atahualpa domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home3/aboarddi/public_html/blog/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Along the way we had a little cheer when we crossed from East to West over the 180 degree longitude meridian. We decided we were all a day younger. We also passed (more specifically were passed by) El Regalo who’d been anchored Somosomo, Taveuni. On arrival in the bay we were treated to the sight of a beautiful bay with turquoise waters, colourful corals and surrounded on three sides by steep, tree covered cliffs.
Once anchored Helen and I went out in the dinghy to check depths around the boat and make sure there were no threatening coral heads. There was a little beach with a hut and a couple on it. We dinghied over to see if it was connected to a resort on the other side of the island. We were immediately threatened by the guy who didn’t seem interested in our lack of desire to come ashore but more interested in threatening to call the resort and have us expelled. He pointed out he’d “paid a lot of money the have the place the themselves.” Perhaps he should ask for his money back as all the beaches in Fiji are public up to the high water line. We would have been in our rights to go ashore as it was low tide at the time but despite his rudeness I had no desire to ruin their day.
Back on the boat we all took off snorkeling from the back steps. The water was a little murky but still allowed us to view some fascinating coral and fish.
The afternoon was spent relaxing, reading, sleeping and watching the colours change as the sun set. I did a repair job on our VHF mike as the speaker wire was not forming a good connection. Colin helped me with a small repair to the sail slider which had come out of the baton. Helen cooked a great curry for dinner which was complimented with a few bottles of vino.
I’d lost track of days. We’d planned on two full days anchored off Taveuni to do some land exploration there. I had thought that gave us time for two nights over here but we only have one. So today we’ll head the seven or so miles back to the tip of Taveuni and settle in there.
]]>Helen and I went to the Copra Shed office to announce ourselves and order our Fiji cruising permit. We then made our way down the high street (the only one of consequence) to explore Savusavu and find the various places we had to pay our bills. Helen, as usual, visited most of the Supermarkets to case out what foods are available and the prices. Most items are available at a very good price so once we’ve depleted our vast New Zealand stores we know we have plenty here.
We bought a SIM card for our phone so now we can make local calls. My phone is discharging it’s battery rather quickly so I may have to do something about that but for now it will do. Sorting out an internet connection became somewhat more awkward. The Fiji Vodafone website claims they have 3G services in a lot of places and 2G for a lot of the rest but this is not the case in Savusavu. I can’t use my phone to bridge data services and need a data card for the USB stick given to us in New Zealand. However, the store that sells the data cards wasn’t sure if the stick would work and asked us to wait for their tech guy who will be here Tuesday or Wednesday. No rush on getting connected is ok.
We bumped into Frank on Tahina who was also on similar errands to us and we walked together to the hospital to pay for the health inspection. We parted company with Frank when we reached town as we had different ideas about where to eat. Helen and I ended up eating at a restaurant quite close to the Copra Shed which served an excellent chicken curry. During lunch the heavens opened. May is usually the onset of the dry season and that hasn’t happened yet.
After lunch we explored the high street in the opposite direction before returning to the boat for the afternoon. Not long after, Paul was dropped off at the boat by John and Pam from Passages and we invited them aboard for a beer and a chat. Paul has now worked out his plans for the rest of his stay in Fiji. He’ll be leaving us on Wednesday to start a very well priced Scuba Certification course here in Savusavu before heading to the mainland on the Sunday night ferry. He’s going to sort out his flight today and once those details are ironed out we can officially disembark him from the boat.
Later in the afternoon I went back ashore with Paul to drop off some laundry. The services here are very cheap and we have many loads to do so we’re splitting the effort. It turned out our cruising permit was already prepared (we had been told it could take days) so I collected that and set about obtaining a permit to visit the Lau group to the east. As we were heading back to the dinghy I bumped into Bert from Boree who was not looking overly happy. He mentioned he was having trouble connecting his PC to his TV again (I’ve already helped him out once before with this) and I said I’d be happy to help out again. The real reason for his discontent is he’d just been given an outrageous price for a ventilation fan for his engine room to replace the one that had failed in passage. I looked at the spec sheet he had in his hand and gave him the good news. Ages ago I’d erroneously ordered a wrong sized fan for a spare and had exactly the part he needed. What a coincidence. He dinghied over to our boat to check it out and it was just the right thing. We did a deal which was good for both of us then headed over to Boree to fix his TV. It took about 10 seconds to find the problem.
By the time I was back at the boat it was time to head back to the Copra Shed to hang out. Brian and Jodon from El Regalo were there having just arrived and soon more piled in. After a couple of beers we all headed to the restaurant over the road where Helen and I had eaten earlier. We ended up joining all the tables in one section of the restaurant. Apart from us, we had the True Companions, El Regalos, Tahinas, Garimas, Jacksters and Kilkeas at the table.
The evening turned out cool and dry. Did we just witness the start of the dry season?
We’ll be here in Savusavu for a few more days to sort things out and recuperate from our passage. We need to fill a propane tank and there’s our internet to sort out. We also need to disembark Paul. If we stay too long we’ll get fat, particularly if we keep on eating two meals per day. If the weather stays good we’ll probably hike to the top of a nearby hill where there is supposed to be a good look out.
]]>Next task was to head for Opua to sell the car back to Phil from Cars for Cruisers. I had an agreement with Rob and Ruth from Albatross III to head up to Opua too and give me a ride back. Just before leaving we bumped into a young lady from the NE US whose on a traveling trip and was looking for passage up to Fiji. We offered to take her up to Opua and back to investigate things there and learn a bit more about making what she was trying to do work.
On arriving in Opua I let Lauren off to explore the area and agreed to meet up at the Fish and Chip shop at noon where I’d promised to buy lunch for everyone for helping out. The deal with Phil went through smoothly and soon I was walking away with a cashable check.
While waiting for Lauren to show up I bumped into Andy from Zephyrus which was a pleasant surprise. We chatted for a while and I asked about people looking for crew. He had a good lead and shared it with Lauren when she found us. About 12:30 Rob and Ruth turned up having seen some friends. Unfortunately the Fish and Chip shop in Opua had closed down so we headed off to Pahia for the banks and shops there. Half way there I realize I’d left my GPS unit somewhere so we headed back finding it with Phil.
Leaving the others to look around I first went to Westpac to cash the check using my passport to prove my identity. She had to call Phil to verify the check was ok to cash and he approved with the caveat I owed him a GPS unit. She found the explanation of his remark quite funny. My next stop was the ANZ bank to deposit most the cash keeping enough to pay for our new kayak.
With all the financials handled I found the others and bought all Fish and Chips on the waterfront which turned out to be overfilling but delicious.
Rob took us north out of Pahia for a different route back to Whangarei. A few miles out of town I realized I didn’t have our folder containing our boat papers and passports. Not again. So back into town we went. I checked first at the Westpac. The teller grinned hugely and went to the safe to retrieve my passport. I found the folder in the ANZ where I’d left it. Where was my head???? I checked to make sure it was still in the right place physically. I think my brain had already set sail.
No more mishaps beset us as we traveled back to Whangarei. Rob helped me collect the kayak which we placed on the boat. Helen had spent the day making a clean boat immaculate for the evening’s party. By now there was not much time left. I performed a few small jobs around the boat before showering and soon after folks began to show.
All in all we had the pleasure of welcoming the crew from Albatross III, Attitude, Blue Penguin, Boree, Callisto, Clara Katherine, Division II, El Regalo, Imagine, Jackster, Leu Cat, Marquesa, Proximity, Sail Away, Scream, Sea Mist, Sidewinder, Stray Kitty, Tahina, True Companions and Tyee along with one or two marina neighbours. That was about forty people at once. It was a great test of our through hulls as we were down about 6-9 inches in the water. We didn’t sink.
This morning we woke fairly early and after doing last minute internetty things we dropped of our key to the shower block and headed out. As we headed down the river the winds were light and behind us. And cold. We motored on batteries alone for about 30 mins before turning on the generator. Near the river mouth we caught sight of True Companions ahead of us and called them on the radio to greet them.
As we rounded the heads we hit a dead patch and used the opportunity to raise the new main. We crossed our fingers hoping for wind as we really wanted to see how our new sails would perform. We didn’t have to wait too long and soon we were in winds that were to vary between 10-20 knots as we headed up the coast. We were gobsmacked by the improved boat performance. Before the boat speed would fade below about 12 knots under main and jib. Now she was achieving above 1/2 wind speed all the way down to 9 knots on the beam. We’ve never seen it so good.
We have found a couple of issues. The reef points on the new main are higher up than before and now the 1st reef only has a turn of spare line at the winch which is not enough to reef on the fly. We also have new modes of vibration on the luff of the main which we need to figure out how to handle. Apart from that everything seems to be in amazing shape. It feels like we have a new boat.
Our original plan had us making our way up the coast in smaller steps. With reduced wind tomorrow and nasty northeasterlies forecast for Friday we’re aiming to cover as much distance as we can today and complete the trip to the Bay of Islands tomorrow where we can find shelter from any type of wind. Our goal for today is the Whangamumu Bay which we visited last November.
We’ve now settled into a pleasant sail up the coast putting on and taking off our warm clothes as the sun goes in and out. We have about a knot of counter current but we’re doing well against it. We even have a line out for fish but nothing caught yet. We’ve shed the land life and are back on the water.
]]>Around midday we packed it in, tidied up and had a brief lunch before heading into town to watch the Tai Tokerau Haka Road Show. The show was an opportunity for three of the local (normally competitive) traditional singing/dancing groups to showcase their work along with a few other entertainers.
The show was to a packed hall and had a fundraising (for Christchurch) element to it. Curiously they had a Butlins style host who introduced each act. The opener was a great singing chap who the audience knew as a contestant on NZ Idol. Next was the first of the singing/dancing groups. If we thought we were treated last Friday, it just got better. With about 15 females and 15 males in traditional costume we were given several different performances all strung together seemlessly. The crowd would cheer when certain songs began presumably because they were familiar. All the male led performances for this group and those that followed seemed to be some variation on the haka.
Next came two sisters, a 14 year old on the cello and a 10 year old who played the violin so well it almost brought tears to the eyes. They played 2 songs to huge applause from the audience.
Next came the smallest of the three traditional groups about the same size as the group we had last Friday. Between them and the final group was a round of raffle winners. The last traditional group was the same group of performers as we had last Friday but beefed up in numbers. They exceeded their prior performance by a long shot. The larger audience brought out more enthusiasm and with more of them and bigger acoustics their performance sang out.
And there it could have finished except they decided to bring all three groups together on stage to sing and dance three traditional numbers which they all knew. Fantastic stuff.
It was no surprise that we ran into cruisers in the hall. We ended up sitting right at the front in front of Brian and JoDon from El Regallo. We bumped into Kathy from Attitude on the way out.
We didn’t stay too long as we had a little more to do. We drove to Bunnings to pick up a few bits and pieces for the boat. On the way back to the boat we stopped off and had a walk around the wetlands area we’d seen many times and vowed to visit. It was a quite pleasant and very easy walk allowing us to see a number of birds, etc. quite close to town.
Back on the boat it was now 4:30 and we lost the will to go back to work and cracked open a couple of beers instead.
Dinner was another couple of NZ steaks. I’m going to miss these. We’ve never really cooked steak too often but we’ve treated ourselves to nice filets just a little too often recently. Afterwards we settled down for a movie.
Perhaps to try and get into the spirit of the near future we watched the 50s movie ‘South Pacific’ which turned out to be too long and a struggle to get through. We soldiered on even though Helen ended up playing cards on the computer and I spent most of the time watching the live telemetry and commentary from the Malaysian Grand Prix. A quick check on IMDB revealed the usual con about movie locations. None of it was filmed in the South Pacific. The closest location was Hawaii (20 degrees north of the equator) and the rest in Ibiza (Spain), Malaysia and LA. All I can say is “Bloody Alonso”. Nothing to do with the movie or Ibiza – he drove into the back of Hamilton.
It’s now Monday morning. Real time blog readers can get the same weather forecast as us at metservice. We might just get a continued good run of weather ahead and be out of the yard by the end of the week.
]]>On the external projects more progress was made than anticipated. The dinghy arrived. The anchor roller strengthening is now complete. The chain chute is complete. The props / shafts were returned from having a hole drilled and pin inserted. The new sheave was cut. Our window inserts are now expected early next week and I postponed the forestay work to Monday.
I actually had a little time to study a few Euler problems and have now developed a strategy to solve one of them which I’ll implement over the weekend. It’s interesting going back to them as at first they all look far too complicated to solve but sooner or later dormant brain cells wake up from their slumber and go to work.
Around 2:30pm we broke for the day and cleaned up for our afternoon out. The town of Whangarei was putting on a farewell seminar/show for the cruisers who’ve spent time (and presumably quite a lot of money) here in the town – particularly on services to their ocean battered boats. First was a very impressive traditional Maori challenge, far better than the one we saw at the Maori experience in Rotorua.
Next we had a half hour lecture by weather guru Bob McDavitt. For those that don’t know him, he puts out an excellent cruising forecast each Sunday that makes a relevant read every Sunday. As such he practically received a heroes welcome by the cruisers as a result of this service. He does offer professional guidance / route planning to those that wish it. His half hour brief was very informative. He confirmed the weather scenario for leaving north that I’m now already anticipating. More importantly he helped us understand the broader context for the weather patterns and their near term impact. We’re in what’s called a declining La Nina situation which historically extends the cyclone season. Thus the general recommendation is not to leave until May. This fits our general plan which was to be ready by the third week in April and to take the first available weather window. That window should now appear early May. This extra time allows us the opportunity to flex our new wings (once installed) with a sail, perhaps, up to Opua before we leave.
Next was the BBQ which was a fine feast. I thought I was taking a little of everything but my plate ended up piled high. Having had a light and early lunch I was famished and polished off the lot.
Finally we were given a cultural Maori performance by a national competition winning local singing group. Again – far better than the ones we’ve seen at tourist attractions. We are lucky to have the opportunity in our lives to go cruising and further privileged to be given such joyful, harmonious and passionate performances.
We were not alone for this farewell presentation. We sat amongst old friends from the ‘class of ’10’ puddle jumpers : Attitude, Boree, Callisto, El Regallo, Imagine, Leu Cat, Proximity, Scream & Tahina. There were plenty of others there too and the sad thing is was our need to catch up with old friends prevented us from really making any new.
Being in the company of so many friends and having the Polynesian dancing and singing going on made most, if not all, of us keen to start our crossing and get back out into the wonders of the South Pacific. Just got to get the boat work finished !!!!!
We finished the evening by inviting Frank and Karen over to a messy Dignity to share a bottle of wine. Almost like being back out on the water. Except for the gentle rocking. The slapping of waves. The warm nights. The beautiful beaches. The great snorkeling. No yard dust. Not having to pee in a bucket. Ok – so not quite so similar but we’re on our way soon.
ADDED LATER: All too easy. Euler problem nailed. Off to work.
]]>After parking the car in the free but further away car park I returned to the boat to get on with some online stuff I needed to catch up on. Helen was progressing with the dark arts of cleaning and sorting out the boat.
One thing I hadn’t mentioned in our blog from two days ago is that we had received some mail while we were away. Two pieces in fact. One was a speeding ticket from the morning we took the boys to the airport and one was a final reminder as we’d passed the due date. So my next chore was to walk into town and to pay off the fine. I was able to pay by Eftpos using my local NZ debit card so with a quick wave of plastic the fine was paid for.
Back at the marina office I checked for our second expected parcel from the US, the one containing our new camera, some accessories and a few other sundry items. It wasn’t there but I did find more mail. I was worried it might be another speeding ticket but it turned out to be a note from customs. I gave them a call and soon it was all agreed that this was personal items for a foreign boat in transit. They were all very polite as usual which is great compared to some of the officials we’ve had to deal with in the past. I emailed them a copy of our Temporary Import Form and that, theoretically, should ease it out of their system.
By lunch we were ravenous as we’d both skipped breakfast. In the afternoon we discovered our first ‘real’ problem – more of a bloody annoyance. I’d left a printer ink cartridge out on the side and it had obviously leaked all over the DVD case it was sitting on and the gel-coat surface beneath. They were both badly stained. The DVD case we couldn’t care about but the surface was a problem. We borrowed some On/Off from Steve on True Companions which made some difference. We’ll try applying it routinely for the next few days to see what we can accomplish. We are having some exterior gel-coat fixes done so maybe we can scrape this off and have new gel-coat applied inside too. Bugger the bother and cost.
The most memorable point of the day came around 3pm. This was my underwater excursion to check and scrape the props. It took me nearly an hour to find all the gear that we’d last used many months ago. 3pm was a good time as the tide had been coming in for 4 hours. The water was still murky but I felt it may be cleaner than an outbound tide with all the liveaboards and fishing boats upstream of us. Also, being nearer high tide there was less chance of kicking up the bottom silt. Finally, at 3pm the sun was still reasonably high to help with the poor visibility.
With Helen keeping and eye out for problems and to assist I lowered by self into the water with my tank on. It wasn’t as cold as I feared but the visibility was less than a foot. I could not even see the rudders from the back step. I carefully made my way forward not wanting to rub against the barnacle encrusted hull. Once I found the rudder I was able to follow it to the prop. It was a mess. There was aboard a cm of barnacle on each face of each blade and a whole mess at the hub. Because we’d been turning the props a lot of the barnacles had been washout out of their shells but were still encrusted onto the props. It took a lot of effort to scrape them all off. Worse still, the gunk coming off the props reduced the visibility further making the whole job trying, particularly as I was also trying to avoid getting my skin scraped off on the barnacle invested surroundings. In the end I came out of the ordeal with barely a scratch. Glad to be connected to shore water I showered for a long time to rid myself of the river ooze.
The boat behind us, Endless, was due to leave to dock at 4pm. Bryan and Jodon from El Regalo were helping out. I shared our experience with them in case they ran into similar difficulties. Forewarned they too found very little action from their props. At one point, when they’d reached the main river they looked like they were having difficulty maneuvering the boat but they managed it. I’ve shared our experience with many others now so folks can take appropriate action.
Once all cleaned up and the excitement over I headed over to Sea Mist to borrow a disk drive with some files on. I was plied with a couple of beers for my trouble (how can I complain). On leaving I ran into Bert on Boree and had a chat with him. It feels like we’ve fallen right back into our old groove.
Dinner was refried left over Chinese from the night before which always tastes better than it sounds. We finished the evening chatting with Rob and Ruth on Albatross III just the other side of the dock from us. Both our boats are work in progress so it ended up with each of us sitting on our own decks and chatting across the divide.
]]>After writing yesterdays blog I spent some time organizing [...]]]>
After writing yesterdays blog I spent some time organizing all my various to do lists into one so that nothing would get missed. I also fired off some emails to the folks replacing our old, rusty (left in Palmerston) chain to get it here before we left. Helen started cleaning. Once my list was done and breakfast consumed I took the dinghy ashore to discuss options for coming alongside the dock. Outside the marina office I bumped into Ruth from Albatross III who we’d met from time to time across the Pacific. I also ran into Brian from El Regallo who was passing by. For dockage, we were given a couple of options along the cat dock finger which I left till later so that Helen could be involved in the choice. What I did determine was that we had to wait until early afternoon before the tide would be high enough before we come in.
Now that I knew we’d be on the dock that day it was off to meet the folks doing work for us to see how things were progressing, to let them know we were in town and see if they needed anything from us.
First stop was the upholsterers where we’re having a new table cover made and the helm seat made more comfortable. They had recently started work on the old table cover. On looking at the underside they’d noted it hadn’t fitted properly. The best thing to do would be to get the table top to trace an outline. I said I could bring it round in the afternoon once we’d docked.
Next stop was the sail maker who happened to be right round the back. I decided to drive around so I would know for future reference how to get there although I could have just walked out the back door of the upholsterers. Here we discussed where we were with things. While we were on the move I’d contacted them about our main deciding to increase the sail area by going for a flat topped sail. He wanted to visit the boat to take some more measurements but is now glad we’ll be on the dock. He’ll be visiting later in the week.
I next parked the car in the free car park near the marina and walked into town to find somewhere to fix my watch strap. I eventually found a jeweler who could facilitate a call to Casio to see if the repair could be done and how much. I left them my details for their call back to me.
By the time I was back on the boat Helen had almost completely sanitized every surface in our cabin. In mind mind the boat was already fairly clean but Helen, while tolerant of all sorts of grubbiness outside of the home, likes to live in spotless conditions and the bedroom come first. She’d done a good job.
We agreed to have sushi for lunch and pay a surprise visit to Sea Mist who are still here as a result of John injuring his knee just after we left south. We grabbed our sushi and drove round to the park near where Sea Mist is docked to eat it. I managed to flip soy sauce and wasabi all over my legs which left me less than pleased. I didn’t mind the mess but it meant I had less to dip my sushi into. Helen kindly gave me some of hers.
Next stop was Sea Mist. John, Cheryl and Ian were all there and it was good to meet up. We spent a couple of hours there talking about all sorts of things including possibilities of a wedding for someone we all know in May in Fiji. More details on that when it happens.
Time was passing and the boat had to be moved so we pulled ourselves away and headed back. The berth we chose was the one (of the two available) furthest from the finger access. Further to go but less foot traffic going past the boat. We would be right opposite Albatross III. While we were dinghying past we asked Rob and Ruth to stand by to lines as we came in.
As soon as we were aboard we raised the dinghy and checked the boats systems. All seemed well. The tide was still coming in so the prop wash was less apparent than normal when I tested them. Everything seemed to be working well so we set up the lines and fenders. We then cast off from the pilings and headed out into the river.
It was here that it became apparent that our props weren’t grabbing the water as they should. I’d noticed earlier a lot of barnacles on the hulls. Almost certainly, our props are festooned with them after three months up this river. On the upside we were near to high tide and the wind wasn’t too strong. I’d just have to be a lot more careful as we didn’t have the push to get out of any mistakes. Just in case I did ask Helen to make sure the anchor windlass was in operation. It was ok and we didn’t actually need it in the end. Always good to be sure our backup options are working before they’re needed.
Our berth was between the finger and the shoreside bushes. Not knowing what the weather would be like when we had to leave I decided it would be best to reverse in which was more awkward. The conditions were good enough to allow me to do this even with the handicap of the barnacled (presumed) props. It did turn out to be more awkward than I anticipated. The margin between us and the other boats I had to pass and the bush was not a lot and I sorely missed having sufficient torque to twist the boat neatly but we managed it. As ever, folks aboard the boats there came out to help and push if necessary. Not a lot of pushing was necessary and I was able to use the incoming tide and wind to our advantage and we eventually made it in without too much fuss.
Once alongside the dock we adjusted all the lines so we were happy and connect to dock water supply. Over the last couple of months we’ve had the watermaker self cleaning and our on board water supplies were low. Once connected I tried using the shore supply to feed the water maker but it wasn’t providing the flow necessary and the water maker was cutting out with a low pressure alarm as if the input was blocked. Part of the problem is I’d put clean filter in before we left so the internals were passing water easier and faster than before. I also figured that during the day the water pressure would be lower than perhaps in the evening. I abandoned these efforts and let Helen do her first wash.
While she got on with that I started unloading the car. I also picked up a parcel from the marina office which contained some spares for the generator. I want to switch out the heat exchanger as the thread for the sacrificial zinc is mauled and I believe it may have flow issues. I’d ordered a replacement from the US as it was half the price. As it had arrived I called the local Onan guy who we’d had aboard in January and booked him to come on the boat. He’s now due aboard either Friday or early next week.
Having half emptied the car we now realized it was past five and we were knackered. We called it a day there and then and decided to go out to the supermarket, buy in a few more bottles of wine for Fiji (something we’ll be doing every day now) and pick up a chinese takeaway. This was eaten on the back of the boat. Our sample bottle was sampled and enjoyed and we now know what we’re buying today.
After dinner I again tried the water maker. This time we had sufficient pressure to feed it from the dock supply and filled the starboard tank before stopping it so we could shower. The really neat thing is that our water tanks are now filled with water down at around 2-3 parts per million which is very, very clean. Fortunately our foot pump in the galley draws from the tanks while the rest of the boat draws from the dock supply. That means we have abundant water to shower / wash but have easy access to almost pure water to drink. Lovely.
In between all this I know we did one or two other things but I forget. It hardly changes the picture of the day. It was not the relaxing day we’d promised ourselves except for the couple of hours aboard Sea Mist. I didn’t get to drop the table top off to be traced and now, today, I have the job of cleaning the props. Yach.
]]>Our plan was to drive to Arrowtown and then on to Queenstown to find a campsite. After leaving Wanaka I noticed that we were pretty low on fuel. We decided to keep going and chance it. I ended up feeling quite nervous as the road took us up into the clouds over a kilometer from sea level. There was a view point at the top but it was like the inside of a ping pong ball and I didn’t want to risk running out of fuel. Our GPS listed the nearest fuel station as being near Queenstown so we postponed Arrowtown and went straight for the fuel.
Now that we were in the Queenstown area we checked out a couple of holiday campgrounds there and after finding them a bit too crowded we headed out to the top 10 near the shotover river. This campsite was far better and up in the mountains so be booked a spot and put the tent out to air.
We then drove to Arrowtown and found it as quaint as we’d been told by many others who had encouraged us to go there. We had pies for lunch and then wandered around for a while. As the weather was perfect we decided to go for a nearby hike. On the way we saw a couple coming towards us waving madly. I took me a second to realize they were waving as and then a second more to realize it was Brian and Jodon from El Regalo who we’d first met out in Fakarava. What a nice surprise. We sat on a bench chatting for a while and catching up. They’d just been on the same hike we were heading for. They were moving around by bus and soon had to catch their’s. We exchanged phone numbers in case we can hook up again.
Our hike was a 2-3 hour loop around German Hill called Sawpit Gully – Arrow Gorge track. This was a very enjoyable hike albeit with a strenuous climb to begin with. Against Brian’s advice we went clockwise to get the steep climb over and done with and have a more leisurely descent. The high point of the hike didn’t quite reach the peak of German Hill. Helen and I had different oppinions on whether or not we should take the side trail to the top. We ended up with Helen seeking shade while I took to the summit.
We soon met up again and made our way down. The scenery was, as ever it seems round here, fantastic. We met an English couple by a waterfall and chatted for a while before heading down to town. After picking up some supplies in the supermarket we headed back to the campsite and set up all the bedding, chairs and tables in the tent before cracking open a beer for our pleasure.
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We were soon connected to the internet and struggling through the [...]]]>
We were soon connected to the internet and struggling through the slowness of it all to get a few things done. Two of the key tasks were to book Ben’s flight to join us (now set for July 13th) and Sam’s flight to South Africa to visit his family there.
Later we went ashore to have a look around. We bumped into Jackie from Jackster who was on a similar mission to ourselves. We found Gunther who provides free visits to his pearl farm and set up a trip for the next day (this afternoon). We then visited the dive shop and set up a dive for this morning on the incoming current at the northern pass.
We parted company with Jackie and headed down the main drag (such that it was) and visited the three stores along the way picking up some rather overheated croissants left over and some raisin bread. Outside one of the stores we met Brian and Jodon from El Regallo who we’d known from the radion. It was nice to meet and get to know them. Soon we were back aboard internetting again before settling down to sleep.
This morning I was ashore at 6am to pick up fresh baguettes and croissant for breakfast. Shortly before 8am John and I dinghied to the dive shop for our dive – Helen wanting to pass on this one as it was a little technical. We met the Jacksters there as well as John and Ian from Sea Mist along with some others who we didn’t know. It didn’t take long to get out to the dive site 5nm away in their powered RIB. We were separated into groups of 4 with a dive master with each group. Our group went second. We were dropped into the water and had to head down fairly quickly lest we be swept beyond our target in the strong currents.
Our first stop at around 110ft was on the rising reef. Here we saw thousands of fish and hundreds of sharks all milling around each in their own place in the food chain starting with the small life being swept up over the reef by the current. We soon hand to handed over to coral to a spot about 90ft deep where we waited another 10 minutes before letting go. We were swept over the reef and through some canyons for around 10 minutes before arriving at a dip in the reef called Ali Baba where sharks and fish took refuge from the current. The other two divers in our group were running low on air and needed extra from the dive master. Presumably they’d not been able to relax in the deep part of the dive and used up too much air.
Forty minutes into the dive it was time to rise and take a 5 minute safety stop to allow some of the nitrogen to fizz off. After that we were on the surface being picked up by the RIB. A great dive.
Back ashore it was back to internetting, this time ordering parts to be sent to Ben to bring to the boat in a months time.
This afternoon we went back ashore to visit the pearl farm. We didn’t get the full show as the technicians were out in the lagoon fixing things but we were shown an oyster being opened and a black pearl within. We also had explained the whole pearl making process which was pretty interesting. The end of the trip, inevitably, was where we could buy some pearls. Helen found one she liked and John bought a few.
That’s about it. The wind has been non-existant today and the lagoon consequently flat. From others I understand the forecast for the next few days is about the same. We’ll stay here until our online work is done and then head to Toau even if we have to motor.
In the meantime I’ve put together our tracks of our big crossing and our stay in the Marquesas. You’ll have to zoom out to see the bigger crossing.
View 2010 Marquesas in a larger map
With any minutes left I’ll try and uploading some more pictures.
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