Hi to everyone. Last time we left you we were huddled down at the bottom of the South Island in the rain. Now we have made it back to the boat and I’m writing this sat on the boat in the Norsand Boatyard in the Whangarei River. So let me tell you all about the rest of our mega road trip and the journey back home to the boat.
I put together a video of the whole road trip below. It’s the main highlights of a seven-week trip in about 25 minutes!
We have definitely seen some amazing places and landscapes and fallen more in love with this place.
Having explored the Catlins at the bottom of South Island, we started to make our way back North again along the East Coast. We drove through and stopped for a quick look in Dunedin and then headed further north to the little town of Oamaru.
This was a little gem of a town to explore, famous for its steampunk art. We stayed in the campsite right next to the harbour and very close to the centre of town. The harbour area is like walking into a Victorian time warp. During the late 1800’s, this was a boom town driven by trade through the port and gold mining around the region. The money was invested in to building some very grandiose buildings using the abundant white limestone. 30 years later and for various reasons the town economy collapsed, investment ended, and the buildings fell into disrepair for 50 years, leaving the legacy of a past time. Now they have been restored and repurposed with a great selection of restaurants, breweries, museums and art galleries.
We spent a couple of days enjoying the sights. We also got to see our first penguins of the trip too that evening as they came up the boat slip way in the harbour and hid for the night in all the boats on the shore. We also enjoyed some good beer at two of the local breweries!
With good weather forecast for the next few days we took the spectacular drive inland to go and see Mount Cook.
We camped for 2 nights about 20km away down the valley next to Lake Tasman. We were blessed with not a cloud in the sky and beautiful views of the mountains right from the front door of our tent.
We drove up to the Mount Cook Village the next day and joined the many hordes of people doing the Hooker Track which takes you right up to the termination lake of the glacier at the foot of Mount Cook. This was a spectacular walk across three swing bridges with breathtaking views of the peaks all around the valley and Mount Cook at its head. With not a cloud in the sky it was a perfect day for the hike, and we stopped for lunch and photos with views over the lake and glacier.
The next day we took the drive towards Christchurch, another spectacular drive through the Southern Alps and mountains.
At the recommendation of some friends we stopped in a little town called Fairlie to sample the pies at the local bakery. They were delicious!
We ended up on the inland scenic route on the East side of the Alps at a place called Mount Somers. We tried to find a very remote campsite at a place called Lake Heron only to find it was closed after a 40km trip down a gravel road! However, the trip was worth the effort for the views. After that we ended up freedom camping for the night in a nice camp site next to the highway.
The next day we stopped and did a walk to Sharplin Falls at the foot of Mount Somers. A great track through lush beach tree forest that criss-crossed the creek up to the falls.
A short drive after that took us to the little town of Oxford, about an hour from Christchurch where we stopped at a campsite at a place called Ashley Gorge next to a river. We headed into town that night and had a lovely meal in the local country pub and got to see some live music too. There were more pies to sample too!
The next day we took the drive up to Hanmer Springs, a lovely little town nestled in the mountains on the East side of the Alps. We stayed in a caravan for a couple of nights, and we were glad we did when the next day it poured it down with rain for 24 hours. At least we had managed to get one walk in the previous afternoon in the forest on the edge of the town.
We took a drive up into the mountains but there was not much to see in the rain. Thankfully the caravan was warm and dry, and the campsite had a large library of free DVDs for us to watch to pass the time.
We booked the ferry for a couple of days’ time back to Wellington, so we took a long drive back up towards Picton and found ourselves back in Havelock for the night, a place we had stayed a few weeks ago. Time to taste some of those amazing mussels again and then a chance to spend a day exploring the area around Queen Charlotte Sound before catching the ferry that evening.
We took a long drive that takes you up the side of Kenepuru Sound. We both agreed that this top end of South Island is one of our favourite places to visit. We hope to come and sail this area one day.
We walked for an hour or so along a section of the Queen Charlotte track with some views out over Kenepuru Sound and also Endevour Bay, where Captain Cook had anchored.
A late afternoon drive took us to Picton and we joined the queue for the ferry back to Wellington. Unfortunately, it was delayed! So, once again we did the trip in the dark and missed the views. Another reason to come back and sail it ourselves.
An overnight stop in Wellington and we were on our way again and we stopped overnight at Mount Doom. We had not managed to see this out of the cloud yet and were finally granted that privilege the next morning when the cloud cleared.
We also got to see another Lord of the Rings film location at a place called Tahani Falls. This is where they filmed the scene where Gollum is caught by a pool next to a waterfall when he is fishing.
The next day we did six-hour drive back to Whangarei and Azimuth in one day. It probably sounds like we did this second leg pretty quickly, and truth be known after 7 weeks on the road we were ready for a good night’s sleep in our own bed again!
We left the marina after a few days of catching up and sat at anchor for a week with a little trip down the Whangarei River.
It was a chance to see what was broken and what still works on the boat after is has been sat at the dock for 5 months. On the plus side, the sails that we bought in coromandel second-hand from a broker were fit for purpose, we took the boat out for a spin. We didn’t break any speed records though; I had dived under the boat in one anchorage to find the bottom had become our own personal coral reef. That would explain why she was so sluggish in the water. Yesterday, we were lifted out of the water in a local boat yard, and as we suspected, the bottom looks terrible!
So, it’s back to boat jobs again after many months off from sailing and getting things ready before we fly back to the UK at the beginning of May for the summer.
Hi everyone. Sorry it’s been a while since our last post. Time seems to have flown by, so I here’s an update as to what we have been up to. As I write this I am sitting in a little cabin not far from the Southern most point of New Zealand looking out the window at the rain!
In the last post we had just completed a road trip with Vinnie and Judith and had put Vinnie back on a plane to the UK.
Judith stayed with us for another 2 weeks and we pottered about the Whangarei area. We also had a visit for a few days from Sally, another friend from the UK who was over in New Zealand visiting her family. It was great to see her and catch up!
it was another very sad farewell when we took Judith down to the airport. She and Sally took the same flight back to the UK which meant they could keep each other company on the long flight. Judith was inspired after her visit to New Zealand to watch the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy on the plane!
On our return to the boat we got ready for the next road trip. We wanted to visit the South Island of New Zealand, so we got all our camping gear stacked in the car, bought a few extra bits, loaded up with supplies and headed off.
it’s a long way to Wellington from Whangarei where you catch the ferry South, so we decided to spend a few days on the way down to explore parts of the North Island that we hadn’t seen before, the Eastern Cape and the wine growing region around Napier.
A long drive took us to our first stop at the start of the East Cape highway to the little town of Matata. Nestled at the side of a huge beach, we pitched our tent for the first time in a DOC (government run Department of Conservation) campsite.
it was hot and we got the brand new tent unpacked. We went to setup the poles only to find that the shock cord had snapped on two of them and we didn’t know how to put then together. A couple of beers and some head scratching at the Chinese instructions for 30 minutes and we had the thing pitched. Camp bed and mattress was next and finally we had our luxurious camp setup. Tea was provided by the local chippy and we had our first introduction to the vicious sand flys that decided to target Ailsa for their tea!
The next day we packed everything away and took another long drive out in to the eastern cape region. It is a spectacular drive that hugs the coast and at times where that’s not accessible takes you deep in land over rugged hills and round tortuous hairpins. The route took us through many little townships each of which had a Māori meeting house. This is the area of sine if the first Māori settlements. Finally the drive took us out to the Eastern Caoe itself and we pitched the tent in a spectacular spot under rugged mountains after a drive down a gravel track.
we continued our drive around the cape the next day. The rugged landscape along the highway gave way eventually to long sandy beaches as we headed further south in to the Hawke Bay Area. At the end if the day we needed to find somewhere to stay and found ourselves in the non descript town of Wairoa. It had a little holiday park on its outskirts next to a wide river. So we pitched the tent and went for a look. It was a pretty grim place. Not much evidence if tourism, so we went to the supermarket and bought supplies for tea.
The holiday parks in New Zealand are great. They all have communal areas with a lounge and a kitchen area where you can cook and get to meet other people on the site, we were in the kitchen that evening with other people when we were asked by a guy doing his food prep where were we from in Nottingham?! He had overheard our conversation and recognised our accents. So we struck up a conversation. That’s when we got to meet Jeff and Steph and their lovely family. It turned out that both of them came from very nearby the same area in Nottingham as we did. Also, being about the same age the connection was even closer than that. Steph knew Ailsa’s brother, and had even been to a party at Ailsa’s family home. It was a surreal moment for all parties! Here we were in the back and beyond of New Zealand and we had happened to bump in to people that had mutual connections to our childhood home life, Jeff and Steph had moved to New Zealand 20 or more years ago and setup their lives in this wonderful country.
That was the start of a great and unexpected weekend. Jeff and family were staying on the site as their passion is to go waterskiing. The river at Wairoa is the perfect place. Jeff convinced us that we should stay and have a go at skiing the next day. It was a beautiful sunny day as we headed to the river. The only water skiing I have ever done was on a cable way in Nottingham at the national water sports centre. Jeff had a super fast speed boat called the Dominator! I thought, yeah I will have a go at that! It can’t be that hard? I was out on the boat watching the kids doing some amazing skiing. Then it was my turn to have a go. It did not go well! The first three attempts had me face planting in the water behind the boat, the fourth attempt and I pulled my hamstring! So I had to limp back to the shore in defeat!
still if was a fantastic day by the river. Later that evening it all got a bit silly. We went out for a meal at a local restaurant and drank far too much. My excuse was that it was medicine for my leg. It was a great evening and Jeff and Steph, friends and family were wonderful fun.
Feeling a little worse for the wear the next day we said our goodbyes and headed on the trip further south, and stopped the night in Napier. Although we were surrounded by vineyards we didn’t feel much like drinking wine!
The next day we drove down towards Wellington, passing lots of vineyards and eventually reaching the mountains to the North if Wellington where we stopped in another holiday park for the night. It turned out that a scene from Lord of the Rings where Gandalf walks through the gardens of Isenguard and consults with Sauron was filmed in the park right next to the holiday park. We searched everywhere for the tower of Isenguard but couldn’t find it?!
We had the ferry to Picton in the South Island booked for the next day at 7 30 in the evening so we headed down to Wellington and spent the day in the Te Papa museum. It was well worth the time and effort. It took us 2 hours just to do the amazing Gallipoli exhibition. Models had been made of the soldiers by Weta Studios that were three times life size. It was so well done and informative that we could have spent longer.
The other exhibits we saw that day were about nature in New Zealand and all the bird species that have been lost as well as interesting pieces about Māori culture and the history of colonialism.
We caught the ferry that night for a very smooth crossing
A quick stop in Picton and we found ourselves in a little town called Havelock. We were attracted by the sign that said Havelock was the mussel capital of New Zealand. We tested that with a bowl of delicious mussels at the local restaurant appropriately called the Mussel Pot. We took a side trip to Blenheim and the wine growing district of Marlborough where Ailsa got to sample some nice glasses of Sauvignon.
We have been making this trip up as we go, so we decided to head to Nelson, but on the way we were attracted to a sign that pointed to several campsites right on the North end of the island. it turned out to be a great decision and we took the gravel road out to a place called French Pass. It was a stunning drive along a headland with views out over the inlets and islands in the area.
French Pass was another DOC camping site where we camped right on the beach. We had stingrays swimming in the surf off the beach and we also spotted several sharks swimming in the bay too. I went for a swim, but compared to the seas we have been used to, this was COLD!
A short walk took us to a lookout over French Pass itself, a tidal race where the sea is forced through a narrow channel full of rocks.
After a few days we headed towards the Abel Tasman National Park which occupies the North West corner of the island. We avoided some rain with a stay in a cabin and then took a side trip to see our friends Donna and Mark in a beautiful place called St Arnaud
That trip ended up being expensive when I got pulled over for speeding! I hadn’t realised we were still in the town centre. 80 dollars later and we are in the way again. Ouch!
We took a drive up in to Abel Tasman. There’s only one road and you have to go over the top of a huge mountain with great views. Our destination was the great campsite at Totaranui which involved another long drive down a gravel road through steep and spectacular bush land. The campsite is situated on a fabulous beach and was very popular. The next day we took a walk down the coast path and ended up at several more fantastic beaches.
it was time to head down the west coast where the spectacular southern alps preside. But first we got side tracked by gold mining! We ended up staying a few days in a place called Reefton. A lovely little town with a strong history of gold mining going back to the mid 1860’s. The area was littered with old mines and we soon located a museum at a place called black point. We were the only people in there and ended up spending 3 hours talking to the curator John, himself a mining engineer who had lived and worked in the are for 35 years. He was a mine of information and showed us some of the extensive archives including old mine records. It was very interesting,
The next day at Johns suggestion we took a walk in to the country side around Black Point to visit the old mine sites where some of the machinery still exists at the locations of the old shafts. It was a long walk but we were rewarded with amazing views and lots of history.
We went to the local hardware store in Reefton to get gold pans and a shovel. We met quite a few local miners in the pub, but none of them would tell us the good places to go and pan for gold! In the end we went to a couple of places that are for recreational gold panning. Of course we didn’t find much but it was a lot of fun trying our hand at fossiking.
We headed a little further south to another gold mining area called Goldborough, the site of the 1875 gold rush and then sought shelter for a rainy night at the Empire hotel in the old gold town of Ross. A lovely traditional hotel with a roaring log fire and an excellent roast buffet for dinner. A definite bit I of luxury after many nights under canvas!
Another drive south and we passed the Franz Josef glacier where we stopped to have a look. If anyone wants to see real evidence of global warming they should visit here and see the photos of how far the glacier has retreated.
We stayed the night in Haast and then headed on another spectacular drive south to the lakeside town of Wanaka. Here we went for a long drive down a bone shaker of a gravel road and a 4 hour walk to go and see the Rob Roy Glacier. This walk was some of the best scenery we have seen in New Zealand and I would put it up there in my top 10 favourite walks of all time.
We camped in Wanaka for a few days until the threat of heavy rain made us decide to get under a fixed roof in a nice chalet in the ski resort of Cardrona right next to the old hotel.
We took a day trip to the popular and very touristy places of Queenstown and Arrowtown.
Ailsa felt closer to her Scottish roots when we were in Queenstown and we stumbled across a highland bagpipe competition being held in the local park. We have probably seen more bagpipes and players in New Zealand than we have ever seen in Scotland!
Walter keeping dry in our chalet and having the chance to do all our washing too after a month on the road, we headed down to the Fjordland National Park and the pretty lakeside town of Te Anau. This was our base for a few days to explore the area. Poor Ailsa was ill for one of those days and so I took a walk from the town to see the views of the lake. The next day we took the fabulous drive up to Milford Sound. The road takes a tortuous route through the steep sided mountains and I through a crazy tunnel to get to the sound. Milford sound was full of tourists but we couldn’t have chosen a better day to see this beautiful place with not a cloud in the sky.
On the way back we made sure to stop and see the Ailsa Mountains!
We are almost up to date. We left Te Anau a few days ago and since then we have been exploring the Catlins at the bottom of the South Island after a brief visit to the uninspiring town of Invercargill.
On the way to Inver we had to make a stop at a place called Clifden and pay a visit to their historical bridge … the aptly named Clifden suspension bridge. That bought a smile to our faces. It was in the middle off nowhere and looked rather like a smaller version of Brunels Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol, although none off the boards describing the bridges history made any mention of this fact!
We made it to a place called Bluff and Slope Point, I both of which seem to claim to be the southern most tip of New Zealand. We think slope point won it…
Our exploration of this coast bought us to see some amazing geology. At a place called curio bay there is a rock beach which is covered in 170 million year old petrified tree trunks and stumps. This is extremely rare to see and has to be some of the best preserved fossil trees in the world. The preservation occurred when the forest got covered with silica rich volcanic ash from a nearby eruption. Looking at the fossils you would swear they were real wood.
We have also trecked through mossy rainforest to visit the McClean falls and Cathedral sea cave.
So you are up to date!
Join us next time as we make our way back up to Whangarei on part 2 of the roadtrip. New Zealand continues to impress us with the variety of landscapes we have seen and all the incredibly genuine and friendly people we have met.
Hello! Last time we left you, we had just celebrated Xmas and new year and were enjoying having the family to visit us here in New Zealand. This time we head off on a 10-day road trip around the North Island and show you some of the sights of this amazing country.
First stop, the steaming and bubbling volcanic town of Rotorua. We drove down to Auckland and picked up Vinnie from Toms house after his New Years Eve celebrations and we headed South to Rotorua. We stayed 4 nights in Rotorua in a house overlooking the lake. If you don’t know Rotorua is famous for all the geothermal activity in the area. In downtown Rotorua there are steaming pools of water in the park and a strong smell of rotten eggs. We took the chance to visit two different Geothermal Parks
The first of these was Te Puia, run by the local Māori Tribe who live in a village on the site. It was a really entertaining tour, and we were shown round by one of the local Māori people.
The geyser at the park erupts at least 15 times a day and each eruption lasts about 30 minutes, so we got to see it erupt twice during our visit.
As part of the visit, we were welcomed into the Māori meeting house to see some traditional dancing and singing including the mighty Haka!
They even have a university on the site where local Māori students get to attend to learn the way that Māori arts and crafts are done and keep the traditions of these people alive.
The second park we visited was Waiotapu Geothermal Park a bit further south of Rotorua. This park was more extensive, and the tour started with the eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser.
After this, we went for a walk around the rest of the park. This included the Champagne Pool, a steaming lake of sulphurous water, the largest in the southern hemisphere which was effectively sitting on top of the volcano. There were huge craters full of bubbling mud or steam that looked like the entrance to hell. There was even an acid pool! The pH of the water was 2, which is very strong acid, so beware anyone that slipped into that, the colour was amazing.
No trip to Rotorua was complete without a side trip to see the shire! We had an amazing visit to Hobbiton to see where the shire was filmed, and we were all blown away by the tour!
Such a beautiful place and very cleverly preserved for the visitor. Highlights were going inside one of the hobbits houses as well as the free beer at the Green Dragon at the end of the tour. We would really recommend visiting this place if you ever get chance, but book well in advance as its really popular.
We took the opportunity to sample some of the other delights of Rotorua including a meal out and then it was time to move on to Wellington. A long drive as it turned out that took us past the spectacular lake Taupo and past Mount Ngauruhe, otherwise known as Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings fame. The volcano was shrouded in cloud as we drove past.
We stayed in Wellington for 3 nights in the Travelodge in the centre of the city. We took the cable car to the top the hill to see the views
We took a trip the amazing Weta Studios where all the effects, sets and costumes were created for the Lord of the Rings films. This was another really memorable experience! These lot all ganged up on me with swords!
We took a visit to the Wellington Museum, ate out every night. Vinnie got to finally sample some New Zealand mussels, oh and we drank quite a lot of beer one night exploring all the excellent craft beer breweries that are in this city.
The next stop on the tour was the town of Stratford. Not a very special place other than the fact that it resides at the bottom of Mount Taranaki, and huge 2900m volcano that rises from the plain on the west side of North Island. We decided we wanted to have a go at climbing it. However, that day Mount Taranaki didn’t agree and had its head in the clouds. So, we set off to the Dawsons Falls visitor, about 1000m up the side of the peak and attempted to do the walk to Fanthoms Peak, a side summit on the volcano about 1900m high.
The start of the walk took us through an ancient forest that felt prehistoric. The trees were covered in a thick growth of moss. We got to the top of the tree line and sat on a rock seat that had been built in commemoration of Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander mountaineer who was the first to summit Everest with Tenzing Norgay. Then the path weaved through thick bush that eventually led to a wooden walkway that took us to the rock scree slope to the summit. The summit was in cloud, and it was cold! So, we decided to turn around there. The views were to die for, we could see for miles all the way over to mount doom in the distance.
Our last stop was back to Auckland. The drive back to Auckland took us down the “Forgotten World Highway” which was a spectacular route with views around every corner.
The trip was nearly over, and the fellowship would soon be dissolved: Very sadly we had to put Vinnie back on a plane to the UK. We still had one day and night left though to explore Auckland, meet up with Tom again and finish the road trip in style!
We hope you enjoyed this little insight into our trip! See you again soon!
Hello to everyone! Wishing you all a very happy new year and let’s hope 2025 is another great year.
We have been busy since I last posted. We have spent some time exploring more of this wonderful country and we have welcomed family on to the boat for Christmas.
Last time we left you, we had just come back from an amazing week in the Coromandel Peninsula. We decided that we would take a trip North up to the Bay of Islands the next week, however the weather had other ideas. Instead, we stayed for a couple of rainy nights with our friends, Donna and Mark on Coral Moon in Opua Marina and then headed back to Whangarei.
The week after, we needed to head down to Auckland. For one, we had to attend an interview at the US Embassy to apply for a B2 visa to enter the US by boat. And secondly, we had to collect our youngest son Vinnie and Ailsa’s mum Judith from the Airport when they arrived in New Zealand to stay for Christmas.
We had two days before they arrived to take a look around the city. It’s a great place. We were impressed with the buildings and the city layout with the views over the harbour. We took the chance to visit the sky tower and have a drink in the bar, 50 stories up with an amazing view of the city and the surrounding area.
I’m also glad to say that we passed the interview at the US embassy and got our B2 visa. This means that we can now go through with our plans to visit the US. More on that later.
Here’s a short video of some of the stuff we saw in Auckland, mostly from the top of the Sky Tower.
After a couple of days, we headed to the airport to meet the family arriving for the UK. It was an emotional reunion!
We hired a house for a few days to allow Vinnie and Judith to beat the jetlag and acclimatise to New Zealand life and we took the chance to show them a bit of Auckland including another visit to the Sky Bar! Vinnie also had the chance to meet up with his old college friend Tom who is working and living in Auckland.
After a few days we headed back to the boat, did some shopping and got things ready just in time for Christmas dinner! Tom drove up and joined us too. It was a lovely couple of days and of course, we all ate and drank far too much, as well as playing the usual ferocious card games.
We have day trips out between Christmas and New Year. The weather here has been fabulous blue sky and about 25 degrees.
We took a drive up the coast from Whangarei to the Bay of Islands and the town of Russell with lots of stops on the way to take in the views and the beautiful coves and beaches.
Vinnie and I walked up to the Whangarei Falls where we were picked up by Ailsa and Judith.
We took a drive to the Waipu caves. We didn’t manage to get far into the caves as we were totally unprepared with our footwear, but we did do the spectacular walk that features in the video above.
Today on New Years Eve we visited the Waipu Scottish Highland Games! Waipu was settled by the Scottish in the 1800’s and this was the 152nd Highland games including lots of bagpipes, tossing the caber, dancing and throwing the hammer. All good fun and in true Scottish tradition, there was lots of rain showers (Scottish mist) but no midges!
And finally, here’s some thoughts about our plans for 2025. it looks like we are going to stay in New Zealand until around April or May and then we shall be heading back to the UK for a couple of months to sell our house. We shall return to New Zealand again around August time and get Azimuth ready to sail back up North. The plans at the moment are to head to Fiji and then spend the end of the year (cyclone season) in Micronesia in the islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands. 2026 will see us head up to Japan and beyond!
We hope you all had a great festive season, and we look forward to telling you more about New Zealand in the next post.
Hi to everyone. We have been having a lovely time in New Zealand since we last checked in. The people we meet and the more places we visit, the more we like this country.
Having a car again is a bizarre experience after nearly 3 years without one. We had forgotten the ease of jumping in your car and just nipping to the shops, or going on a day adventure. No need to work out the local buses or haggling for a taxi, or praying that your dinghy engine doesn’t conk out!
That said then, we have been out for quite a few day trips in the local area and to experience some of the amazing scenery that Whangarei and its surrounds has to offer.
Last time, we visited Bream Head, and I left you with a video of that walk on my previous post. Well, a few days later we decided to head back to the same area and attempt to summit Mount Manaia, an imposing lump of rock with many pinnacles that rise menacingly from its head. The weather was superb again as we set off from the carpark at the foot of the mountain. I shot this video which gives you a taste of this walk. A steep but very well-maintained path guides you to the top where we stopped for lunch with a view to die for.
It was hard going with a lot of steps to climb, but we are starting to get our land legs back and this was definitely helping improve our general fitness!
Walking up Mount Manaia
We were pleased to be invited a few days later to go on another walk with some fellow cruisers, Andy and Julie who we met when we were checking in to NZ. Their boat is moored in Whangarei town basin, so we met up with them in town and set off towards Whangarei Falls. it was another hot day, and the walk wound up a steep sided river valley with a stop at a small park called the Alan Reid Memorial Park. This was a little enclave with a spectacular walkway in the trees and a waterfall.
Eventually we made our way to the pretty Whangarei falls that cascade over a basalt cliff studded with columns, into a large plunge pool.
It was a lovely walk and fun to share with Andy and Julie
Now the legs are starting to loosen up a bit! We took advantage of the great weather and this time at the advice of the marina manager, Blair, we drove about 60 kms South of Whangarei to Mangawhai Head where we walked along the spectacular beach and then up along a cliff walk.
The video below gives you a sense of scale of the beach, and the vistas of the area.
On the way home we stopped off for Pizza and beer at a local brewery. The beer in NZ is great!!
The best we are saving for last in this post. Since about October, I had been in touch with a sail broker in New Zealand and had reserved 2 second hand sails for Azimuth. We needed to go and pick these up. The sail broker lives in an area of New Zealand known as the Coromandel Peninsula, a strip of mountainous terrain that sticks up of the East side of North Island, not far from Auckland. Our travel guide describes it as a beautiful place to visit, so we thought why not make a road trip of it?
The weather looked great last week, so we prepared everything as best we could. Bought a few camping supplies, loaded up the car and headed off South from Whangarei. The roads are very easy in North Island and the traffic was light and it took about 3 hours to get to the town of Thames at the bottom of the peninsula.
This place had some history. It felt a bit like a wild west town and with good reason. In the 1860’s the town was the focus of a gold rush with discoveries of gold packed quartz veins all around the area. At its peak there were some 120 bars and hotels along the main street of the town all catering to thirsty gold seekers.
We arrived around lunchtime and stopped at a cafe. We had a walk around the town.
Then we headed to our first campsite of the trip just outside of town up the Kauaeranga valley, called “Shag Stream”!?!
We pretty much had the place to ourselves. Very pretty spot.
The next morning, we headed to Thames and visited a gold mining museum where we got to go on a tour of the underground workings and see the gold processing plant which was originally driven by a water wheel. The plant had been lovingly restored and was in full working order.
I videoed the tour here for those of you that are interested. It was a fascinating insight into the mining history of the area.
We also got to pan for gold! Although I don’t think there was much to find. Ailsa claims she was successful. I will let you decide in the pictures below:
After the tour we took a drive up the west coast of the peninsula towards Coromandel Town. We had many stops along the way just to take in the amazing views
The road is pretty crazy. It hugs the cliffs and occasionally is diverted in land up steep ravines. Beautiful place!
We stopped at Coromandel town for lunch and then headed to a nearby holiday park where we had booked a glamping pod for the night right on the beach. It was an idyllic spot and again we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
I put together this short video of the trip up the peninsula.
The next morning, we really headed off into the wilds, the far North of the peninsula.
About 10 miles north of Coromandel Town, the tarmac road stopped, and the gravel road started which was to take us the next 30 kilometres to the top of the peninsula. This road was even more spectacular and hair raising that the last. Eventually we came to a small car park where we planned to walk out along the top of the peninsula to Muriwai. You couldn’t have asked for a bluer sky with views of the sea, the farmland and the rugged peaks to die for.
Another 10 kilometres further along an even more tortuous road brought us to our home for the night at Fletcher Bay. Again, virtually empty, we had our pick of wonderful camping spots not far from the beach and surrounded by steep hills.
I woke up really early the next morning to the sound of bird song, so I climbed up the hill and sat and watched the sunrise.
We took a slow drive South again, this time down the East side of the Peninsula. This featured more crazy roads in the North and then sweeping beaches and more touristy towns. We stopped for the night in a lodge next to a place called Hot Water Beach. Reputedly, a hot spring rises at the beach and in one particular spot, you can dig a hole and bath in the warm water. Well, this had been “touristed” to death. We found the beach which was vast, and it was obvious where the spring was located as it was packed with confused looking people with spades all digging holes. I walked down for a look and even tried stepping in some of the abandoned holes, but the water temperature was tepid at best!
We left fairly quickly and chilled out at the lodge. It was located right next to a brewery which unfortunately was closed for the night! Damn!
The next morning, we went to get our sails. We were warmly welcomed by Dave and Tracey on their 25-acre farmstead nestled in the foothills. A stunning place. We spent at least 2 hours chatting about our cruising adventures drinking tea on their veranda! We left with the car stuffed with two new sails and bags of fruit that they picked for us.
For our last night we headed South to the town of Waihi. Another mining town. This was the first-place gold was discovered in NZ back in 1863. The “Martha” quartz vein was found to be very rich in gold. It was mined extensively underground and then in 1980, the mining company somehow got the permission to dig a huge open pit right next to the town centre. You can literally step off the main street up a bank and you are faced with a huge hole in the ground which is now collapsing on one side.
We took a look at the gold mining museum but unfortunately just missed out on doing the mine tour. There is still a working underground mine at the bottom of the pit.
Just out of Waihi, the road enters Karangahake Gorge which was to be our final camping spot of the trip. We pitched the tent not far from the gorge next to the river at a place called Dickies Flats.
Being a friday night it was busier at this site. Then we realised the next morning why: A marathon running event was starting from this location and about 500 people descended on the area. We made a quick getaway and headed to the Gorge visitors centre where there are a number of historical walks. The gorge is littered with old gold mine workings and processing plants. The old machinery lies abandoned in the most beautiful of settings of the steep sided gorge. To get access to the mines, the old timers had to cut pathways and tunnels into the steep rockfaces of the gorge and we got to explore this fascinating area.
What an amazing trip!
Join us next time as we head further North from Whangarei whilst we wait for family to arrive for Xmas!
Hi everyone! Last time we left you we were enjoying life at anchor in Tonga and sampling the delights of playing gigs again. This time we sail from Tonga to New Zealand and get settled into the life of Land lubbers!
The sail from Tonga to New Zealand has a fearsome reputation amongst sailors. Its perhaps because most cruisers like to stick close to the equator where there is generally nice easy trade wind sailing. Once you go 30 degrees North or South of the Equator you are into the area of weather described as the variables. Thats the kind of weather that hits the UK and whilst settled in summer and characterised by high pressure systems, as we all know in the winter those variables produce a string of depressions bringing rain and often strong winds.
The North Island of New Zealand lies about 35 degrees South of the Equator, so the passage from Tonga transitions from trade wind sailing into variables sailing. At this time of year, springtime for New Zealand, the weather generally flips between high pressure systems and nasty depressions that roll through from the west every 8 days or so. The trick is to time your passage to pass through the region in between those nasty depressions.
Thats the principle any way, the reality for us was somewhat different.
First though we had to check out of Tonga and renegotiate the horrendous customs dock!
Everyone in the anchorage had been watching the weather, and most people generally agreed that now was a good time to set off. So, the customs dock was busy. We decided to walk down to the dock first and assess the situation. Our friends Mark and Donna had somehow managed to avoid going to the customs dock the day before and checked out anyway, so we thought we would try that on. The customs lady was having none of it! She told us to bring Azimuth to the already crowded dock and only then would she check us out.
So, we returned to Azimuth paying our mooring fees on the way and slipped our lines from our trusty buoy we had been tied to for the last month. Thankfully there was no anchor to pull up by hand. We approached the dock and hoped to raft up alongside another boat already there. They wouldn’t answer their radio, so we were forced to go alongside the commercial dock where another boat was already moored. Its horrendous! Metal and concrete in a state of disrepair and huge rubber bumpers that are falling off. All designed to wreck the gelcoat on the side of your yacht. In the end we managed to get slowly in place, and the wind blew us on. We have some nice rubber marks on the side of the boat now that we need to polish out … oh well.
Customs were sorted and we managed to get off the dock and motor out of the harbour. Sails went up and we slowly sailed out of Tonga.
As we left the refuge of land, the swell picked up, and soon we were sailing along at 7 knots on a beam reach even with a couple of reefs in the main and our tiny jib, which we have nicknamed the handkerchief.
On that first day we covered 175 miles. A great pace and things looked good for an easy passage. The next 24 hours we slowed a little and covered 157 miles and then 132 miles the next day. it was easy sailing; the only mishap was one of our reefing lines snapped (first reef)
By now we were not far from a place called Minerva Reef. This is a possible stopping off point where you can sit and wait for better weather if it looks bad on the approach to New Zealand (there is about 800 miles to go). For us, we thought we would carry on. We didn’t want to drop the anchor because of the hassle of getting the thing back up. And anyway, the weather forecast was okay.
A depression was due to pass between us and New Zealand in a couple of days, but it was much further South of our position and potentially we could ride the back of it into New Zealand. It looked good on paper, so we started to head West to be in a good position to catch the wind when it arrived.
Over the next couple of days, the wind pretty much died! We were still sailing though with a full main and both the stay sail and handkerchief out we were bobbing along at between 2.5 and 4 knots on a lovely flat sea. Really nice sailing as it happens!
We were checking the weather every day, and it was changing radically every day. The passed through faster than predicted, this was followed by huge high-pressure system which we eventually found ourselves right in the middle of! No wind. Most people would turn on the engine at this point. However, we didn’t have enough diesel on board to motor any significant distance. We just had enough to maybe motor 100 miles. It was hard to tell from the tank gauges that were mostly pointing to empty. So, we dropped the sails that night and went to bed whilst we drifted on a flat sea.
The next few days were much of the same. We had at least 250 miles to sail South to get through the high system. Occasionally thew wind would start to blow up to 10 knots. We would put all the sails up and bob along at about 2.5 to 3 knots. It was lovely sailing, and there was no stress. The long-range forecast didn’t predict any depressions on the way, in fact it looked like 3 high pressure systems would all converge on our position.
At some point we crossed the international date line proper, a longitude of 180 degrees halfway round the planet from the UK! We celebrated that little milestone
We did have one day of crazy sailing. The wind picked up to 25 knots as a front passed across our location. Great wind we thought, but it was on the nose! Coming from the South where we wanted to go. We were hard on the wind, and I noticed that the handkerchief had ripped. So, we had to get it down and spent a few hours resewing it. Only a little tear in a seam.
In the end it took is 19 days to complete the sail! During that time, we saw all kinds of amazing sunsets. The highlight was a visit by a whale, whilst we sat with our sails down. It was a moment that made the whole trip worthwhile and our closest ever encounter with a whale.
Eventually we sighted land!
We had another very slow sail down the side of New Zealand and overnight we entered the Whangarei River and pulled into Marsden Cove Marina to the customs dock early the next morning.
It took a while for the customs guys to turn up. And whilst we waited three other boats turned up, meaning there were 5 boats in total squeezed in to the tiny Q dock. We were all checked in by lunchtime, so we visited the fuel dock to take on diesel and then motored up the river to our new home for the next few months at Port Nikau Marina
It feels weird to be in a marina! We haven’t been in one since we left the UK 2 and half years ago. You can just step out of your boat straight on to dry land!
We have been here just over a week and so far, we are loving what we have seen. Everyone is incredibly friendly and helpful. We have been welcomed into the community. So far, we have managed to buy a car, go to the cruiser’s meetups, pull the old anchor windlass out of the boat and hopefully source the new parts we need to fix it. As well as dispose of the old ripped genoa :-(.
We have driven about 30 minutes out of town to the beautiful Whangarei Heads and had a lovely walk. Check out the video below taken with our new 360 degree camera!!
Join us next time as we start to explore New Zealand, this time by land in the new (to us!) car.
Last time we left you we were enjoying ourselves in Niue . This time we tell you what we have been up to in the last month, our travels to and our exploration of the Vava’u islands in the Kingdom of Tonga.
Our time in Niue was coming to an end. Our hand was some what forced, the sea forecast for the next couple of days had big swells coming from the South West straight in to the anchorage. We had a very uncomfortable night onboard Azimuth, with the boat rolling from side to side, and that was before the worst of it had arrived. It was also getting very difficult to land our trusty canoe on the shore and even more difficult to launch it again. We had a canoe fail moment not dissimilar to the the last time, although this time it was Ailsa that was take a full dunking rather than me!
So we got Azimuth ready for her next sail. This time we hoped it would be uneventful!
Infact, it was a lovely uneventful sail. About 48 hours to get to the island group of Vava’u in the Tonga. We had the rather strange experience of crossing the international date line, another first for us. Whilst the time did not changed, somehow we lost an entire day, so we arrived three days after leaving Niue even though we had only been at sea for two.
Land came in to view late morning, and we sailed down the western side of Vava’u during the afternoon and then motored the last 5 miles in to the port of Nieafu weaving in between beautiful forested islands and in to the narrow entrance of the superb anchorage. The anchorage is effectively a tidal lagoon that is surrounded on all sides by tree lined hills with only one narrow entrance.
First we had to check in to Tonga. You are required to pull up to the fishermans wharf and fly your Q flag and wait for the customs officials to board the vessel, insect it and do the required paperwork. This dock has a pretty poor reputation as being badly maintained. Its old broken concrete will put a nasty dent in your boat if your not careful. There is a sunken wreck at one end of the dock and the other end has a shallow sand bank to catch you out too!
When we arrived, there was no room at the dock at all. The last space was taken by a yacht we had met before and the rest of the short dock had small fishing boats parked along side. We tried to call customs to get some advice as to where we should berth, but no one answered the radio. Eventually another friendly local came on the radio and tried to help. In the end we shouted to the fisherman in their boats who were busy sinking several beers and asked them if we could raft up? They were very friendly and helpful and they took our lines and got Azimuth berthed across two of their boats.
The customs guy turned up with a huge pile of forms that I had to fill in. However, it was Saturday afternoon and he was due to knock off in 20 minutes. Another boat arrived just after us too, so he told me to pretty much just sign the forms and fill out the minimal amount of stuff and he said he would fill out the rest later. We were done in 15 minutes. This is in contrast to many other peoples experiences where the average checkin time was about 3 hours!
So we the stamps in our passports, we pulled of the dock and headed to the anchorage. It was packed full of boats! Unknown to us, it was the start of a week long blue water sailing festival. We managed to get the very last buoy luckily for us after being kicked off another buoy by one of the local boats. It would have been very difficult for us to anchor here with the depth in the lagoon being about 30 to 40 metres and our anchor windlass now not working at all.
It is a lovely anchorage if not a little noisy at night. We have the local start dogs howling in the early evening, then the enormous fruit bats take to the skies at dusk and start squabbling and squawking. Finally the cockerels start their chorus in the early dawn. You definitely feel close to nature here!
The port town is lovely. It has a very laid back feel to the place. There is a great fruit and vegetable market that is open all day everyday except Sunday. The high street is a line of primitive shops run almost exclusively by Chinese families and all of them sell the same stuff presumably because they are all supplied by the same boats trading with the island. There is a great cruisers community here too and there are plenty of restaurants and bars to hang out in meet up with people. It is also a much cheaper place than the crazy prices we have had to pay in French Polynesia, presumably because it is closer to New Zealand and well supplied.
Our first week in Tonga was a little slow. It took us a couple of days to recover from the sail, and then Ailsa was struck down by a bug and felt lousy for a week. I spent the time catching up on a couple of boat jobs.
One day we had a knock on the door, and we were delighted to see our friends Knut and Sunni from La Kahina who we had met in Suwarrow in the Cook Islands and had a night of jamming with Knut on Banjo and me on Guitar. We decided we should make some plans to meet up again for a rematch. Knut and Sunni had been joined on board by Knuts brother Michael and his girlfriend Antonia as well as their cousin Ruben.
A few nights later we had our first chance to meet up and play some music at a local bar called the Kraken. It was great fun to play with these guys!
Later that week, we took a walk to the local national park which resides on the highest point on the island. We had some great views of the island and out over the town and anchorage
It seems word had got out about our first little gig. That weekend we got an invite to a party at a locals house with instructions to bring the guitars. We had a great afternoon. Our hosts were Axel and Yorik who owned a dive business on the island. They cooked for us all and we picked coconuts from their garden and drank the coconut water. Then it was time for a few beers and another impromptu gig!
Whilst we had been enjoying the party, our son Caleb had been hard at work. He has been in Gibraltar for the last three months studying and sailing to prepare for his commercial yacht master offshore exam. He passed! Well done mate, a great achievement!
After a couple of weeks in Tonga, it was great to have our good friends Donna and Mark arrive on Coral Moon! We hadn’t seen them since our few days together in Raraka, and we had both sailed many miles through the society islands and the cook islands since then . A lot to catch up on!
The anchorage here has a floating bar that is run by a fun Canadian couple. I think Donna and Ailsa may have had one drink too many when they decided they needed to experience the over water trampoline that is attached to the bar … luckily I was there to capture the moment on video, so I can share it with you here! Such grace and beauty!
Yep, our stay has been a lot of fun here in Tonga. Probably the highlight though was another invite to play our third gig . This time we played at a local restaurant called the Humpback Bar. The bar already had their own house band, playing traditional Tongan music on guitars. The gig was described to us the battle of the bands? Trad Irish versus Trad Tongan?! Should be fun right?
We were collected by a minibus that evening and we headed to the venue with all our instruments in tow. When we arrived the house band was already there and set up. They invited us to join them in a traditional Tongan drink called Cava. Its made from the root of a pepper plant. Its not alcoholic but has some other drug like qualities when enough is consumed. Quite bizzare to drink as it makes your mouth tingle with the pepper content.
These guys were very talented musicians! And also they were very good at close harmony singing. We clearly had our work cut out in the battle of the bands! We setup on the other side of the room, and throughout the whole night we took turns playing a song each. The place was packed to the rafters!
At the end of the night we were able to join the two bands together and we played along to some of their traditional songs and they explained the meaning of them to us too. It was a great musical experience!
Join us next time as we wait for a weather window in Tonga and then make the 1200 mile sail to Whangerai in New Zealand for the next part of our world adventure.
Hi to everyone again. Last time we left you we had just arrived at the island of Niue after a difficult sail. Arriving at Niue was a lovely experience. The seas died and the welcome of the radio from the islands 24 hour a day coastguard channel was warm and freindly.
We pulled up to the port of Alofi early in the morning having timed our arrival for first light. There is no anchorage here as the bay is deep and the bottom is coral and rock. However, Niue Yacht Club has installed 15 moorings for visiting yachts and we picked one of those up when we arrived and breathed a big sigh of relief!
We were called up on the radio an hour or so later where we were informed that customs would meet us at the dock to check us in to the country. So we headed out to the dock to meet them. Sure enough, a lovely woman met us in her car and offered us a lift to the customs office about 100m away! We have never had a welcome like this we thought?! 10 minutes later and a couple of forms filled in as well as the offer of chocolate orange biscuits we were checked in to the country!
Niue Anchorage
And what a gem Niue is. We could only stay for one week until the swell in the anchorage meant we needed to leave. Its a difficult place for boats as the anchorage is open to the sea and there is very little shelter. However, in the week were there, we saw a lot and loved it! We hired a car for two days for the very reasonable price of £30 a day. We ate out pretty much everyday, simply because we could! Last time we had eaten out in a restaurant was back in Tahiti, almost two months ago!
So before we take you on a tour of this fascinating place, let me first tell you a few interesting facts.
Niue is one of the worlds smallest independent countries. Its independent but in the past was a protectorate of New Zealand. Its has a population of about 1000 people. As with other parts of the pacific, people have been steadily leaving over the last few decades and heading to places like New Zealand and Australia.
The geology of the island is really interesting. Niue is an old and inactive volcano that rose above the sea before it died. As its soft cone eroded by weather and waves, it also shrank as its core cooled. During this slow process, a coral reef formed on its top, the Mutalau Reef, named after the island’s present highest point. The reef kept up with the sinking rate of the volcano, laying down a coral cap of possibly 70 + 130m = 200m. The diagram below aims to visualise what happened.
So you have this fossilised reef that sticks out of the sea today up to 70m at its highest point. Because its in the tropics, the limestone weathers in to sharp razor edges by solution leaving fantastic landscape pitted with caves and chasms.
Right enough of that, lets take you on a tour to some of the places we visitied!
There are only a few roads on the island, and most of them are full of potholes apart from the ones that have been freshly tarmacked courtesy of China Aid (there were signs everywhere). We wonder what kind of deal the island had to do to get their hands on the that money?
First stop the scenic out look of Ana’ana Point, where you climb down some jagged rocks and look over the cliff edge at blowholes and the reef below
Our next stop along the south coast was at Matavai Scenic Resort, where we stopped for tea. A very pretty hotel full of Kiwis on holiday.
After a stop for lunch we headed to the first of three different chasms that we visited. A rather steep road dropped us down the side of a steep cliff to a small clearing in the rain forest where we parked up and headed in to the forest along a well maintained path that cut through the limestone boulders. It was not long until we reached Anapala chasm which was a very narrow cleft that cut in to the rock with steps leading down in to the darkness.
Its difficult to catch this dramatic place on camera. At the bottom of the chasm, it was almost dark except for the sunlight filtering through from the narrow top. The chasm was full of fresh water, so I took a swim along its length . It was quite unnerving! The water was fresh and crystal clear and where the shafts of light shone, you could see down to the bottom, many metres below. A very cool place!
A 30 minute drive further up the coast delivered us to Togo Chasm. We parked in another forest clearing and this time took a longer walk through the ancient woodland. It felt like walking through Fangorn Forest our of the lord of the rings!
Just next to the path were many huge spiders webs with some very evil looking spiders sitting in wait.
The path eventually broke through the forest and out to a huge vista of the sea and some amazing rook formations. The path cut through pinnacles of razor sharp limestone and came to dramtic cliff edges.
We met another family of Americans who were busy looking out to sea. We joined them and watched with joy, three humpback whales cavorting a 100 metres off shore!
The path lead down towards the chasm itself, where we had to climb down a long ladder to gain access to a weird oasis at the bottom. We sat and had a drink and then explored this fascinating place with a cave that lead to the sea.
The next day we continued our island tour. We headed to the North of the island and explored the caves of Tauei Fupiu Fort.
These caves were high up on the sides of cliffs showing that sea level at one time must have been a lot higher. Inside the caves were many stalagmites and stalactites.
Our next stop was Matapa Chasm, where a short walk took us down to the sea and a narrow protected gully with beautiful clear water.
I couldn’t resist the chance of a swim when we arrived further down the coast at Limu Pools. These pools were nestled in the cliffs and protected from the out sea by the reef. It was a very refreshing swim in the heat of the day
And finally as we headed back to Alofi and the anchorage we stopped to sea the place where Captain Cook was reputed to have landed when he claimed the island in the 1700’s much to the disgust of the native people i’m sure. Well at lease no other white person was to return to hassle the Niuean’s for another 80 years.
Of course no tour would be complete without a stop at this very convincing giant coconut crab which is mentioned in the 101 things to see in Niue guide!
Hopefully you will agree, this place really is a little gem in the pacific? Crystal clear water (great snorkelling), humpback whales and I haven’t even mentioned how lovely the people were. We could have happily stayed longer, but the sea had other plans.
Join us next time as we sail to the islands of Vava’u in the Kingdom of Tonga!
Hi again! Last time we left you, we were just getting ready to depart from Penrhyn. Our next destination was planned to be Niue, one of the worlds smallest countries, a small island about 1000 miles south west of Penrhyn. Originally we had planned to sail to Suwarrow, another Cook Island and a national park that is directly on course to Niue. Unfortunately we had been told by customs that Suwarrow was closed to visiting yachts.
We woke to a perfect sunny day with a light breeze. Getting the anchor up this time was not too difficult. We were anchored in sand in about 6 metres of crystal clear water, and it took me about 20 minutes to hand crank the anchor up. Its a good work out that is for sure!
Engine on, we motored out of the shallows
We unfurled the Genoa and took a nice slow sail across the atoll dodging the coral bommies.
Then we motored through the pass out in to the open ocean. Farewell Penrhyn, hope to see you again some day!
We got the main up and headed on our course to Niue. Initially the sailing was easy, we were in the lee of the atoll and the sea state was flat and the wind was blowing a pleasant Force 4 at about 120 degrees apparent. As the hours went by, the sea state started to build and so did the wind. The forecast was for 17 knots with gusts to 22. However, as night approached the wind settled at about an average of 22knots with gusts to 30. We had two reefs in the main and the Genoa and we were making fast progress. The wind was now on the beam and the seas just behind the beam and we were surfing at between 8 and 10 knots. This went on for the next 36 hours. Then the wind started to drop a bit, and sea conditions started to settle.
It was early morning when I was on watch, I noticed our speed had dropped and we had started to roll from side to side. I looked up at the main sail to see that it was ripped right across the middle!! Oh no!
We had ripped our mainsail before on a passage between Trinidad and Curacao. That had been in a really crazy squall. This time, it seems to have happened in fairly normal trade wind conditions. What todo? Well first thing was to drop the main to avoid any more damage. At this point we were 80 miles from Suwarrow. Without a mainsail, the rolling onboard Azimuth was horrible. We were still sailing fast though. However, we still had 600 miles to go to reach Niue. I didn’t fancy that without a mainsail. So we made a decision to try and stop at Suwarrow where hopefully we could repair the main and continue our journey to Niue. Suwarrow is manned by two rangers, and even though Suwarrow was closed to yachts, I hope they would grant us a port of refuge to make our repairs.
We furled in the Genoa to try and slow down so that we would reach Suwarrow at first light the next day where we needed the light to negotiate the narrow pass in to the Atoll. Now with the boat slowed down, the rolling was even worst! I felt pretty rubbish. Thankfully Ailsa felt better and was able to take on more of the watch.
The next morning we did arrive outside the Atoll at first light. I called up the Rangers on VHF 16 and they very kindly gave us permission to enter the Atoll. We stowed the sails and motored in to the pass. There was a strong current against us of about 4 knots, but as with other atoll pass transits we had done, it was short lived, and the sea state was easy. Soon enough we were in to the calm waters of another lagoon and with relief we dropped the hook in the only anchorage just off the rangers huts.
Its a stunning anchorage, and the immediate thing that hit us was the noise of the birds that were smarming like a whirlwind over the far end of the island.
When we were settled, the rangers came out to visit us on the boat. They were two guys, very quietly spoken and very friendly. We explained our situation and asked for refuge to fix the sail and they said no problem. We showed them the paperwork we had for leaving Penrhyn, and they explained that all we needed to do was pay an anchoring fee and we could stay until we had made our repairs. Phew! They couldn’t have been nicer or more understanding.
We spent the rest of the day recovering from the trip and then the next morning set about getting the main sail off. We were nervous as to the extent of the damage. We initially thought the the sail had properly ripped. However, as we revealed the area of damage it became apparent it was a seam that had parted and we felt hopeful it could be sewn back together by hand using the same stitching holes. We both thought that the sail had just failed in the same place it had already been repaired in Curacao.
So we managed to get the sail off and using various halyards we got it in to the cockpit and then in to the saloon which became our “sewing emporium”!
When we unrolled the sail and found the damaged area, we noticed it wasn’t the seam that had failed before, but a different seam, this one much longer! The seam was 4 metres in length and entirely parted with rips in the luff and the leach too. Also the luff rope had snapped further down the sail and was hanging out through a tear. We did the maths. The seam was 4m and triple stitched in a zigzag machine stitch. We realised that to hand stitch the same holes we would need to do two passes on each of the three lines. So, that was 3x4x2 = 24 metres of sewing, plus the other repairs! Ouch!
The damaged seam.
There was nothing else for it. We removed all the old broken threads. I started sewing at one end of the seam and Ailsa started at the other. We put the stereo on to listen to some tunes and settled in. By the end of the day we had only done about half a metre! Our fingers were red raw, and our backs were aching from being stooped over!!
It would take us 6 days to finish the job!
On day three another boat called La Kahina turned up. They were on there way to Western Samoa and were seeking refuge from the weather for a couple of days. They were a lovely couple called Cnut and Suni and they came over to say hello. Cnut works as an officer in the merchant navy onboard a cable laying ship for 6 months of the year and for the other 6 months, he sails La Kahina, a steel hulled ketch. Although he is American, his family have lived in Ireland for most of his life and that was where they had bought the boat. So we instantly hit it off with stories of Ireland and how we had come to buy Azimuth in Kinsale. It also turned out that Cnut was a very proficient banjo player. So after a couple of glasses of wine he went and fetched his banjo and we had a jam session! Ailsa took this video snippet. You cant see much but you can hear the playing!
It never ceases to amaze me of the situations you find yourself in, and the people you meet as you sail round this planet, and this was one of those special moments in time where you cross paths with random people with a shared love for music.
It gave us a much needed boost to carry on with the repairs too. We had realised that we were very low on sewing thread, so before they left La Kahina gave us some thread from their supplies. Thanks guys!
La Kahina setting off from Suwarrow
The sewing continued for 6 days in total. We had to ask the rangers for an extension, as we had originally estimated the repair would take 3 days, but they were fine with it.
With some relief then, we finished the work. It looked pretty professional. The next day no wind was forecast, so we had a good opportunity to put the sail back on.
The next day was windless and hot. We set to work. Now, our main sail is battened. It has long fibreglass batons that slide in to pockets horizontally across the sail. These battens provide rigidity to the sail and allow a better shape when its raised in the wind. The sail fixes to the boom using a bolt rope that slides in to a track along the top of the boom and is held at either end by shackles. The luff of the sail attaches to track cars that slide up and down a track on the mast. You work your way up from the bottom of the sail. The longest batten goes in first. This is about 6 metres long. Its the trickiest one to get in. We both were on the coach roof pulling the sail up. To get this long batten in to its pocket, I have to literally hang it off the back of the boat, resting it on the solar panels on top of the cockpit bimini. The battens are flexible and this longest one drooped down over the back. At the moment we were trying to get the batten in to its pocket, the wind picked up and started to pull the sail away. In my haste to grab the sail, I inadvertently let go of the batten. To my horror, I watched it slither off the solar panels and slide in to the water behind Azimuth with a very unsatisfying splash!
I could have cried!!! Infact I think I nearly was in tears. I just couldn’t quite believe what had happened! Over the next minute I issued a string of expletives that would have made your mother blush as I admonished myself for being so f***in stupid!!!! What the hell were we going to do now????
I knew the water was deep at the back of Azimuth, about 11m. Could I dive down and retrieve the batten? Thankfully the water was crystal clear. Once I had calmed down a few minutes later, we set about getting our snorkelling gear on to go and take a look. I was putting my mask on, and to add to my grief, at that moment the strap chooses to break!! Out with my old mask!
We swam out and there on the bottom was the batten draped over a coral bommie about 15m behind Azimuth. It was way too deep for me to dive for sure and even with my hookah diving equipment, I didn’t think I would have enough pipe length to reach it. So we started looking around to see what we could use to try and hook the batten and lift it.
We have a fishing lure on some strong line, and the lure has two big hooks. We attached some large fishing weights to the lure to weigh it down and then we swam out. Ailsa held the line reel whilst I dangled the lure. Within a couple of minutes I managed to hook the batten near its middle!. I started to gently lift it . It got about 5 metres off the bottom before it started to slip down the hook. I watched in horror as the hook slid off the batten end and dropped back to the bottom again!
I remembered then that one end of the batten had a plastic cap on the end to protect the pocket it sits in the sail. On my second attempt, I managed to get the hook to slide towards this cap. It held! I very slowly and gently lifted the whole thing until with an amazing feeling of relief I reached down and grabbed the batten in my hand! We got the thing back on the boat. I was shaking with the adrenaline! I had gone from complete despair to utter elation in the space of about 30 minutes. I’m convinced only sailing can put you in these crazy situations!
That batten was fitted back in to the sail without issue and with a lot of care and attention! The rest of the sail installation went fine too and we breathed a large sigh of relief that the job was complete and we were now ready to complete our journey to Niue. One thing we hadn’t noticed was that we had been outside now for several hours and we were both really sunburnt!
The next day we checked the weather and it looked good to get to Niue. We checked out of Suwarrow with the Rangers and set to getting the anchor up. I had dived the anchor a couple of times and I knew that the chain was wrapped around a couple of bommies. So we came up with a plan of how I would wind the chain by hand whilst Ailsa manoeuvred Azimuth. We had our agreed hand signals!
The wind dropped, so I went to make a start. It was heavy going with the chain getting stuck and then freeing itself slowly. The skies started to darken too and the wind freshen, and I could see a squall on the way! Just as I finally got the anchor on board the skies opened and the wind shot up to 30 knots as we got hit by a full on squall. We both looked like drowned rats!
Not a great start! When the wind died down a bit, I managed to get the mainsail up and we headed out through the pass and in to some big seas.
It was plain but boisterous sailing after that. We had three reefs in the main and two in the genoa and we were still razzing along at 8 to 9 knots.
All was looking good though to get to Niue?
About 30 hours from Niue, I came on watch at 1am to take my shift. There was a bang at the back of the boat like a gunshot quickly followed by a “no rudder response” alarm. We get those quite a lot. It generally means the autopilot has had enough usually due to a large wave and has switched itself off. All you need to do is reengage the pilot and continue on your way. This time that didn’t work? We tried the old IT trick off turning it off and turning it back on again… no joy!
So I took the wheel and settled in to hand steer for a bit. The wind was pretty strong, gusting up to 30 knots, but we had three reefs in the main and the Genoa was well reefed in. After 4 hours I was calling on Ailsa to take over. I was bushed, and also I wanted to climb under the cockpit and see if I could find a problem with the autopilot. We were in the process of handing over when I noticed flapping sail up front caught in the navigation lights. I asked Ailsa to take a look, but because it was dark she couldn’t see anything. She put the deck lights on and to our horror, there was a huge tear in the Genoa! A great big strip of sail was now flapping in the wind and had torn down to where the sailed was furled. Ailsa took the wheel whilst I tried to get the rest of the sail furled away. It was hard going, as the flap that had ripped was getting wrapped and stuck on the inner forestay. I overdid it with the winch and the control line pulled out of the roller furler. The next thing I watched with horror as the Genoa unfurled itself and then proceeded to shred itself to bits! One huge rip up the whole length of the sail, and various parts in complete taters. A complete right off!
The only option I had now was to try and drop the sail. Ailsa was hand steering, so she couldn’t help me, so I went to the mast and it took me about 30 minutes to free the halyard from the complicated track we have on Azimuth. I had to try and take the load off the rope by hitching a second rope to our spinnaker winch and that allowed me to free the knot that was holding the genoa halyard in place. All the while the Genoa was making a terrible racket and further destroying itself!
Eventually even with the boat rolling all over the place I managed to get the halyard free. I then had to get to the bow and try and pull down the sail from its track. It was hard going, because it was full of wind, it did not want to drop. So I got Ailsa to sail more upwind to take some pressure off the sail. That did the trick and eventually I managed to get the sail to drop. However, I couldn’t control it on my own and the sail fell in to the water still attached to the roller furler and the sheets. It then proceeded to sink under the boat!
I was pretty tired by this point, and the sun had started to come up which always gives a new perspective on a problem. I tried to use a winch to pull the sheets out of the water and hopefully the sail with it, but the load was too high. I needed help, and the only way that would happen was if I could get the autopilot working again. Once I realised this, I set to it.
The autopilot is under the cockpit sole and to get to it you have to climb in to one of the lazerette lockers and through a hatch. So, with the boat still rolling around, I managed to empty one of the lockers enough so I could get to the hatch, remove it, and climb inside with some tools. What I found was not too shocking. The autopilot was held in place by 4, 5 inch long, 1/2 inch diameter bolts. Two of the nuts on two of the bolts had worked themselves loose, and the bolts had dropped free. Another of the bolts had sheared clean off!
That’s a half inch bolt! Designed to take a lot of load. That left just one bolt in place and that meant that the pilot ram that controls the rudder could no longer work correctly. I had another bolt in my spares, so I fitted the three missing bolts and tightened them to within an inch of their lives. Ailsa was able to engage the autopilot and it worked!
Phew! It was now about 9 in the morning by this time, but at least we had a working autopilot again, and now we could both address the issue of the sail in the water.
It took us another two hours to get the sail out by using the sheet lines back to the reef winch on the mast, I was able to coax the sail out of the water and take some of the water pressure of it. Then both of us sat on the deck and hauled the sail over the guard rail. It was exhausting work, but eventually we had the thing on deck and lashed down.
I think pretty much collapsed after that! We got the staysail out and continued on to Niue where we arrived early the next day, very relieved to have arrived and for that sail to be over!
Not sure we could make that story up…. just a string of bad luck all packed in to one nightmare sail. Still it was a learning experience, and actually when you look at it a confidence booster that we managed to cope.
Now we are going to have to get a new sail once we get to New Zealand. We were quoted for a new Genoa in Martinique. An eye watering 18000 Euros! So if anyone wants to make a donation to the Azimuth sailing fund, all monies gratefully received! ….. I jest! We will be looking for a second hand option when we reach New Zealand. Fingers crossed.
We will tell you more about Niue next time! So far we are loving it! All the best for now.
Last time we left you we had arrived in the beautiful atoll of Penrhyn in the Cook Islands., known locally as Tongareva. We had been welcomed with open arms by the people in the village where we were anchored. Well it certainly is paradise, so we thought we would tell you a little more about our time here. We have definitely decided we want to live here. If only that was possible!
I cant say that we have done a lot since we last posted. Its a very simple and laid back life in the atoll. People spend their days fishing, collecting and processing coconuts, maintaining their homes, and doing traditional crafts such as hat and jewellery making.
We had some pretty horrible weather come through for a few days which meant it was difficult to get to shore. Even so, we still got visited by various people and more often than not, we were given freshly caught fish to eat. Its a good job, because our fishing skills are still not very impressive!
When the weather calmed down, Rio and Kura dropped by one morning and invited us to visit their little getaway retreat which they had built on one of the neighbouring motu islands, just near one of the atoll passes. We jumped at the opportunity and had a fantastic day visiting with them.
I wish we had a getaway like this! It was a simple hut on the coral beach with enough space to sleep their extended family and friends. Such an idyllic spot, and they have the whole place to themselves. There are some other deserted buildings on the motu nearby but they are in the process of being reclaimed by the sea. Kura explained that one of those buildings belonged to her father, and that was why shje wanted to build nearby.
We spent the day exploring the motu. I went snorkelling in the pass. Kura cooked us a delicious lunch of fried fish and coconut pancakes. And Rio took us on a short boat trip to go and see the site of an American radio base now overgrown in the jungle. The Americans arrived in mass during the second world war. They built the airstrip in the atoll and part that we visited was a radio tower installation that covered the local pacific. Listening our for the Japanese. All that was left was the concrete plinths of the buildings, but it was interesting to see.
I shot this video of some of the days events:
We had several residents around the boat having been here at anchor for a few weeks. They were always waiting for food scraps from the boat. I guess you call these guys our pets? They never bothered me when I went swimming off the back of the boat.
We have had several meals with Rio and Kura, so we decided to invite them and their family to the boat for tea. I cooked a chicken Thai curry which was an instant hit. I did a pile of rice and potatoes to go with it as well as frying up some fish. Ailsa cooked a chocolate cake for pudding. The whole lot got eaten up. These guys love to eat! It was a real joy to be able to return the favour and we had a really fun evening with then on board Azimuth.
Pretty much every other day we would take a trip to shore and go for a walk as well as chat to the villagers. We found a hut on stilts over the water on the beach a little way from the village that became a favourite hangout. You could sit and watch the fish swim underneath and get out of the hot sun.
Even though the island is small, there is still a nice walk to the end, where there is a pass in the atoll. The current flows incredibly strong through the pass. It really is a magical place.
I plucked up the courage and went snorkelling in the pass, dragging my canoe with me. The bottom was rocky and full of fish, turtles and sharks. Really exhilerating!
We visited Rio and Kuras house when ever we were passing by to say hello. I had another go at fixing their water pump, but with no luck. Still I think it worked better than it had before I started! We would always stop and see the pet nurse sharks too.
Our time was almost up. You are only allowed 31 days stay in the cook islands so we started to look at the weather forecast for the next week to make the 1000 or so mile passage to get to our next destination of Niue.
During this time, another boat turned up in the anchorage. A catamaran called Barbarella with Rolf and Nora on board. Rio and Kura invited them and us to dinner at their house that night. Another great meal was had!
That’s Nora and Ralph holding the yacht guest books which we all signed that night. It is an amazing record of all the boats that have visited in the last 40 years.
The next day we hitched a lift on the village boat to the other side of the Atoll to Omoka where we needed to check out of the cook islands. This time we didn’t want to take Azimuth over there to the anchorage . As you know from the last post, the anchor windlass is truly caput. I didn’t want to raise the anchor by hand on a lee shore again. Barbarella were checking out too, they only stayed for a couple of days. So, after the customs and immigration were sorted we joined them to go and visit the local craft centre in Omoka.
Shortly after that we said our farewells and then we went for a walk around the village and came across the wreck of a plane that we had been told about. Apparently it has been there for 80 years!
We took the village boat back to Azimuth later that afternoon. It was with a heavy heart that we said our goodbyes to everyone and then headed back to the boat.
The next morning we pulled up the anchor by hand . It took about 20 minutes and wasn’t too difficult and then set off on the long sail to Niue. Join us next time then when we tell you about the journey.
