I have finally gotten some pictures organized of our last days in Nelson, our anchorage at Homestead Bay in the Marlborough Sounds and our trip up the East Coast to Gisborne. Enjoy. We met a family at our anchorage at Homestead Bay and they came over for supper to help celebrate Paige’s birthday on the 17th. Their boat name was Unbelievable with Ben, Sarah, Jasper and Ruby. We left our anchorage on January 18th, Paige’s birthday, sailing towards Gisborne, 600+ km (330nm) away. At a speed of 7 knots the trip took us 48 hours or as Paige and I calculate 2 nights at sea. The seas were very calm and the swell low so it was a very enjoyable trip. Let me clarify that a little, we did have about 9 hours of head seas which New Paige pounds up and down and it just gets very tiring after awhile. Enroute we got diverted as we answered an emergency call by New Zealand Search and Rescue. They had a report of an overturned boat (the report came from an airplane) at 35.57.098 S & 174.89.098 W and we were the closest vessel to respond. So off we went. Took us about 2 hours to get the co-ordinates and after searching for a few hours, they called us off. So by the time we finished that side trip and got back on course we were in the head seas. We did listen to the radio and learned that a search plane had been dispatched and located the boat. A cargo freighter going by also diverted and they picked up the boat which turned out to be a jet ski. Have not heard what became of the Jet Ski or if someone was on it. We arrived in Gisborne on the 20th and really enjoyed the area. We were by far the largest boat in the marina as most of others were fishing vessels. On the way to Gisborne some dolphins came and played with the bow of the boat. It is always a pleasure to watch them. We find that we go on walks a lot now (a dog has something to do with it) and on one of them we encountered a statue of James Cook depicting the spot where he landed in New Zealand on October 10th, 1769. There is also a statue for “Young Nick” who was the cabin boy who sighted New Zealand first. We rented a car for a few days while there and took a number of drives around the country to check things out. We found the countryside very green and rolly with sheep everywhere and the odd gaggle of turkey’s wandering the roads. January 26th we departed Gisborne headed for Tauranga, 400 km (220nm) to the north or 1 overnight. Another smooth journey and more dolphins but this time lots of them and they played with the boat for quite some time. On our way into the harbor we passed a number of cargo ships and freighters. This is what we saw on the radar and that is what it looked like on the sea. To enter the harbor at Tauranga you must sail around Mount Maunganui which is pretty impressive and then past a number of ships loading logs bound for Asia. The container ship getting parked right behind us was kind of cool to watch. We had met a fellow in Auckland that lived here in Tauranga and he came down to New Paige for a visit and offered to take us to Rotorua for the day so off we went(Sat-Feb 6th). We had a stop along the way at Peter’s sisters place and they live on a kiwi farm. We got a tour and an explanation on how kiwis grow. As you can see they are very thick on the tree that they grow on and it forms a natural canopy over the top of them. The pictures with Ian in it is gold kiwi and if you look at the stalk of the tree you will see how there is two shoots coming out of it and that is where the new plant was grafted on to make a new fruit. After coffee we continued onto smelly Rotorua and went to Rainbow Springs and kiwi centre. The Springs had a wonderful forest of native trees and pools full of the largest trout we had ever seen. While Roger and Peter wandered around there Paige and I took a tour of the kiwi breeding centre. It was most enjoyable as we got to see newly born kiwi birds. They are quite big when born and live off of the yolk that is in the egg for their first 4 days or so. The centre keeps them in incubators and we could see 3 birds sleeping peacefully. In the next room a staff lady was feeding a young kiwi as it was having trouble eating on its own. We also passed through a nocturnal setting that had 4 birds in it and we were close enough to pet them if allowed. After about 4 months the kiwi’s are released into the wild because at that age they are capable of taking care of themselves. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures in the centre so cannot show you babies. Then we took a ride up the gondola. There we rode the luge a couple of times, had lunch, enjoyed the view and took a Sky swing ride. This thing goes from 0-150 km in 2 seconds, what a rush!!! Even I went on it which totally amazed my family (it actually amazed me too but what the heck). We splurged and spend $30 on the video just to prove to myself I actually did it. We wondered around town for a bit and it started to rain so we headed back to the boat. Great day, thanks Peter. Sunday it rained and rained and rained and then rained some more. We definitely found a couple of leaks. The local paper said that it had rained 122mm which translates into 5”, wow. I found it a bit disconcerting sometimes because it rained so hard for so long. Yesterday we rented a car and took a drive to Hamilton, North Island, NZ in order to drop off our visa renewals. Our visas expire on Feb 10th so have asked for an extension until March 1st. Until then we wait and continue along with our journey north. It is Feb 4th today and we are getting ready to head north. The weather has kept us in Tauranga longer than we planned but oh well that’s cruising.

Until next time…

Joan

Posted: February 6th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: 1

New Paige has finally untied her lines and sailed away.  On Wednesday, January 13th we cut the lines leaving Nelson for the last time.  We had a number of friends come wave goodbye and some of us even shed a few tears.  We enjoyed Nelson so much and left some good friends behind.
The weather was superb as we set sail for the Marlborough Sounds.  We thought we would do a few days cruising here before heading north to meet the ship shipping our boat to the Med.  We transitted French Pass at 1:00 PM local time as we needed to go through at slack tide.  Great volumes of water rush through this pass and going through outside of slack water can be hazardous to you and your vessel.  It reminds us of Dodds Narrows  in Nanaimo, BC.  We of course made it with no problem and dropped our anchor at 3:30 PM at Homestead Bay.  We got here just in time as the weather changed and we have had the wind blow hard with gusts up to 35-40 knots and higher.  It is now Sunday, January 17th and looks like the weather may break for us to leave tomorrow to cross the Cook Stait and head north along the east coast of New Zealand.  We have gotten our sea legs back and it feels good to be cruising again.  We have met a family from Wellington here in Homestead and they are coming over tonight to celebrate Paige’s birthday with us.  Yes, she is turning 12 tomorrow!!!

I will try to keep you updated going up the coast (or Roger) as cell coverage will be sporadic at best.  Until next time….

Joan

ps pictures when I get a better internet connection, probably Auckland.

Posted: January 16th, 2010 under Joan's View.
Comments: none

The Allard’s would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
We are spending Christmas in Nelson and right after New Year’s we are leaving. Our plan is to head to the Marlborough Sounds and do some cruising there. Then head north along the west coast with stops in Gisbone and Tauranga with our final destination being Auckland.
We are leaving New Zealand!  February 3-8 we will be loading New Paige onto Dockwise Yacht Transport heading to the Mediterranean. Wow, big change right. With timing etc., not being able to go through the Gulf of Aden (and who would want too) we made the decision to ship her. We are very excited about this next adventure. New Paige is expected to arrive early April in Palma de Mallorca. In the mean time we will travel to Australia with a side trip to Thailand.
Until next time…
Joan

Posted: December 21st, 2009 under Joan's View.
Comments: 2

On November 24^th, New Paige was hauled out of the water (on the hard).  What a mess!!!  This was our opportunity to get a lot of work done.   All boat owners are very conscious of their bottoms (no pun intended) and getting on the hard is a regular maintenance item (regular being once per year if lucky).  The fuel and performance of your boat is directly linked to a clean bottom.  We have not had New Paige out of the water since we left California so it was time.  As you can see from the props, we had a lot of growth.  Off they came, to the prop shop for cleanup.  They were cleaned, repitched (the blades shape were changed slightly), and prop speeded (a coating that keeps the growth off).  In taking off the props, Roger noticed some wear on the port shaft bearing (left side of the boat), the bearing that the shaft spins in wore out.  This is quite an unusual thing to happen.  Luckily our friends, Scott & Mary had a spare and we were able to replace it quickly (or have one Fed Ex’ed from the US).  Roger also took off the TRAC stabilizers (keeps the boat from rolling side-side) and changed zincs (protects underwater components).  We also took the opportunity to paint the anchor chain.  Off came 400′ of 1/2” chain which we spread out on the cement and I repainted the 50’ & 100’ marks.  This will really help when we anchor and the chain is free falling into the water to see how much has gone over.  400’ of 1/2” weighs 1200 lbs. so when it free falls it falls fast.  We stayed on board while we were out of the water and that certainly has its challenges.  The most important one being how full your holding tanks are getting, yuck!!!

I have been swimming three times a week at the local pool and the gals that I do an aqua jogging class with came over for “High Tea and Bubbly.”  Karen wrote a book on the Boulder Bank, “Rolling Stones” and we had a small celebration for the launch of the book.  Any excuse is a good excuse for a drink.  I really enjoyed my pool time and these ladies have become good friends.  I will miss them when we leave NZ.

Paige and her friends Grace and Meg stilt walked in the local Christmas parade on December 6th and by the time they finished the parade it started to rain hard.  Oh well, they had fun anyway.

We finally got our new addition to the Allard family.  “Bella” arrived on December 12th quite by surprise.  We made arrangements with Carol (the breeder) to fly to Nelson with the dog.  It was more economical for her to come to us than for us to go to her.  We told Paige that her and Roger would fly to Auckland to get the dog so off we went to the airport.  I kept Paige busy while Roger met Carol and Bella.  When it was time to board the flight, Paige walked by Carol and surprise there she was!  This past week has been interesting, we’ve had some late nights, messes on the floor and Bella has become Queen of the boat.  By the way, Bella is a Yorkshire Terrier.

Time to get ready for Christmas…  until next time!

Joan

Posted: December 20th, 2009 under Joan's View.
Comments: none

I seem to have a technical glitch. I will talk to our administrator and find out why the pictures did not post.
… there, I fixed it!

Dave

Posted: December 14th, 2009 under Joan's View.
Comments: none

Thanks for your patience I bought a new Toshiba with Windows 7.

Life is moving along at a rather brisk pace these days, we are busy getting the boat ready to be hauled out of the water, Paige and Roger went to camp, Halloween came and went, but most importantly summer has arrived in New Zealand.

Let’s start with Halloween, not as big an event as at home but we decorated anyway and Paige went trick or treating with her friends.  Grace had never been Halloweening before so she was in for a treat.  Paige, Grace, Tayla and Rumer (Tayla’s sister) dressed alike and didn’t they look like 20^th century witches.  They managed to procure a good sized bag of lollies (candies) so their teeth were chattering for some time.

November  5^th – 9^th , Paige and Roger went to school camp at Totaranui which is in the Abel Tasman National Park, located a 2 hour drive north of Nelson along the coast.  They had great weather and a great time. Roger was a hit with all the boys in Paige’s class because of his stories on racing cars and fire starting.  Part of his duties as a volunteer parent was to teach the kids bush survival.  He had taken his fire starter (flint) with him and everyone (even the girls) tried lighting a fire which is not as easy as it looks.   I on the other hand thoroughly enjoyed the week by myself.  Because of school regulations I cannot download any pictures of the kids as I do not have permission from their parents, too bad.

Our friends Scott and Mary (Egret) stayed with us for a few days while their boat was out of the water (on the hard in boat talk) and enjoyed themselves so much Scott fell asleep watching a movie.  Most boats/yachts are lifted out of the water on a sling device such as the picture that shows Egret.  Having a clean bottom makes all the difference in how much fuel your boat will burn.

Here in New Zealand the local fairs are called A&P’s and the Nelson A&P was on November 21^st and 22^nd.  We thoroughly enjoyed the day as it was like going to the fair in Lethbridge years ago.  Paige’s friend Grace had never ridden a horse before so she gathered her courage and jumped on. There are a lot of honey bees in the Nelson area and I got a chance to go inside a small tent with a bee hive.  That was cool!!! There were even some new breeds of cows at the show. The picture of the two tone cow is a Belted Galloway and Mr. Big Horns is a Scottish Highland.  There is also lots of llama’s and alpacas in NZ.   The sheep shearing competition is the main focus of the fair and after asking lots of questions from the locals I figured out how the points system etc worked.  Man, their backs take a sh__-kicking.  Let me try and explain the picture.  The man in the blue shirt and jeans on the left is one of the judges and he/she has a counter in one hand which they use to count penalties against the shearer.  Penalties are incurred when they cut the sheep or leave wool behind.  The judge rotates from shearer to shearer during the competition about every 30 seconds and that is so the judges do not show any favoritism toward one competitor.  The fellow behind the gate is the sheep grabber and his job is to be ready with a sheep when the shearer is ready for a new sheep.  The counter hanging on the fence is the number of sheep that have been sheared, in this case the competitor was shearing his first sheep.  They sheared 8 sheep in this competition and the shearer who did it the quickest and had the least number of penalties, won.  I did not stick around to find out who won.

Our friend Dick has a 1930 Nash which he restored from the frame up and what a beautiful car.  We had gone out to Dick’s for supper and he took us for a drive, wow!!  The pedals are really different from our standard cars and you have to be on your toes to drive it.

As it is December 12^th when I am writing this, Roger and I are still waiting for summer.  We think maybe it arrived this past week but up until then it has been cold, wet and raining.  Sorry Canada but cold here right now is 15 C not -15 C.

Until the next update…  from my new computer!

Cheers

Joan

Posted: December 14th, 2009 under Joan's View.
Comments: none