Friday, March 06, 2009
Marlborough Sounds
We crossed to the Marlborough Sounds and picked a great window—not an easy feat!!! We left at 6 30am and got out into the Straits two hours later to catch the wind and tides averaging 10 knots for the 20 mile crossing.
We managed to avoid the ferries and entered Tory Channel sailing to an anchorage part way up the channel. We had joined a local boating club which allows us to tie to any of their buoys in all of the Sounds area. The anchorages are deep and wind can be very gusty so the clubs have put in all weather buoys which takes a lot of the guess work out of it—we no longer feel we need to prove anything and are prepared to take any assistance offered.
The next day we headed into the Queen Charlotte Sounds proper—these consist of deep channels lined with bush clad hills and pretty bays throughout. It is a favorite holiday spot for NZ’ers and it is easy to see why. There is a 4 day hiking track along one of the channels and we were able to tie up in the bays and hike up to the track and take day walks along it. The bush is lovely and alive with the sounds and smells of summer---cicadas are everywhere as are a lot of native birds and we got great views as we hiked along the ridges. At night the calls of the Wekas and Moreporc owls are lovely to go to sleep with.
There are a lot of resorts scattered along the bays where hikers can drop down from the trail and spend the night—or two—if they wish and we visited a couple. They have created an “eco” village at Lochmara Lodge where they are trying to breed endangered native birds to return to the wild. Local artists have done work which you come across as you hike through the property which leads to the highest part of the Queen Charlotte track. We had a lovely day hiking the trail and then treated ourselves to a gourmet dinner that night.
There are no stores other than at the resorts where they cater a small amount for the hikers. We did go into a bay which had road access to Picton as we were running out of fresh food and hitch hiked into town---still possible to do in NZ safely. We arranged a ride back with the mail van which dropped us of at our boat.
Water taxi’s and the mail van are the main mode of transport—there are few roads and resorts are serviced by the water taxis. They do a thriving business bringing hikers to and from the trail also.
We had the changeable weather which seems to be the pattern for this summer—3 fine days and then 2 windy and/or rainy days. It is a little frustrating as this time of year is meant to be the most settled.
We did do some lovely kayaking and Ken had a very successful fishing day where he caught some great blue cod. They have a ban on them at the moment in the Sounds but if you go just outside the heads you are able to catch enough for your personal use.
We did a groper fishing day but that only produced sharks.
We put our crab trap out as there are supposed to be lobster around and we thought they would not notice it was a “crab trap” but only caught some weird looking big sand bottom fish.
One island we anchored at is a reserve where we climbed up to Captain Cook’s monument—we have a great deal more respect for him now after having used all kinds of charts, engines and fancy electronics to make our way across the ocean. Mind you it said that he planted the flag in the presence of the local chief but I suspect the local chief and Captain Cook had very different ideas as to what that meant!!!
They have made little blue penguin nests where they breed their young—they have access in and out but obviously feel safe as they are inside. The mesh screen is to protect humans as they apparently will peck you otherwise. They are very cute and we did see lots of them swimming all through the Sounds. Lots of beautiful birds were there also.
At some stage I twisted my knee so that curbed the hiking which is really the main activity down here—it is way to cold for me to swim even though hardy locals seemed to be enjoying it.
We also developed a leak in the main seal of our engine so decided not to push our luck and take the boat to Nelson as we had planned and we will do it next summer.
We attempted to cross back to Wellington but before we got out into the Straits we were getting squalls up to 30 knots so rather than get beat up we retreated and tied up alongside at one of the marinas. It was nice to get on shore and although windy in the Sraits it is lovely in Picton and we stocked up with groceries.
It looks as though there will be a window to cross to Wellington on Monday so if all goes well we will go back then
We will have 6 weeks then and will do a bit of local touring and camping and help my mother get packed up to move into her new “seniors house”—it is in an over 55 complex of single and duplex family dwellings with no stairs and well insolated so as she is now 87 it will work for her.
We are looking forward to seeing a lot of you in April—we fly back April 24th to Canada and are looking forward to seeing you.
We managed to avoid the ferries and entered Tory Channel sailing to an anchorage part way up the channel. We had joined a local boating club which allows us to tie to any of their buoys in all of the Sounds area. The anchorages are deep and wind can be very gusty so the clubs have put in all weather buoys which takes a lot of the guess work out of it—we no longer feel we need to prove anything and are prepared to take any assistance offered.
The next day we headed into the Queen Charlotte Sounds proper—these consist of deep channels lined with bush clad hills and pretty bays throughout. It is a favorite holiday spot for NZ’ers and it is easy to see why. There is a 4 day hiking track along one of the channels and we were able to tie up in the bays and hike up to the track and take day walks along it. The bush is lovely and alive with the sounds and smells of summer---cicadas are everywhere as are a lot of native birds and we got great views as we hiked along the ridges. At night the calls of the Wekas and Moreporc owls are lovely to go to sleep with.
There are a lot of resorts scattered along the bays where hikers can drop down from the trail and spend the night—or two—if they wish and we visited a couple. They have created an “eco” village at Lochmara Lodge where they are trying to breed endangered native birds to return to the wild. Local artists have done work which you come across as you hike through the property which leads to the highest part of the Queen Charlotte track. We had a lovely day hiking the trail and then treated ourselves to a gourmet dinner that night.
There are no stores other than at the resorts where they cater a small amount for the hikers. We did go into a bay which had road access to Picton as we were running out of fresh food and hitch hiked into town---still possible to do in NZ safely. We arranged a ride back with the mail van which dropped us of at our boat.
Water taxi’s and the mail van are the main mode of transport—there are few roads and resorts are serviced by the water taxis. They do a thriving business bringing hikers to and from the trail also.
We had the changeable weather which seems to be the pattern for this summer—3 fine days and then 2 windy and/or rainy days. It is a little frustrating as this time of year is meant to be the most settled.
We did do some lovely kayaking and Ken had a very successful fishing day where he caught some great blue cod. They have a ban on them at the moment in the Sounds but if you go just outside the heads you are able to catch enough for your personal use.
We did a groper fishing day but that only produced sharks.
We put our crab trap out as there are supposed to be lobster around and we thought they would not notice it was a “crab trap” but only caught some weird looking big sand bottom fish.
One island we anchored at is a reserve where we climbed up to Captain Cook’s monument—we have a great deal more respect for him now after having used all kinds of charts, engines and fancy electronics to make our way across the ocean. Mind you it said that he planted the flag in the presence of the local chief but I suspect the local chief and Captain Cook had very different ideas as to what that meant!!!
They have made little blue penguin nests where they breed their young—they have access in and out but obviously feel safe as they are inside. The mesh screen is to protect humans as they apparently will peck you otherwise. They are very cute and we did see lots of them swimming all through the Sounds. Lots of beautiful birds were there also.
At some stage I twisted my knee so that curbed the hiking which is really the main activity down here—it is way to cold for me to swim even though hardy locals seemed to be enjoying it.
We also developed a leak in the main seal of our engine so decided not to push our luck and take the boat to Nelson as we had planned and we will do it next summer.
We attempted to cross back to Wellington but before we got out into the Straits we were getting squalls up to 30 knots so rather than get beat up we retreated and tied up alongside at one of the marinas. It was nice to get on shore and although windy in the Sraits it is lovely in Picton and we stocked up with groceries.
It looks as though there will be a window to cross to Wellington on Monday so if all goes well we will go back then
We will have 6 weeks then and will do a bit of local touring and camping and help my mother get packed up to move into her new “seniors house”—it is in an over 55 complex of single and duplex family dwellings with no stairs and well insolated so as she is now 87 it will work for her.
We are looking forward to seeing a lot of you in April—we fly back April 24th to Canada and are looking forward to seeing you.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Wellington
Well we are firmly ensconced in city life and are enjoying what it has to offer.
Our engine squeal is still there but the mechanic here finally thinks he knows what is causing it and it is now just a matter of getting rid of it---oh we will be sooooo happy when it gets resolved. The dingy outboard is waiting some new seals and other than that we hope we have no new issues to deal with before we head back to Canada—the boat has taken its share of our money and we would like some left for us!!!!
The marina is in a corner of the harbour which leads to the bays I spent my youth at. It is also close to my mother’s house and with our car we are very mobile.
Life in the marina is interesting— the resident gulls provide entertainment when they show up in the hundreds each evening.
Sundays a group of elderly men bring their remote controlled sail boats down and spend hours playing with them—boys are never too old for their toys.
Now that school is back it seems that an elective for physed is dingy sailing. There are about a dozen boats and they are sailed by boys from about 8 years old. They have a great time as they try and ram each other and have water fights as they bail. If it is particularly windy, which is often the case, the thing to avoid is ending up against the log jam as it is difficult to sail off it. They do have a great time and I am sure they all envisage themselves as future America’s cup sailors.
We managed to get my brother and three nephews together to go fishing out into the Cook Strait a week ago. The forecast was for light winds and seas becoming glassy—what could be better for a fishing trip? We set off at 6 30 AM and motored the 14KM to the “spot” where the grouper are meant to be at 200 metres deep. Shortly after the lines went out the winds started to pick up—the other power boats around us all started to head back—a sign?????
Not to be a quitter Ken decided we would try and wait as surely the glassy seas would come---wrong!!! Finally as the winds were picking up towards 25-30knots he decided we should give it up only to have one of the lines get caught around the propeller. Oh well we are a sailboat and we do have wind so we tacked endlessly into the wind back through the heads. We then anchored in a shallow part of the harbour where the lines went out again and Ken dove under the boat and unwound the caught line ending up with a mass of tangled line on deck. We did manage to catch a few small fish and the boys all enjoyed the sailing. It makes me think those who sail against the “trade winds” are crazy as to tack your way around the world must be exhausting.
Wellington certainly deserves its reputation as a windy city but on a sunny day it is very beautiful and you forgive it the wind. It is also a city very close to nature and we have hiked up into the hills through the lovely bush with harbour views. We can do some lovely walks around the hills near the bays or along the river to the city centre of Lower Hutt. We had a beautiful dinner at a restaurant overlooking the beach for our wedding anniversary.
The whole country is sports crazy and we have had rugby, cricket, sailing and tennis continuously dominating the television. We had our fix last Saturday starting off watching a local cricket game in Wellington with my nephew Sven. It was a lovely day and everyone sits on the grass cheering on their local team. The game we went to was Wellington against Otago (the south of the South Island). They have developed watcher friendly matches which are a very much shortened version of the original matches and they are over in a about four hours. Unfortunately Otago was the much better team and the game was even shorter. It was fun though to sit in the sunshine.
It was also the weekend of the “Sevens” which is the world wide rugby tournament also developed for television watchers. It involves teams of seven players playing seven minute halve games of fast running rugby. This has become so popular that traditional non rugby playing nations are entering teams—Canada and USA had teams here. They play all over the world, Hong Kong used to have the largest tournament but Wellington has taken over and it brings 12 million dollars into the city over the two days. The tickets are $160 and are sold out in the first hour they are on sale. It has become popular to dress up and the costumes are amazing. It has become one huge party and the revelry spills all over the city. After we had got back to the boat from the cricket my niece phoned to say they had been there but after having driven from Auckland were tired and would we like to go for the rest of the day. It starts at 2pm and goes until 10pm. We jumped in the car and got there by 6 30pm. It was crazy with everyone drinking and partying. We were amongst the few people not in costume and I am not sure how much rugby is watched after the first hour. We saw Canada tie France and New Zealand beat Australia. The opening ceremonies were held while we were there and we loudly cheered Canada as they marched in.
We did not have the tickets for the next day when NZ was beaten in the finals by England. This was an upset although the tournament is viewed as a whole over the 20 different countries where it is played. NZ, South Africa and Fiji are the traditional favorites.
The next day we set off to the Wairarapa—a valley across a mountain range about an hour away to the Martinborough Fair which is billed as the largest of it’s kind in Australasia. Once again it was a lovely day and we enjoyed seeing all of the arts and crafts for sale.
Afterwards we went to a local winery, bought a bottle of wine and sat under the trees listening to the jazz band which was playing. We then drove to another winery which was hosting the university drama club putting on Henry V—this summer all of the works of Shakespeare are being put on outdoors somewhere in NZ. Once again we were not prepared for the NZ summer lifestyle which always has a picnic blanket and food in the car but were invited to share the food of a group of friends sitting near us, it was a lovely evening.
There are so many outdoor activities on all summer and we will attempt to pay attention and go to more of them.
We are hoping to have the boat and the weather ready for us to go across the Cook Strait to cruise the Marlborough Sounds at the end of the week for a few weeks.
Our engine squeal is still there but the mechanic here finally thinks he knows what is causing it and it is now just a matter of getting rid of it---oh we will be sooooo happy when it gets resolved. The dingy outboard is waiting some new seals and other than that we hope we have no new issues to deal with before we head back to Canada—the boat has taken its share of our money and we would like some left for us!!!!
The marina is in a corner of the harbour which leads to the bays I spent my youth at. It is also close to my mother’s house and with our car we are very mobile.
Life in the marina is interesting— the resident gulls provide entertainment when they show up in the hundreds each evening.
Sundays a group of elderly men bring their remote controlled sail boats down and spend hours playing with them—boys are never too old for their toys.
Now that school is back it seems that an elective for physed is dingy sailing. There are about a dozen boats and they are sailed by boys from about 8 years old. They have a great time as they try and ram each other and have water fights as they bail. If it is particularly windy, which is often the case, the thing to avoid is ending up against the log jam as it is difficult to sail off it. They do have a great time and I am sure they all envisage themselves as future America’s cup sailors.
We managed to get my brother and three nephews together to go fishing out into the Cook Strait a week ago. The forecast was for light winds and seas becoming glassy—what could be better for a fishing trip? We set off at 6 30 AM and motored the 14KM to the “spot” where the grouper are meant to be at 200 metres deep. Shortly after the lines went out the winds started to pick up—the other power boats around us all started to head back—a sign?????
Not to be a quitter Ken decided we would try and wait as surely the glassy seas would come---wrong!!! Finally as the winds were picking up towards 25-30knots he decided we should give it up only to have one of the lines get caught around the propeller. Oh well we are a sailboat and we do have wind so we tacked endlessly into the wind back through the heads. We then anchored in a shallow part of the harbour where the lines went out again and Ken dove under the boat and unwound the caught line ending up with a mass of tangled line on deck. We did manage to catch a few small fish and the boys all enjoyed the sailing. It makes me think those who sail against the “trade winds” are crazy as to tack your way around the world must be exhausting.
Wellington certainly deserves its reputation as a windy city but on a sunny day it is very beautiful and you forgive it the wind. It is also a city very close to nature and we have hiked up into the hills through the lovely bush with harbour views. We can do some lovely walks around the hills near the bays or along the river to the city centre of Lower Hutt. We had a beautiful dinner at a restaurant overlooking the beach for our wedding anniversary.
The whole country is sports crazy and we have had rugby, cricket, sailing and tennis continuously dominating the television. We had our fix last Saturday starting off watching a local cricket game in Wellington with my nephew Sven. It was a lovely day and everyone sits on the grass cheering on their local team. The game we went to was Wellington against Otago (the south of the South Island). They have developed watcher friendly matches which are a very much shortened version of the original matches and they are over in a about four hours. Unfortunately Otago was the much better team and the game was even shorter. It was fun though to sit in the sunshine.
It was also the weekend of the “Sevens” which is the world wide rugby tournament also developed for television watchers. It involves teams of seven players playing seven minute halve games of fast running rugby. This has become so popular that traditional non rugby playing nations are entering teams—Canada and USA had teams here. They play all over the world, Hong Kong used to have the largest tournament but Wellington has taken over and it brings 12 million dollars into the city over the two days. The tickets are $160 and are sold out in the first hour they are on sale. It has become popular to dress up and the costumes are amazing. It has become one huge party and the revelry spills all over the city. After we had got back to the boat from the cricket my niece phoned to say they had been there but after having driven from Auckland were tired and would we like to go for the rest of the day. It starts at 2pm and goes until 10pm. We jumped in the car and got there by 6 30pm. It was crazy with everyone drinking and partying. We were amongst the few people not in costume and I am not sure how much rugby is watched after the first hour. We saw Canada tie France and New Zealand beat Australia. The opening ceremonies were held while we were there and we loudly cheered Canada as they marched in.
We did not have the tickets for the next day when NZ was beaten in the finals by England. This was an upset although the tournament is viewed as a whole over the 20 different countries where it is played. NZ, South Africa and Fiji are the traditional favorites.
The next day we set off to the Wairarapa—a valley across a mountain range about an hour away to the Martinborough Fair which is billed as the largest of it’s kind in Australasia. Once again it was a lovely day and we enjoyed seeing all of the arts and crafts for sale.
Afterwards we went to a local winery, bought a bottle of wine and sat under the trees listening to the jazz band which was playing. We then drove to another winery which was hosting the university drama club putting on Henry V—this summer all of the works of Shakespeare are being put on outdoors somewhere in NZ. Once again we were not prepared for the NZ summer lifestyle which always has a picnic blanket and food in the car but were invited to share the food of a group of friends sitting near us, it was a lovely evening.
There are so many outdoor activities on all summer and we will attempt to pay attention and go to more of them.
We are hoping to have the boat and the weather ready for us to go across the Cook Strait to cruise the Marlborough Sounds at the end of the week for a few weeks.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Whangarei to Wellington
Well we finally got back in the water only to discover as we motored along the river to leave Whangarei a whining noise coming from our engines!!!! We stopped at a marina and the mechanic who had just done a pile of work for us on them drove down but has no idea what it is. He suggested we needed new plates for our gear boxes? –he could not locate any but a mechanic at Opua which was on our way to go north was able to get them.
We took a couple of days before going to Opua at the lovely bay at the end of the river and did some walking around the wonderful area. I am forever finding where I might live if life worked out so I could have half of me here, half on the boat, half in Salt Spring---hmmm not enough halves!!!! This is an area which one half could be. Golden sandy beaches and warm enough to grow bananas and oranges—there was a tennis club---$50 a year membership and on the notice board at the local store yoga classes were advertised. What more could you need.
The sights and sounds of NZ are so lovely that I sometimes wonder why I ever left. This year the flowers of the Pohutakawa trees were the most brilliant I have ever seen. These are the trees which are near the ocean all over the North Island which are covered in bright red flowers. They flower at Xmas and are known as NZ’s Xmas tree. California has taken to planting them and if they ever manage to get as many as they have here they will brighten up their lives. The flax has also been flowering and this usually has a resident Tui—the black bird with the white fluff under his chin that has a raucous call. The native bush is full of ferns and palms of all kinds and the sounds are alive with cicadas. As soon as the sun has set the Moreporc, an owl with a call that sounds like his name starts calling.
The quality of the produce, dairy and meat is great and it is hard to resist buying wine every time you go into the grocery store. The endless “specials” are amazing—a lot of good Australian, South African and NZ wines on for $9 99—that is equivalent to C$7 and includes taxes. I can see in Salt Spring we will be wine less as we will not be able to bring ourselves to pay the exorbitant BC liquor prices.
The lifestyle is casual and between the endless beaches and accessible bush is much attuned to the outdoors. People are amazingly friendly and many of our cruiser friends are trying to come up with a way to immigrate here. Perhaps we could persuade all of our family to move here and then I would not have to feel so split.
We then set off to Opua, our friends on “Que Barbara” were there so we had a lovely evening with them. The next day I grocery shopped in Pahia while Ken supervised the engine work. After many hours the plate was replaced on one engine and on inspection appeared to have nothing wrong with it and the whine is still there so we suspect it is the shaft seals the Whangarei mechanic had replaced. It can wait till Wellington now as we are totally frustrated with the whole affair/
We left Opua heading north to Whangaroa, a small harbour where Gaia Su” from PEI is waiting for us—we will buddy boat with them to Wellington. We anchored in yet another lovely bay for a few days kayaking and hiking in the bush trails.
We left to go the 35 miles north to Hauhora only to turn back after a few hours of beating into 30 knot head winds. It is one thing to be “at sea” and not have an alternative but there is no point beating your boat and yourself up if you can wait another day.
We anchored at the village so we could get bread and milk and discovered that this area is considered the game fishing capital of NZ. The huge trophies on the wall of massive tuna and swordfish make me nervous when Ken puts his line out in this area.
He has caught several albacore tunas which have been fairly small, apparently mahi mahi and marlin come down here at this time of year but we have not seen any.
The next day tried again and had a less stressful passage to Hauhora which is our “jumping off” place for our sail to Wellington.
The weather looked good so we left in the morning to light winds with Gaia Su; the forecast predicted a week of fine weather with not much wind so we anticipate a lot of motor sailing. We definitely prefer that option these days!!!
It was awesome to sail around North Cape—the northerly cape in NZ and then to Cape Reinga—our Xmas photo had been on land there. After rounding Cape Reinga we were rapidly brought back to reality with very confused lumpy seas and strong winds in our face. Oh well this life is definitely not for faint hearted.
Eight hours later the seas calmed and we had a great sail all through the next day.
At that stage the winds dropped and we were forced to start our engines.
Three days of motor sailing later we approached the dreaded Cook Strait.
Gaia Su was headed to Nelson so had left us and safely arrived but we had an extra day sailing.
We had been listening to gale warnings for this area constantly broadcast on the radio on our 4 day passage. Adverse currents and rips always occur in this notorious stretch of water and a gale would not be welcomed. Our option had always been to “hole up” in the Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island waiting for better conditions if necessary. We sail right by this area as it is actually north of Wellington.
There were winds forecast from 15-20 knots over the next day and a half so we decided to power up the engines some more and try and overcome all of the other issues which would present themselves. The winds had been 30-35 and would be again in two days so we were grateful for the opening.
27th Jan
Well what a difference a few hours make!!!
I had been writing this just before we got to the Cook Strait where we were having winds 10-15 knots behind us and were still having to motor sail to make the required 5 knots to hit the currents at the right time to get to Wellington.
The winds started building and building and building!!!! We had already been fairly well reefed to be ready for the 25+knots we may get but suddenly we were in 30-40 knots just as we hit what we now know is the roughest part of the passage. They call it the washing machine!!! Now the current had turned and we hit 14 knots of speed at one stage travelling east but now our issue was would we be able to turn north—directly into the wind to motor through the Heads into Wellington? The Heads are littered with the remains of many boats and ships which were unable to.
We called the Maritime Radio to get advice to see where we may be safely able to seek shelter but all she could tell me was that the forecast said there should be up to 20 knots of wind---hmm maybe she should have been out here!!
Finally it was suggested we call the marine police as they are more familiar with the area to advise what we should try and do. The police told us that another boat had turned and gone back to the Sounds earlier in the day. We turned to try and go back only to find that as we had timed our arrival with favorable currents to come we were only making 3 knots going back—a daunting prospect. We were envisioning all night out in these conditions.
The police then called us back and advised us that as we only had 4 miles to a bay north of us which would give us shelter we should see if we could make it. They also said they were coming out anyway to keep an eye on us---NOT OUR REQUEST!!!!--. We now turned to the bay and were bucking and dropping—felt like a downhill ski run—and with both engines pinned we were making around 2 knot—oh well only 2 more hours to go. Two ferries were approaching us --one eastbound and one westbound—we radioed them and both advised us that they saw us clearly and would change course to avoid us. Now the police arrived and we chatted with them as we rocked and rolled slowly towards shore. The seas calmed a little and now we were almost doing 3 knots. They said that it had not been as windy when they came through the heads so we decided we could probably get through so changed course to line up the approach.
We slowly made our way and eventually made our way into Wellington harbour complete with police escort—what a fitting way to return home!!!!! The winds never did abate but the seas did as we got closer.
Once we were in the harbour they left us and we continued to tack backwards and forwards the last 9 miles to the marina. It was very surreal to see the people at sheltered beaches swimming and sunbathing—did they not know there was a gale out there!!
Our friends Anne and Harvey—had been with us in Raratonga—came down and helped us tie up—another feat to overcome and we had to tie each bow to a piling as we backed in so we would not be blown onto the dock. With the wind still blowing it was difficult and we were very happy to finally be ashore and go to their house for pizza after the celebratory champagne they had bought down to share with us—we felt we had earned it!!
By 7pm the wind had calmed and the whole of the next day was calm—it appeared that the forecasting had been 8 hours off!!!
Anyway for all of our friends with their boats up north it may be easier to drive down!!!
We had used 20 gallons of fuel since we left Whangarei—included the river and going into Opua and all of our other stops and motor sailing a lot of the way to the Cook Strait but we then used another 20 gallons getting in!!!
Heaving to is not an option with the wicked currents as you would be washed either to South Africa or Australia so without an engine it would have been miserable.
We intend staying here for about 2 weeks and then will venture back out to sail across to the Marlborough Sounds when we get a good forecast—and can peep outside and make a decision before heading out.
My mom is happy we are here and we are trying to figure a way to get her on the boat to take her out on the harbour for a ride on a nice day. Her arthritis will make it difficult but she would love to come—a crane???
My brother and his boys are hoping for a fishing trip back out into the Straits but once again will have to wait till we can see it calm.
Nieces and nephews want to come to the Sounds and visit so all in all it will be nice to have the boat here.
The marina is great although we are on a new dock and they are still hooking up our power and water. The resident sea gulls come in by the hundreds every night and squawk and fight on the empty docks around us—as they fill up with boats will they find a new spot??
Hope all is well with all of you and now that we are safely tied up all is well with us.
We took a couple of days before going to Opua at the lovely bay at the end of the river and did some walking around the wonderful area. I am forever finding where I might live if life worked out so I could have half of me here, half on the boat, half in Salt Spring---hmmm not enough halves!!!! This is an area which one half could be. Golden sandy beaches and warm enough to grow bananas and oranges—there was a tennis club---$50 a year membership and on the notice board at the local store yoga classes were advertised. What more could you need.
The sights and sounds of NZ are so lovely that I sometimes wonder why I ever left. This year the flowers of the Pohutakawa trees were the most brilliant I have ever seen. These are the trees which are near the ocean all over the North Island which are covered in bright red flowers. They flower at Xmas and are known as NZ’s Xmas tree. California has taken to planting them and if they ever manage to get as many as they have here they will brighten up their lives. The flax has also been flowering and this usually has a resident Tui—the black bird with the white fluff under his chin that has a raucous call. The native bush is full of ferns and palms of all kinds and the sounds are alive with cicadas. As soon as the sun has set the Moreporc, an owl with a call that sounds like his name starts calling.
The quality of the produce, dairy and meat is great and it is hard to resist buying wine every time you go into the grocery store. The endless “specials” are amazing—a lot of good Australian, South African and NZ wines on for $9 99—that is equivalent to C$7 and includes taxes. I can see in Salt Spring we will be wine less as we will not be able to bring ourselves to pay the exorbitant BC liquor prices.
The lifestyle is casual and between the endless beaches and accessible bush is much attuned to the outdoors. People are amazingly friendly and many of our cruiser friends are trying to come up with a way to immigrate here. Perhaps we could persuade all of our family to move here and then I would not have to feel so split.
We then set off to Opua, our friends on “Que Barbara” were there so we had a lovely evening with them. The next day I grocery shopped in Pahia while Ken supervised the engine work. After many hours the plate was replaced on one engine and on inspection appeared to have nothing wrong with it and the whine is still there so we suspect it is the shaft seals the Whangarei mechanic had replaced. It can wait till Wellington now as we are totally frustrated with the whole affair/
We left Opua heading north to Whangaroa, a small harbour where Gaia Su” from PEI is waiting for us—we will buddy boat with them to Wellington. We anchored in yet another lovely bay for a few days kayaking and hiking in the bush trails.
We left to go the 35 miles north to Hauhora only to turn back after a few hours of beating into 30 knot head winds. It is one thing to be “at sea” and not have an alternative but there is no point beating your boat and yourself up if you can wait another day.
We anchored at the village so we could get bread and milk and discovered that this area is considered the game fishing capital of NZ. The huge trophies on the wall of massive tuna and swordfish make me nervous when Ken puts his line out in this area.
He has caught several albacore tunas which have been fairly small, apparently mahi mahi and marlin come down here at this time of year but we have not seen any.
The next day tried again and had a less stressful passage to Hauhora which is our “jumping off” place for our sail to Wellington.
The weather looked good so we left in the morning to light winds with Gaia Su; the forecast predicted a week of fine weather with not much wind so we anticipate a lot of motor sailing. We definitely prefer that option these days!!!
It was awesome to sail around North Cape—the northerly cape in NZ and then to Cape Reinga—our Xmas photo had been on land there. After rounding Cape Reinga we were rapidly brought back to reality with very confused lumpy seas and strong winds in our face. Oh well this life is definitely not for faint hearted.
Eight hours later the seas calmed and we had a great sail all through the next day.
At that stage the winds dropped and we were forced to start our engines.
Three days of motor sailing later we approached the dreaded Cook Strait.
Gaia Su was headed to Nelson so had left us and safely arrived but we had an extra day sailing.
We had been listening to gale warnings for this area constantly broadcast on the radio on our 4 day passage. Adverse currents and rips always occur in this notorious stretch of water and a gale would not be welcomed. Our option had always been to “hole up” in the Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island waiting for better conditions if necessary. We sail right by this area as it is actually north of Wellington.
There were winds forecast from 15-20 knots over the next day and a half so we decided to power up the engines some more and try and overcome all of the other issues which would present themselves. The winds had been 30-35 and would be again in two days so we were grateful for the opening.
27th Jan
Well what a difference a few hours make!!!
I had been writing this just before we got to the Cook Strait where we were having winds 10-15 knots behind us and were still having to motor sail to make the required 5 knots to hit the currents at the right time to get to Wellington.
The winds started building and building and building!!!! We had already been fairly well reefed to be ready for the 25+knots we may get but suddenly we were in 30-40 knots just as we hit what we now know is the roughest part of the passage. They call it the washing machine!!! Now the current had turned and we hit 14 knots of speed at one stage travelling east but now our issue was would we be able to turn north—directly into the wind to motor through the Heads into Wellington? The Heads are littered with the remains of many boats and ships which were unable to.
We called the Maritime Radio to get advice to see where we may be safely able to seek shelter but all she could tell me was that the forecast said there should be up to 20 knots of wind---hmm maybe she should have been out here!!
Finally it was suggested we call the marine police as they are more familiar with the area to advise what we should try and do. The police told us that another boat had turned and gone back to the Sounds earlier in the day. We turned to try and go back only to find that as we had timed our arrival with favorable currents to come we were only making 3 knots going back—a daunting prospect. We were envisioning all night out in these conditions.
The police then called us back and advised us that as we only had 4 miles to a bay north of us which would give us shelter we should see if we could make it. They also said they were coming out anyway to keep an eye on us---NOT OUR REQUEST!!!!--. We now turned to the bay and were bucking and dropping—felt like a downhill ski run—and with both engines pinned we were making around 2 knot—oh well only 2 more hours to go. Two ferries were approaching us --one eastbound and one westbound—we radioed them and both advised us that they saw us clearly and would change course to avoid us. Now the police arrived and we chatted with them as we rocked and rolled slowly towards shore. The seas calmed a little and now we were almost doing 3 knots. They said that it had not been as windy when they came through the heads so we decided we could probably get through so changed course to line up the approach.
We slowly made our way and eventually made our way into Wellington harbour complete with police escort—what a fitting way to return home!!!!! The winds never did abate but the seas did as we got closer.
Once we were in the harbour they left us and we continued to tack backwards and forwards the last 9 miles to the marina. It was very surreal to see the people at sheltered beaches swimming and sunbathing—did they not know there was a gale out there!!
Our friends Anne and Harvey—had been with us in Raratonga—came down and helped us tie up—another feat to overcome and we had to tie each bow to a piling as we backed in so we would not be blown onto the dock. With the wind still blowing it was difficult and we were very happy to finally be ashore and go to their house for pizza after the celebratory champagne they had bought down to share with us—we felt we had earned it!!
By 7pm the wind had calmed and the whole of the next day was calm—it appeared that the forecasting had been 8 hours off!!!
Anyway for all of our friends with their boats up north it may be easier to drive down!!!
We had used 20 gallons of fuel since we left Whangarei—included the river and going into Opua and all of our other stops and motor sailing a lot of the way to the Cook Strait but we then used another 20 gallons getting in!!!
Heaving to is not an option with the wicked currents as you would be washed either to South Africa or Australia so without an engine it would have been miserable.
We intend staying here for about 2 weeks and then will venture back out to sail across to the Marlborough Sounds when we get a good forecast—and can peep outside and make a decision before heading out.
My mom is happy we are here and we are trying to figure a way to get her on the boat to take her out on the harbour for a ride on a nice day. Her arthritis will make it difficult but she would love to come—a crane???
My brother and his boys are hoping for a fishing trip back out into the Straits but once again will have to wait till we can see it calm.
Nieces and nephews want to come to the Sounds and visit so all in all it will be nice to have the boat here.
The marina is great although we are on a new dock and they are still hooking up our power and water. The resident sea gulls come in by the hundreds every night and squawk and fight on the empty docks around us—as they fill up with boats will they find a new spot??
Hope all is well with all of you and now that we are safely tied up all is well with us.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Xmas and New Year in New Zealand
We drove to Wellington and had a lovely Xmas with my family.—although it is hard to feel as though it is Xmas when it is sunny and hot. Even the few lights on the houses are not visible until 9pm as it is not dark until then. We did share time with all of the family though and everyone feels very relaxed and summery. Most places are closed for 2 weeks over Xmas which makes it easy for families to get together.
We were able to take my mother around in the car—she is limited in her mobility with her arthritis so appreciates getting out. A lot of the family drops in on her on a regular basis but her world has shrunk a lot as she ages. We drove to the beaches as she loves to be near the sea.
We did persuade her to let us rent a wheelchair for her at Te Papa museum in Wellington which worked very well. They had a special exhibition of a giant squid which had been caught by a fishing boat and had been wrapped around a fish in the Ross Sea near Antarctic. It was huge and hopefully none will attach themselves to any fish we catch!!
We had a fairly lazy time taking a few day hikes in between taking mum around and flew back to Auckland in the New Year. We had a day in Auckland wandering around the America’s cup basin which is always pleasant and then caught the bus back to Whangarei to the boat.
The fibre glassing was complete and with a fine spell of weather we were able to finish the painting and polishing and get the boat back in the water on schedule.
As we motored out the Whangarei River one of the engines which had been worked on began to squeal. The mechanic drove to meet us and is unable to figure out what the problem is.
We decided to spend a couple of days at the idyllic bays in the area and head back to Opua which is en route to Wellington anyway to see if someone here can pinpoint the problem. After a day working on various options no one here can come up with an easy fix so in the meanwhile we are going to live with it and see if it works itself out.
We met up with old friends who have been in this area since they arrived which is always nice.
In the morning we will continue to head up north with Gaiasu, a Canadian catamaran which is going to buddy boat with us around Cape Reinga—the northern most cape in NZ and then will go down to Wellington with them. It will be fun to do it with someone else as there are far fewer boats going there than had been with us on previous passages. We will put into some of the small bays on the way north and do some fishing, swimming and hanging out as it looks as though we will have to wait a week to get northerly winds coming of an anticyclone to bring us south. We are looking forward to being a cruising boat again. As it is mid summer here everyone is holidaying on their boats in the anchorages and all we seem to be doing is boat repairs. We want to holiday too!!!!!
We will have southerlies to take us up and we will stop at the northern most anchorage until the northerlies develop and then go around the top and then 3 days or so to get south. If the weather in the Cook Strait is OK we will turn and head into Wellington but if as is often the case it is bad we will go to the top of the South Island and find shelter and cross when it calms down. The Cook Strait is one of the most notorious stretches of water in the world and as an ex Wellingtonian I have the utmost respect for it.
I will update the blog after our arrival.
Hope it is not too cold where you are—about 25C here each day.
We were able to take my mother around in the car—she is limited in her mobility with her arthritis so appreciates getting out. A lot of the family drops in on her on a regular basis but her world has shrunk a lot as she ages. We drove to the beaches as she loves to be near the sea.
We did persuade her to let us rent a wheelchair for her at Te Papa museum in Wellington which worked very well. They had a special exhibition of a giant squid which had been caught by a fishing boat and had been wrapped around a fish in the Ross Sea near Antarctic. It was huge and hopefully none will attach themselves to any fish we catch!!
We had a fairly lazy time taking a few day hikes in between taking mum around and flew back to Auckland in the New Year. We had a day in Auckland wandering around the America’s cup basin which is always pleasant and then caught the bus back to Whangarei to the boat.
The fibre glassing was complete and with a fine spell of weather we were able to finish the painting and polishing and get the boat back in the water on schedule.
As we motored out the Whangarei River one of the engines which had been worked on began to squeal. The mechanic drove to meet us and is unable to figure out what the problem is.
We decided to spend a couple of days at the idyllic bays in the area and head back to Opua which is en route to Wellington anyway to see if someone here can pinpoint the problem. After a day working on various options no one here can come up with an easy fix so in the meanwhile we are going to live with it and see if it works itself out.
We met up with old friends who have been in this area since they arrived which is always nice.
In the morning we will continue to head up north with Gaiasu, a Canadian catamaran which is going to buddy boat with us around Cape Reinga—the northern most cape in NZ and then will go down to Wellington with them. It will be fun to do it with someone else as there are far fewer boats going there than had been with us on previous passages. We will put into some of the small bays on the way north and do some fishing, swimming and hanging out as it looks as though we will have to wait a week to get northerly winds coming of an anticyclone to bring us south. We are looking forward to being a cruising boat again. As it is mid summer here everyone is holidaying on their boats in the anchorages and all we seem to be doing is boat repairs. We want to holiday too!!!!!
We will have southerlies to take us up and we will stop at the northern most anchorage until the northerlies develop and then go around the top and then 3 days or so to get south. If the weather in the Cook Strait is OK we will turn and head into Wellington but if as is often the case it is bad we will go to the top of the South Island and find shelter and cross when it calms down. The Cook Strait is one of the most notorious stretches of water in the world and as an ex Wellingtonian I have the utmost respect for it.
I will update the blog after our arrival.
Hope it is not too cold where you are—about 25C here each day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
