A Scenic day trip north of Opua

                                                                                                                     late Jan 2014

We took a day off to join Chris and Steve for a jaunt up to Whangaroa Harbour, returning via the coastal route to see the Cavalli islands from the mainland.

We certainly picked a lovely day, and the sights stimulated the urge to sail up there at some later stage! On the way back, we enjoyed a Flounder and chips meal for $6.00…. the cheapest meal we have had in NZ by far.

The pics can do the talking!

Some R & R in the beautiful Bay of Islands.

                                                                                                                     End Jan 2014

On each of the two occasions that we have been able to go out and explore the lovely boating playground, with so many sheltered and protected bays and anchorages, fishing spots, drop off reefs, and fantastic sailing conditions….. the wind has been from the South, which severely restricts ones choices!!

Nevertheless, we caught glimpses of paradise, and cannot wait to be done with all the remaining jobs, paintwork, and sewing, so that we can indulge ourselves!

On the positive side, we are nearing the end of the “silly season”, where every Kiwi with anything that floats, heads out into the BOI !  Some of the “Pan Pans”, and “Maydays”, we have heard on the radio, have been hysterical! All dealt with calmly and very efficiently , by “Maritime Radio”(MR) , and the rescue services.

I must share one with you!

“Mayday Mayday..is anyone out there?”

MR  “This is MR, what is the name of your vessel, what is the nature of your emergency, where are you, and how many people are on board?”

“ Thank you! When will someone come to help?”

MR “ same information requested

Ah yes… don’t know the name of the boat..it’s not mine ! We are in Puka something bay… when will someone come?

MR  “Puka what bay… look on your chart, and are you anchored, and what is your problem?”

“ Puka something bay near Wanatui  I don’t have a chart… yes we are anchored, but can’t start the engine”

MR “What is your position, your longitude and latitude?”

“I don’t know. But the boat does have a GPS”

MR “what is your position on the GPS?”

“I don’t know how to turn it on”

MR “ There will be a switch marked GPS on the switchboard, and an on /off button on the instrument. When you switch it on it will take a while to show your position”

“Thank you…. Aah yes, the lights have come on!!!......waiting….still waiting….Yes, it says we are at Magnitude 174 something… when will somebody come?”

                      While this one amused us greatly, and the poor idiot was eventually fetched and towed back by a local fisherman, we listened a couple of days ago, to another “mayday”, which did not have such a happy ending.

A diver was hit by the propeller of a commercial boat near “Poor Knights Island”. He was pulled aboard, conscious, but badly injured. A helicopter with a paramedic was despatched, who was winched down to the boat. We then heard the paramedics report to the helicopter pilot, that he should return to base as the patient was “A23”, and the boat would go into Tutukaka port.

A23 = DOA. What a very ,very sad ending to some family’s holiday.

Down to Auckland for Mary’s Eye “op”

                                                                                                     23^rd Jan 2014

 

Clock Museum in Whangarei

It was with mixed emotions that we drove the 250kms down to the Auckland Eye Clinic for Mary to have her cataract phacoemusification and lens implant.

The problem had been diagnosed in January 2013 while in Cape Town, but we were not there long enough to have it done. The next stop over which would have given us sufficient time, would have been in Tahiti. While I am sure the French doctors would have been right up to speed with the procedure, Bupa, our medical Insurance Supplier, did not have a reciprocity arrangement there, and the thought of having it all explained in French, was less appealing than English!

Bupa, in fact gave us the name of the clinic and doctors in Auckland, and issued a pre authorization for both the consultation, and the procedure.

The previous week, we were lucky enough to be invited to Wendy and Dave Dalton’s lovely home above the Bay of Islands. Mary was surrounded by people all of whom had had some form of high tech laser eye surgery, and left feeling confident that it would be a breeze!

In retrospect, I think it was only Dave who had had the same cataract procedure, and he was a lot less vocal about the ins and outs of the op.

We spent some time at the waterfront, and had fresh fish and chips from one of the many facilities around the Auckland Fish Market. The city is home to about a third of New Zealanders, and is very impressive

Team New Zealand's Americas Cup headquarters......happier times!

Life jackets in paddle pools?

"A" .......we've seen her round the world, and here she is, wearing a nappy!!

Westhaven Marina with the city in the baackground

The procedure itself was quite a bit more uncomfortable than Mary had been led to believe, but it was all over in less than an hour. Mary had been so brave and confident that she declined the tranquilisers/sedatives on offer! Me? Coward that I am, would have said “load me up, I’m much braver and more co- operative when I’m unconscious!”

She was instructed to only take off the eye patch first thing next morning. By that stage she could hardly wait to take it off, and to find out if she could see anything through her new artificial lens! The eye was a bit red and bloodshot, but it WORKED ! Her vision was immediately better than it had been, but by lunch time, when we had to go back for the post op checkup, Mary was a little unhappy that the vision was a bit “hazy”.  At the checkup, Prof Polkinghorne, said everything went perfectly, and he just wanted to ‘laser zap” a little hole through the lens pouch, to clear the vision.  He focused the laser, which then went “click”,..she felt nothing, and was back out again in 1 minute with near perfect eyesight!

The morning after......and working!!

What amazing new technology! Now, a week later, you cannot tell which eye was treated, and the “new” eye is much better the other one, which she thought was perfect! 

First Camping adventure!

                                                                                                      Still Jan 2014!

Having bought Mrs Paki, and loaded up with the minimum camping essentials at the Warehouse, we set off on a quest to see a real live Kiwi….(as in  the NZ flightless  Bird!!)

We chose the “Aroha island” environmental campsite, which lies not too far north of Kerikeri. We were being joined by our friends Chris and Steve, who were coming up from Whangerei, where they had taken their boat, “Scott Free”.

We got there earlier than they did, and were under orders to secure a spot for them if it looked like getting too full! Our first challenge was to erect our very little tent, and to see if in fact it was big enough for us to fit inside!

It was indeed, a very little erection, and took all of 5 minutes! It took longer to inflate the blow up mattresses!

Rod admiring the little erection!

“Aroha Island” is a lovely spot, with nice facilities for cooking and bathrooms, and is located on the extreme end of one of the peninsulas jutting out into the  Kerikeri inlet.  Of Kiwis…? We saw zilch! We heard them alright, both males and females , with their distinctively different calls, but our nocturnal bird watching walks along the trails, with our little red torch lights, were all in vain. Some of the other campers were more fortunate, but like all game watching, it’s so often just a case of luck…. being in the right spot at the right time!

Nevertheless, it was a lovely place, and one which we have earmarked for a return visit, perhaps with Kate, where we will hire a cabin, instead of inflicting her with a tent!  

Noisy cicada

Calafornian Quails

Mrs Mallard Ducky with 7 littl'uns

Low tide exposes oyster beds

Breakfast cook

Braai time......note the Obikwe wine

Bay of Islands Tall Ships and Classic boat Race Day.

             Also Jan 2014!

                                                                                        

 We could have entered the event,  but having just made good nearly all the damage inflicted by the Pacific Ocean over the last 9000miles, we felt “sailed out”, and disinclined to risk any more work!

So we invited “Bear” and Pepe Millard, from” Beez Neez”, to join us in taking “Mrs Paki”, (our Toyota Ipsum)  for a ferry ride over to Russell, from where we could watch the spectacle from the comfort of the shore.

Or, perhaps more accurately, from the first floor balcony of the Swordfish club, while we ate a leisurely lunch of fish and chips, and kept the thirst at bay.

Chaos at the start

Zebedee.......we met Alan and his junk rig in Panama, a purist with no engine!!

Spirit of New Zealand, youth training vessel