January 5

Onetahuti Beach to Te Pukatea Bay

At dawn, I could see orange in the sky through the mosquito netting on my bivy sack, and got up quickly to take sunrise pictures. It was cloudy, but there were pretty colors in the sky. The tide was fairly low now. I looked more carefully in the cave for Maori writing, but didn't find any again. There were a lot more worms glowing this morning. They are easily frightened, and will stop glowing if people make noise or shine a light on them. I was the first in the cave this morning, so many were glowing. I got my Nikon camera and mini-tripod and tried taking pictures of them. I bounced my flashlight off the opposite wall to gently illuminate the rock, and took a couple exposures for several minutes. One of them actually came out quite well, and would have been impressive if I had gotten more glow worms in the picture.

Then I brought a towel and bathing suit up the short path to a small, deep fresh-water pool, with a shallow pool and waterfall above it. I took only a brief swim here: it was much colder than the sea. I went back to camp and fixed breakfast before taking a long swim in the ocean, followed by another dip in the fresh water pools, which didn't feel as cold coming immediately from the sea. The other people there were impressed by how easily I tolerated the cold water.

The tide rose quickly, with high tide coming around 10 AM. The caves were now in water. It was after 11 AM when I left camp. This was such a beautiful spot that it was a shame to leave. I was glad I had not stayed in the hut, which was not in nearly as nice a location. A brief walk led to the next beach and campsite. A quarry had once been here. There were big square granite blocks and remnants of a port. Kay and Connie, who were kayaking, had stopped here for lunch. They had just kayaked around Tonga Island off shore and seen little blue penguins and seals. Blue penguins are shy, and don't go where there are many people. The kayakers were waiting for the 12:30 weather report before continuing.

The track climbed up a long way, and then back down, arriving at Bark Bay, where I found the water was still a little deep for crossing. It would be possible to go around, but crossing was more direct. Some people were waiting on the shore, and said that the water level was dropping rapidly, so a short wait would be enough. I stopped there and had lunch. By the time I finished lunch, the crossing was no more than knee deep, leading to a wide beach on the other side. Many boats were beached here. I had not walked far before I wanted to take a picture, and realized my camera was missing. I had forgotten to pick it up after lunch. I left my pack on the beach and walked quickly back to the place I had lunch, at the edge of the forest. On the way, a man came toward me with my camera, guessing that it was what I was looking for.

I walked on, beginning a long climb through the forest. A side trail led to a lookout at South Head. I came upon another high point overlooking Sandfly Bay further on. The track would remain inland for several hours, crossing private land before emerging at Torrent Bay, site of a small town of vacation homes with sandy streets. The bay was empty at 4 PM, due to low tide, but there were still some shallow rivers less than knee-deep. I crossed the wide bay barefoot. The muddy sand was soft, and the shells weren't too bad here. A big orange spot on the far side marked the way. Toward the end, there was some deep, mucky mud. Anchor Bay was just over the next hill, with a beach, so I could wash my feet there. If the tide had been up, it would have been possible to walk around Torrent Bay, but the route would have been much longer.

The Anchorage, on Anchor Bay, is the site of a large grassy campground and hut, plus many anchored boats. The left side of the beach had some interesting rock formations. I thought this place looked too crowded and "civilized", and had not planned to stay here, but at a more isolated beach at Te Pukatea Bay, a 20 minute walk over the hill. But it was still early, and I did not have to go there yet. By crossing Torrent Bay, I had bypassed Cleopatra's Pool, a popular swimming hole I wanted to visit.

It was still low tide, so the easiest way to get to Cleopatra's Pool was to go back across a corner of the bay, up to the river mouth, meeting the trail a short way below the pool. A ten minute walk off the main track (muddy in places) led up to the pool, which was big and deep and surrounded by huge boulders. A waterfall fell onto one long rock, which channeled it sideways down a chute into the pool. It looked like it might be a nice waterslide, but no one else was around to test it for safety, so I didn't try it. I took only a brief swim in the pool, which was freezing cold. The frothy little pool at the base of the chute made an interesting (but cold) whirlpool spa. As I was leaving the pool, two more people walked up the trail.

I crossed the bay again while the tide was still out, passing the camp at the Anchorage again, and climbing over the headland to the small campsite at Te Pukatea Bay, arriving there at 7:30. A number of people were in camp, but there were still good spots. A sailboat was anchored off the beach. It was getting cloudy, and was a little too chilly to make an ocean swim inviting, so I just prepared dinner. The only water supply here was a swamp on the inland side of camp, with brownish murky water. My filter came in handy here. The water could be taken from a stream running down toward the beach.

After dinner, I sat out on the beach for a while until dusk, and went to bed just after dark. I saw something that looked like a big cat climb the tree outside my bivy sack. I shined a light up, and saw a big opossum right above my head. I pulled my pack closer to me so I could hear if any opossums messed with it.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1996. All rights reserved.