Bay of Islands
November 28th 2006 18:04
The Bay of Islands
[ One of the great cruising grounds of the world, New Zealnd's bay of Islands has held an attraction for many years. Zane Grey, author of many westerns and adventure stories was a prolific visitor to the area and had a semi permanent fishing camp set up on one of the islands. From here he used his game fishing boat to scour the seas for big game fish and held a few world records for fish he caught here. he also wrote about the magnificent
I first called on the area in the early seventies when I was backpacking in New Zealand, working in the tourist hotel industry and chasing a lady love I had lost to a violin player. I remember the frontier town character of the area in those days. Much of this has changed now to show off a face of tourism.
I visited again in the late seventies with a bride and the hotel manager where we stayed went to great trouble to look after us. Finidng out we loved seafood he jumped into his car with appropriate dive gear and came back a couple of hours later with some huge crayfish he had caught and half a dozen oysters.
The oysters were huge! three almost filled a champagne saucer hardly leaving room for the spicy, picquant sauce. The lobster was broiled very simply with a cheese sauce to accompany. The bride has long gone but the memory of that meal and the enthusiasm and friendliness of the people of the area has not.
Being a great boating area of course means you should visit with a boat. Sail in with your own and stay for months or charter from one of the many charter companies and stay a week or more. It is possible to say charter a yacht in Auckland and sail up the coast via resort islands and mainland bays over a couple of nights and then leave your charter in the Bay of Islands and catch a bus or rental car back to Auckland. or vise versa if you prefer.
This was also one of the first areas settled by Europeans and it was here that the Maori Wars had their beginings. It reeks of the history of the Maori people and their struggle with (not all were against) and against the setllers who despite their guns and formidable armies did not have an easy time of it.
Still a great area for touring cruising and adventure.
| 62 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
Interesting post, but it's hard to read the grey type, any chance of changing that?
katyzzz
Comment by TomN
Boat Heaven
done
Tomn