’s an impressive art gallery and several museums. Christchurch in our opinion is one of the three nicest cities in NZ, the other two being Dunedin and Wellington.

After spending a day on the internet, we managed to hire a campervan in Christchurch with a shower, toilet, gas heater and kitchen for A$30 per day, so we embarked on a three-week exploration by land. South Island scenery is magnificent: snow-capped mountains, turquoise blue lakes and lush green rolling fields.

Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound are part of fjord land on the south west coast. We took a boat tour of both sounds and the scenery was outstanding — steep cliffs with waterfalls, some of which we cruised under. For the brave few that sail this far south there is a single courtesy mooring, they don’t like anchor dropping here.

Dunedin is a charming university town with lots of coffee shops and a beautiful colonial station where you can take a steam train ride into the hills, or you can visit the nearby Cadbury’s chocolate factory.

Two land-based highlights we recommend are: 1) the Central Otago Rail Trail: a disused railway track with the rails and sleepers removed. We cycled a 23km section from Loder to Oturehua, which took us into two tunnels, across three viaducts and through valleys with truly spectacular snow-capped mountains in the distance; and 2) Tasman Lake, the white lake at the bottom of the Tasman Glacier beside Mount Cook where large icebergs, that have broken off the glacier, now float in the lake. A must-see.

Wellington (a day-sail across Cook Strait from Picton) is a city with a lot of character, a vibrant arts precinct and eclectic coffee shops. It is home to the best museum in New Zealand, Te Papa, which has many fascinating exhibits. The cable car ride from the city centre to the top of Kelburn hill affords an excellent view of the harbour. We stayed at Chaffers Marina, which is situated near the centre of town and its restaurant precinct with great food.

Napier (207nm northeast of Wellington) was devastated by an earthquake in 1931. The town centre was completely rebuilt art-deco, attracting many tourists. A walking tour of the city is a must, and plus a short drive to the excellent wineries of Gimblett Gravels and Hawke’s Bay regions.

Auckland is the largest city and referred to as the ‘City of Sails’. It’s hosted the America’s Cup twice and is home to the largest marina in the southern hemisphere. Auckland is also the gateway to the islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

Marinas

There are 15 marinas in and around Auckland, but only four will accept liveaboard vessels. These are Westhaven (a 30-minute walk west of the CBD), Bayswater (a 10-minute ferry trip north from the CBD), West Park (a 15-minute drive west) and Gulf Harbour (a 40-minute drive north).

Most cruisers we met prefer to stay at Gulf Harbour even though it is further away, the reason being that those closer to town are not cruiser-friendly. Westhaven Marina for example, is run by the local council and has rigid rules, high prices and surprisingly poor facilities for cruisers — four showers and two washing machines for more than 1800 boats. If you want to fly home, Westhaven has pile berths for A$8 per night where you can leave your boat.

If you’re staying in a marina berth, you’ll need to provide details of your boat insurance. If you connect to shore power, you’ll also have to provide an electrical Warranty of Fitness (WOF), which will cost around A$40 to get from an electrician.

Spare parts for foreign boats are GST free and skilled labour is relatively cheap compared to Australia. Auckland has a strong boat building industry — particularly in the superyacht sector.

The weather

It’s very changeable and like Tasmania, conditions can be severe, especially in winter. Synoptic charts regularly show five to six fronts.

During winter we experienced the lowest low I can remember (973 hpa) and two weeks later the highest high (1040 hpa). At times we had to wait two weeks before continuing our trip.

Fortunately, the weather reporting is outstanding. Maritime Radio New Zealand (call-sign Zulu Lima Mike) provide a continuous watch on VHF channel 16, and supply regular broadcasts on HF and VHF at 0133, 0533, 0733, 1033, 1333, 1733 and 2133 local time.

You can also use Maritime Radio New Zealand to report your position when you’re in transit to NZ, or you can use the private services of Russell Radio or Opua Offshore Communications.

Coast Guard stations broadcast weather and in the main yachting areas they also run a ‘now-casting’ service on VHF. This is a continuous update of peak and average wind speeds and direction, from selected landmarks in the area.

On the bright side, cruising in NZ in winter had its benefits — often we had delightful anchorages all to ourselves.