Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sailing again
Finally, after so long on land we set out on Cop Out to go fishing with my family.
We had a calm sunny day so we took Warren, Frances, Lynda’s son Mike, son in law Rob and grandson Jade for the day fishing. We were able to go out into the Straits and caught a variety of fish appreciating at least it was a nice enough day to go outside the harbour. The swell proved too much for some of them making for a queasy crew and perhaps next time we will just fish in the harbour as the haul did not justify the effort and time it takes to get out there. Mike took some of it home and brought us back some smoked which was delicious.
We set off on New Years Eve with our friends Anne and Harvey for what we hoped would be a summer vacation in the Marlborough Sounds. We had a fairly fast if not a little rough for Anne and Harvey passage across the infamous Cook Strait and through Tory Channel to a sheltered anchorage in the Queen Charlotte Sounds.
New Years Eve was celebrated there with John and Ann and their son, their catamaran is beside ours in Seaview Marina and we introduced them to Mexican Train and the 7 of us had a great start to 2010.
The weather was windy and unsettled which made the decision to do one more night in the same sheltered bay. We had planned on trying to head further west to the Abel Tasman area but once again the famed Cook Strait weather made us decide to spend the week Anne and Harvey would have with us in the Sounds. The next few days were still very windy which forced us to go from one sheltered bay to the next. Although it was not what we had envisioned when we planned the trip it was lovely to be back on the boat at anchor after so long land bound.
The advantage of this area is that each bay is accessible to the Queen Charlotte Track, one of NZ’s famed hiking trails so we were able to get off the boat and on land it was remarkably sheltered. It is a lovely area and even though Ken and I had been there last year it was fun to be there again and share it with good friends.
We had a couple of calm days and we were able to go out into the Straits and catch the famed “blue cod”. There has been a moratorium on them in the Sounds to replenish the stocks but one day after catching and throwing many back within the Sounds we feel that they should plan on reopening the area soon.
Each night our hunter gatherer men would go off in search of paua—a NZ relation to the abalone—and make paua fritters for dinner—even though Anne and I showed a less than enthusiastic response we ate our share each night and have to admit they were quite delicious.
Evenings were filled with much laughter with good food, wine and Mexican Train or phase 10—our card game. Anne who claims not to be competitive certainly did her part in disproving this with Ken and me never seeming to win!!
We gradually made our way towards Picton where Anne and Harvey would catch the ferry back to Wellington and arranged to tie up alongside at the marina there to sit out the next lot of strong winds. We had had another enjoyable time with them with Harvey having spent the prerequisite day in the engine room and were sad to see them go as they caught the ferry home. Unfortunately they had not had the weather they had hoped for but Anne is going to India in a few weeks so has some hot weather there to make up for it.
Ken and I decided to see if we could catch a bus to Nelson for the Saturday market the next day. The bus fares were $44 each return for us and we found we could rent a car for $65 so that was a no brainer!!
The next morning was a lovely day and we headed off on the 2 hour drive to the beautiful city of Nelson. Nelson is one of NZ’s artsy communities with lots of pottery and other wonderful arts and crafts and along with the sunny seaside location is my idea of a perfect place to live. The market is huge and very similar to the Salt Spring Island market with the fruit and veg component a big part of it. Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and cherries were in high season so we stocked up on all of them along with lots of salad vegs for our next part of our trip.
We restocked groceries and after waiting out a blustery Sunday decided to take what looked like a promising weather window on Monday to do the 2 day trip across to Abel Tasman Park as it is another favourite place of ours.
We set off to an anchorage which would give us access to travel through French Pass the next day at slack tide and joined up with another boat from Seaview Marina catching enough blue cod to share for dinner and another enjoyable evening.
The next morning we set off in calm weather and passed through the pass uneventfully picking up wind afterwards to have a fast sail to the anchorage in Abel Tasman arriving and anchoring late in the afternoon.
This area is a stretch of golden sandy beaches backed by more of NZ’s lovely green bush clad hills which has become a huge centre for kayaking and hiking. We have kayaked it twice in the past and love it here.
The tourism has increased incredibly in the last decade and there is a constant arrival of water taxis and kayaks. You can kayak, hike or sail as much or as little as you want and you or your kayak can be picked up or dropped off at any beach you want. To kayak or hike the whole park is about 4 or 5 days but people who are limited by time can take just do part of it. It is absolutely idyllic and the weather patterns are no longer dictated by the Cook Strait so all of a sudden we felt as though our summer had started. We spent a few days in a lovely anchorage where we hiked for a few hours each day and even were able to barbecue on the boat.
Many NZers on sailboats use this area as their summer holidays much as we had used the Gulf Islands so although there are many boats here most are local with lots of kids and beach activities going on.
We met a family of Graeme, Linda and their 12 year old son Lochlan on their 28foot catamaran Little Blue—named after the little blue penguins prevalent in central NZ. They offered to take us to explore the lagoons which are behind each beach accessible at high tide but too shallow and narrow for our boat. We had an enjoyable day with them going into each lagoon which in bad weather they use as shelter anchorages and Ken was recruited to give Lochey some fishing education. Graeme is not a keen fisherman but Lochey is so he became Ken’s best friend. We caught a few small fish and on the way back dragged their scallop dredge. We had seen people do it everywhere here but as we don’t have access to one had not had the opportunity to try one out. You have a net attached to an aluminium frame which drags along the sandy bottom at about 2 knots and after ½ hour or so bringing it in. We were ecstatic to get 24 the first drag which we took back to our boat and shared them for supper with the fish. You just lightly sauté the scallops in garlic butter and they are delicious. As has become tradition we taught them Mexican Train and they say they will buy the game for their boat.
The next day they offered to take Ken scalloping again and fishing with Lochy and brought home lots more scallops but no fish. Linda and I did a nice hike over the hills at the back and I even ventured in the water for a swim—which as NZers have a habit of qualifying as ”nice once you get used to it”---why one needs to suffer through the agony first I am not sure!!!
We once again shared the dinner and the following day left together for another island anchorage where the stoats and possums have been eradicated and there are a multitude of native birds and the bush is alive with the melodies of the tuneful bell birds. The hike up the top was followed by a mini Olympics with Lochey, Ken and Graeme competing in jumping, running and throwing---Lochey is a delightful boy and Ken is enjoying being a kid with him
We then headed up around Separation Point with them further west into Golden Bay which is as the name says more golden sandy bays. As we planned fishing on the way Lochey came on our boat as he respects Ken’s fishing abilities but it was his dad who caught the biggest snapper!! Once we set up anchor Ken and Lochey tried diving for scallops and crayfish but just came back with green mussels. We also had another hike and enjoyed this lovely little bay. Dinner once again was the shared fish which we had caught on the way which is becoming a tradition.
We started heading back as we need to prepare to return to Wellington in a few days and they need to go back to Motueka. Lochey was on our boat again hoping to have a last haul of fish, unfortunately a barracuda and an octopus were the extent of this days effort.
The evening was another Mexican Train challenge.
We headed back in calm weather through French Pass and after 2 days made it back to Punga Cove in the Queen Charlottes again to await another weather window to Wellington. As we tied up to the buoy we were hailed by Jan and Dave who sailed with us for many miles in the Pacific on their boat Baraka. We knew they were somewhere in NZ but couldn’t believe they were in this tiny bay with us!!! We visited for an hour till their water taxi arrived getting their insight to Fiji and Vanuatu where they have spent the past season.
We stayed at Punga Cove a couple of nights doing a bit of hiking and then headed off on a light wind across to Wellington having an uneventful passage.
We will now spend the next few weeks visiting with family and readying the boat for our next cruising sector up the east coast of NZ to get to Opua ready to leave at the end of April.
We had a calm sunny day so we took Warren, Frances, Lynda’s son Mike, son in law Rob and grandson Jade for the day fishing. We were able to go out into the Straits and caught a variety of fish appreciating at least it was a nice enough day to go outside the harbour. The swell proved too much for some of them making for a queasy crew and perhaps next time we will just fish in the harbour as the haul did not justify the effort and time it takes to get out there. Mike took some of it home and brought us back some smoked which was delicious.
We set off on New Years Eve with our friends Anne and Harvey for what we hoped would be a summer vacation in the Marlborough Sounds. We had a fairly fast if not a little rough for Anne and Harvey passage across the infamous Cook Strait and through Tory Channel to a sheltered anchorage in the Queen Charlotte Sounds.
New Years Eve was celebrated there with John and Ann and their son, their catamaran is beside ours in Seaview Marina and we introduced them to Mexican Train and the 7 of us had a great start to 2010.
The weather was windy and unsettled which made the decision to do one more night in the same sheltered bay. We had planned on trying to head further west to the Abel Tasman area but once again the famed Cook Strait weather made us decide to spend the week Anne and Harvey would have with us in the Sounds. The next few days were still very windy which forced us to go from one sheltered bay to the next. Although it was not what we had envisioned when we planned the trip it was lovely to be back on the boat at anchor after so long land bound.
The advantage of this area is that each bay is accessible to the Queen Charlotte Track, one of NZ’s famed hiking trails so we were able to get off the boat and on land it was remarkably sheltered. It is a lovely area and even though Ken and I had been there last year it was fun to be there again and share it with good friends.
We had a couple of calm days and we were able to go out into the Straits and catch the famed “blue cod”. There has been a moratorium on them in the Sounds to replenish the stocks but one day after catching and throwing many back within the Sounds we feel that they should plan on reopening the area soon.
Each night our hunter gatherer men would go off in search of paua—a NZ relation to the abalone—and make paua fritters for dinner—even though Anne and I showed a less than enthusiastic response we ate our share each night and have to admit they were quite delicious.
Evenings were filled with much laughter with good food, wine and Mexican Train or phase 10—our card game. Anne who claims not to be competitive certainly did her part in disproving this with Ken and me never seeming to win!!
We gradually made our way towards Picton where Anne and Harvey would catch the ferry back to Wellington and arranged to tie up alongside at the marina there to sit out the next lot of strong winds. We had had another enjoyable time with them with Harvey having spent the prerequisite day in the engine room and were sad to see them go as they caught the ferry home. Unfortunately they had not had the weather they had hoped for but Anne is going to India in a few weeks so has some hot weather there to make up for it.
Ken and I decided to see if we could catch a bus to Nelson for the Saturday market the next day. The bus fares were $44 each return for us and we found we could rent a car for $65 so that was a no brainer!!
The next morning was a lovely day and we headed off on the 2 hour drive to the beautiful city of Nelson. Nelson is one of NZ’s artsy communities with lots of pottery and other wonderful arts and crafts and along with the sunny seaside location is my idea of a perfect place to live. The market is huge and very similar to the Salt Spring Island market with the fruit and veg component a big part of it. Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and cherries were in high season so we stocked up on all of them along with lots of salad vegs for our next part of our trip.
We restocked groceries and after waiting out a blustery Sunday decided to take what looked like a promising weather window on Monday to do the 2 day trip across to Abel Tasman Park as it is another favourite place of ours.
We set off to an anchorage which would give us access to travel through French Pass the next day at slack tide and joined up with another boat from Seaview Marina catching enough blue cod to share for dinner and another enjoyable evening.
The next morning we set off in calm weather and passed through the pass uneventfully picking up wind afterwards to have a fast sail to the anchorage in Abel Tasman arriving and anchoring late in the afternoon.
This area is a stretch of golden sandy beaches backed by more of NZ’s lovely green bush clad hills which has become a huge centre for kayaking and hiking. We have kayaked it twice in the past and love it here.
The tourism has increased incredibly in the last decade and there is a constant arrival of water taxis and kayaks. You can kayak, hike or sail as much or as little as you want and you or your kayak can be picked up or dropped off at any beach you want. To kayak or hike the whole park is about 4 or 5 days but people who are limited by time can take just do part of it. It is absolutely idyllic and the weather patterns are no longer dictated by the Cook Strait so all of a sudden we felt as though our summer had started. We spent a few days in a lovely anchorage where we hiked for a few hours each day and even were able to barbecue on the boat.
Many NZers on sailboats use this area as their summer holidays much as we had used the Gulf Islands so although there are many boats here most are local with lots of kids and beach activities going on.
We met a family of Graeme, Linda and their 12 year old son Lochlan on their 28foot catamaran Little Blue—named after the little blue penguins prevalent in central NZ. They offered to take us to explore the lagoons which are behind each beach accessible at high tide but too shallow and narrow for our boat. We had an enjoyable day with them going into each lagoon which in bad weather they use as shelter anchorages and Ken was recruited to give Lochey some fishing education. Graeme is not a keen fisherman but Lochey is so he became Ken’s best friend. We caught a few small fish and on the way back dragged their scallop dredge. We had seen people do it everywhere here but as we don’t have access to one had not had the opportunity to try one out. You have a net attached to an aluminium frame which drags along the sandy bottom at about 2 knots and after ½ hour or so bringing it in. We were ecstatic to get 24 the first drag which we took back to our boat and shared them for supper with the fish. You just lightly sauté the scallops in garlic butter and they are delicious. As has become tradition we taught them Mexican Train and they say they will buy the game for their boat.
The next day they offered to take Ken scalloping again and fishing with Lochy and brought home lots more scallops but no fish. Linda and I did a nice hike over the hills at the back and I even ventured in the water for a swim—which as NZers have a habit of qualifying as ”nice once you get used to it”---why one needs to suffer through the agony first I am not sure!!!
We once again shared the dinner and the following day left together for another island anchorage where the stoats and possums have been eradicated and there are a multitude of native birds and the bush is alive with the melodies of the tuneful bell birds. The hike up the top was followed by a mini Olympics with Lochey, Ken and Graeme competing in jumping, running and throwing---Lochey is a delightful boy and Ken is enjoying being a kid with him
We then headed up around Separation Point with them further west into Golden Bay which is as the name says more golden sandy bays. As we planned fishing on the way Lochey came on our boat as he respects Ken’s fishing abilities but it was his dad who caught the biggest snapper!! Once we set up anchor Ken and Lochey tried diving for scallops and crayfish but just came back with green mussels. We also had another hike and enjoyed this lovely little bay. Dinner once again was the shared fish which we had caught on the way which is becoming a tradition.
We started heading back as we need to prepare to return to Wellington in a few days and they need to go back to Motueka. Lochey was on our boat again hoping to have a last haul of fish, unfortunately a barracuda and an octopus were the extent of this days effort.
The evening was another Mexican Train challenge.
We headed back in calm weather through French Pass and after 2 days made it back to Punga Cove in the Queen Charlottes again to await another weather window to Wellington. As we tied up to the buoy we were hailed by Jan and Dave who sailed with us for many miles in the Pacific on their boat Baraka. We knew they were somewhere in NZ but couldn’t believe they were in this tiny bay with us!!! We visited for an hour till their water taxi arrived getting their insight to Fiji and Vanuatu where they have spent the past season.
We stayed at Punga Cove a couple of nights doing a bit of hiking and then headed off on a light wind across to Wellington having an uneventful passage.
We will now spend the next few weeks visiting with family and readying the boat for our next cruising sector up the east coast of NZ to get to Opua ready to leave at the end of April.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Back in New Zealand
We have been back in New Zealand now for 2 months and I have been somewhat remiss at updating the blog.
After a fairly uneventful trip from Canada we arrived back in Wellington to find Cop Out was looking good. Both the boat and our station wagon had been looked after well in our absence with most of the boat repairs which we had arranged to be done while we were gone almost finished.
My family was happy to see us with my mother in her new place which is warmer and easier to look after than her old house. She is relying on her walker more than when we were here last but she is still able to do her shopping and is as bright as always.
Our first priority was to finish off the boat work and we were very glad when it was done.
Next Ken and Frank built Mum a new deck on the back of her new place so she can have a plant bench so can get out and putter with her beloved flowers. It took a weekend and looks great and she loves it—she is filling it up and pretty soon there will be no room for her!!!
We had planned on going to the South Island with the car for a few weeks when I started to experience discomfort and burning in my upper chest. Rather than go away with it unchecked I walked into the emergency ward of the hospital where after exhaustive tests showed a blockage in a blood vessel in my heart. They performed an angioplasty which surprised everyone—including the doctors--- as I have no risk factors. Apparently this had been developing over a long period of time as the other side of my heart had grown new vessels to compensate and no other vessels showed any signs of blockage so the likelihood of it ever recurring is minimal. To all of my friends please be warned that if ever you have the slightest questionable symptoms get it checked!! Anyway my dual citizenship was a bonus as I was able to be treated as a NZer with no bill at the end.
Our experiences with both the Canadian and NZ health care system has been wonderful with no tests or treatment spared and we really wonder where the American radicals are getting their scaremongering information from.
With the go ahead from the doctor who assured me life should be back to normal right away we caught the ferry with our car to the South Island.
We spent the first day in Blenheim touring the wineries. This is New Zealand’s prime sauvignon blanc wine growing region although the regions are getting more every time we come through and spreading wider and wider—we wonder if there going to be a huge glut in the future. Prices here are so low already with supermarkets having price wars and great specials we wonder why anyone would bother to start a winery anywhere any more.
We continued south visiting the lovely Art Centre in Christchurch and then headed down to Oamaru where we spent a night.
Oamaru is a small town which had been a very important port during NZ’s history. They shipped grain from here and it was the first place in the world to discover how to refrigerate meat for shipping and ship lamb to England. In time other southern ports surpassed it and the town is now just an agriculture centre. It does attract tourists as the town was originally built with grandiose plans and the buildings are beautiful white local stone. The community is trying to capitalise on this and we went to a performance where two young drama students put on a production where they re-enact some of the colourful characters of the past.
Penguins also use this area for breeding. There are two main varieties with the bigger one nesting on a beach. One of the parents goes out each day and swims back in the afternoon to bring food back for the partner and the young and we were able to watch several swim in and hear the noisy reunion as they got back.
The other smaller—little blue penguin—come in each night and they have set up a viewing area where we saw 150 of them come in. We were not allowed to photograph them as they will go back to sea if they are disturbed but it was amazing to see them all.
We continued down south to the Catlins area which is the far south east corner of the South Island. It is wild area sparsely inhabited and is very rugged with a beautiful coastline. There are some stunning beaches but the water is as you would expect so far south very cold. We went to the most southern point of NZ which is extremely windy and cold—definitely not where I would choose to live!!! We went on to Invercargill and Bluff which apart from the world famous oysters have little other redeeming features.
The two weeks was now up since my angioplasty which the doctor had said I should have before biking so we carried on to Clyde which is the trailhead to the Otago Rail Trail. This is 150km of an old rail line which has been torn up and gravelled to make a bike path which ends in Middlemarch. We had our bikes with us so we booked a couple of nights B&B en route and set off to do 50km each day. We had lovely biking weather and other than sore butt syndrome from the rough gravely path it was great. There are a lot of people doing it and it becomes a little like cruising with the camaraderie with the other cyclists. The smallest villages have become revitalised and great food and accommodation is available on the way. There is even a curling rink en route where a lot of people spend an evening as for NZers it is a great novelty. They have set up the old ganger huts with the history and the points of interest on the way which is very informative. It is a great trip where you can do as little or as much as you choose each day which allows families with trailers for their young children and children from about 9 years old to cycle it.
We caught the bus back to Clyde at the end to resume our drive north. Clyde is a very quaint historic town---there are so many roses grown here you would feel that if you were unable to make them grow you would have to move somewhere else.
It is also the gateway to the Otago wine growing area so we resumed our wine tasting, pinot noir region this time.
We continued north through the Otago region where the plains stretch to the mountains and lupins were seeded along the roadsides now displaying wonderful colour as you drive along. This is high country farming where the marino sheep which provide the fine washable wool clothing which has revitalised the NZ wool industry are farmed. It They also farm red deer, the stags have magnificent sets of antlers which made Ken drool!!!
Our destination this time was the Hamner Springs where we to restored our bodies in the hot pools after the cycling trip. This is set in the mountains and the village had a feeling of a small Banff of a number of years back.
Feeling refreshed we made our way back to catch the ferry to get to Wellington in time for Xmas.
Our family never does things by halves so we got to celebrate my sister Lynda’s birthday where we cooked for her on the boat, then Xmas which was a large family celebration which was at my brother Warren’s restaurant and then my birthday which Warren and his wife Frances put on a lovely dinner at their house.
New Years Eve was the next event but we had by now sailed the boat with our friends Harvey and Anne to the South Island and that will be the subject of the next blog as I feel this one has gone on long enough!!!
After a fairly uneventful trip from Canada we arrived back in Wellington to find Cop Out was looking good. Both the boat and our station wagon had been looked after well in our absence with most of the boat repairs which we had arranged to be done while we were gone almost finished.
My family was happy to see us with my mother in her new place which is warmer and easier to look after than her old house. She is relying on her walker more than when we were here last but she is still able to do her shopping and is as bright as always.
Our first priority was to finish off the boat work and we were very glad when it was done.
Next Ken and Frank built Mum a new deck on the back of her new place so she can have a plant bench so can get out and putter with her beloved flowers. It took a weekend and looks great and she loves it—she is filling it up and pretty soon there will be no room for her!!!
We had planned on going to the South Island with the car for a few weeks when I started to experience discomfort and burning in my upper chest. Rather than go away with it unchecked I walked into the emergency ward of the hospital where after exhaustive tests showed a blockage in a blood vessel in my heart. They performed an angioplasty which surprised everyone—including the doctors--- as I have no risk factors. Apparently this had been developing over a long period of time as the other side of my heart had grown new vessels to compensate and no other vessels showed any signs of blockage so the likelihood of it ever recurring is minimal. To all of my friends please be warned that if ever you have the slightest questionable symptoms get it checked!! Anyway my dual citizenship was a bonus as I was able to be treated as a NZer with no bill at the end.
Our experiences with both the Canadian and NZ health care system has been wonderful with no tests or treatment spared and we really wonder where the American radicals are getting their scaremongering information from.
With the go ahead from the doctor who assured me life should be back to normal right away we caught the ferry with our car to the South Island.
We spent the first day in Blenheim touring the wineries. This is New Zealand’s prime sauvignon blanc wine growing region although the regions are getting more every time we come through and spreading wider and wider—we wonder if there going to be a huge glut in the future. Prices here are so low already with supermarkets having price wars and great specials we wonder why anyone would bother to start a winery anywhere any more.
We continued south visiting the lovely Art Centre in Christchurch and then headed down to Oamaru where we spent a night.
Oamaru is a small town which had been a very important port during NZ’s history. They shipped grain from here and it was the first place in the world to discover how to refrigerate meat for shipping and ship lamb to England. In time other southern ports surpassed it and the town is now just an agriculture centre. It does attract tourists as the town was originally built with grandiose plans and the buildings are beautiful white local stone. The community is trying to capitalise on this and we went to a performance where two young drama students put on a production where they re-enact some of the colourful characters of the past.
Penguins also use this area for breeding. There are two main varieties with the bigger one nesting on a beach. One of the parents goes out each day and swims back in the afternoon to bring food back for the partner and the young and we were able to watch several swim in and hear the noisy reunion as they got back.
The other smaller—little blue penguin—come in each night and they have set up a viewing area where we saw 150 of them come in. We were not allowed to photograph them as they will go back to sea if they are disturbed but it was amazing to see them all.
We continued down south to the Catlins area which is the far south east corner of the South Island. It is wild area sparsely inhabited and is very rugged with a beautiful coastline. There are some stunning beaches but the water is as you would expect so far south very cold. We went to the most southern point of NZ which is extremely windy and cold—definitely not where I would choose to live!!! We went on to Invercargill and Bluff which apart from the world famous oysters have little other redeeming features.
The two weeks was now up since my angioplasty which the doctor had said I should have before biking so we carried on to Clyde which is the trailhead to the Otago Rail Trail. This is 150km of an old rail line which has been torn up and gravelled to make a bike path which ends in Middlemarch. We had our bikes with us so we booked a couple of nights B&B en route and set off to do 50km each day. We had lovely biking weather and other than sore butt syndrome from the rough gravely path it was great. There are a lot of people doing it and it becomes a little like cruising with the camaraderie with the other cyclists. The smallest villages have become revitalised and great food and accommodation is available on the way. There is even a curling rink en route where a lot of people spend an evening as for NZers it is a great novelty. They have set up the old ganger huts with the history and the points of interest on the way which is very informative. It is a great trip where you can do as little or as much as you choose each day which allows families with trailers for their young children and children from about 9 years old to cycle it.
We caught the bus back to Clyde at the end to resume our drive north. Clyde is a very quaint historic town---there are so many roses grown here you would feel that if you were unable to make them grow you would have to move somewhere else.
It is also the gateway to the Otago wine growing area so we resumed our wine tasting, pinot noir region this time.
We continued north through the Otago region where the plains stretch to the mountains and lupins were seeded along the roadsides now displaying wonderful colour as you drive along. This is high country farming where the marino sheep which provide the fine washable wool clothing which has revitalised the NZ wool industry are farmed. It They also farm red deer, the stags have magnificent sets of antlers which made Ken drool!!!
Our destination this time was the Hamner Springs where we to restored our bodies in the hot pools after the cycling trip. This is set in the mountains and the village had a feeling of a small Banff of a number of years back.
Feeling refreshed we made our way back to catch the ferry to get to Wellington in time for Xmas.
Our family never does things by halves so we got to celebrate my sister Lynda’s birthday where we cooked for her on the boat, then Xmas which was a large family celebration which was at my brother Warren’s restaurant and then my birthday which Warren and his wife Frances put on a lovely dinner at their house.
New Years Eve was the next event but we had by now sailed the boat with our friends Harvey and Anne to the South Island and that will be the subject of the next blog as I feel this one has gone on long enough!!!
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