It was lovely to wake up in such an idyllic spot and find that the 3 motor launches that were all rafted together had gone. We had the place to ourselves. After sorting ourselves out we got the dinghy down and set off to explore. It is a huge bay, we decided to go to the opposite end which has a village with a shop, Port Fitzroy. It was a long dinghy ride passing what we assume are mussel farms. Thankfully it was dead calm and a very comfy dinghy ride. The village was tiny tucked into a lovely cove, with a small dock for the ferry and a few fishing boats. We went for a walk up the hill to find the shop, we were surprised to find a little library too! We chatted to a lady at the shop who had brought the eldest resident on the island to do her weekly shop. She was 96! They only have 100 residents in this area and it all feels incredibly remote. It takes an hour to drive to the bigger town. Sadly a lot of Barrier Island is closed to us Yachties at the moment as they are trying to halt the spread of an invasive seaweed. So glad this area is open to us, as it is stunning. The Manuka trees are in full blossom which has triggered Rowan’s hayfever, I have got him taking antihistamine tablets, so it must be bad!
We then went down the other end of the bay to explore Smokehouse Bay, an extraordinary place donated by a family who wanted to make it a facility for boating visitors. A huge smoke house, a pizza oven, a wood fire heated bath and a large fire pit and seating are the facilities available, quite something. We found a path up behind all the swings from the big tree and went for a lovely walk, we managed to join a dirt track and got to a couple of good look out spots. When we were leaving in the dinghy we saw an enormous black shark, and a fairly big ray. They obviously know it is a feeding area as I think a lot of fisherman come here. Three yachts, all monohulls anchored here, no sign of anyone, they must all be downstairs.
We headed back to PolePole and had a very peaceful night being the only boat in our little bay.
Don’t think this Burger Bar in Port Fitzroy has seen much action, a lovely bar shelf
Port Fitzroy village centre was impressive for a population of 100 people, shop on left and library on the right
Idyllic Port Fitzroy bay
Smokehouse Bay
Smoke house on the far left and Rowan admiring the Pizza oven on the right
A magnificent tree with an ingenious fender swing
Fire pit seating area, with bath room behind
The bathroom with hot water, you have to make a fire under the outside water tank
The cleared beach with crystal clear water
Our walk up to the top of the headland
Good views out to sea
Small Barrier Island in the distance
Looking the other way towards Port Fitzroy
A biggish ray came swimming by
Great skyline
We had a little panic attack that we could not see PolePole, she was so tucked in around the side of the bay, it took a while to spot her
Thankfully she had not budged or got grounded!
Discover more from sailingpolepole.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
