Ruby Slippers

for a year and a half was chummy – try being in a 4-person car and a 6-man tent for two weeks;  it gives a whole new meaning to “close-knit” family.  Especially when two of the family members are busy accidentally jabbing each other with their elbows while knitting.  The boat seems so spacious, now that we are back from our driving vacation.  Our beds are so roomy and cushy – ahhhhh.

We had a good time, although we didn’t get as far south on the south island as we intended.  We only covered about the top 20%.  We hiked in Abel Tasman National Park, which is beautiful.  We saw split-apple rock, which is a famous New Zealand landmark.  We made some new friends who live in a modern castle near Abel Tasman.  They imported 3 containers of stone, tile, trim and furniture, so they could replicate the castle they own in Arizona.  It’s quite a sight!  We spent some time in the town of Nelson, which is an artsy, happening kind of place on the ocean.  It reminds me of some of the towns along the coast of California.  We drove over Lewis Pass, which was a scenic, bucolic, bough-covered roadway.  It was so relaxing to wind up through the pass, with no other cars on the road.  There are many, many sheep on the south island, and not so many people.  It’s the perfect place to live if you are tired of the hustle and bustle of the world. 

Molly and Jessie spent a lot of time crocheting.  We found some actual yarn shops on the south island.  Amazingly, there are none to be found on the north island.  All these sheep, and they export all their wool to China!  China then makes sweaters and sells them back to New Zealand.

The last few days of our trip back up to the north island were rainy and windy.  There was zero visibility on the ferry ride back to the north island.  Jim had a toothache, and Molly and I caught colds.  We were all anxious to get back home.  We actually drove about 6 hours the last day – a record for us!

We stopped trying to find good places to eat out.  I think a love of lamb and wine is necessary for a successful restaurant meal down here, and we don’t fit the bill.  We got adept at finding the local grocery store, and would freeze bottles of water for our cooler every time we stayed in a campground.  We certainly didn’t starve; we just didn’t make food the highlight of our trip, as it so often is.

Our boat fared just fine while we were away.  Now we have a list of projects to complete before we head to Australia.  We will stay here in Gulf Harbour Marina until March 14th, and then head up to Opua, where we first entered into New Zealand.  That will be a good stepping-off place to watch the weather and wait for the best window to make the 1200-mile trip to Sydney.  I was positive Jim told me it would be 5 days – now it sounds like minimum 7 days, probably 8.  Aaaaccckkkk.  The landings, I like; the crossings, not so much.

Yesterday, Jim went to a local dentist to have his sore tooth checked out.  She was from Russia, and did not speak much English at all.  She had her New Zealand technician interpreting for her to Jim.  Now, that’s what I would call a language barrier. Jim thought she was a good dentist; he just couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell him!  She is having him take some antibiotics in hopes that the bacteria will go away and he will be able to hang on until he gets home to his own dentist in the states.   

March and April are the beginning of fall down here; the weather has been nasty lately.  I hope it stays pleasant until we make it across the Tasman Sea.  Before then, we need to sell the car we bought in November, stock the boat with food, check the rigging and mast, change the oil, patch the dinghy, and a bevy of other little projects.

  It’s nice to be back afloat.  There are some pictures from our trip to the south island in the Media Gallery.  Check it out!  ~ Jeanna

Question of the Week

Here is the answer to last week’s question:

July fourth, 1826 was the 50th anniversary of the United States of America, and  the two people most responsible for the creation of the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, died on that day.

See if you can find the correct answer to this question.  We will continue to post questions along with the answer to the previous question!  Have fun!

At what degree is Centigrade and Fahrenheit the same number?

We made this detour on our way up to the north end of New Zealand, where we will “jump off” on our crossing to Australia.  We needed to be near Auckland to sell our car.  Jim has spent the last two days at car auctions, trying to get rid of our beautiful 1996 Nissan Sedan with 173,000 kilometers on it, and a cracked windshield.  She has served us well these past 4 months.  Jim finally sold it today for $1500 NZ dollars, which is less than half what we paid for it. At least that job is done! 

The other draw of Bayswater Marina is that it is where our friends on the yacht, AZUL are moored.  AZUL is the home of Molly and Jessie’s best friends, the 14-year old twins, Daniel and Anderson, and their slightly older brother, Josh.  Molly and Jessie have been fretting about having to say good-bye to them.  They all love each other so, and get along great together.  We thought that maybe a thorough saturation would help ease the pain of good-bye.  They have been together now, 24/7 for the past 3 days, and show no sign of said saturation.  They have played tennis, kite-boarded, flown kites, played games, played music and watched movies from dawn till late at night.  I think we are all going out tomorrow to an anchorage to spend even more time together, then we absolutely must part and head for Opua.  Fortunately, Jim and I like the AZUL parents as much as the kids like each other.  Juan is an underwater film-maker from Spain, and Diane is from Tennessee.  They have lived in Spain, Italy and England, and are now thinking that they want to stay in New Zealand, on the south island.  Their kids all speak 3 languages fluently, and are very musical.  Good skills for Molly and Jessie to emulate!  I don’t know how we will ever see them again, except Juan may be coming up to the northwest to film the giant octopus for the Cousteau Society.  It would be great if he could bring the family.

The weather has been pretty stinky lately – blowing 25-30 knots and bitterly ( 65 degrees!) cold.  The crossing to Australia is weighing heavy on my mind.  What if it is rough AND cold?   For 1200 miles?  Well, Jeanna, what if it is beautiful and sunny and the wind is on the beam the whole time?  Attitude is 90% of success.  I vow to improve mine.  Our boat is packed to the hatches with food.  All I will need to pick up in Opua is some fresh vegetables and fruit.  I wonder what the custom officials in Australia will confiscate…

We will keep you posted on our progress!  ~  Jeanna

Jessie is not here to write the Question of the Week, so I will just tell you that -40 degrees is where Celsius and Fahrenheit are the same number.  Remember, to change C to F, you double the Celsius number, subtract 10%, and add 32 degrees.

and a few days after that to get to Opua, our cupboards are bare.  We shared every evening meal with AZUL, for a total of 12 people.  That’s a lot of food!  

We left Bayswater Marina and went to Waihiki Island with AZUL to do some diving and playing.  Molly and Jessie water-skied behind AZUL’s dinghy, and both got up and stayed up right away.  We had no luck fishing or spear-fishing.  We had to eat non-seafood the whole week!  We left AZUL after many good-byes and sailed to Great Barrier Island, where we spent one night.  It is beautiful there, but quite crowded, since it was Easter weekend, evidently the last hurrah of the sailing season in New Zealand.  There were boats everywhere!  We spent one night in Tutukaka Harbour, much prettier than its name implies.  There, we ran into some friends who had sailed there for the weekend, and we decided to go diving with them the next day.  We went to Poor Knight’s Island, about 12 miles offshore from Tutukaka.  It is a marine reserve, and is full of large, beautiful fish.  Poor Jim was just itching to use his spear gun, but couldn’t in this protected area.  The weather was great and the visibility underwater was spectacular.   

We dove one more time the next morning, right near Opua.  Molly and Jessie went diving together for the first time; they usually go one at a time with Jim.  It was slightly unsettling to fling them into the murky water and watch them disappear slowly beneath the waves.  I was nervous as a cat.  Jessie had some trouble with her dive equipment and had to come back up after a while, but Molly continued diving and emerged with a bag full of scallops – about 50 good-sized ones.  Jim caught a couple of King fish on the way to Opua, so we have been feasting on fresh seafood.  It ended with a scallop omelet this morning for breakfast.

We finally have arrived in Opua and are tucked in a slip at the marina.  The weather has turned sour; the wind is blowing and it is raining off and on through the day.  We have contacted Customs, but they want to know exactly when we will be leaving. They don’t want sailors hanging around in their waters after they have checked out.  So far, we have told them that we will leave by Friday at noon.  That may change, but we have to pick a date at some point.  It is a superstition among sailors that you never leave on a trip on a Friday.  It doesn’t bother me at all, but it sure makes other sailors look askance at us when we choose that day to leave the dock.   Molly found an injured Myna bird this morning, and brought it on board to see if she could get it moving again.  Evidently, this type of bird steals eggs from other birds’ nests, so we think it may have been poisoned by the local government, who are very protective of their indigenous birds.  The bird started moving around after a bit, and Molly set it up in a tree, where the cats can’t get to him. 

Everything is in speeded-up time as we get ready to leave on a crossing.  Jim is scurrying around, doing last minute boat projects, I am pushing the girls to do extra schooling, because I know for the first couple of days I won’t feel like even talking to anyone, let alone teach school.  I am trying to cook some dishes ahead and get them in the freezer so I won’t have to go below.  I need to stock the boat with food all over again (no more car)! Jessie needs to clean her room, since that is where Jim and I sleep while out in the ocean.  Jessie will sleep with Molly or out in the main salon.  No one really uses the forward part of the boat, since it has the most motion while underway.  There are friends to say goodbye to, New Zealand Customs to deal with, and paperwork to send to Australia, informing them of our arrival.  They will search our boat for unacceptable food, shells, and medications.  I have a ton of serious drugs in our medicine chest; I hope they don’t take them all.  We need to fill our scuba tanks, our LPG tanks, and fill the boat with fuel and water.  Then, I guess it is time to untie and go to Australia!

There are new pictures in the media gallery. 

Question of the Week

What was the name of Tonto’s horse?

(We watched the very first Lone Ranger show in black and white on DVD. I had never known why the Lone Ranger wore a mask, or why he left a silver bullet each time he saved someone from dire straits.  It was all very illuminating and educational, and Molly and Jessie loved it!)
~  Jeanna

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