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by steve, on March 10th, 2012 ( New Zealand, True Companions) After a bit of a slow start I retested all 16 batteries. After the long equalization they all appeared fine with differences no more than 0.03V. I’ve had ads up for a week now around town for the 4 spares and had no takers. I’m not going to throw them away so we’re going to keep them. And keeping them means connecting them so the decision was made.
There was still a lot of work to do to finish up. The inverter/charger had to be resecured. The flooring above the 12 batteries had to be put in. The 4 additional batteries had to be boxed and put in place. This was all done.
While I was doing all this, Helen cleaned the deck which was quite grubby from the time in the yard.
Out and about I sold off the remainder of my battery cables for a half decent amount as well as exchanging a couple of the old 8D battery boxes for some additional distilled water. We had another provisioning run but not as much as before.
In the afternoon our new shades arrived and were installed. They look quite nice and give the outside cockpit area a kind of Bedouin tent feel. We’ll leave them up for now as they also protect the area from wind and rain to a certain extent.
In the evening Vickie and Steve from True Companions came over for pizza and a chat. They’ve just finished a tour of the south island and have returned to their boat.
So. Per the question in the title of this blog entry. Was this our last full day in Whangarei? That would all depend on whether or not the parts arrived for our outboard. They didn’t so it isn’t. We’re here for the weekend at least. That being said, the weather continues to be miserable so our prospects were to go down the river, stick the hook down somewhere and stay indoors for the weekend.
Here we can get off the boat. We may go to the movies today. We have more to do but as we were aiming to escape today most of the major stuff is done.
by steve, on October 17th, 2011 ( Anthem, Fiji, True Companions) In the morning both Helen and I got busy with boat work. Helen got busy vacuuming and cleaning while I worked my way through our check list in preparation for our forthcoming passage to NZ. The good news is all looks ok.
I managed to talk to UPS about one of our lost packages and it turns out to be held at the airport. It’s highly likely I can pick it up today. Another phone call should resolve this today.
The weather turned very hot. We had the music playing and as we worked we moved to the rhythms and both of us got quite hot. For the last few days I’ve been building up to do some proper exercise so around 10am I went for a run. I couldn’t find my running shoes so I went barefoot. In the heat I managed just over a mile before I had to rest in the shade of a tree. There I did some floor exercises before returning. I was utterly exhausted by the time I was back on the boat and my calves were already cramping up.
We were both done for the rest of the day so we read and relaxed and even watched a few TV shows which we don’t normally do during the day. During the afternoon, despite the pain in my legs, I visited True Companions who we’d noticed were here in the harbour. Soon we’d agreed to meet up for dinner and then to watch the Rugby ashore.
For dinner we all ate fish and chips at Bonefish. When leaving there for Lulu’s to watch the Rugby we ran into Jack and Jen from Anthem. We were delighted to meet them for the first time in ages. We soon agreed to all meet up for the match.
And what a match it was. We had high expectations for the quality of the game and that we got. Both sides played so well but NZ were in terrific form and got the result they deserved. From what we’ve seen, France will be demolished in the final next weekend.
We invited Jack and Jen back to the boat to polish of the evening. We managed a lot of polishing as we said our goodbye well after real midnight.
As ever I continue to eye the weather. The forecast high leaving Australia is still out there and now looks more and more to be our first real opportunity to leave south. As it stands it’s still over a week before we’ll have the right conditions to leave. Of course, that far out, any forecast is like reading tea leaves so it really is just a waiting game.
A week in Denaru is about 4-5 days too long. We will be leaving today. No doubt about it.
During the day, yesterday, we made a final trip into Nadi to pick up fresh food and eat lunch. In the evening we met up ashore with the Leu Cats, Sea Misters and True Companions for drinks followed by dinner at Cardod. We bumped into the Jaranas again and the Passageses joined us at the table.
For the Leu Cats and Sea Misters it was a final, final farewell as we are off today and so are they, to Vanuatu. They are on sailing plans which will be impossible for us to catch so again this was a little emotional. While cruising one makes some terrific friends but at some point there is a last goodbye. Sometimes you know when it is. Sometimes paths simply never meet again.
This morning I’ve been out and about in the Dinghy. This did involve going over to Leu Cat to drop off some butter and to pick up some hot peppers. This was a chance for a final, final, final farewell. Sea Mist was nearby so final^3 farewells there too.
Next stop …. Not here.
15 cruisers (including us) got together yesterday to take the bus down to Lavena and walk the coastal walk. We had mixed information about the bus departure time which ranged from 9am to 10am. The most specific advice was that it was due at 9:15 but we could have to wait until 10am. We were all ashore by 9:30 and caught the bus at 10:30. It’s called Fiji time by the locals.
The bus was the typical open window (ie, no window) kind which offered a cool breeze and fantastic views of the coast and the villages we passed through. After an hour or so we reached the village of Lavena where we paid to enter the Bouma National Heritage Park and for a couple of guides to take us on the trail.
The trail took about hour and a half to reach the waterfalls at the end. The pace was slow to allow chances to listen to the guide tell us about a few of the things we could see and to take photos. The final section of the path took us up to a shaded spot on a river where we stopped for a swim and to eat lunch. From this spot we could see one of two waterfalls a little way up the river. We swam up to the bowl beneath this waterfall where we were able to see a second waterfall pouring into the same bowl which was not previously visible. Of our group I was the only one to climb the slippery rocks behind our guide and slide down the slick chute created by the second waterfall.
After our swim we rested and had a bite to eat before following the trail back to the starting point. Our return was a quite a bit quicker as we had no need to stop so often. By now school was out and we were greeted by happy, smiling children. It’s wonderful to see the innocence of small kids not having had to be scared off by the boogeyman of strangers.
We headed back to Matei in two minivans and decided to eat at one of the local restaurants. The food turned out to be delicious. Helen and I ended up on Kilkea after the meal where we were plied with beverages that are still working their way out of my head.
On the maintenance front we progress slowly. Permissions have been sought and now fully granted to have the Lagoon techs perform the work in the Norsand yard. We’re close to knowing if/when/where the replacement charger will be sent and we should soon have the details of the sex-change worked out.
Having made the decision to slow down and spend the whole season here in Fiji there is no stress involved in staying put for a while in one place. We’re really enjoying the beauty and tranquility of Taveuni as well as this breezy anchorage. Sharing time with our friends here makes the experience priceless. So all is good.
Even better, we’ve received confirmation from our good friends, Anne and John, that they will be with us early August. Much to look forward to.
by steve, on June 15th, 2011 ( Boree, Callisto, Dreamtime, Fiji, Gerimar, Jarana, Kilkea II, Tahina, True Companions) Once the sun was well up I headed out to say hello to some of the new arrivals in the anchorage and make sure the folks who hadn’t received my earlier email knew they were invited. I didn’t have to go too far as we ended up with a few dinghies/kayak congregated around Gerimar so I managed to get the word out.
While there, six local officials/policemen came out in a fishing skiff to inspect the paperwork of the boats here. We came to the conclusion they were bored and wanted to see the boat show in the anchorage. Only one fellow did any paperwork / inspection and all were very friendly and keen to look around.
After this unexpected interlude Helen and I went out to snorkel one of the nearby coral patches. On the outside of the reef the water was fairly clear and the coral diverse and abundant. The fish were small but colourful and we managed to see a beautiful but dangerous (to the reef) crown of thorns starfish.
After our swim we went over to the lobster pot. The only thing in it was the extremely stinky fish frame which had now collapsed and got stuck in pieces in the netting. It was a disgustingly smelly job to clean it all up. It took me a while to get the awful smell off my fingers.
In the evening we had our public anniversary party. Along came the Borees, Callistos, Dreamtimes, Gerimars, Jaranas, Kilkeas, Tahinas and True Companions for a fun evening. Bert from Boree made us all smile with a bit of a speech presenting Helen and I with hats they’d made earlier in the day appropriate for the celebration.
Quite a few of us are interested in going down the coast to the Bouma National Park, some to see the falls we’ve already seen and some to do the coastal trail. So it looks like today a crowd of us will go down on the public bus returning by taxi. Should be fun.
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