Mike and I left Wellington this morning (Thursday) @ 10 am after taking on fuel and water. It was a perfect day for sailing 15-20 knots of wind, sailing at 7 knots and no clouds in the sky. We even had dolphin swimming with us out of the bay, always a positive sign for a good passage. The trip will be about 500 miles and take us 3 days. I am really looking forward to it after almost a month in Wellington,

We had some stew for dinner tonight and then settled in for our 3 hour watches. During the night we had some great winds at times pushing us along at 11.5 knots boat speed. But over all it was mild with small seas. It was a beautiful night no clouds and a half moon, so when it went down the stars exploded in the sky.

Today (Friday) the wind died. So we ended up motoring almost all day. We saw some Albatross enroute. They are magnificent birds with a 7’+ wing span. It was a very nice sunny and warm day (70 F). It was another night of no clouds and billions of stars so we motor sailed under a carpet of diamonds. I had the sunrise shift this morning (Saturday) and was inspired to write a verse

The last star at night
Brings forth the days first light
A beautify to behold
As the seas wonders unfold.

It is another beautiful day (Saturday). The wind has come up 20- 25 knots which normally would be great but it was coming right at us from the direction we wanted to go. So we are once again motoring and only making 4.5 knots into 6 -8 ft seas. We put into Tauranga at 4 am and went to bed. It was a great trip.

The adventure continues

Love Gary

Okay….so you’ve heard me say it’s very windy in New Zealand right? Well it is so unbelievably windy I simply cannot begin to describe it appropriately. Gary has returned from his week of touring South Island. We are still in Wellington waiting for a weather window to clear so Mike and Gary can sail back up to the top of the North Island. Meaning we are waiting for the gale force winds to stop, which apparently they never do here. Hence the reason I choose not to sail the longer passages here. (I am certainly not alone in this thought process either…many cruisers and locals agree.) Anyhow, it looks as though we will be here until at least Thursday the way things look now. Last night and today we are in the midst of a 50+knot wind storm and the storm warning doesn’t start until later tonight….go figure. They are expecting 60+ knot winds later today, which translates to 70+ knots…. The authorities still have not found the sailboat from March 12th that got caught in the unpredictable winds here. Each day we listen to the announcement on the radio that they beleive this missing vessel may have lost it’s one man crew and be sailing on autopilot all by itself. Very sad to imagine.
We are anxious to get back to the top of the North Island to get some things done and see some of the places we missed in our hurry to get to the South Island. The North Island weather is a bit more mild than here so we look forward to not being windblown everyday! I am working on updating the picture gallery today so keep watch for that…….and that’s the way it is in Wellington! Life is Good…..

Wow how time flies. I am now 5 days into my road trip of the New Zealand South Island. First part of the journey was taking a Ferry from Wellington to Picton. As I mentioned I am staying in Backpacker Hostels. They are like youth hostels which I have never stayed in. They offer differant kinds of accomendations like dorms of 4 or more per room. Dorms normaly have bunk beds. The beds in these rooms go for between $20-30. They also offer doubles twins and singles but they cost more. They have complete kitchen facilitities, including plates silvereware, pots and pans refrigerators/ frezzers etc. They also have TV rooms. Many of the places you share bathrooms with other rooms. The cliental are young Europeans. There are probably about 350 of them around Ne Zealand.. So the first two nights I got a 4 person dorm all to myself. (slow season)

Picton is a very nice small tourist town. I went to a couple of museums and a wine tour. There are 130 wineries in this area. We stopped at 4 wineries and tasted 5 wines or so at each winery. It was a great have day adventure.

I then took a train from Picton to Christchurch (4hrs). It is on the east coast of the south Island and is the second largest city in New Zealand.. I spent the night at a backpackers here and shared a 4 person dorm with 2 other guys. In Christchurch I visited the Cathedral. What an awesome building. It was built over a period of 40 years starting in 1864. I even went back for a service that night to listen to the organ, one of those with the large pipes and a all boys choir sang. Visited a museum and went to the casino and won!!!.

I then took a train 4.5hrs to Greymouth on the west coast. We went through the South Island Mountains. It was very beautiful scenery. Got off the train onto a bus that took me to Westport (2 hrs North). Here I stayed in a 6 person dorm that I shared with one other person. That night I cooked a porterhouse steak baked potato and brocli and a bottle of wine.

From Westport I took a bus to Nelson, about a 4 hour trip through some beautiful valleys, mountains and rivers. I would love to take a 3 day kyatt trip down one of these rivers but I also just want to get back to the boat.

Now I know that dreams do come true. Usually in these Backpackers they put guys and girls in different rooms. But in Nelson I had a 4 person dorm with 3 20-25 year old European girls. So I stayed here for two nights. Had a great time and did some hiking.

So today I took a bus back to Picton 2 hours and will take the Ferry to Wellington. I am looking forward to getting back to the boat.

The Adventure continues

Love Gary

Mike and I have returned from our South Island adventure. What a fantastic trip! We rented a car, had a tent and two sleeping bags and made our way down the entire East Coast of South Island and then headed to the West Coast and back up to the top. We covered 2,956 kilometers (1,836.7 miles). The entire 2,956 kilometers was by way of a two lane, windy, country road….some paved, some not. We crossed mountain ranges and many one lane bridges along the way as well and of course, you guessed it, lots of sheep! They have some cute signage along the way to tell you to stay awake when you drive….they say things like, “Don’t Count Sheep When You Drive”. Driving your own car is a great way to see this country up close and personal.

Most of the South Island is quite remote. We found small towns miles and miles apart and some larger cities too but not many. Lots and lots of country! Our camping experiences were great as the South Island caters to campers and backpackers. The campgrounds are nice and cleaner than motels we stayed in on the North Island. We met lots of new people and even met up with some boater friends we met in French Polynesia.

We finally managed a wine tour in this great country of 350 vineyards! They picked us up at our campground and took us to 3 vineyards and one beer pub. We did this with one other couple from Auckland and needless to say had a great day. Our tour guide promptly returned us not only to our campground later in the day, but to our actual campsite so we wouldn’t have to stagger shamelessly thru the campground! Out of the 350 vineyards here only.2% gets exported anywhere. Many vineyards are boutique vineyards and you can only buy their wine directly from the vineyard. Shamefully, I have gained the “freshman 15” since arriving in New Zealand from all of this fabulous wine!

The last day of our trip we returned to our perfect beach front campsite just as it was blowing away. The winds came out of nowhere, as they often do here. We learned the next day that across the channel in Wellington the winds reached 140kilometers and even 120km (75 miles per hour-hurricane force winds) in the marina where the boat is. Luckily a new friend of ours on the dock, managed to come aboard and close our opened hatches and tie the boat down better. Gary was 1 hour up the coast that day taking a kite surfing course. We sustained quite a few gouges in the body paint, had a cleat rip right out of the fiberglass and had some canvas damage to the Bimini…it certainly could have been worse. There were quite a few boats sailing out in the harbor that were caught off guard and went over but luckily we’ve been told all were safely rescued. There was much damage to houses and rooftops throughout Wellington and surrounding areas as well.

Well, now Mike and I are back in Wellington where winds still blow gale force each day….but that’s normal. We are getting some work done on the boat while Gary is taking about a week to tour the South Island himself. We will enjoy some time here and definitely head out to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (Happy 40th St. Pat’s Birthday Stephen!). Mike does have a Kilt and I’m sure he will be putting it to good use tomorrow! Stay tuned….Life is Good…

Well we are now nearly 2,000 kilometers ito our road trip and it just gets better each day. Everywhere you go here is different….from the sea to the Southern Alps. It is a very beautiful country! What an adventure we have had discovering NZ. We worked our way down the entire east coast by car and camping along the way. We made it all the way to Bluff, the most southern point of South Island and only 4,000+ kilometres to the South Pole and 15,000km to New York! We’ve enjoyed such beauty of the coastlines as well as the Mountains. We are now headed up the West Coast and working our way further inland to cover more ground in the shortest amount of time. We took a Jet boat excursion and that was a blast just flying over the waters where Lord of the Rings was made. We are now in Lake Tekapo. The color of the lakes here are that crazy blue from the glaciers as the glaciers are what feed these lakes. You won’t believe the color. We have seen so much wildlife along the way and met more fabulous people. We even bumped into a few other boaters we met in French Polynesia. We’ve crossed mountains and cruised overnight on a ship through Doubtful Sound. Today we did the ultimate in taking a helicopter tour of Mt. Cook (the highest Mtn. in NZ at 12,200ft) and several of the glaciers here. What a very special trip that was. We covered so much land in 70 minutes and even landed on the snow on the top of a mountain…..how crazy is that?! We will spend another day here as we have been running at full speed trying to get to see as much as we can. We will hike, kayak and swim tomorrow to rejuvenate before making our way to the top of South Island and back to Wellington so Gary can take some time to tour this great place. You are all in our thoughts and we wish you could all experience these things with us. Life is Good…..

Wellington just gets better and better. There is so much to do here. I know you would rather hear about sailing adventures or new Islands but here I am in Wellington. I did not get a chance to kite sail again because you have to have the right weather and if there is one thing bad about Wellington it is the weather. It is cold and windy most of the time.

So I signed up for hot yoga classes and that has been great. This week I also went to 2 movies and a couple of the International Arts festival activities, One wasApollo 13 Mission control. For this the theater was transformed into an authentic 1970 replica of mission control, complete with retro computers, giant video screens and elaborate consoles. You are sitting behind one of the consoles actively participating. It was awesome, tom Hanks would have loved it. I also went to a concert featuring the Russian Borodin Quartet. Last but not least I went to the circus that primarily involved acrobatic aerials.

Well it wasn’t all just playing around , I even got some work done on the boat. I have another week to look forward to in Wellington as Mike and Marnie are still traveling around the South Island. Usually by this time I would be getting tired of the same place and ready to head out to sea again but this place is cool.

The adventure continues

Love Gary

We are well on our way and have covered 800+km in only two days. We are now in Dunedin on the East Coast of South Island and it is fabulous. They have a very eclectic, cool city here too. This is considered the wild life capital of NZ and it shows. Just this afternoon we’ve seen Royal Albatross, Yellow eyed penguins (endagered), seals, sea lions and numberous birds. We were so close to the Albatross we were able to see a mother and baby in their nest and the mum was feeding baby…..unbelievable. We are changing our plans to fit as much as we can. Locals have told us we should make the trip to the southern point Invercargill Bluff. From there we will take an overnight cruise through Fijordland (Doubtful Sound)…..it gets is name from the old explorers as they were “doubtful” they would make it through….hence, the reason you don’t sail the South Island! We brought a tent and sleeping bags from home so we are set with camping along the way. NZ makes it very easy as there are awesome, clean camp grounds everywhere! After our first night sleeping in just the sleeping grounds we were quite sore so we ventured out to find some foam! We also purchased a large Sheepskin (a must in NZ) and are now living like true woodsmen!!!!! The country is gorgeous. The roads are all mountain, country roads so we just wind our way through the country. We’ve driven some hairy, teensy, tiny passes too…..Independence Pass in Colorado has nothing on this place!!!!!! It’s amazing our much uninhabited land there is here…..and also how many SHEEP! They say the population of NZ is about 4.5 million people and 20-40million sheep!!!!! Also the beef and lamb here are FAB! All for now….we will keep you posted..Life is Good!

Well Mike and Gary arrived in Wellington last week safe and sound but not before they hit the gale force winds that are so popular and unpredictable here. They hit some 50 knot winds but made it through. When they arrived I met them at the Marina where they told the manager they hit 50 knot winds coming in. Her response was “Aye, it’s usually 90 knots out there, 50 knots is a summer breeze.” So…. We’ve been waiting for a break in the weather to cross Cook Straight to get to the South Island. This is a fierce part of the seas the run between North Island and South Island…..Many boats don’t go there and take the Ferry….which is my choice. Long story short, Mother Nature has not been in our favor and we are loosing valuable touring time so Mike and I decided to take the Ferry to South Island Sunday morning and start our Tramping and Camping trip.  While we were on the Ferry we learned of the earthquake in Chili and the tsunami now headed for NZ….just our luck again.  The captain assured us it would be small by the time it reached here and it was only less than 2ft…hardly noticeable but still made it 4,000 from Chili.

We’ve rented a car and will camp along the way. We expect to put 2,000-2,500km on the car before we are done. There is so much to see! We drove 280 our first afternoon down the east coast…..gorgeous! We are at Hanmer Springs (hots springs) and will move down the east coast some more……stay tuned to our avdentures. Life is good!!!

New Zealand Wellington

Wellington is an awesome city. It is most definitely my favorite in North New Zealand. It is a very young city in relation to the people. I’d swear that 80% of the people I see walking or in restaurants are 20-35. It also has a very positive energy. People are alive and there is a lot to do. The three of us even went bowling and after Wii bowling for the last year on the boat we did pretty badly. We all had a hard time trying to get over a hundred.

The city is built around a large bay off the ocean with a board walk that goes all around the city part of the bay (2 miles). It is actively used by the residents for walking, running and biking. As a matter of fact this morning as I was drinking coffee in the cockpit I saw a fishing boat that pulled up to the board walk and was selling fresh fish right off the boat. It is also an outdoor café kind of place. Every restaurant has tables outside. It reminds me of a mini Paris, but on the water and the people are a lot nicer. The only down fall is that it is cold and windy most of the year. It is now summer and in the morning the temperature is 58 and may warm up to 72. The water temperature is 54 so don’t fall in.

Mike and Marnie left today to do a 2 week car trip of the south island. Before they left Mike and I took our first kite sailing lesson. That’s were you have this big parachute/kite roughly 100 sq. ft and a board strapped to your feet that is 2’x 4’ and you sail across the water. I am going to continue with the lessons while they are gone so I will keep you updated on my progress.

Over the next 3 weeks the city is having an arts festival. This is primarily centered around a lot of world wide artists in the area of music and theater with something going on every day. So I am looking forward to going to some performances.

Any ways all is very well and:

The Adventure Continues

Hi All. I made it to Wellington last night.
Wow…what a great city. Much bigger than
I imagined……but boy is it
windy here.   The locals all told us it would be and they did not disappoint.  It is also several degrees colder and all the locals are wearing jackets and hats.   I’ve been in contact with Mike and Gary along the way and they are
expected to arrive here around 8am tomorrow
morning (Tuesday here). They’ve had light
winds and not too bad of seas (of course, I’m
not on the boat!). The winds are expected
to pick up this evening though and hopefully
they will be docked before the front moves in.
We will keep you posted on our progress..
Love to all….Life is Good….