Auckland to Whangarei

If you’ve got to take a long flight I can tell you the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the way to go. The seats were comfortable (relatively) for the 13 + hours we were on board.  All our baggage made it to Auckland and we cleared in without any problem. We grabbed our rental car and despite a slight programming glitch with the GPS we found our Airbnb and had a light dinner.

Our first day, Thursday, we took the bus to the Central Business  District (CBD) and spent hours in the Maritime Museum which was most excellent, walked around and had lunch. It was overcast so we didn't go up in the Sky walk tower.  The trees here are enormous; a product of lots of rain and mild temps that rarely get below 50F.

Saturday morning we went to a phenomenal Farmer’s Market and then the rain started so we bagged our plans to go to the Museum of Transportation and Technology. Two hours of driving got us to Whangarei (pronounced Fangaray) and we found our way to Town Basin and the boat.

Ian and Cindy just bought their boat the end of December and there are lots of chores to be done and things to figure out so we've been busy. Carol and I did take the bus to the top of Whangarei Falls and hiked down a few days ago and also saw a huge stand of Kauri trees. We've been getting plenty of exercise between walking a big loop around the river or walking to various stores for needed parts.

This is a view up the river near where we are currently tied up.

Just a nice looking boat. 

Thursday evening about 20 of the cruisers here piled into 6 dinghies and went up river and had lots of hors d’oeuves and wine. Alas, no pics of the hilarity that ensued

Also, Laura Decker, the Dutch girl who sailed around the world at 14 lives here and her red boat GUPPY, is tied up a few yards away from us.

Lots of people have homemade campers and you can pull over anywhere and camp along the road or in designated parking lots.

This past Friday there was a food court event on the canopy bridge with entertainment and finally good weather.  Meanwhile there is a cyclone bouncing around up near Fiji and it is supposed to come near us so we haven't sailed anywhere yet, but once it dissipates we'll leave here and go sailing.

Carl is a character that bought this Hinckley in Georgetown DE a few years ago and somehow has made it all the way to NZ solo. He has a few "projects" he's working on.

This is a small sample of the larger project which will become a new art center here in Whangarei.

Holy $#!&% or, Can You Believe THIS?

Many years ago I met my friends Ian and Cindy when they were paid Captain and crew on a boat I occasionally sailed and raced on. We stayed in touch over the years and did quite a bit of sailing together, including a TransAtlantic crossing in 2013 on an Oyster 655.  They had even asked Carol and me to crew for them a few years ago on another 655 that was planning on passing through the Panama Canal and voyaging to the Galapagos and on to the Marquesas. Alas, those plans changed, (twice) and then the boat was sold. 

Last year they were sailing as unpaid crew on a boat that was participating in the Oyster World Rally.  Upon reaching New Zealand an opportunity came up for them to buy their very own Oyster 54.  They immediately invited us to come sail and cruise with them for a few months; what's not to like about THAT, right?  Of course we said yes!  Woo-Hoo, several weeks sailing in New Zealand and we get to miss February winter here?  Cool.

But that meant the boat they had been sailing on was now left without crew.  Ian then recommended us to the owner as his and Cindy's replacements.  After speaking with the owner (and looking at each other wide-eyed and pinching ourselves several times) we said yes, we'd love to join your boat.

Which means that in late March, after sailing with Ian and Cindy for several weeks we will join the other boat named SEA AVENUE, and we'll be departing New Zealand heading to New Caledonia and on to Vanuatu.  We then continue on to Australia with time to cruise Malaysia and Indonesia ending up in Bali in late August.  The full route can be found here.  
If we stay on beyond this point we leave Bali, Indonesia, cross the Indian Ocean to South Africa and sail up the Atlantic to Grenada and finish in Antigua in April of 2019.  

Yeah, WOW, that's what we said (or something similar)!  So come along with us as we (sporadically) post updates on our big adventure!

Needless to say, plans to design and build our new house are currently on HOLD!  But we did find a great waterfront lot with a nice view.

We're outta here!