Australia


When one thinks of Australia, one immediately thinks of The Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands. But while this may be the best-known destination there are many other areas along the reef such as the Magnetic Islands, as well as other charter areas thoughout this great country. Ebare provides you with lots of bareboating options to explore.

New Zealand
by Pic Picot,

Although well known for the ability of it's sailors and yacht designers, New Zealand's cruising grounds remained one of the worlds best kept secrets until the arrival of the Americas Cup.

The Cup races are held in a corner of the Hauraki Gulf, a huge marine playground adjoining Auckland, New Zealands largest city. The Gulf is fringed with islands large and small. Many of the islands are reserves, and offer a fantastic variety of peaceful, anchorages within easy reach of the city. It is entirely possible to set off from the Americas Cup Base in Downtown Auckland for a cruise of virtually however long you fancy, and find a sheltered spot where your anchor sticks, the birds sing and the fish bite.

Great Barrier Island is a mountainous, bush covered home for some thousand pioneering souls an eight hour sail from town, while Rangitoto, the perfectly formed 800 year old volcano that will be so familiar to any Americas Cup viewer, can be reached in under an hour.

The Hauraki Gulf lies in the centre of a great sweep of easily navigable waters that forms the north east coast of the North Island. A three hundred mile playground - from The Bay of Plenty in the South, right up North to the uninhabited wilds of North Cape - the North East Coast offers thousands of largely uninhabited sheltered anchorages and and ever-changing variety of coastal and underwater environments including the famed Bay of Islands.

Other than a some large and spectacular lakes, and and the Kaipara Harbour on the West Coast, the rest of the North Island is not well suited for cruising. Fine for a dash out to sea and back on a good day, but a shortage of shelter means few charter boats operate outside these areas.

Down south, at the top of the South Island, lies the Marlborough Sounds. It comprises two main Sounds, Queen Charlotte, through which the Interisland ferries pass, and Pelorus, some ten miles west. Queen Charlotte offers native bush covered hills, and a thriving community of water access only holiday homes, as well as the well know Queen Charlotte Walkway. Pelorus Sound is a maze of deep waterways, steep valleys and isolated farmhouses in which the careless sailor could be completely lost for days at a time. At the head of Pelorus is d'Urville Island, a large, wild and vitually untouched island with superb fishing, diving and hunting that has recently acquired a small lodge offering moorings and restaurant meals for passing boaters.

Thirty miles from d,Urville, across the wide and sheltered Tasman Bay, lies Abel Tasman National Park. A unique microclimate gives this area one of the highest sunshine levels in New Zealand, and the park boasts endless golden sand beaches, trailer yacht accessible lagoons and stunning native bush. The twenty miles of the parks coastline can be reached only by boat or on foot.

New Zealand's other great cruising grounds are some of the least known in the world. Beyond the South end of the South island lies Stewart Island, recently declared a National Park. Separated from the main land by 20 miles of shallow and unpredictable waters, Stewart offers cold, clear, crisp days and a world of such freshness and natural beauty that even the rain is welcome. The friendliness of the locals and fishermen around a blazing log fire at the local pub, the freshest of seafoods and (at the time of writing) the total absence of a "tourist industry" make it worth every bit of the effort involved in getting there.

Further around to the West of Stewart Island, Fiordland National Park, a world heritage area, offers true isolation in deepwater fiords surrounded by primeval forests. The world renowned Milford Sound in the north is host to thousands of tourists daily, who trundle forth in huge sightseeing vessels for a four hour cruise before reboarding their buses to the fleshpots of Queenstown. South, however, are Doubtful and Breaksea Sounds, difficult to get to (floatplanes are quickest), and largely ignored by the madding hordes. A number of plain but comfortable converted fishing vessels charter in this area and provide an unforgettable experience for those who appreciate nature at its unspoiled best.

Its a wonderful country, for either bareboat or skippered chartering. Kiwis love their boating, and a well worn pair of boat shoes will see you made very welcome almost anywhere.

(Pic Picot is editor of Picot's New Zealand Charter Guide and a bareboat charter agent representing charter companies in the area as well.)