Winter Racing Begins and NZ Part 2

As if we haven't had enough sailing this summer, we've signed up for the winter series as well. First race is going north of the island up to Prevesa on the mainland and everyone is looking forward to the first encounter of the season. Neil our skipper decided Leona (the boat) needed her bottom cleaning before the race and idiot me volunteered. So we take the boat away from the town into clean water, Mark loads me up with my dive gear - can't dress myself, it's to heavy :-( - am becoming a weakling lol and in I go to give her a scrub. The water was so murky I couldn't even SEE the keel from the water line, this is not my favourite type of diving, so I feel my way along most of the time and I did my best to clean all her bottom. This time of year the water is still warmish but the wind was chilly getting out. So race day. Not much wind and a limited choice of where to lay the start line as the shore is at one end. With wind light and all over the place it was a lengthy debate on whether to start with white sails or spinnaker. White sales won to get over the line and within ten minutes the spinnaker was up. It stayed up for 2 thirds of the trip north, wind changed dramatically and back to a beat for the rest of the leg. Around the Prevesa buoy, spinnaker up again for a third of the leg back then white sails for a beat to the finish. What a weird race!!! Anyway, champions (lol) that we are, we were 2nd over the line and first by miles on corrected time.

NZ Part 2 Home and Going South

After a 12 hour flight - great for me, I had four seats to myself and slept 8 hours of the journey - nightmare for Mark, he wouldn't move and didn't get much sleep - we arrive in Auckland in the morning. I was lovely to see Mum and Dad there to meet us, 8 years since I saw them, about 16 since Mark saw them. Bundle us all into car and lets get home for a cuppa and long chinwag!! A relaxing day needed to get over Mark's jetlag.

Next afternoon we went into Auckland, and had a wander around the Maritime Museum. It's pretty impressive. The picture of me is in a bunk in a mock steamer, it's built on one of those hydraulic things simulating sea motion, creaking wood and everything. It's even got scratchy blankets to give authenticticity.

May 19th – Manukau Heads Lighthouse

NZ was a very sea fairing nation, they had no choice being so far away from any other land mass and the Manukau Heads is the western entry into NZ's biggest harbour. It's the most dangerous harbour entrance with a trecherous, tidal sandbar across the entrance and the location of the most disatrous shipwreck in NZ's history. The warship HMS Orpheus grounded on the sandbar and 185 lives were lost.

Manukau Heads Replica Lighthouse

A few years ago the locals decided to recreate the lighthouse and using the original dome (which had been sitting in a farmers field for years), lantern and prisms set in a timber replica of the original tower. The lighthouse was reopened in 2006, 132 years from it's date of first use. As Mark is always pointing out to me - NZ is a young country and history is thin on the ground (he lived in a pub older than the oldest building in NZ) but they do their best!

More Piccies of the Manukau Heads here

We take a leisurley drive back exploring some of the lovely bays around the harbour and look what we come across......

Yep it's a carrier/cargo plane in someone's garden!! That's what the Kiwi's do best ... surprise you on many levels lol.

May 20th we set off to fly to Queenstown to pick up our camper for 9 days whistle stop tour in the South Island. Well we got near Queenstown and had to hold for 20 minutes to see if the weather would clear enough for us to land – wasn’t happening and had to re route to Christchurch – bummer.

Decision time - ring the camper company to see if we could pick up our camper here or take a 6 hour coach trip down to Queenstown. Don't fancy 6 hours on a coach to we opt to pick up the camper in Christchurch. Paperwork and instructions complete we spent the first night spent just outside Christchurch.

May 21st, it's a long drive down to Te Anau to get back on our planned track. The changing landscapes of the south island are wondrous, first stop Lake Tekapo and the autumn colours around the lake are just beautiful.

The trusty camper parked at Lake Tekapo

Autumn colours at Lake Tekapo

More piccies of the changing landscape on that drive to Te Anau here. Next installment the famous Milford Sound and the Glaciers.