Whangarei

Well, as is the norm for sailboats little repairs become bigger repairs and so our hope of sailing to Wellington for Xmas is no longer a reality.
The keel damage was complicated by a poor fibre glass job in the past and we needed to wait for it to totally dry before we can repaint it.
The quick paint job of the anti fouling under the boat we had anticipated turned out to be major as well. The painting we had done in El Salvador turned out to have been poorly done—they had put too much thinners in the paint so it did not adhere to the paint underneath. This meant we had to strip everything off right down to the gel coat. A messy yucky job but hopefully after we have recoated the boat with epoxy and new antifouling paint it will last well.
We had sail damage repaired as well as some work done on the engine—each of these things turned out to be bigger than anticipated and although it is all nearing completion now has been more expensive and taken longer than we had hoped. The only saving grace is that the NZ dollar has fallen even lower than the Canadian and we are able to purchase parts and supplies cheaply. When NZ has to import new things with their lower dollar the price will rise but in the meanwhile we are at least getting some relief.
We bought a car—a small Subaru wagon with low mileage—we have a sunroof, 8 speakers, mag wheels and it is turbo charged so we feel as though we are having a post mid life crisis in our zippy little car. Cars and insurance are cheap here and it works out cheaper to buy than to rent.
We have been boat bound doing boat projects for so long we decided to take a few days and drive up to Cape Reinga—at the north tip of NZ. It is a lovely trip going up the east coast and coming down the west. The north of NZ has many lovely sandy beaches and we discovered many pretty harbours which we will visit later with our boat. The little towns are very picturesque and we had a lovely trip.
At Kaitaia, the northernmost town we left the car and took a bus for the day up to the lighthouse at the top. The bus then drives back down 90 mile beach which is actually 65 miles of white sand which you can drive the on at low tide. As cars are uninsured on the beach and many have not made it we decided to catch the bus. The half buried cars were testament to our smart decision.
The whole area is made from huge sand dunes, many have been planted with pine forests and grasses which have stabilized and changed the original character of the area. However there are some massive sand dunes left and they give you a toboggan and you slide down taking care not to put your feet down as you will get a mouthful of fine white sand!!! It was fun and only regulated by how many times you wanted to climb back up.
We also drove through the kauri forests which were awesome with huge trees about 2000 years old. They are protected and beautiful wooden products are made from the tree stumps which are being recovered from the swamps.
We are now back on the boat trying to tie up a few loose ends and will leave to drive to Wellington on Saturday.
We will have Xmas with my mother, brother and sister and their families and then fly back to the boat on the 4th to finish the painting and get into the water and sail back to Wellington. It will be a relief to be back in the water—boats in boatyards are definitely not to be desired.
We hope you all have a wonderful Xmas season and are looking forward to a great New Year.