We still have our guest Tom aboard. After surviving some rough weather in Auckland, we finally escaped the dock and headed out – along with most of Auckland. This is the land of boaties – people who own and use their boats – both sail and power. It was a parade of boats that had been waiting for the bad weather to pass and then head out for their last "hurrah" of the season. Easter weekend is the second biggest boating weekend of the year for kiwis. Autumn has started and this weekend is their farewell to cruising for the year – now starts racing season. As one NZ friend told us, "After this weekend, the stoves come off, all the weekend gear comes off and the racing begins." When we left the marina on Friday morning, their was a traffic jam on the water, you actually had to wait for boats to so you could edge out into the traffic pattern. Everyone seemed to be leaving Auckland and heading to the islands. Some to Great Barrier, others to Kawau and some to the Mercury Islands. And a whole bunch were heading to Waiheke where there is a jazz festival and lots of good anchorages.
That was our destination as well. We decided to explore a new place and headed to "Rocky Bay." It was a beautiful crescent bay with good holding in a sandy/muddy bottom about 4 meters. We took a great hike on shore to an ancient Pa site with great views and along a nice track. We saw the endangered New Zealand dotteral bird which has only 1800 left and only on this island. They are having great success with a breeding program here and lots of fencing and signage points out the nesting spots.
After two pleasant nights there, we moved around the island to the other side and "Man of War" Bay. We sailed the entire 12 miles or so...slow but very pleasant. Upon arrival we joined the other 100-plus boats already anchored and enjoyed the bay movies of boats coming and going. The beautiful three masted "Spirit of New Zealand" training ship came in as did the Whitbread winning "Steinlager" racing machine.
We dinghied out to the "Spirit of NZ" to see if our friend Simon was aboard. He was not on this trip – buy had a great chat with one of the crew aboard.
We went ashore to check out the winery right on the beach. Here's another great example of the warmth and friendliness of the kiwis. As we're walking towards the winery, some folks at a nearby table asked if we liked chardonnay. We said yes and they bragged that this was the best chardonnay in NZ...."here try a sip" handing over her glass. They turned out to be really nice and fun people to chat with and we had some good laughs with them. We love this country!
Tonight, we'll go ashore and kill our "zero dollar days" record of three! We'll go in and enjoy a glass of that lovely chardonnay and a sunset.
Happy Easter to all – don't eat your chocolate bunny all at once.
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At 3/11/2016 8:24 PM (utc) S/V Astarte was located at 36°25.51'S 174°50.35'E
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Sunday, March 27, 2016
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Barbara Back Aboard
The Astarte crew is reunited after a month apart...and both parties are happy. Plus our guest Tom is an added benefit. It was a great visit to the states even with all its craziness. And with this election, that is an understatement! But I (Barbara) was happy to see my mom, sister and brother-in-law, niece and nephews and my friends in New England and Portland. It was a treat to visit with everyone and share some fun times. I even reconnected with some colleagues from way back and that was great. Thanks to everyone for their incredible hospitality with rides, cars and their time.
I also had the privilege of sharing our adventure with the third and fourth graders in Westford, MA in a presentation my sister arranged. It was fun and their attention, questions and laughter was awesome. Thanks to Westford School for the opportunity to do a presentation – it was a step into my past life!
Now back in New Zealand, it isn't as warm as when I left. It is starting to be autumn here and the days are getting shorter and certainly cooler. But it is wonderful to be back aboard with the captain and back in my own space. The trip was actually quite comfortable (thanks to Michael for getting me an upgrade woo-hoo).
We get to enjoy Tom's company a few more weeks and we hope to get away to one or two islands in the Hauraki Gulf...though the weather isn't cooperating much. It is a bit squally now and there is some big stuff predicted for next week. But we'll see. Because it is Easter weekend coming the hot spots will most likely be quite crowded.
Tom and Michael did some exploring while I was gone heading to one of our favorite spots – Kawau Island. Tom bobbed about in Bob (the kayak) and took a swim (not by choice). They did some walking ("up Mount Kilamanjaro," according to Tom). And spent some time in the KBC (Kawau Boating Club). I think that involved drinking beer!
But all is good on Astarte. The boys did do a lot of projects including putting on the new Rocna anchor – an upgrade for us in weight. They also did some top of mast and mainsail roller furler maintenance, wind generator greasing, hose clamps replacements,hatch repair, winch cleaning and other projects.
Now we'll enjoy our time with our friend Tom and before you know it we'll be getting ourselves and Astarte ready for the next adventures in the islands – we're thinking Fiji for this coming season.
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At 3/11/2016 8:24 PM (utc) S/V Astarte was located at 36°25.51'S 174°50.35'E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
I also had the privilege of sharing our adventure with the third and fourth graders in Westford, MA in a presentation my sister arranged. It was fun and their attention, questions and laughter was awesome. Thanks to Westford School for the opportunity to do a presentation – it was a step into my past life!
Now back in New Zealand, it isn't as warm as when I left. It is starting to be autumn here and the days are getting shorter and certainly cooler. But it is wonderful to be back aboard with the captain and back in my own space. The trip was actually quite comfortable (thanks to Michael for getting me an upgrade woo-hoo).
We get to enjoy Tom's company a few more weeks and we hope to get away to one or two islands in the Hauraki Gulf...though the weather isn't cooperating much. It is a bit squally now and there is some big stuff predicted for next week. But we'll see. Because it is Easter weekend coming the hot spots will most likely be quite crowded.
Tom and Michael did some exploring while I was gone heading to one of our favorite spots – Kawau Island. Tom bobbed about in Bob (the kayak) and took a swim (not by choice). They did some walking ("up Mount Kilamanjaro," according to Tom). And spent some time in the KBC (Kawau Boating Club). I think that involved drinking beer!
But all is good on Astarte. The boys did do a lot of projects including putting on the new Rocna anchor – an upgrade for us in weight. They also did some top of mast and mainsail roller furler maintenance, wind generator greasing, hose clamps replacements,hatch repair, winch cleaning and other projects.
Now we'll enjoy our time with our friend Tom and before you know it we'll be getting ourselves and Astarte ready for the next adventures in the islands – we're thinking Fiji for this coming season.
-----
At 3/11/2016 8:24 PM (utc) S/V Astarte was located at 36°25.51'S 174°50.35'E
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
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