Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Summer in Canada
I have not made the time to update our blog as somehow it feels when you are back “home” it is fairly uninteresting. I have since had a number of people mention that they had missed seeing what was happening in our lives and besides we have had a varied and busy 4 months since our return I thought I would attempt to encapsulate the time.
I arrived in Ottawa from LA to stay with Kristen and her family for two weeks while Ken flew straight to Calgary.
I enjoyed meeting Grayson for the first time and celebrate his first birthday party. He is a sweetheart and took his first wobbly steps during my visit. Adelyn, his 2 ½ year old sister is quite opposite and continues to amaze and challenge all who come in contact with her. She is very bright and articulate but has inherited the family trait of being in charge of her world. Being a two year old with these characteristics makes life less than dull. While I was there I babysat them one at a time while Kristen and Kyle were at work and the other child went to daycare. This was fun as they were both able to have my total attention.
Spring had arrived in Ottawa—unlike Calgary where Ken was still getting snow---and the blossoms and bulbs were out. We had a day at the tulip festival which is amazing. Holland sends hundreds of tulips to Ottawa each year in recognition of the Canadians who liberated their country after the Second World War. The parks and city are a mass of colour.
We biked around the area where Kristen and Kyle live and generally had a lovely visit.
While in Ottawa I reconnected with Diane Sullivan a fellow Calgary potter who has relocated there. We met for dinner in one of the quaint Ontario villages surrounding Ottawa.
For mothers day Kristen signed us up for a walking tour of the city. Our guide is a history teacher who had gone on numerous walking tours of European cities and decided to offer one in Ottawa. It was great and I learned a lot about the history of both Ottawa and Canada. As I was brought up in NZ my Canadian history knowledge was fairly vague so I found it particularly interesting.
I left Ottawa and Kristen and her lovely family knowing that I would see them all again in Salt Spring soon.
I arrived in Calgary where the weather had finally shown signs that winter was over. It was lovely to see Amy, Rob, Alora and Isaac who have established themselves a very pleasant lifestyle. Amy has been accepted for nursing after finally overcome the challenge of math 30 and will start in the fall. The kids are very busy and Amy and Rob are in the height of driving constantly to sporting and school events---oh how I remember those days!!!
The kids are growing up—Alora having turned 15 and Isaac 9. They are both great kids and we love to hang out with them. Alora has become quite the jock and won Athlete of the Year award in her last year of Junior High we are very proud of her achievements. She is off to high school in the fall and we are sure she will do well.
Aaron and Ashley are happily settled into married life and are looking forward to their first baby in January. We are excited for them as for as long as I can remember Aaron has wanted a child and I am sure they will make great parents.
Mike is living with Eun who is an energetic South Korean girl who is a lot of fun.
We had a large family gathering for mothers day at Amy’s with Barry and his sons and families all coming for dinner.
I spent a lot of my week in Calgary catching up with my friends. It was lovely to see them all and it certainly makes me value the years we spent there and the wonderful friends I made and will continue to keep in touch with throughout my life. I never seem to have enough time there to have time to see everyone but I did manage at least fleeting visits with everyone. We also cought up with dentist and doctors visits there too so I was looking forward to going to Salt Spring Island to get some rest.
Ken had bought us a mini van to take out to SS so we will have a vehicle out there.
I had decided that while I was at SS for the summer I would make some pottery and perhaps supplement our income a little. We incurred a lot of expense by coming back –we now maintain both the boat and the cottage and we had to post a $23,000 bond in NZ for the boat. We will get this back when we leave but even exchanging the money to and from NZ currency will cost us a lot.
We loaded up a kiln and clay as well as the children’s car seat and play pen I had bought in Calgary and drove out with Mike and Eun who were to be the first of our many family visitors.
We got to the cottage which had been left in great condition from Len and Shirley who had rented it from us for the last 4 years.
It was great to come out and renew the pleasure we have always had coming here. It is stunningly beautiful and our treed land with our lovely sea view in always a delight.
We managed to get beds organized and had a great few days with Mike and Eun. He has become a fanatical fisherman and spent most his time hanging out on rocks trying to catch something. The fishing was not successful and we had more success collecting oysters at one of the beaches. It is the beginning of the season and they were delicious.
After they left I set up my pottery studio and started making pots which I took to the Saturday market which became my pattern for the rest of the summer and sent some back to Alicat, the gallery at Bragg Creek in Calgary which I have dealt with for 22 years. The economy is tight but I was able to successfully sell enough to make it worth while. Besides as you all know I love to pot and really did enjoy reconnecting with clay.
Our next visitors were Amy, Rob and their family. We had an enjoyable week with them and established what became a tradition of ‘’paint your own pottery’’. This consisted of me throwing a mug and everyone decorated their own to take home. They turned out great with Amy having an advantage having done it before.
Amy and Rob went to Vancouver Island for a couple of days and we took Alora and Isaac beachcombing and found all kinds of strange sea life. They also camped in the tent with Papa and cooked marshmallows and hot dogs on the fire.
When Amy and Rob returned we had a golf day at the local 9 hole course. Luckily it is not busy so we were able to play with the 6 of us all needing many shots and much time searching in the bush for balls, to play without disturbing more adept players. It was a lot of fun.
After they left Dave, Arianne and Alex arrived from Hong Kong. It was lovely to see them. We had not met 20 month old Alex before and had not seen Arianne, now 6, for 3 years. She is still a sweet princess girl who you can not help but love. Alex is as much a “boy” as Arianne is a “girl” and he is very busy driving cars and other boy things. One morning when we went to start our car the battery was flat as he had been driving it as it was parked at the back of the house and must have pushed one too many buttons. He is very happy and we loved having them. Arianne had a night in the tent with Papa also.
Becca was visiting friends in Vancouver for the first part of the visit and Dave had to leave to go to Portland and she took the kids to visit her family in Ontario. Before they left everyone painted their mugs, Dave likening his to the equivalent of his kindergarten efforts!!
We were so sad when they left as they are the ones we get to see the least. Perhaps if we get the boat to Thailand we will see them for longer.
Next visitor was Kristen with Adelyn and Grayson. They were here for almost 4 weeks so it was lovely to have them that long. A routine was established where we would go to the beach each morning and come back in time for afternoon naps. The weather which has been great since we arrived continued to be sunny and the lake water is very warm. Kristen who is doing a triathlon in September was able to practice her swimming and biking. The kids had a lot of fun and it was fun to see Grayson who is now walking well learn a new word each day. Adelyn is a little “toughy” and manages to walk up our long steep driveway on her own---“the strongest girl in the world” as she will proclaim.
Kyle arrived for the last half and Ken arranged for Barry who has been here several times to take him out to their “secret fishing spot” and they came home with several huge ling cod and a pile of crabs.
They left but as I am going to Ottawa on my way back to NZ it was not a long farewell.
During their visit they had friends come here so we went to visit our friends Roz and Bob at Comox.
They had visited us on the boat in Costa Rica so it was fun to see them again. The Filberg Festival was on at the time, it is the largest summer festival in Western Canada and I was able to reconnect with many crafts people I had known in the past.
The next event in our busy summer was Diana and Brian, our very best friends from Calgary, daughter Andrea’s wedding in Vancouver. We went over and enjoyed seeing many of our old friends and acquaintances. Jack and Judy who we had not seen since they were on our boat in the Galapagos were there so it was great to see them. The weather was lovely and Vancouver provided the setting for a beautiful wedding.
After the wedding several friends came over for the day and we had an enjoyable lunch with them on our deck.
It seems as though we have had no time for rest and relaxation—with our guest and my pottery and Ken got a job part time helping out the dive shop—it has been a busy but enjoyable summer.
Mike is coming out again on Sunday and hopefully we can arrange for Barry to come and take us all fishing again. Mind you the freezer is full of fish so am not sure what to do if and when they catch something.
We are at the height of blackberry season and SS has so much fresh produce—and of course it is all organic—this is the riding that Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party hopes to run and win in!!!—hmmmm!!!
It seems that although the summer is winding down we will have another month to enjoy our lives here before getting the cottage ready to rent to a nice young man we know for the next 2 years when we will reevaluate our future.
I arrived in Ottawa from LA to stay with Kristen and her family for two weeks while Ken flew straight to Calgary.
I enjoyed meeting Grayson for the first time and celebrate his first birthday party. He is a sweetheart and took his first wobbly steps during my visit. Adelyn, his 2 ½ year old sister is quite opposite and continues to amaze and challenge all who come in contact with her. She is very bright and articulate but has inherited the family trait of being in charge of her world. Being a two year old with these characteristics makes life less than dull. While I was there I babysat them one at a time while Kristen and Kyle were at work and the other child went to daycare. This was fun as they were both able to have my total attention.
Spring had arrived in Ottawa—unlike Calgary where Ken was still getting snow---and the blossoms and bulbs were out. We had a day at the tulip festival which is amazing. Holland sends hundreds of tulips to Ottawa each year in recognition of the Canadians who liberated their country after the Second World War. The parks and city are a mass of colour.
We biked around the area where Kristen and Kyle live and generally had a lovely visit.
While in Ottawa I reconnected with Diane Sullivan a fellow Calgary potter who has relocated there. We met for dinner in one of the quaint Ontario villages surrounding Ottawa.
For mothers day Kristen signed us up for a walking tour of the city. Our guide is a history teacher who had gone on numerous walking tours of European cities and decided to offer one in Ottawa. It was great and I learned a lot about the history of both Ottawa and Canada. As I was brought up in NZ my Canadian history knowledge was fairly vague so I found it particularly interesting.
I left Ottawa and Kristen and her lovely family knowing that I would see them all again in Salt Spring soon.
I arrived in Calgary where the weather had finally shown signs that winter was over. It was lovely to see Amy, Rob, Alora and Isaac who have established themselves a very pleasant lifestyle. Amy has been accepted for nursing after finally overcome the challenge of math 30 and will start in the fall. The kids are very busy and Amy and Rob are in the height of driving constantly to sporting and school events---oh how I remember those days!!!
The kids are growing up—Alora having turned 15 and Isaac 9. They are both great kids and we love to hang out with them. Alora has become quite the jock and won Athlete of the Year award in her last year of Junior High we are very proud of her achievements. She is off to high school in the fall and we are sure she will do well.
Aaron and Ashley are happily settled into married life and are looking forward to their first baby in January. We are excited for them as for as long as I can remember Aaron has wanted a child and I am sure they will make great parents.
Mike is living with Eun who is an energetic South Korean girl who is a lot of fun.
We had a large family gathering for mothers day at Amy’s with Barry and his sons and families all coming for dinner.
I spent a lot of my week in Calgary catching up with my friends. It was lovely to see them all and it certainly makes me value the years we spent there and the wonderful friends I made and will continue to keep in touch with throughout my life. I never seem to have enough time there to have time to see everyone but I did manage at least fleeting visits with everyone. We also cought up with dentist and doctors visits there too so I was looking forward to going to Salt Spring Island to get some rest.
Ken had bought us a mini van to take out to SS so we will have a vehicle out there.
I had decided that while I was at SS for the summer I would make some pottery and perhaps supplement our income a little. We incurred a lot of expense by coming back –we now maintain both the boat and the cottage and we had to post a $23,000 bond in NZ for the boat. We will get this back when we leave but even exchanging the money to and from NZ currency will cost us a lot.
We loaded up a kiln and clay as well as the children’s car seat and play pen I had bought in Calgary and drove out with Mike and Eun who were to be the first of our many family visitors.
We got to the cottage which had been left in great condition from Len and Shirley who had rented it from us for the last 4 years.
It was great to come out and renew the pleasure we have always had coming here. It is stunningly beautiful and our treed land with our lovely sea view in always a delight.
We managed to get beds organized and had a great few days with Mike and Eun. He has become a fanatical fisherman and spent most his time hanging out on rocks trying to catch something. The fishing was not successful and we had more success collecting oysters at one of the beaches. It is the beginning of the season and they were delicious.
After they left I set up my pottery studio and started making pots which I took to the Saturday market which became my pattern for the rest of the summer and sent some back to Alicat, the gallery at Bragg Creek in Calgary which I have dealt with for 22 years. The economy is tight but I was able to successfully sell enough to make it worth while. Besides as you all know I love to pot and really did enjoy reconnecting with clay.
Our next visitors were Amy, Rob and their family. We had an enjoyable week with them and established what became a tradition of ‘’paint your own pottery’’. This consisted of me throwing a mug and everyone decorated their own to take home. They turned out great with Amy having an advantage having done it before.
Amy and Rob went to Vancouver Island for a couple of days and we took Alora and Isaac beachcombing and found all kinds of strange sea life. They also camped in the tent with Papa and cooked marshmallows and hot dogs on the fire.
When Amy and Rob returned we had a golf day at the local 9 hole course. Luckily it is not busy so we were able to play with the 6 of us all needing many shots and much time searching in the bush for balls, to play without disturbing more adept players. It was a lot of fun.
After they left Dave, Arianne and Alex arrived from Hong Kong. It was lovely to see them. We had not met 20 month old Alex before and had not seen Arianne, now 6, for 3 years. She is still a sweet princess girl who you can not help but love. Alex is as much a “boy” as Arianne is a “girl” and he is very busy driving cars and other boy things. One morning when we went to start our car the battery was flat as he had been driving it as it was parked at the back of the house and must have pushed one too many buttons. He is very happy and we loved having them. Arianne had a night in the tent with Papa also.
Becca was visiting friends in Vancouver for the first part of the visit and Dave had to leave to go to Portland and she took the kids to visit her family in Ontario. Before they left everyone painted their mugs, Dave likening his to the equivalent of his kindergarten efforts!!
We were so sad when they left as they are the ones we get to see the least. Perhaps if we get the boat to Thailand we will see them for longer.
Next visitor was Kristen with Adelyn and Grayson. They were here for almost 4 weeks so it was lovely to have them that long. A routine was established where we would go to the beach each morning and come back in time for afternoon naps. The weather which has been great since we arrived continued to be sunny and the lake water is very warm. Kristen who is doing a triathlon in September was able to practice her swimming and biking. The kids had a lot of fun and it was fun to see Grayson who is now walking well learn a new word each day. Adelyn is a little “toughy” and manages to walk up our long steep driveway on her own---“the strongest girl in the world” as she will proclaim.
Kyle arrived for the last half and Ken arranged for Barry who has been here several times to take him out to their “secret fishing spot” and they came home with several huge ling cod and a pile of crabs.
They left but as I am going to Ottawa on my way back to NZ it was not a long farewell.
During their visit they had friends come here so we went to visit our friends Roz and Bob at Comox.
They had visited us on the boat in Costa Rica so it was fun to see them again. The Filberg Festival was on at the time, it is the largest summer festival in Western Canada and I was able to reconnect with many crafts people I had known in the past.
The next event in our busy summer was Diana and Brian, our very best friends from Calgary, daughter Andrea’s wedding in Vancouver. We went over and enjoyed seeing many of our old friends and acquaintances. Jack and Judy who we had not seen since they were on our boat in the Galapagos were there so it was great to see them. The weather was lovely and Vancouver provided the setting for a beautiful wedding.
After the wedding several friends came over for the day and we had an enjoyable lunch with them on our deck.
It seems as though we have had no time for rest and relaxation—with our guest and my pottery and Ken got a job part time helping out the dive shop—it has been a busy but enjoyable summer.
Mike is coming out again on Sunday and hopefully we can arrange for Barry to come and take us all fishing again. Mind you the freezer is full of fish so am not sure what to do if and when they catch something.
We are at the height of blackberry season and SS has so much fresh produce—and of course it is all organic—this is the riding that Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party hopes to run and win in!!!—hmmmm!!!
It seems that although the summer is winding down we will have another month to enjoy our lives here before getting the cottage ready to rent to a nice young man we know for the next 2 years when we will reevaluate our future.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Life in Wellington
We sailed back to Wellington from the Marlborough Sounds with almost no wind, motoring with our one good engine fighting only currents—no seas. This in the Cook Strait is still no mean feat as the currents are unpredictable and it took us 7 hours to cross, as opposed to 4 hours to sail over. Sailing in that area certainly has its challenges.
We spent the rest of our time in NZ in the Wellington region where I love to relive my youth going to my favorite places.
We took a trip over to the Wairarapa Valley, a lovely sunny farming area, inland from Wellington. It was a huge sheep farming region when I was younger but now the price of lamb/wool is down large areas have been changed to wine growing. We had a few nice days biking and driving around the area and of course tasting the great wines. We also went out to the east coast there and hope we have the same lovely weather when we sail up next year. Watching them launching their boats, each of which has its own tractor was interesting
We visited one of the sites used in the Lord of the Rings in the area where Ken tried to see the exact location used in the movie. We also went to “Weta studios”, the company who did all of the special effects and the digital imagery for the series which has gone on to become a huge success doing a lot of Hollywood movies since. They are going to shoot The Hobbit in August and Ken is hoping they will still be seeking “extras” when we return in November.
My sister Lynda and her husband Frank recently bought a house for their future retirement at Raumati Beach up the coast from Wellington so we had a trip up there and enjoyed walking on the beach which goes for miles.
We had a visit from Kathy, my high school friend and her husband Nigel. Lona and Stephan from Cat Coquette and Janet and Geoffrey from Pegasus, sailing friends stayed with us on their way to and from the South Island. Lona and Stephan were with us for a while so was fun to play tour guide with them giving them the “Tiki Tour” of Wellington.
We spent a lot of time with my family. Many meals and Mexican Train were had with Warren and Frances. Sven adopted Uncle Ken and took him to rugby games and just generally hung out. We spent lots of time with my mother which was lovely for all of us. She is still very bright and alert at 87 although she has severe arthritis in her spine which gives her mobility issues. Warren takes mum cream cakes every Tuesday morning so we had to join in and have our share. Food in NZ is hard to resist, the fish and chips are now being cooked in “no cholesterol” oil so one could argue they are almost healthy.
The hills behind the marina offer great hikes which gave us some badly needed physical exercise as well as biking around the coast and up the valleys offsetting the “healthy diet”
Anne and Harvey who had visited us in Raratonga live very close to the marina so we enjoyed spending lots of time with them.
Ken became “one of the boys”, joining a group of men who drop in to the marina office on their way to work for coffee each morning to discuss boats, world affairs and whatever else is going on at the time.
Sadly my Aunty Lil passed away but at 91 she had had a long and happy life so we shared many fond memories at her funeral service, she was a very special lady and played a huge role in our family.
It was with mixed feelings we left as I had loved living in Wellington again but this time we know we will be back in 6 months besides we are excited to see our children, grandchildren and friends in Canada.
Wellington has become a great city, small enough to walk everywhere with lots of culture and outdoor pursuits available.
We decided to catch the train back up to Auckland as it was the same price as the flight and is a chance to travel the north island without stress. It was a pleasant trip and with the sunny weather we had great views of the mountains on the way up.
We then had “the trip from hell” flying firstly to Australia, then LA, I then went on to Chicago and Ottawa and Ken went to Las Vegas and Calgary, we both were 36 hours travelling and relieved to arrive back in Canada.
We spent the rest of our time in NZ in the Wellington region where I love to relive my youth going to my favorite places.
We took a trip over to the Wairarapa Valley, a lovely sunny farming area, inland from Wellington. It was a huge sheep farming region when I was younger but now the price of lamb/wool is down large areas have been changed to wine growing. We had a few nice days biking and driving around the area and of course tasting the great wines. We also went out to the east coast there and hope we have the same lovely weather when we sail up next year. Watching them launching their boats, each of which has its own tractor was interesting
We visited one of the sites used in the Lord of the Rings in the area where Ken tried to see the exact location used in the movie. We also went to “Weta studios”, the company who did all of the special effects and the digital imagery for the series which has gone on to become a huge success doing a lot of Hollywood movies since. They are going to shoot The Hobbit in August and Ken is hoping they will still be seeking “extras” when we return in November.
My sister Lynda and her husband Frank recently bought a house for their future retirement at Raumati Beach up the coast from Wellington so we had a trip up there and enjoyed walking on the beach which goes for miles.
We had a visit from Kathy, my high school friend and her husband Nigel. Lona and Stephan from Cat Coquette and Janet and Geoffrey from Pegasus, sailing friends stayed with us on their way to and from the South Island. Lona and Stephan were with us for a while so was fun to play tour guide with them giving them the “Tiki Tour” of Wellington.
We spent a lot of time with my family. Many meals and Mexican Train were had with Warren and Frances. Sven adopted Uncle Ken and took him to rugby games and just generally hung out. We spent lots of time with my mother which was lovely for all of us. She is still very bright and alert at 87 although she has severe arthritis in her spine which gives her mobility issues. Warren takes mum cream cakes every Tuesday morning so we had to join in and have our share. Food in NZ is hard to resist, the fish and chips are now being cooked in “no cholesterol” oil so one could argue they are almost healthy.
The hills behind the marina offer great hikes which gave us some badly needed physical exercise as well as biking around the coast and up the valleys offsetting the “healthy diet”
Anne and Harvey who had visited us in Raratonga live very close to the marina so we enjoyed spending lots of time with them.
Ken became “one of the boys”, joining a group of men who drop in to the marina office on their way to work for coffee each morning to discuss boats, world affairs and whatever else is going on at the time.
Sadly my Aunty Lil passed away but at 91 she had had a long and happy life so we shared many fond memories at her funeral service, she was a very special lady and played a huge role in our family.
It was with mixed feelings we left as I had loved living in Wellington again but this time we know we will be back in 6 months besides we are excited to see our children, grandchildren and friends in Canada.
Wellington has become a great city, small enough to walk everywhere with lots of culture and outdoor pursuits available.
We decided to catch the train back up to Auckland as it was the same price as the flight and is a chance to travel the north island without stress. It was a pleasant trip and with the sunny weather we had great views of the mountains on the way up.
We then had “the trip from hell” flying firstly to Australia, then LA, I then went on to Chicago and Ottawa and Ken went to Las Vegas and Calgary, we both were 36 hours travelling and relieved to arrive back in Canada.
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.
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