Other top sailing spots
Bay of Islands
An
idyllic group of islands in the ‘winterless’ north of the North Island, the Bay
of Islands is rated one of the world’s best cruising spots. It’s usually the
first port of call for hundreds of yachts dropping down from the tropics in the
cyclone season.
Secluded
white-sand beaches are everywhere, and seafood – snapper, John Dory, mussels
and kina (sea eggs) - is plentiful. It’s also famed for big game fishing -
American novelist Zane Grey dubbed these waters “the angler’s El Dorado”.
Wellington Harbour
Wellington holds the distinction
of being one of the windiest cities in the world, making it a sailors’ haven. The
city sits in a ‘river of wind’, with the Cook Strait
between the North and South islands creating a wind corridor that sweeps across
its harbour.
The
capital city’s wide deep harbour enfolds many bays that are perfect for dinghy
and board sailing, and it is home to 13 yacht clubs. Wellington was
a short stopover in the 2005 - 2006 Volvo Ocean Race when the fleet sailed
through Cook Strait on the way to the Southern
Ocean.
Marlborough Sounds
It’s
been called one of the world’s best-kept maritime secrets. The Marlborough
Sounds, at the top of the South Island, is a
labyrinth of islands, bays, coves and waterways fringed by native forest. A
collection of drowned river valleys, the sounds are a sanctuary for some of New
Zealand’s endangered wildlife – South Island robins, fur seals and Hector’s,
dusky and bottlenose dolphins.
The
wreckage of the Russian cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov has become an artificial
reef perfect for divers.
Southern Fiords
Fiordland,
in the south-west corner of the South Island, is like nowhere else in New Zealand, a World Heritage park with inlets
from the Tasman Sea running into unspoilt,
primeval rainforest and lakes gouged out by huge glaciers.
In
Milford Sound, described by Rudyard Kipling as the “eighth wonder of the
world”, mountains rise out of the water, and boats can sail under huge rock
overhangs and cascading waterfalls. Doubtful Sound is the deepest of the fiords
(421m) and a haven for bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and crested penguins.
Further information:
Media – Tourism NZ
http://www.media.newzealand.com
Northland
http://www.northlandnz.com
Auckland
http://www.aucklandnz.com
Wellington
http://www.WellingtonNZ.com
Marlborough
http://www.destinationmarlborough.com
Fiordland
http://www.fiordland.org.nz