Ocean swimming has always been close to my happy place. But just recently, I felt that I’d neglected our relationship, and although I often swim off our yacht Sula during the summer months here in the Bay of Islands, I’d never undertaken a big swimming project before. I’m no stranger to swimming, though. I just love getting in the water and especially love open water swimming. There is nothing like a swim in the sea to start off the day, especially if you’re in the water early when the sun is creeping over the horizon, touching everything with its warmth and beauty.
A quick search revealed over 100 islands within the bay. Seems a lot, I thought, so a whip round on Google Earth brought it down to a more realistic 46 named islands and a few significant landmarks. The rest are really just small rocks or tiny islets.
Swimming around the 46 islands would take me from Harakeke and Tikitiki (also known as the Nine Pin) in the west to Cape Brett, Otuwhanga and Motukokako (Hole in the Rock) in the east. I soon decided I would swim them in 30 loops by combining some of the smaller islands together – just less than 80km of swimming, but hey, I had a few months to tick them all off. I was becoming very excited.
An intimate connection to the environment can provide huge benefits to our mental health and well-being while also bringing balance to typically very busy and hectic lifestyles. We live with lots of noise and clutter taking up our thinking time. My objective was to quiet the noise and strip out the clutter so I could be as completely present and in tune with the surroundings as possible while swimming. I didn’t want it to be just about physical effort.
At first, this was quite a challenge, but eventually, when
I realised I wasn’t really ‘connected’ and my thoughts were still processing other things, it became much easier to channel my awareness and immerse myself in the fluidity of movement and the contrasts between the magic below and the blue and white world above. I really tried to just soak up my surroundings.
And so, with my list of 46 islands and the summer break beginning, we made a start on December 20, 2024. Those first few weeks the swells were fairly high, and so was the wind. So, with my wife Chris filming from the dinghy (we were making a film), we ticked off a few smaller, more sheltered islands before moving on to swim the loops that were 4km long or less.
Early starts with the sunrise became the norm for the next few weeks. In this way, while the peace and calm were totally engaging and the wind and swells still slumbered, we ticked off around 15 islands.
Using Sula as a base was an obvious choice. We’ve owned Sula for almost 20 years and she feels like part of the family. She represents adventure, fun, and somewhere to relax and unwind. Just about every weekend over the summer saw us heading out with a swimming plan.
The swimming was beautiful and amazing at the same time – apart from a few Islands I wouldn’t necessarily recommend – it just got more and more absorbing as I warmed to the task at hand. It got to the point where I couldn’t wait to get back in the water.
Swimming in deep water, such as out to the Nine Pin or The Hole in the Rock, isn’t quite as interesting as when you have rocks, kelp and fish to look at. But there is something unique about feeling a little more “out there”. The shortest swim, around Bird Rock, which sits between Deep Water Cove and Cape Brett, was an amazing spectacle of life. Seeing the bright rays of sunlight penetrating the depths and turning the fish into a sparkling light show was completely absorbing. The deep, rich-blue of the ocean adds to the feeling that you’re in very deep water.
Swimming around any landmark, such as an island or rocky outcrop, gives a special feeling of achievement as you close the loop.
The longer swims – Harakeke/Tikitiki /Nine Pin Loop (3.5km); Moturoa (7.4km); Battleship, Black Rocks loop (5.5km); Motuarohia/Roberton (5.4km); Moturua (6.2km); Motukiekie (4.2km); Okahu (3.6km); Waewaetorea (3.8km) and Urupukapuka (9km) – passed in quick succession and were fantastic swims on the day.
The Bay of Islands in summer is just an amazingly beautiful place and offers some of the best open water swimming in New Zealand. The contrasting quieter western side over by the Te Pahi Islands and the main islands around Motorua and Urupukapuka provide a huge variety of anchorages and swim lengths.
By the end of February, we only had a few loops left to complete. Fortunately, I’d met Roger Mills and his wife, Maya, through our good friends Colin and Akemi on Phoenix, whose son Alex provided some great drone footage. Roger, from Hummingbird photo and video, flies a drone as part of his work and has already provided us with some amazing footage in and around Urupukapuka. I knew that getting good drone footage of the Cape Brett – Hole in the Rock loop would be important for the film we were making. The stars aligned, and a weather window, Roger’s availability, and that of others involved in filming and helping, came up in mid-March.
A breathtaking early morning start from Deep Water Cove, with milky, crimson skies and the moon dipping below the horizon off to the west, saw us quickly up to the old pier below the Cape Brett hut. Swimming through the channel that separates Cape Brett from Otuwhanga Island, then out through the Hole In the Rock, round Motukokako/Piercy Island, and back to the starting point 3.5km later was the icing on the cake.
Amazing swimming with fish everywhere and impressive swells breaking onto the northern side of Motukokako finished off what had been a superb summer project of ocean swimming.
A huge thanks to Orca NZ and everyone else involved in the project, without whom it would not have been possible.
