Artefact dwarfing the Ōpua wharf. It's one of an increasing number of superyachts set to berth this summer. Photo / Sandy Myhre
Superyachts at anchor at Ōpua wharf in 2021 were almost a dime a dozen. They arrived en route to the America’s Cup venue in Auckland and for a time made the small wharf look like a playground of the rich and famous.
Since then the superyacht business has almost dried up, although Chris Galbraith, general manager of Far North Holdings Ltd, which manages the wharf, says the superyacht berth is returning to historical levels and there’s even growth.
Two recent berthings prove the point. Last month Gliss was attached to the wharf not once but twice, fresh from a seven-month refit at Royal Huisman boat builders in The Netherlands.
She is 32m long with a beam of 7.44m, an aluminium hull and superstructure, and powered by one Scania engine, which gives her a top speed of 13.5 knots (25km/h).
She can sleep up to eight guests and there are cabins for crew members, including the ship’s captain. She was listed as available for charter for $96,000 a week plus expenses.
On Tuesday this week, one of the most expensive luxury superyachts in the world arrived from Fiji.
The award-winning Artefact was built in Germany by Nobiskrug in 2020 for a reported cost of $150 million (USD). She is 80m long with a gross tonnage of 2999 GT and a 16.82m beam.
She sails under a Marshall Islands flag and is owned by billionaire Mike Lazaridis, the founder of BlackBerry who is a Turkish-born Canadian tycoon worth a reported $1.9 billion.
Her captain is New Zealander Aaron Clark. He helped build her from the ground up and had a 10-year contract, which he has extended for another two years. His wife, Alyssa, also works on board as chief steward.
Artefact was designed by Gregory C. Marshall and the interior was designed by Reymond Langton Design from Bath, UK.
She has a top speed of 17.8 knots. She comes equipped with solar panels, a fibreglass structure, glass engines and an innovative DC-bus diesel-electric Azipod hybrid propulsion system.
She sails with 17-24 crew, including two chefs and a sous chef, and can accommodate up to 14 guests in seven staterooms. There is wheelchair access, a movie theatre and, somewhat unusual, a tai chi room.
What do you give to two relatives who are getting on in years that they haven’t had before?
That was the poser for Anne Kerrisk, and the answer was a helicopter ride around the Bay of Islands.
At the end of November, her mother, Elizabeth Kitchingman, and mother-in-law Noeline Kerrisk were taken to Whangārei for a “girls adventure day out” with a few surprises along the way.
Kitchingham had flown from New Plymouth for a week to visit her family in Whangārei. She had recently relocated to Taranaki when her husband died.
Kerrisk had relocated from Patea to Whangārei a year ago so she was resident in the city. Both women are nonagenarians aged 90.
“They didn’t guess until we walked into the Salt Air office in Paihia, it was all pre-organised and the staff were amazing,” said Anne, who went along for the ride with her two family members.
“My mother has had a trip in a helicopter before in Australia but my mother-in-law had never been up in one before.”
She said it was “an absolute pleasure to get our two beautiful 90-year-olds together and treat them to a trip to the Bay of Islands and especially a helicopter ride”.
“It has been a really big year for the family and seeing their joy was certainly worth it,” she said.
As long as most people can remember, there has been a butchery in Ōhaeawai — for 78 years in fact, since 1945.
In that time only six butcher-owners have been in charge. The business was in danger of closing for good on December 22, but there has been a reprieve. Late negotiations are under way for a young couple to take over in January and so save the butchery’s bacon.
Present owner Basil Stewart has been a butcher all his life, starting in Kerikeri when he was 18. He has worked in the Ōhaeawai shop for 34 years and has owned it since 2010, when he took over from his boss, former owner Wyn Penney.
The building was constructed in the early 1940s and retains much of the ambience of those times with its high ceilings and quaint facade.
Stewart used to get tourists from all over the world calling in, but Covid-19 lockdowns changed all that. The tourists have now been replaced with Kiwis travelling in campervans who stop off to buy meat on their journey around the North Island.
“There are a lot of people from the South Island who call in,” he said.
During the Covid lockdown, he was one of the few butchers in the country allowed to operate. He registered as an essential business, and came to the attention of the police who visited twice and shut him down for half a day until he showed them the paperwork that he was legitimate and he was let off the hook.
It takes him about two hours to bone out a carcass, and changing tastes means he has had to try different flavours in his sausages, such as lamb with Greek feta, olive and garlic or sausages with blue cheese or beef jalapeno, chilli and sour cream sausages.
He starts each workday at 5.30am and doesn’t finish until 5pm five days a week. He rarely takes a holiday.
That will change from next week. Stewart is now of retirement age and he and his wife, Christine, hope the new owners will keep the store going while they take some time to see “our beautiful country and do what we love to do”.
Focus Paihia has been seeking funding for the end-of-the-year fireworks display. It needs $20,000 to stage the show and has just announced it has reached the target based on everyone paying their pledged donations.
The fireworks will begin about midnight on New Year’s Eve from a barge anchored offshore from the beach.
Paihia’s Christmas parade was the first off the blocks around the Bay of Islands. Judging the floats were Merva Whale, Carla Moore and Vanessa McKay. The theme was 144 Islands.
Overall winner was Paihia School, which parasailed through the Hole in the Rock. Most sustainable float went to Paihia Kindergarten, first community float went to Ōpua School and first business float was won by Boots and Scootin’.
Over the bay in Russell, the Christmas parade was led out by the local policeman’s car, with minimalist decorations. Bringing up the rear was the Russell Volunteer Fire Brigade’s vintage Ford truck with maximum decorations, and there was everything in between.
The foot soldiers included Project Island Song (dressed as a kiwi, a pūkeko and a penguin) with the tennis club girls throwing sweets into the crowd. Several participants were dressed as Christmas packages.
The float winners were The Tractor Man, Skink Valley HQ and Wynyard Wonderland. The best dressed adult was won by The Grinch and best dressed child was Koko Regeling.
Highly commended float was the Russell Tennis Club, and Project Island Song won the highly commended costume award.
After the parade most of the crowd and participants went to Long Beach for various activities such as sandcastle building, a tug of war and a barbecue.
Bocky Boo Gelato opened in Whangārei in 2019 and quickly became a local favourite.