10 NEW ZEALAND


The land of the long white cloud


The 415-berth Bayswater Marina is one of the most-up- to-date in New Zealand.


T


he common Maori expression for New Zealand is Aotearoa, which is translated as


‘the land of the long white cloud’. There is more than one theory as to how this name came about, but likely explanations include the lenticular clouds that form over mountains in the North Island and would have alerted early settlers from Polynesia to its existence or the fact that the Large Magellanic Cloud (a nearby galaxy), which is clearly visible in the night sky of the Southern Hemisphere, could also have drawn sailing canoes to the land. There are over 15,000 km of


coastline in the North and South Islands of New Zealand, which has an area the same size as the American state of Colorado, and the most popular sailing locations are the Bay of Islands and Auckland on the subtropical North Island and the Marlborough Sounds on the upper South Island. The maritime reserves of the Bay of Islands, Hauraki Gulf and Marlborough Sounds are among the best areas


for a cruising holiday and Auckland well-deserves its title of the ‘City of Sails’, with the world’s largest number of boats per head of population.


Large marinas New Zealand has 43 private and local government-owned marinas. In general, the marinas are quite large with an average size of over 330 berths per facility. In comparison with many countries, including Australia, this figure is quite high. A few new marinas are currently


under development, such as a facility at Lyttelton in the South Island to replace a marina that was damaged in a storm ten years ago. There is also a new facility being planned for Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland that will have about 180 berths and be a destination marina: Kennedy Point Boat Harbour.


Other marinas are undertaking


extensions – Opua Marina in the far North has just opened a second stage extension and marinas like Westhaven (largest in the Southern


MARINA ASIA-PACIFIC • FEBRUARY 2017


Hemisphere at 2,000 boats) is redeveloping areas to allow more efficient utilisation of the available space. There is an active New Zealand


Marina Operators Association (NZMOA), chaired by Darryl Smith, CMM, Marina Manager at Whitianga Marina Society Inc, and it was recently announced by


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