Te Kouma

As we have been delayed getting into the Viaduct Marina in Auckland, Steve has a a lot more pleasant anchorages for us to explore. We spent two nights in Te Kouma Harbor on the Coromandel Peninsula. Beautiful little spot with added benefits of great protection from yet another blow, mussel farms where we could pick up a bucket of same and the opportunity to get off the boat and do a little walking.

The terrain is extremely steep so the best strategy was to find cow paths which traverse the hillsides switchback fashion.

It blew for 30 knots most of the day but around 4, we decided that I should take the dink to the nearby mussel farms while Steve stayed with the boat to keep and eye on things. It was really quite rough out in the channel and I was really pleased how well our Swift Inflatable handled it all. I was able to stay on plane even into it and the boat was very dry and had a nice soft ride.

The mussels are actually grown on drop lines hanging down from long lines on the surface which are supported by buoys. You are permitted to harvest the mussels yourself within an arms length of the surface. Naturally, the ones further down on the drop lines are much bigger and nicer. I really wasn’t looking forward to hanging over the side of the dink trying to collect them by hand in 30 knots of breeze. Fortunately, a work boat had just arrived and were kind enough to give me a large bucket for dinner.

This is what we had after cleaning them up.

Dinner was quite a feast with steamed mussels prepared in several different ways, rustic bread and roasted baby potato.

Cheers for now.