Islands of the Gulf.

Surely there are few places in the world that can surpass the Hauraki Gulf as a cruising ground. It is so generously provided with islands, large and small, and its coastline is so conveniently indented with bays and inlets, that there is an almost bewildering number of places from which to choose an anchorage.

A glimpse of Schoolhouse Bay—another haven at Kawau.

Go to Waiheke Island for instance and you will find enough bays to satisfy your cruising fever for many days. Waiheke is the largest island in the nearer gulf. In the early days of New Zealand it was one of the chief resorts for ships coming here to load cargoes of kauri spars. It was known to sailors long before Auckland city was founded.

The original bush has long since disappeared and sheep now graze on the grass-sown hills, but man has not yet defiled the shores with anything more obnoxious than clusters of summer cottages, an occasional boardinghouse or a jetty. The tide still flows its inevitable way into the curving bays, and with it every week-end or holiday goes a fleet of Auckland's pleasure craft.

Some of the islands of the gulf are page 29

The entrance to Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island.

privately owned, but as a rule the owners are generously disposed towards yachtsmen and many an act of hospitality is rewarded by a gift of freshly-caught fish Motuihi, the quarantine station, has recently been made available to the public and its beaches are now the favourite marine picnic grounds for Aucklanders.