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Xmas Day & Boxing Day

by steve, on December 26th, 2010 (New Zealand)

One great thing about travelling is that each and every Xmas turns out to be special. This year we had Ben and Sam with us and were joined by Dick, Sarah and their children Henry, Maria & Tom.

The morning we had to ourselves. We opened the presents we had for each other and generally relaxed. I popped round to a few of the boats we knew nearby to wish them a Merry Xmas.

Dick and his family arrived around 1pm staying until around 6pm. Dinner wasn’t ready for then but that was the time Helen had decided things would be more or less on the go. The turkey, which we cooked in the newly renovated grill, turned out to be the juiciest and tastiest we’ve had in a long time. We really enjoyed having them aboard and sharing the day with us.

We polished off the day by watching a James Bond movie which seems to be traditional although I understand from folks back in the Uk they’ve not had one in three years. I was able to call my family in South Africa before going to bed. We had to remember that we were way ahead of everyone else so Xmas calls had to be timed.

On Boxing Day morning (day after Xmas for those of you who don’t have this) Helen called her family in England. Later on in the morning we headed off in the car to the Tangihua Forest to walk off all the food and chocolate we’d eaten the day before. Although there were no spectacular views the hike turned out to be pretty interesting. At one point we found what looked like an army assault course which Ben and I sampled parts off.

Apart from the first/last 20 minutes to and from the car park, the walk took us through tropical forests typical of the area. All in all it took us about 3 hours which left us feeling worked out, particularly due to some steep climbs and descents along the way.

We’ve made a collective decision for the rest of Ben and Sam’s stay. They’ve stated a preference to more land touring rather than heading off in the boat towards the end of their stay. So after our stay in Auckland for New Year, we will spend around 10 days camping and hiking south of Auckland. That means that today we’ll be heading out for a new tent (which Helen and I were thinking of getting as our current two man tent is just too small for us) and sleeping bags, etc.

Category: New Zealand | Here is my comment

Merry Xmas

by steve, on December 24th, 2010 (Boree, Emily Grace, Jackster, Leu Cat, New Zealand, Sea Mist, True Companions)

Happy Holidays to one and all.

Xmas Eve was a rush of last minute shopping. Our tiny tree suddenly ended up with a few presents underneath and around – more than we’ve seen in a few years due to our anticipated visitors.

The evening was spent in fine company. Squeezing the Jacksters (making six adults in all) into our tiny car we headed off to a nearby hotel to have an Xmas Eve meal with the local community, ie our Pacific cruising friends all here in Whangarei. At the table were Sea Mist (thanks for organising this John), Boree, Emily Grace, True Companions, Leu Cat, Jacksters and us. A riotous assembly. Food and company were both good.

As the Jacksters were nearby they joined us for a night cap back on Dignity. Helen impressed us all by (with just two glasses of wine in her) fell in the water getting aboard. It wasn’t really cold but the water was less than clear so she was out and into the shower in a hurry.

So now it’s Xmas and quite late in the morning at that (8 – if I can call that late). Being in NZ we get to celebrate Xmas a little earlier than the rest of the year. So here’s wishing everyone a very pleasant day wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.

Category: Boree, Emily Grace, Jackster, Leu Cat, New Zealand, Sea Mist, True Companions | One reader has left a comment, here is mine

Mount Manaia

by steve, on December 23rd, 2010 (Division II, Jackster, New Zealand, Sea Mist)

Too many pies recently so it was time for some exercise. Having waited by Mount Manaia for two days without going ashore due to rain we decided to go back there. We invited John from Sea Mist as he is usually up for it. He was glad of the invite as he’d also not been out much recently. In the end John offered to take all of us in his car as it was bigger which worked out well.

After one wrong turn we made it to the mountain. Although it was pretty high, the hike was much easier than others we have done in the last year as the path was well made all the way. The weather was cool but clear so we had some great views. Sam, as part of his art course, has to take pictures so he was the official photographer.

In the afternoon I visited the nearby yard to book our haul out. We are booked for April 5th which we can easily change. There I bumped into Dan from Division 2 who we met up in Tonga. It turns out we’ll be on the pilings soon right next to him. He’s agreed to keep an eye on Dignity while we’re away touring.

I spent some time in the afternoon wrestling with a few Project Euler problems. I’ve abandoned use of spreadsheets and have now started coding for the first time in years. My success count has now raced to 32 out of 315. Of course, I am doing the easier ones first so each new one is gradually getting tougher to do.

The Jacksters pulled into the town basin in the afternoon so it was nice to say hello to them. They were interested in joining the Xmas Eve meal with all the other cruisers here so we arranged this pretty quickly.

Apart from that Helen finished another edit of her Two Years On blog which is being used as the basis of our Xmas Letter this year. The big difference is that it now has embedded pics.

Category: Division II, Jackster, New Zealand, Sea Mist | Here is my comment

Shopping and Movie

by steve, on December 22nd, 2010 (New Zealand)

We spent Wednesday morning shopping for clothes for Ben and Sam. Like any two young men (and somewhat like myself) their wardrobe is thin and worn and in need of resuscitation. We also bought Sam a guitar for his Xmas present. He is a fine player but his old guitar was stolen (left unattended in a public location). He’s now a happy bunny. Ben’s Xmas present was a laptop which Sam brought over. He’s not getting it because mine is getting tired and my backup has died. It’s simple enough to order him a new one for his return. So I’m a happy bunny at the moment too.

In the afternoon we went to see the new Tron movie. I really enjoyed it as I was a total geek at the time the first one came out and this was a good follow on. For the rest they were entertained but perhaps less impressed. The evening was spent aboard with Helen cooking a fine curry – special for Sam who’s not had one for some time.

Category: New Zealand | Here is my comment

Sam’s Aboard

by steve, on December 21st, 2010 (Marquesa, New Zealand, Scream)

Shortly after 6am we took off in the car to drive to Auckland International Airport. We’d been given warnings of the traffic so we gave ourselves plenty of time to get there. Despite plenty of traffic we were still nearly an hour early so we stopped for breakfast and a shop before entering the airport.

Sam duly came through and we had hugs all round despite Sam suffering (read reeking) from sitting in airplanes for over a day. Now further motivated to get the shower working on the boat we stopped at a few DIY/garden centers on the way to see if we could find a regulator/pressure reducer so solve the over pressure problem we have from the dock water. We had no luck.

On the way back we also detoured to the small village of M*** where we stopped for fish and chips. The day had turned out to be exceptionally dry and warm which was a very nice change from all the rain we’ve been having recently.

After lunch we headed back to Whangarei. On the way I received two calls, one from the chandlery to say the new grill burner has arrived and one from the garden center to say our regulator had arrived. We stopped first at the latter. Ben and Sam chose to walk through the town back to the boat from there. We then picked up the burner and returned to the boat to find Ben and Sam already there.

The water and grill were soon fixed and we spent the rest of the afternoon chatting. We were invited over to Scream for beers which we did and met Dave from Marquesas there too. He’s arrived recently and will be here for a few months. Scream will be leaving today.

Today we’ll be doing some shopping for Sam and probably go and see the new Tron movie.

Category: Marquesa, New Zealand, Scream | Here is my comment
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