Meandering to Maraetai and Boys with Muscles... I mean, Buoys with Mussels

Where: Opposite Umupuia Marae to Maraetai.

Who: Shirley and Annette in Ciao

What to do on a Sunday afternoon with grey clouds and a northerly wind? We decided to take Ciao to a favourite paddling ground, Maraetai.

Starting at Umupuia marae, we planned to paddle against the wind while we had energy, then turn around after a while to enjoy a sail back - because sailing Ciao is fun!

Those clouds look ominous, but it is good to be on the water again!

All worked to plan on the way there. The wind, while strong, didn't hamper us too much as we hugged the coast and enjoyed being on the water again. After a few minutes of paddling, we saw two ski buoys, both covered in mussels. Buoys with mussels have appeal! We made a note to collect a few on our way back.

Wait there, mussels - we'll be back!

After lunch at Magazine Bay, we pushed on for the final stretch to Maraetai beach, looking forward to turning around and flying back to the car with the strong wind in our sails.

We turned. The wind stopped. Almost immediately.

Sigh. This seems to be a regular thing for us - orca arriving at a place the day after we paddle there, free time with terrible weather, wind changing direction as soon as we try to harness it. Never mind. The tide and a few gracious puffs from time to time were enough to stop us from having to use our paddles. Meander, we did.

View of Duder's Point through the sail

Returning to our two mussley buoys, we collected a few to cook up. (In Auckland waters, the limit is 25 each a day, with no size limit. We chose 28 between us and only went for big ones.)

Back to the beginning. See the mussels we harvested?

Driving home, we felt sun and wind-kissed. The paddle to Maraetai and back was about 8km and just the right mix of relaxation, exercise and enjoyment of a beautiful area.

Home time - mussel time!

After steaming them, we fried them up in butter with onion, garlic, lemon juice, ginger, sweet Thai chilli sauce and a bit of olive oil. Yum with chunks of bread!

YUM!

A very agreeable way to finish off the weekend and a trip that we are sure to do again.

What we did well:
1) found a great, relaxing trip to take the weather into account - until the wind died.
2) became great hunter-gatherers, enjoying a delicious feed from our efforts.

What I did exceptionally well: bought two pairs of water-sports sunglasses online, reduced to $2 each, including postage. Annette doesn't seem so convinced about their fabulousness, but I think they complete my 'serious kayaker' look with croc shoes and bright orange hat.

The epitome of style - kinda.

Remember for next time: bring a bag for the mussels. They went in my dry-bag for the trip home and it still smells.

Our route