Waihapurua Stream

This morning was a little bit of boat admin (cleaning) before we made a short hop over to Mangonui. Today we were greeted by an additional five crew members; Daniel returned with Atusa, as well as Max, Jenny and Nathan M.

Max arrived first, but after a big night previously he went downstairs to rest. While we waited for everyone else to show up, we were treated to a spectacle as a pod of orca showed up. The orca hung around for about 30 minutes, and had upwards of 8 individuals, including a very large male and a couple of juveniles.

Afterwards Daniel and Atusa arrived and Nathan treated the team to an ice cream, Jamie was particularly happy with his lemonade popsicle (cheap date).

Nathan and Jenny arrived with all the provisions for the boat, and after we had packed everything and everyone into Starling, we set off for the Karikari peninsula. After about an hour and a half of motoring through a slightly uncomfortable sea sea-state and some fog, our first spot was not particularly comfortable with the boat lying perpendicular to the swell. So we tucked in a bit closer at Whatuwhiwhi and found a flat anchorage for the evening.

Another wicked meal by Vela with sous chef Max and everyone set off to bed for an early night. Fingers crossed for some decent weather tomorrow and some snorkeling!Read more