New Zealand
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New Zealand Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud. This is the Maori name for New Zealand. We arrived at Opua, New Zealand on November 8, 2002. We plan to visit for a while. Not sure how long… 11/11, Opua, New Zealand 35 18.934 S, 174 07.212 E, Opua Marina, Opua, New Zealand We are adjusting to marina life! It is great. We are
feeling so spoiled. On Saturday we washed the salt off the boat. It was quite a
job but it was nice to just connect the hose up to the faucet on the dock and
amazing water! We washed the cushions, the lines, the line bags, etc. A
complete hosing. Saturday night Rich and I went out to dinner with John and
Sheri of Second Chance and Larry and Linda of Zephyr. We went to an Italian
restaurant in Paihai. We had a lot of fun. On Sunday I did laundry here at the marina. 5 loads and now
we have clean clothes and towels. There was even warm water and the dryers
worked. Today Rich, Sarah and I got a ride into Paihai with Sheri.
We went out to lunch and did a little shopping. There is even a bookstore
with books in English. We stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few things.
We are like kids in a candy store. There are so many things that we have not
been able to get since we left the US or has been very expensive other
places. Granny Smith apples, dark chocolate chips, Thai peanut sauce, Heinz
ketchup. The scenery is beautiful here. It is very similar to the
San Juan Islands. We are in a large bay, the Bay of Islands. Opua is one town
in the bay, like Paihai and Russell. Not too dissimilar to Friday Harbor or
Deer Harbor. This is a resort area in the summer months. They have fishing,
sailing, whale watching, and dolphin watching and swimming with the dolphins
as well. The water is a little cold yet, only 10 degrees C. We will be here a few more days until Mandu goes to
quarantine. Then we will head to Auckland. 11/14, passage to Auckland,
New Zealand 35 46.400 S, 174 38.730 E, 9:54 utc, passage to Auckland
from Opua On Wednesday they came to pick up Mandu to take him to
quarantine at the Pussy Cat Lodge in Auckland. He was not a happy camper. He
was shivering and meowing after I put him in the cage and Peter of MAF sealed
it. We were all sad and sorry to see him go. Glad it will be for only 30 days
and not longer! This morning we cast off our docklines and headed out the
Bay of Islands, around Hole in the Rock and headed south along the coast to
Auckland. We should arrive in the morning. We need to make sure we avoid the
racecourse on the Hauraki Gulf. Hopefully One World will start beating
Oracle! Watched the races on Tuesday at the Opua Cruising Club. It was fun to
watch and hear the commentary. A lot easier than getting up at 1 or 2 am as
we did in the States!
Hole in the Rock Looking forward to the Big City! 70 miles to marina in Auckland 11/15, Auckland, New Zealand 36 49.259 S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New
Zealand We're here! After dreams of many years ago being in
Auckland during the America's Cup, we are really here. This morning as we
were motoring across the Hauraki Gulf we saw the Louis Vuitton racers being
towed out to the course area. As we passed, the two Team New Zealand boats
popped their chutes and go racing by. Boats of all size and shape were
streaming out of Auckland harbor to go out and watch the race, from Paul
Allen's Tatoosh to small day sailers. How exciting!
Team New Zealand practicing
Paul Allen takes some friends out on Tatoosh to see the races
Downtown Auckland on an overcast day We are at a marina across from downtown so that we can see
the city lights. At the end of the marina, not too far from our dock we can
hop a ferry to downtown. We went across and the first thing we see is a place
called Seattle Espresso! Across the street was a Starbuck's. Down from the
ferry terminal is the Viaduct area where all of the racing syndicates have
their facilities. There are also plenty of mega-yachts. Lots of activity and
things to see. We walked in downtown, passed McDonalds, Burger King and
Subway and found a small place called Tony's for dinner. We celebrated our
passage from Seattle to Auckland, over 8000 miles. Wow! We look forward to settling in and exploring New Zealand.
We want a break from passage making for a while. Time to do some land
cruising instead. SV Windarra Auckland, City of Sails 11/17, Auckland, New Zealand 36 49.259 S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New
Zealand On Saturday we rented a car for a few days. Rich, Sarah and
I went to McDonalds for lunch and then food shopping at the New World grocery
store. It was like going into QFC back in Seattle. Everything you could think
of. It was fun. Lucky we had lunch beforehand of we would have needed two
carts! This morning we joined some other cruisers and went to the
local racetrack where every Sunday they have a used car sale by owners. There
must have been over 300 cars for sale. From $1000NZ on up. Most of them are
used cars from Japan that have been shipped here for sale. In Japan the laws
strongly encourage/force people to sell their cars before they reach 50,000
km and buy new cars to replace them. These used cars are bought and shipped
here. Since there are no local automobile manufacturers and there are plenty
of cars it is a buyers' market. You can get a 1995 Honda Accord for anywhere
between $2000NZ and $5000NZ depending on condition and mileage (to convert to
US dollars, divide by 2). We are looking at getting a Subaru Legacy or
something similar for land cruising. We have some more looking to do. In the afternoon the four of us drove to Avondale to visit
Mandu at the Pussy Cat Lodge. He was very glad to see us and rubbed against
us and gladly accepted pets and scratches under the chin. He is in a small
room, 6 ft by 6 ft by 10 ft, with a chair, a bed, food dishes and private
kitty box. The walls are solid for the first 4 feet and wire mesh the remaining
distance. Outside of Mandu's room is a small field with grass growing. There
are 12 rooms in the quarantine building. All rooms are filled with one or two
cats. The cats can climb on a ledge and see each other. Mandu did not seem
too interested in his neighbors. It was clean and airy. After a while he sat
down and looked at us as if to say, "Okay, nice to see you, can we all
go now, I am ready to leave." It was tough to leave him but glad he is
doing okay. Only 26 more days to go.
Pussy Cat Lodge, quarantine building in background
Sarah hugs Mandu during our visit We went to a mall nearby. Jesse needed some shoes. He has
been wearing flip-flops since Mexico and had outgrown his last pair of
sneakers. His new shoes, size 9, are 2 sizes larger than his old pair. He
also bought a pair of jeans, again, first pair of long pants since Mexico.
Sarah got two new books at the bookstore so she is happy. Rich and I bought a
GSM cell phone. Now we are really getting settled into the infrastructure. We
will be able to use this new for anywhere except the US. What a deal. It is
tiny too. The weather is chilly here. Summer has not arrived yet. We
are wearing long pants and sweat shirts. Since we don't have electrical to the
boat yet we cannot plug in the space heater, so it is a little cold on the
boat. That is our next task. Settling in. 11/29, Auckland, New Zealand 12/7, Auckland, New Zealand 36 49.259 S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New
Zealand We just got back from 4 days, 3 nights of land cruising in
the Northlands. On Wednesday we packed the new tent, cooler, lantern, mini
cook stove (one burner), pads, plus our clothes and bedding and headed north.
We drove along the eastern coast north out of Auckland. Our first destination
was Whangerai. The wh is pronounced like f. This is a popular destination for
many cruisers. There are several marinas and haul out yards right in the main
town. You have access to marine suppliers, repair facilities and services. We
stopped for lunch and a look around. We met up with Bob and Linda of Cardinal
Sin and chatted with them for a while.
Harbor at Whangarei We headed north to Tutukaka to a campground to spend the
night. Sarah and I set up the tent Rich and Jesse made dinner and cleaned up.
A fair trade. The tent has an awning on the back that covers the hatchback of
the Subaru. Jesse slept in the car, Sarah, Rich and I in the tent. We have
named the front porch of the tent, the Happy Bear Vestibule. We can put our
cooler and cooking gear here under cover but since there are no bears in New
Zealand we do not have to worry about putting the food in the tree or
somewhere else. Tutukaka is on a river that flows to the sea. A large sand
bar protects the town and the few boats anchored in the river. It was a nice
quiet spot for our first night.
Our Tent The next day we continued north to Opua and Russell. Opua
is where we checked upon arrival to New Zealand. We saw Ivan of Victoria.
Remember they had left Nuku'alofa before us. It took them 30 days to reach
New Zealand! This included 3 days at Ata Island. I thought our passage was
long. This tops it for me. From Opua we took the car ferry to Russell and set up our
tent in a great campground there. We went into 'town' to have lunch on the
waterfront. Russell used to be a hopping place in the late 1800's. There were
sailors and whalers, gambling and prostitution. This is also the place where
Capt. Cook landed when he visited New Zealand. Today it is a small sleepy
village with a few restaurants and cafes, a hotel and a bed & breakfast
near the passenger ferry dock. This is also the home of Russell Radio. Russell
Radio is a private, not-for-profit organization of local HAM radio operators.
This includes Dez and Ritchie, both in their 80s, Dez is older by four days,
he told us. These gentlemen monitor several SSB and VHF radio stations. They
provide weather information and track contacts of private vessels the Pacific
as far north as Hawaii. We made regular daily check-ins with Dez during our
passage from Tonga to Opua. They provide a vital service to yachties making
passage around this area. They are amazing people who are on the radio from 7
am to 10:30 pm, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It was nice to meet at least
one of them and thank him in person.
Cannon protecting Russell from Tourists? On Friday morning we packed up and went to one of the cafes
for breakfast. We caught the ferry back to Opua and headed north again. We
did not go to the farthest point north but instead crossed to the west side
of the island. We passed wineries and farms over rolling hills in multiple
shades of green. The fields are separated by stone fences reminiscent of
England and rows of trees like Eastern Washington. The hills are dotted with
cattle, sheep and horses. Beautiful countryside. Each new rise brought
another picture-postcard view. On the west side we passed through the kauri forests. The
kauri tree is similar to the redwood of California. Old growth trees are two
thousand years old with a girth of over 13 meters. The bark is not as rough
as a redwood and the color is gray. They are tall and majestic and sacred to
the Maoris.
Tallest Kauri
We assume they mean the birds We headed to the coast and stayed at Bayles Beach near
Dargaville. Here the coastline is very similar to the ocean beaches of
Washington. Where the sand is hard you can drive on the beach. The waves pound
in and there were a few intrepid surfers. After pitching out tent at the
campground we walked into 'town' and had dinner at the Funky Fish restaurant.
It is similar to Bizarro's in Wallingford. The walls are decorated with
pictures of fish with large shark-like teeth, very 1960's. The meal was very
good and the atmosphere entertaining.
Harbor on West Coast, off the Tasman Sea This morning we headed back to the boat at Bayswater. We
managed to unpack and get back to the boat before the rains started. It was
fun to see the countryside. It was our first time sleeping off the boat since
our one night in Tahiti. We look forward to more outings. Rich, Elaine, Jesse, Sarah (Katmandu is still in
quarantine) 12/13, Auckland, New Zealand 36 49.259 S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New
Zealand Now that the Arbitration Board has met and docked One World
one point per series, racing has resumed. We go up to the Marina lounge with
the other cruisers and watch the races on the TV. There is quite a crowd of
'regulars'. And to keep us going there is an espresso machine that turns out
caffeine for 50 cents kiwi! Rich and I started a list of boat chores. 5 pages long and
growing. We separated the items into 3 priorities; must do before going on
passage, what we like to have done or what has been bugging us and the third
priority - if we have any money we wish we could do this too. The problem
with the list so far is as we cross things off that we have done we add more
to do. We will be plenty busy! Wednesday, Rich and I took the ferry downtown to do some
birthday/Channukah/Xmas shopping. We also stopped for lunch in the Viaduct
area, near the America's Cup action. It was tough not to yell at the TV and
remind One World to cover Prada. Any kid in an Opti knows to stay between his
opponent and the mark and head for the dark water! Glad they figured it out
on Thursday. Too bad Chris Dickson of Oracle forgot also. Today was a momentous occasion. We picked up Mandu at the
Pussy Cat Lodge and brought him home. His quarantine was over. As we went
inside the quarantine area to pick him up we saw an escapee running down the
aisle way trying to make a break for it. Apparently when the fellow from
quarantine was there earlier in the day he did not lock the enclosure well
enough and one of the 'inmates' took the opportunity to wiggle out and look
for the exit. He was quickly apprehended and returned to solitary. No treats
for him tonight! Mandu was very excited about leaving. He was not ready to
get into the luggage to return home so I carried him out. He was meowing very
loudly. I don't know if he was saying goodbye to the rest of the cats or just
nervous about going for a ride in the car. Even in the car he continued to
meow. It wasn't until he was back on the boat that he seemed to relax. He
walked around, checked everything out, jumped up on the settee and started to
knead the cushions. He was home! Back together again. Rich, Elaine, Jesse, Sarah and Katmandu returned from
quarantine 12/20, Auckland, New Zealand 12/26, Auckland, New Zealand 36 49.259 S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New
Zealand Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day! The Kiwis celebrate Boxing day. Most businesses are closed
but stores and restaurants are open with lots of after-Xmas sales. Boxing Day
has its roots in England during the time of Charles Dickens. The lord of the
house would give a boxed present to each member of the staff on the day after
Christmas, hence the name Boxing Day. If you ask someone off the street here,
they say it is the day to get your boxes ready for the trash collectors. So
take your pick. Last Saturday the four of us went into town to do some gift
shopping. We also bought tickets to see the new Lord of the Rings movie, The
Two Towers. Here you can buy reserved seating tickets in the movie theaters.
If you are a J.R.R. Tolkien fan and you liked the Fellowship of the Ring, you
will love the Two Towers. Even though it is 3 hours long the time passes
quickly and you feel that the movie ended too soon. Gollum is the hideous
creature you expect, hissing My Precious and slithering about. Since the
movies were filmed here in New Zealand there is a lot of excitement about it.
After seeing the scenery in the movies we are more excited about traveling to
the South Island to see the same places. On Xmas eve we went out to dinner with Clark and Suzie of
Final Straw. We dined at a restaurant called Sago in Takapuna. It was a good
meal and a fun evening. Suzie was wearing a Christmas Tree pin made from a
circuit board and LEDs that blinked on and off. Another patron came over and
asked were she got since his wife wanted one like it. You have to go to the
US to find something like it. On Xmas day we joined the cruisers for a potluck at the
marina lounge. There was lots of food and plenty of conversation. We met
folks from England, Sweden, and of course those of us from the US and Canada.
The marina is getting empty as the locals are taking their boats to the
islands for holiday. Sarah has been babysitting for the folks on Roxanne. They
have two boys, Tristan and Jackson, 6 and 10 respectively. They are very
active and Sarah has a great time with them. They play Monopoly and other
games and watch movies. She will be sitting with them tomorrow for the third
time. It is fun for her and provides some spending money besides. We hope this email finds you enjoying the holiday time with
friends and family. As we look to the new year we are thankful for the
opportunities we have had this year to be together as a family and experience
people and cultures different from our own. We have gained an appreciation
for how big the world is (especially during passage) but also how friendly
and interesting people are in the islands we have visited. Wishing you Happy holidays! 12/31, Auckland, New Zealand 36 49.259 S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New
Zealand We just got back from a 3-day jaunt to central North
Island. This included Rotorua, Tauranga and Matamata. Rotorua is a large geothermal area with geysers, mud holes,
hot springs, etc. similar to Yellowstone Park. There is also the volcano
Tarawera. We visited the Rotorua Museum (www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz), which
was a bath house built in 1908 where people would come, get the 'cure', bath
in the mineral waters and have mud baths. It is similar to what is described
in the movie, "Welcome to Wellville" with Matthew Broderick. The
building was recently restored along with the Blue Bath House and has
exhibits about the Maoris who settled the area and the eruptions of Tarawera
Mountain. All very well done. In the public Kuirau Park, you can walk around
and see bubbling mud and steam rising from the ground.
Rotorua Museum We rode the gondola up to the Skyline Restaurant. Here we
did the luge rides. You sit on a street luge and ride down concrete ramps
through the trees. At the bottom you ride a chair lift back to the top with
your luge hanging below the chair. To control your speed you pull the handle
back to brake and move from side to side to steer. It was a lot of fun. Jesse
and Sarah went down twice! Rich was disappointed since his luge was not as
fast as Sarah's!
Luge Rides The next stop was the New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts
Institute (www.nzmaori.co.nz). The
Maoris are guardians of the Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve with the
country's largest natural geyser, similar to Old Faithful (mix in some
soapsuds and voila the geyser erupts up to ninety feet in the air). The
institute receives funding from the government to maintain the carving and
weaving traditions of the Maori. Students receive three years of training
under the tutelage of Maori master carvers and weavers. The work is
excellent, some of the best we have seen in the Pacific.
Haka in front of the marae
Shooting geysers There is also a Kiwi bird nocturnal house were you may see
the endangered kiwi, a flightless bird about the size of a chicken with no
tail and a long beak for poking into the ground and searching for insects,
grubs and earthworms. The egg of a kiwi is about 3-4 inches long. Since the
poor female is exhausted after laying the egg, the male broods over the egg
for 65 days until the chick hatches. That evening we stayed in a campground near the lake in
Rotorua. The ground of the tent sites is warm due to the geothermal activity
below. Think about that for a bit. Sunday morning we drove to the coast to Tauranga. This is a
popular boating destination with two large marinas. We stayed at another
campground next to a group of college girls on holiday. They talked and
giggled all night! Monday we drove to the small town of Matamata. This is where the Hobbiton scenes of the Lord of the Rings movies were shot at the farm of the Alexander brothers, Craig, Russell, Dean and Ian (www.hobbitontours.com). We took a tour bus from Matamata out to the farm which is a full time sheep farm (10,000 woolly critters). Most of the set has been taken down but you can see the party tree and 18 of the 37 hobbit holes that made up Bag End and Bag Shot. If you have seen the movie, Fellowship of the Rings, you can visualize the home of Bilbo Baggins, where Gandalf rode the cart up the road and set off the fireworks, and where the birthday for Bilbo was held. It has become quite an attraction, with visitors from England, Israel, Norway, Korea and elsewhere. It was a bit expensive but how many times do you get to visit Middle-Earth. Our tour guide, Russell, also known a Horndog, is a dairy farmer who helps with the tours in the afternoons. It was organized by friends on his rugby team. After the tour he took us to a small shop and bought all of us ice cream from his friend, another rugby player. Only in New Zealand. We also bought a copy of The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook by Ian Brodie. We might visit other locations, especially since the book provides gps locations.
Hobbiton, Bilbo’s home is above on the hill
Hobbits are small folk After the tour we drove back to Auckland. For the next few
weeks we will do boat chores. Jesse and Sarah will catch up on their
schoolwork. Then we will head out for some more adventures in New Zealand. 1/13, Auckland, New Zealand 36 49.259 S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New
Zealand We have been busy with boat chores and schoolwork. Items
are being crossed off the to-do list slowly and of course some are being
added too. When the weather is nice we work on outside projects like
polishing the stainless, cleaning the grime off the transom, removed old
fixtures from the cockpit and patched the fiberglass. On the rainy days we
removed the water maker to have it repaired, changed the venting of the
starboard water tank to vent into the forward head sink, fixed the light
fixtures and the port winch power switch. It keeps us busy. We also
volunteered to coordinate copying charts for other cruisers. We had about 400
plus charts made. It was a good deal at $4.45 NZD per chart. To purchase
charts here in NZ it is expensive. NZ charts cost $20 NZD, Australian charts
cost $40 NZD, British Admiralty charts cost $80 NZD - all per chart! We picked
up some charts for the OZ (Australia), Indian Ocean and South Africa. Now I
need to find a place to put them!
Mandu investigating while we do chores On Sunday, Rich, Sarah and I joined the folks from Raven
and C'est Le Vie and went over to downtown Auckland on the ferry. They were
offering free tours of the Italian tall ship, Amerigo Vespucci. It is a huge
ship with 3 masts. The winches and windlasses are all manual! To steer, there
are three wheels, two people to a wheel, so six total! All of the lines are
hemp and the blocks are wood. For a long distance passage they have a crew of
900. Only 450 sailors are here in Auckland currently.
Sarah next to a windlass
Looking aft from foredeck
Two Italian Sailors
Ornate carving on the bow It was interesting to walk around it. It is in perfect
condition, a full time job for many! A carved figure of Amerigo is on the
bow. Amazing since he never really explored anywhere and named the Americas
after himself because he was a mapmaker. The ultimate act of grafitti! After touring the Vespucci we went over to the Loaded Hog
to watch race 1 of the Louis Vuitton finals. Rich wore his Alinghi hat!
Alinghi looked pretty strong. Oracle will have a tough time beating them. Well, it is time for dinner and a movie. Gettysburg is the
feature presentation. 1/17, Auckland, New Zealand 2/4, Wellington, North Island, New Zealand 41 16.914 S, 174 46.879 E, Lower Hutt, Wellington, New
Zealand On Monday, January 3, we packed up the car and headed on
our road trip. Mandu joined us for a short way but only to the Pussy Cat
Lodge where he was going to stay in a semi-private room while we tour around.
He was not too sure about the car ride but very interested in the other
felines, lots of staring! After this stop we headed on to Waitomo to see the glow
worm caves. We stayed at a campground nearby. Just over the fence from the
tent was a herd of cows that made quite a fuss over something. They can moo
quite loudly. On Tuesday morning we went to see the caves. These are
natural limestone with streams that run through them. The glowworms attached
themselves to the ceilings of the caves and lower sticky strings to catch
bugs that come in with the streams. Their luminescence attracts the bugs to
come closer and then they become stuck on the strings. The glowworms pull up
the strings like fishing lines to eat their catch of bugs.
Looking back into glowworm cave In the pitch dark of the cave you can see the glowworms. It
almost looks like stars. The cave was quite large. You could easily have a
banquet for 50 people inside and still have plenty of room for entertainment. Next we drove to Wellington at the south end of the island. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. We are staying at a Top 10 Holiday Park in Lower Hutt. Tomorrow we will tour the city. 2/6, Blenheim, South Island, New Zealand 41 29.971 S, 173 57.702 E, Blenheim, South Island, New
Zealand On Wednesday, 2/5, we went to see the sites of Wellington.
Wellington is smaller than Auckland but is the country's capital and sits on
the Cook Straits dividing North Island from South Island. We went downtown along the waterfront area. It has been
developed similar to Seattle's waterfront, with museums, restaurants, shops,
etc. The national museum, Te Papa, Maori for 'Our Place', is located here. It
was hosting the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) exhibit and we had to go. They will
be hosting a Harley-Davidson motorcycle exhibit there soon. If you enjoyed
the LOTR movies, you would have liked this exhibit. It has all of the
costumes, swords, rings, et cetera, used in the movies. It also has video describing
how they did a lot of the special effects such as the Ents and the multitude
of orcs. The rest of the museum has exhibits on Maori history and culture,
immigration to New Zealand, geological aspects as well as flora and fauna.
Giant Gollum on the theatre in Wellington In the afternoon we went to a movie. Rich, Jesse and I saw
"Catch Me If You Can" with Tom Hanks and Leonardo di Caprio. Sarah
went to see "Two Weeks Notice". On Thursday before the ferry ride we took a ride on the
cable car. Since Wellington is built on a hillside surrounding a bay the
early developers put in a cable car to take people up the steep hillside to
the university site and to housing developments on the top of the hill. The
views overlooking the city are spectacular and we were lucky that it was a
nice clear day.
Looking over Wellington We caught our afternoon ferry, The Lynx, across Cook
Straits, to Picton on South Island. The ferry is a catamaran-style that can
take 840 passengers, 230 vehicles and still do 40 knots. The travel time is
135 minutes. It is very similar to the Victoria Clipper inside. There are
monitors in all of the seating areas so that you can watch the action from a
camera mounted on the bow. Our crossing was very comfortable with little
rolling but of course some passengers found this a little too stimulating!
The Cook Straits has quite a reputation. Two months ago the ferries were not
able to make the crossing since the weather was so bad. After arriving in Picton we drove to Blenheim and got a campsite. We are quite the experts at putting up our tent and getting settled. 2/8, Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand 45 52.117 S, 170 28.367 E, Dunedin, South Island, New
Zealand On Thursday evening after putting up our tent we went to
dinner at a small restaurant in Blenheim. As we were eating we saw a small
creature run across the patio outside. It was a hedgehog! This was the first
time we had seen one, alive at least. As we went back to our car we saw one
in the parking lot (same one?). Rich bent over and touched it gingerly on its
back. Sort of prickly he said. Kewl. Most small critters we see are roadkill! On Friday, 2/7, we headed south along the east coast,
sometimes right along the Pacific Ocean. We stopped at Kaikoura for lunch at the
Crayfish Cafe. Lobster is referred to as crayfish by the locals and it is
good to eat. The four of us dined on crayfish salad. The beach is of small
smooth stones and goes on for miles in a large arc. The ocean looked pretty
benign from this side! We continued on to Christchurch for the night.
The beach at Kaikoura This morning we drove into Christchurch proper for
breakfast. We stopped at a sidewalk cafe on the Avon. This is the river that
runs through the town similar to the equivalent in England. They even have
boat so you can go punting down the Avon, complete with the funny straw hats!
Punting anyone? In the center of town is a large brick square with the
Christchurch Cathedral. We climbed the 134 steps to the top of the town and
got quite a view of the surrounding area. Just 16,167 more steps to the top
of Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. In 1856 the bishop declared
that the town of Christchurch would be a city, and so Christchurch became a
city. Now across the square there is a Starbuck's. Enough said.
Cathedral at Christ Church South of Christchurch is the town of Oamuru. Oamuru is
where the rare blue-eyed penguin nests every year. There is an information
center with an exhibit about this diminutive flightless bird. We saw the
nesting area and the large bleachers positioned so that you can watch these
small birds come out of the ocean, waddle up the concrete path and across to
the nesting area every evening at dusk. There are even signs warning you
about penguin crossing. Unfortunately we decided not to wait until evening
for the parade and headed on to Dunedin. We make camp in Dunedin. The clouds threaten rain.... 2/10, Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand 45 01.850 S, 168 39.348 E, Queenstown, South Island, New
Zealand Sunday morning was gray and drizzling. We drove out to
Otago Peninsula. Here we visited Larnach Castle. It is the only castle in New
Zealand. Compared to the European Castles it is more like a manor home but it
have been restored and interesting to see. The family who originally built
the home had some issues, the father committed suicide in Parliament, one
daughter died of typhoid, the other children hated their stepmother, etc.
There are some very nice antiques and the gardens are very English.
Larnach Castle
Looking out over the Otago Peninsula After the castle we drove to the end of the peninsula to
see the yellow-eyed penguins and the royal albatross that nest in the area.
Unfortunately a Princess Cruise Ship was in Dunedin and had booked up all of
the tours for two days. So we decided to pass and headed to Queenstown. Queenstown is the adrenalin capital of South Island,
eco-tourism on speed. You can go snow skiing in the winter, or during the
summer you can go jet boating, luging, paragliding, parachuting, canyoning
(wear a wet suit, rappel down a canyon wall to the rapids and ride the rapids
on your butt), wave boarding on rapids or bungy jumping. There are many ways
for someone to separate you from your money and for you to have an adrenalin
rush.
Looking down over Queenstown from Gondola
Bridge on Kawarau, near Queenstown and the river Anduin for the Lord of the Rings movies Rich and Jesse decided to go bungy jumping off the Kawarau
Bridge, a drop of 43 meters. On Monday morning, we drove just outside of
Queenstown to the bridge. A.J. Hackett runs a series of bungy jumping sites,
this bridge being the first. It is a very professional operation with many
safety precautions. Jesse was first and held his arms straight out at his sides
and he flew through the air. Rich did a perfect swan dive and got good marks
for his form. Now they have the pictures, the video and the t-shirts!
Rich bungy jumping, nice form
Jesse jumping too! Sarah and I went street luging down from the gondola
instead! For lunch we went to Gibbston Winery for a delicious lunch on the
patio. It is a very small winery specializing in Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.
Still a bit young yet. Tonight we will all sleep well after the day of excitement. Tomorrow we head north up the west coast of South Island, along the Tasman Sea. 2/12, Nelson, South Island, New
Zealand 41 2.413 S, 173 10.644 E, Nelson, South Island, New Zealand From Queenstown we stopped at Arrowtown for breakfast then
through the Crown Range Pass. We passed by Lake Wanaka on our way to Haast on
the west coast of the South Island. Here we stopped at a small restaurant and
bar for lunch along with 20 or so Harley-Davidson motorcyclists from Ontario,
Canada, eh! We stopped at Knight' Point to look out over the Tasman
Sea. Knight's Point is named for the surveyor's dog, Knight. It is cold and rainy as we drive past Fox and Franz Josef
Glaciers. We had wanted to stopped but there was no room at the Inn so to
speak and it was definitely too cold and wet to stay in our tent! So we drove
on, heading north. We avoided the Bushman's Cafe in Okarito, which promised
Wild West Coast cuisine after seeing the sign above the doorway promising
possum delights! We found a place to stay at a Holiday Park in Hokitika. The
town is known for the greenstone or jade that is found nearby. It was prized
by the Maori and carved to make war clubs and jewelry. We dined at the Cafe de Paris opened originally by Phineas
Solomon in the last 1800's. On Wednesday, we stopped to see the Pancake Rocks at
Punakaiki. The rocks look like giant pancakes stacked high. The surf roars
in, hits the stacks and shoots high into the air. Quite impressive. We stopped at Westport for lunch before heading inland through Buller's Gorge to Nelson and a quiet night in our tent. It is very dry here. They have not had any rain for the past two months. Quite a switch from the west coast which gets about 200 inches a year. 2/14, Wellington, North Island,
New Zealand 41 16.914 S, 174 46.879 E, Wellington, North Island, New
Zealand From Nelson we drove to the Montana Winery in Blenheim for
lunch. We had seen this place when we were first in Blenheim but it was
closed so we went back for lunch. It was a good meal and we sampled a little
before heading to Picton. In Picton we pitched the tent near a street lamp. Lights at
night attract wetas. Wetas are an insect similar to a cricket or cycad. They
are large, 2 - 3 inches long, have wings and make a loud buzzing noise. In the
night they would crawl up the side of the tent then slide down when it was
too steep. In the early morning I had to get up to go to the bathroom. Rich
had warned me about the wetas but it was not enough. I put a towel over my
head so they wouldn't get in my hair. I unzipped the first tent zipper to
enter the happy bear vestibule. Quickly checking my shoes I got ready to go
out the main tent opening. Two wetas started to skitter towards me. Armed
with one of Rich's shoes I tried to knock them away. They suddenly started to
fly at me. I screamed tugging at the zipper to get out. More wetas joined the
frenzy. I get out of the tent and ran into one of the lines holding up the
tent awning. I whirled around and there were more wetas flying about now.
They were all over the ground around the tent. I ran to the bathroom. Luckily
most of them were gone by the time I returned. Of course my family provided
all sorts of support in my hour of anxiety. "Gee Mom, they are just
little bugs!" I know this is irrational. I can go on the foredeck of a
pitching sailboat in 40+ knots of wind with no problem but a 2-inch long weta
is enough to send me over the edge! Luckily with daybreak they scurried away
to wherever wetas go in the daylight. The ferry back across the Cook Straits to Wellington was
uneventful, very smooth sailing. In the evening we went to dinner at the
house of Brett and Jenny Sinclair. We had met Brett and Jenny many years ago
when they were in the United States visiting our friend Connie Johnson at her
house in Lakebay, Washington. It was a fun evening. They have a cat named
Lucky that will coo and nuzzle Jenny's neck. Very cute. We enjoyed meeting
with them and talking about New Zealand and our adventures. We also realized
that the last time we had been in someone's house for dinner was over a year
ago when we were last in the United States. 2/17, Auckland, North Island,
New Zealand 36 49.259
S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New Zealand On Saturday morning, 2/15, we headed northeast towards Hawkes
Bay, wine country. Since it was the first day of the America's Cup races we
had to find a place to watch it on TV. We stopped at the Tavistock Hotel in
Waipukurua. It had a small bar with a television set. The bar was empty but
they were happy to turn it on and let us watch the race. Of course it was a
short race since the Team New Zealand boat was having difficulties and
withdrew. We hopped back into the car and drove on to Hastings. We pitched
our tent at the Top 10 Holiday Park. The next morning we went to the Te Mata Winery for a little
tasting. At the Church Road Winery we stopped for lunch. As we had our lunch
we watch a cat dine on his catch of the day, a lbb, little brown bird. He was
unfazed at the other diners around him. We continued northward. Sunday was a delayed start for the
race so we were Taupo when we stopped to watch at a small restaurant on the
lake. It was hard to hear the television coverage when the Harley-Davidson
motorcyclist would drive by. After three legs of the race we got back on the
road. We had intermittent radio reception. Finally on the last leg we pulled
of the road into a parking lot and heard the amazing come from behind finish
of Alinghi. There would be no joy in Mudville this night. Tired of sleeping on the ground we drove on back to
Bayswater and Windarra. Camping is fun but it is nice to sleep in your own
bed. This morning we drove to the Pussy Cat Lodge to pick up
Mandu. He was glad to see us but not ready to get into his cat carrier. It
took a little convincing. His roommate was a Persian named Pepe. They said
they got along just fine. We had a great time during our trip. The scenery on the
South Island is spectacular. The mountains are not higher than anywhere else
and the valleys are not lower but the combination of sea and land is always
changing and inviting to look at. It is back to schoolwork for Jesse and Sarah and boat work
for Rich and myself. Refreshed… 3/29, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand 36 49.259 S, 174 45.895 E, Bayswater Marina, Auckland, New
Zealand Hello again, I apologize for my lack of communication. We just returned
from our three-week jaunt to the United States to visit grandparents. In
between we squeezed in friends and stops to marines stores, hardware stores,
Costco and of course book stores. We were unable to visit with all of the
many friends we have and we hope they will forgive us for not contacting you.
It was tough to see even a few people and still have time to sleep! We covered a lot of air miles. We flew from Auckland to
Sydney, Australia, to LAX and on to Seattle via Oakland, CA. All in one day.
We had breakfast in three different continents (Oceania, Australia and North
America) all on the same Tuesday! 18 hours flight time in 30 hours. The trip
included flights back and forth to the East Coast, a train trip to Vancouver
BC, a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island and numerous drives in the car. The
flight home took us from LAX to Papeete, a brief stopover at 3am on Rarotonga
and finally back to Auckland. We have had enough flying for a while. Our luck
was incredible in that all of the flights (13 of them) were on time or early!
The airport security has improved a lot since our last visit over a year ago.
We are glad of it. We picked up Mandu at the Pussy Cat Lodge. He was happy to
see us! His roommate was Stanzy, a gray tabby, nice but very shy. His stay
must have been all right since he has, filled out, so to speak. He is also
more insistent in wanting attention and pets. It is back to our 'normal' routine. I promise to write more
frequently in the future. Cheers 4/7, Gulf Harbor, Whangaparoa, North Island, New Zealand 36 37.225 S, 174 47.441 E, Gulf Harbor Marina, North
Island, New Zealand Hi there, Sorry about no reports but we were on the hard and I could
not send email (no ground so to speak). On April 1, Rich, Jesse, Sarah and Katmandu motored
Windarra out of Bayswater Marina and north to Gulf Harbor. I drove the car
around and met them at the work dock. The travel lift brought the boat out of
the water and on to dry land. Mandu was sure that the boat was flying again.
For the next couple of days the boat yard wet sanded the bottom, sanded down
a few blisters and put on new bottom paint. The bottom looks brand new and in
very good shape.
Gulf Harbor Marina Living on the boat on the hard is a little tricky. You have
to remember not to use the sinks. Going to the bathroom means going down the ladder,
across the yard to the marina bathrooms. You plan ahead before going to bed
at night! Since we cannot run our refrigeration we did a lot of take out
food. In the morning Rich and I would get up and go to the little
cafe in the marina. We would read the newspaper, drink tea or coffee and
catch a little bit of CNN on the TV over the bar. It is interesting reading
the paper here and getting the perspective of the Kiwis. After our morning news fix we would do chores. Rich worked
on getting the anchor roller replaced and putting parts back on the boat. He
also helped me rebuild the two heads. It is not the most fun job but
important preventative maintenance. Having good working heads makes life much
easier, especially during passage! Friday, Sarah and I joined some of the other cruiser women
for lunch in Parnell. Parnell is a neighborhood similar to Queen Anne, in
Seattle, with many small shops and restaurants. With us was Suzie of Final
Straw, Signe of Raven, Susan of C'est Le Vie, Louise of Lil' Gem and Gaye of
Mobisle. It was a lot of fun. The last time we had lunch together was in
Tonga. We are all going are separate ways and it may be a long time before we
see each other again. It is a little sad after sharing so much the past year
as we crossed the South Pacific.
Suzy, Gaye and Elaine
Signe, Susan and Louise (Sarah is taking the pictures) On Saturday we did a provisioning run at the Pak'n'Sav
(also known as Push’n’Shove), a local grocery store with fairly good prices.
Sunday, Rich and I drove to Ellerslie to sell the car. This is where we
bought the car originally. Of course it was raining but that did not stop
people from coming out to shop. We got there at 8:30 am. It seemed forever
before someone showed interest in the car. The car fair is only open until
noon. At 11:30 am a young Japanese couple took a test drive and decided to
buy it for $3500NZD. We paid $3800NZD originally and we are happy with the
deal. We will transfer ownership of the car tomorrow so we need to do one
more provisioning run while we can. Today they put the boat back in the water and we are now
tied up to the dock with all of the super yachts. At 47 feet, we are by far
the shortest boat on the dock! The longest is 140 feet. There goes the
neighborhood! The plan is to stay here until Saturday. We have plenty to
do with putting the sails back on, rerunning lines, putting things away and
cleaning up the boat. Back to Bristol shape before heading out. Cheers, 4/9, Gulf Harbor, Whangaparoa, North Island, New Zealand 36 37.225 S, 174 47.441 E, Gulf Harbor Marina, North
Island, New Zealand Tuesday night we handed over the keys to our Subaru.
Keriann and Ian of Bucephalus gave us a ride back to Gulf Harbor after we
treated them to dinner. We are getting rid of the ties to land. Yesterday we were busy with boat chores. We put on our new
anchor roller and reattached the fore stay. Jesse and I washed the deck as it
was filthy from being in the boat yard. Rich reinstalled the water maker we
had rebuilt. Hope it will put out good water from now on. In between these
chores Sarah and Jesse are doing their schoolwork. Today we will be putting the head sails back on and getting
the boat ready for cruising. We have updated the website, www.svwindarra.com. It has the
position updates and pictures from our camping trips and other adventures
during the last few months in New Zealand. I have also included some websites
of places we visited and for other cruisers. So enjoy! Cheers, 4/13, Kawau Island, New Zealand 36 25.571 S, 174 50.248 E, Harris Bay, Kawau Island, New
Zealand Yes, we are out of the marina and back in cruising mode out
on the hook! This morning we cleared the decks, stowed things down below and
cast off our dock lines. After leaving the harbor we raised the mainsail,
unfurled the staysail and the yankee and headed to Kawau Island, north of
Gulf Harbor. It felt good to shake out the sails and feel the boat ride with
the wind. The sun was shining as we joined the other boats dancing on the
water. It has been a while but we are ready to be back on the water. We even
saw a few penguins as we sailed along. Time to go farther north if we are
starting to see penguins! Gulf Harbor is a nice quiet place. There is a small yacht
club where we had dinner on Friday night. As I said before we were on the
super yacht dock. There was the 3 masted, 130 ft. schooner, Butterfly
McQueen, which is for sale if anyone is interested. We met Joyce and Chris
Title of Touche My Dear, a Sun Deer 64. They are in the process of building a
house on the bluff above the marina. Chris is an artist of some renown as
well as a singer. He used to tour with Debbie Reynolds. His wife is a nurse
from England. They introduced us to Ian and Deanne of Night Commander, a 60
ft custom yacht. Ian is an industrial engineer and Deanne was a dancer with
the London Royal Ballet. She has danced with Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf
Nureyev. We all come from different backgrounds but we all enjoy sailing! This morning we waved farewell to Ian and Keriann of
Bucephalus. Keriann is heading to Australia for a cooking course. Ian will be
taking the boat to Tonga and she will meet him there. They will be going to
Australia after the islands and we hope to meet up with them again.
Keriann and Ian Kawau Island is part of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park. It
was the island retreat of Sir George Grey while he was governor of the colony
of New Zealand in 1846. Most tourists come here via ferry from downtown
Auckland. It is also popular with boaters. There is a farm that has
wallabies, introduced from Australia. If the weather is decent tomorrow we
might go exploring.
Sunset on Kawau Cheers, 4/16, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand 36 10.344 S, 175 21.513 E, Rarowharo Bay, Great Barrier Island,
New Zealand The last few days have been wet and windy so we just stayed
at anchor. The only ones out where the penguins. Jesse and Sarah did school
work, Rich and I did a few small chores and read. This morning it was nice and sunny so we decided to take
advantage of the break in the weather and sail to Great Barrier Island about
30 miles to the northeast. There are some nice anchorages and many are well
protected. We unfurled the staysail and yankee and sailed along at 6
knots. The seas where lumpy from the winds of the previous days so the ride
was a bit rocky and rolly. Mandu took up his usual position in his bed on the
floor of the cockpit. Rich was prone on the port side, Jesse sitting behind
the helm, Sarah was reading under the dodger and I was alternating between
reading and checking to make sure everything was secure down below. As we came in it started to rain in a drizzle while we
anchored but quickly cleared up. We are sharing the bay with about 10 other
boats. Great Barrier Island is the largest of the offshore
islands. In the 1920s it was the site for timber mills and boat building. Now
it is a popular boating destination and home for some locals. We will see what the weather brings. Cheers, 4/20, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand 36 10.344 S, 175 21.513 E, Rarowharo Bay, Great Barrier
Island, New Zealand Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate it! We are still here at Great Barrier Island. The weather has
been alternating between beautiful sunshine and then periods of showers.
Today it has been all showers or should I say alternating between downpours
and showers! Until Saturday we had this end of the bay to ourselves. On
Saturday we had over 23 more boats keeping us company. Many of them are
sitting here in the rain with us.
Rainbow on Great Barrier Island Apparently Great Barrier Island was one of the first places
in New Zealand to have airmail starting in 1897, well sort of. They used
pigeons to send messages to/from Auckland. The advent of telephone and
reliable ferry service ended the pigeon service. Just a little bit of trivia
about this interesting island. We visited the hamlet of Port Fitzroy. It has a fuel stop,
a used bookstore, a small information booth providing guided walks and a
grocery store. Rich and I picked up a few items at the store on Thursday and
Friday. We will see what the weather is like tomorrow. Cheers, 4/22 Urquhart Bay, North Island, New Zealand 35 50.826 S, 174 31.812 E, Urquhart Bay, North Island, New
Zealand We got up early this morning and pulled up anchor. The rest
of the anchorage was still asleep. The bay was calm and the water like glass.
A mist rose over some of the homes on the hillside. Very picturesque. The airs were light so it was a motor the 50 miles back to
the North Island towards Bream Head, past Taranga Island and Sail Rock. Two
dolphins joined us, drafting off the bow. They would slowly roll over to look
at us then peel off to surface and take a breath then go back just ahead of
the bow. They stayed with us for about half an hour. Then they disappeared,
off to hitch a 'ride' from another boat going more in their direction I
assume.
Dolphin swimming with us We are tucked inside a small bay a short way up a river. If
you continue up about 10 miles you will reach Whangarei (pronounced
Fangaray). This is a popular place for many cruisers to base while they are
in New Zealand, just as we did at Bayswater. It is a smaller town and most
services and conveniences are close to the marina. We will spend the night here then plan to head to Tutukaka
tomorrow as we gunkhole our way northward to Opua and the Bay of Islands. Cheers, 4/24, Tutukaka, North Island, New Zealand 35 36.671 S, 174 31.706 E, Tutukaka, North Island, New Zealand We left Urquhart Bay on Wednesday morning. The winds were
even lighter than the day before and the seas were reasonably flat, so we
motored again. It was only 20 miles to Tutukaka. Tutukaka is a small bay we had visited by car on our first
camping trip. This time we arrived by boat. The channel entry is small but
well marked. Tutukaka is a popular place for deep-sea fishing and diving
trips to the Poor Knight Islands. There is a small marina with hot showers
and a laundry, oh boy. We tied up at the marina and headed for the showers.
Afterwards I put in a few loads of laundry. Seems like I was just doing
laundry at Gulf Harbor but there is another pile to do again! This morning Rich walked up to the little grocery store
(read very small convenience store!) and picked up a newspaper to see what is
happening on the world. The frontpage story is on child obesity and proposed
solutions, such as banning fast food restaurants near schools. Okay... In the afternoon Rich, Sarah and I went to lunch at the Schnappa
Rock Cafe (www.schnapparock.co.nz). Jesse was working on Calculus and stayed
on the boat. It is a cute place, sort of a cross between a palapa and a
tavern. The food was good and we watched a cat climb across the corrugated
plastic roof. In the evening we had Greg and Janis of Gitana and Howard
and Kellie of Rapture 1 over for cocktails and snacks. It was great fun to
catch up on what they have been doing since we saw them last, in November
when we first arrived at Opua. Depending on the weather we will either go out in anchor in
the bay here or head farther north. We have plenty of time and are in no
rush. Besides, tomorrow is Anzac Day, commemorating Australia's and New
Zealand's participating in the battle of Gallipoli. Cheers, 4/25, Whangamumu, North Island, New Zealand 35 15.052 S, 174 17.711 E, Whangamumu, North Island, New
Zealand Happy Anzac Day! This morning we got up and decided that the weather looked
fine and that we should head north. In winds 10 to 18 knots from the
southwest so we ran with our staysail and yankee doing between 5 and 7.5
knots under a clear sunny sky. We watched the green shoreline move by. 30 miles north of Tutukaka is Whangamumu (Fang-a-moo-moo).
It is a small bay surrounded by a native reserve. We share the harbor with
some boats that we know like Athanor, Pegasus and Vellela. There are a total
of 17 boats here including 2 powerboats.
Whangamumu We will be going over to Pegasus for sundowners. Not sure what tomorrow will bring. Cheers, 4/27, Opua, North Island, New Zealand 35 18.806 S, 174 07.646 E, Opua, North Island, New Zealand We spend Saturday enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful
bay of Whangamumu. After Sarah had finished her schoolwork she went off with
Becca and Oly of Athanor. They explored the hills surrounding the bay and
went swimming. In the afternoon Rich and I started to motor over in the
dingy to visit Wendy and Garth on Vellela. Half way across the bay the outboard
motor quit. Rich tried some of the quick tricks to get it going again but no
luck. Finally Garth rowed over and towed us back to Vellela. After some beers and great conversation we decided to give
the dingy another try since it had had a 'rest'. No start. So we paddled our
way back to Windarra. Two thirds of the way back, Eddie of Athanor came to
our rescue and towed us back to Windarra. Guess we need to do some pm on the
outboard! This morning we sat in the cockpit and enjoyed the bay. The
sun was out and the water around the boat was very clear and you could see
the anchor chain, starfish, fish and other marine inhabitants. The bay was
like glass and it was still and quiet, not even the rush, rush noise of the
waves over the sand of the shoreline. Very peaceful and content. Finally roused ourselves and motored out of the beautiful
place and around Cape Brett, passed Hole in the Wall Island and into the Bay
of Islands and Opua. Opua was our first port of call when we arrived in New
Zealand, a little over 7 months ago. My how time flies. We are on a mooring buoy near the Opua Marina. Rich is in
the cockpit cleaning the carburetor of the outboard. We hope that will solve
the problem of it quitting for no other apparent reason.
General Store and Post Office in Opua While we are here, we will do some provisioning and
preparation for our passage to Australia. Cheers, 5/3, Opua, North Island, New Zealand 35 18.938 S, 174 07.222 E, Opua Marina, North Island, New
Zealand The last couple of days we have been doing chores on the
boat in preparation for our passage to Australia. We changed the oil, oil
filter and the fuel filter for the engine. Rich made a replacement pin for
the autopilot connection to the steering quadrant. The original pin has some
wear. Besides greasing the autopilot, Rich also greased the windlass. We also
repacked the aft lazarette, this is the storage area on the aft end that we
access through a hatch on deck. It is like a mini-garage with hoses,
electrical cables, spare lines, stern anchor rode, dingy pump, buckets and
stuff. Thursday was Rich's birthday. We had a small celebration on
the boat, very low key but better than being hit by a wave while on passage
like last year as we made our way to Raroia in the Tuamotus! On Friday morning we got up early to meet Matt and Jo of C
Star. We decided to rent-a-wreck with them for the day to do some chores in
Pahia. Of course it was raining so we got a little damp. I think the car is
the same car that John and Sheri of Second Chance used while they were here.
We helped Matt and Jo do a few errands and then came back to the boat.
Meanwhile the rains continued. We decided that since we had the car we might
as well use it. The dingy ride was a very wet one. All four of us were soaked
by the time we got to the car, not from waves but by the rain coming down in
buckets! We decided to drive to Kerikeri, about 23 km from Opua. It didn't
seemed possible but it was raining harder there. We checked out the movie
theatre to see if we could spend the afternoon at movie. Unfortunately no
movie until 8:30 pm and we could not see hanging out for that long, soaking
wet. So after a bite to eat we went back to the marina to drop off the car.
Sarah bailed out the dingy (water was 4 inches deep) and then a wet ride back
to the boat. Wet jeans just don't dry very fast! This afternoon some of the boats of the cruising rally to
Tonga crossed the starting line by the Opua Cruising Club and headed for
Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga. There are about 40 boats in the rally but only
16 left today. The others are waiting for a better weather window - a wise
decision. We moved to the marina this morning. This afternoon I did
laundry including 4 pairs of wet jeans. I also got some information about
taking Mandu to Australia. On Tuesday we have an appointment with a vet in
Whangarei. He will give Mandu a check-up complete the export health
certificate and then we will take the export permit to the justice of the
peace. No Mandu is not getting married. We just need to have the permit
completion witnessed, like a notary public in the United States. With this
paperwork we should be able to take Mandu to Australia without him having to
do another quarantine. I will let you know how it works. Whangarei is about
60 km or an hour's drive. I am sure Mandu will be excited about that. Meanwhile we wait and we watch the weather.... Cheers, 5/6, Opua, North Island, New Zealand 35 18.938 S, 174 07.222 E, Opua Marina, North Island, New
Zealand Yesterday it was a beautiful sunny day. We did some chores
outside like airing out the genniker and repacking it. We also checked our
deck hardware and made sure it was is good working order. Rich hoisted me up
the mast so that I could reattach the pennant line for our courtesy flags. Today it is raining. We rented a car and did a few errands
into Pahia, such as filling up our propane tank, and getting a few more items
at the grocery store. We put Katmandu into his cat carrier and Rich and I
headed for Whangarei. First stop was at the Mill Road Vet. Here we picked up
the Export Health Certificate. Next stop was the Courthouse. We talked to a
Justice of the Peace and she witnessed the completion of the certificate and
then signed and stamped it, not unlike a notary public. No Mandu did not marry
anyone. Next stop was to the chandlery for a few items (we should own stock
in a marine parts outfit). One of the items we are looking for is some
additional jerry jugs for fuel. We have the 7 6-gallon jugs and we would like
to have a few more. The first and second places we tried were agriculture
stores but they only had 200-liter versions - way too big for the aft deck.
The third place, a plastics store, was the ticket and we bought 2 25-liter
jugs. It was time to go back to the vet. We sat patiently in the
waiting room. Mandu was not interested in the German Shepherd puppy that came
in afterwards. Then it was our turn. He was very patient until the anal probe
or rectal thermometer. That was a little undignified. He was not happy about
the worming pill that the vet pushed down his throat either. A few more
checks and a signature and we were set. Rich and I drove back to Opua. It is
still raining. Tomorrow we will fuel up, top off the water tanks and get out our foulies and long underwear. If the weather proceeds as predicted we plan to leave on Thursday. Until then, cheers |
