Waterfall walk, pristine rainforest, surfing and we gather for a beach fire in New Zealand...Ep28

We sailed our Leopard 50 Catamaran into Whangaroa Harbour, thirty nautical miles north of the Bay of Islands, passing through the Cavalli Islands on the way. We anchored in Waitepipi Bay with @sailing with six, Pu’uhonua and Slingshot and various other yacht. We tried to catch the elusive kingfish on the way but no luck, again. We were surrounded by steep cliffs all around the harbour, reflecting the volcanic history of the area. Shona and Pippi from Torea VI joined us in the dinghy to Rere Bay, just next door and explored upstream towards Totara as far as we could go. We wanted to check out whether we could bring our stand up paddleboard and kayaks up later in the day at high tide. We anchored near the Department of Conservation Cottage and walked towards Totara, but veered off in the direction, we hoped, of the waterfall that we had seen from The Duke’s Nose. The track petered out after a short while and so we followed the creek where possible and detoured when the rocks were too steep to climb over. The rainforest was pristine with palms, orchids and a great variety of native species. The creek had little pools and waterfalls and cascades around every corner. The rocks were moss covered and slippery in parts but fortunately we all managed to negotiate them with no mishaps. After 4 hours we came out of the rainforest, to a clearing with the waterfall bounding down about 200 metres from a sheer cliff – this was the right creek to follow after all! We were all of one mind – that a good waterfall had to be experienced fully. So we three girls scrambled up the rocks to stand under the waterfall and experience the freezing water pelting our bodies. What an achievement, to have found the waterfall without a track and to have persevered in reasonably difficult conditions. After the wonderful experience of the waterfall, we returned via a slightly different path, through still broadly following the creek. Again admiring the delicate balance of native trees, palms, moss and orchids that together form the rainforest. We were so proud of ourselves. The next day Torea and we took our dinghies out of Whangaroa Harbour and north a short way along the coast to Taupo Bay. Kris and Shona and the kids had been surfing there already and absolutely loved it. We hoped to walk along the beach and watch them surfing but unfortunately the waves were to active to leave our dinghy in the water so we took it out into the bay and took drone footage of them surfing. The Taupo Bay homes along coast look very quaint. Next day Torea and we took our dinghies to the southern end of Whangaroa Harbour to Whangaroa Marina to climb St Paul’s Rock. It was a steep walk up to the volcanic plug but very scenic. Russ took some drone footage from the top of the rock. A favourite thing for live aboards on yachts, is to gather just before sunset for a chat on the beach. On this occasion we gathered some drift wood and lit a fire which was a complete joy on a cold winter’s night.