11/03/2009, Portland, Oregon
On November 15 we flew home to Portland, Oregon for the holidays to enjoy the family and friends. Flying by Air New Zealand from Auckland to San Francisco to Portland took a total of 12 hours -- not bad, but still knocking our bio-clocks to smithereens! While in the States, we are having sv Julia Max being worked on. This includes teak deck replacement, painting of hull and top-sides, replacing the refrigeration insulation, and repairing the windlass, the chain, the furler, and a few shrouds and turnbuckles. Arrrrr! Matey, if it isn't one thing it's twenty! Best to everyone at this holiday time! Cheers!
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11/02/2009, Taupiri Bay, New Zealand
New Zealander Robin Tanner and guest Bob Neville from the USA invited us ashore for dinner, just after 'Julia Max' anchored within their small protected harbor just south of Cape Brett. It was a delightful evening, including lobster, fish, salad...and chocolate ice cream and cake, and conversation about backgrounds, cruising, and plans going forward. Robin is part of the Backpackers network in New Zealand that invites visitors to stay in their homes for a modest sum and enjoy the local faire and fellowship. The evening was an unexpected treat that happened because we anchored our boat in their front yard!
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10/31/2009, Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Having arrived in Opua, New Zealand, we passed through Customs, and enjoyed the New Zealand landfall. Enjoying a land tour to the west side of the North Island, two Maori guides drove us to the largest Kauri tree which reminded us of the Redwoods in the States. The guide introduced us to the tree through a song/chant, sharing the closeness to nature that the Maori's have. In addition we visited a unique valley that had basalt boulders with unusually deep grooves caused by the acidic Kauri tree sap. After several Kiwi meals ashore (meat pies, corn fritters, rack of lamb, etc), a few marine chandlery stops for good measure, filling the water tanks, using 220V for heating the boat in the 55F nights, we focused on moving the boat into the Bay of Islands that you hear so much about. The islands are in a tighter geographic area than the San Juan Islands in Washington State. But they are beautiful, having rocky shores, oysters at the tide line, shore birds and pelagics including a beautiful cormorant with white breast and yellow beak, the Australasian gannet, the small red-billed gull, the large black-backed gull, and others. We hope to see the local penguin (about 12" tall)! The water is 55F, similar to the San Juan Islands. Yesterday we were in Russell, and took in the local museum that told the historical significance of the area. Today we moved to another bay, out of the SW winds that are picking up. The area is windy, having seen 25-30 knots at the dock in Opua for a few days. So we will choose our anchorages to stay out of the wind! The sunshine is brilliant! My barber referred to the Ozone Hole, and how the area has more skin cancer problems than any other area in the world....
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10/22/2009, Arrived in Opua, New Zealand
We arrived safely in Opua, New Zealand at 0930, Friday, October 23rd. The morning light as we entered the Bay of Islands was memorable. Numerous sea birds were flying around the boat: a new one for us is the Australasian Gannet: a large white bird with a blond colored head and throat, very similar to a booby. Upon arrival into a new country, you go through Customs and an Agricultural Inspection. The little sugar ants that came aboard in French Polynesia will be going through World War 3 tomorrow, as we fumigate the boat. We are now tied up to a slip in Opua Marina for the next few days while we get ourselves familiarized with the local services.
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10/21/2009, Underway to Opua, New Zealand
Today was difficult with SSW 18-22 knot winds on the nose. We made little or no progress towards Opua, but did work our way further south. At dinner time the engine came on again, and we were moving along at 5.0-5.3 knots towards Opua. We have 180 miles left to go. A New Zealand Air Force plane flew over us, hailed us on the VHF 16, and asked Port of Entry and ETA. It was a cool contact! Also, we saw our first albatross on our South Pacific trip: a yellow-headed albatross. As I was wearing my yellow foul weather gear, he gave me an extra look. I had a yellow hat on, so he may thought I was family.
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10/19/2009, Underway to Opua, New Zealand
One weather fact that is now apparent is that the winds are constantly shifting as you get closer to the north island of New Zealand. We are not able to sail the rhumb line straight to our destination. We have been off as much as 60 degrees to the east. Currently we are doing better. Winds have dropped by 5 to SW 14. The seas have lessened to SW 5-7'. We are hoping that we will be able to motor tonight to go directly to our destination. Winds appear to be shifting towards the west as forecasted which would really help. We are about three days away looking at a Friday, Oct 23 arrival time.
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