Even though we didn’t have internet, a morning check of the weather via the email facilities on the side band radio were looking bad for the following week. Some really heavy weather was coming down on Tuesday. Another reason for moving on sooner rather than later. On the radio we heard that the poor folks up in Fiji were bracing themselves for another bout of heavy wet weather. From the sounds of things the nasty low pressure system we’d had our eyes on was currently passing Fiji and on it’s way down here. Joy.
For Saturday, the weather was promising to be good so we headed ashore and tied up at the dock. Our guide said that it was a 40 minute walk to some local hot springs. From the map I had I was somewhat sceptical about this. We popped into the Great Barrier Lodge to see if their shop had fresh milk (they didn’t) and to ask the way to the hot springs. They also said it was 40 minutes walk along the road and gave us directions.
We duly followed their directions and about an hour later reached the trail head to the springs. Here we were told (by the DOC sign) that it was another 2 hours round trip to the hot springs. We know we almost halve the DOC timings so we pressed on and completed the trip another half hour later.
At the hot springs were two couples, all au naturale, enjoying the springs. We joined them and ended up chatting. They were all from Waiheke Island so we received a few interesting tips about visiting. We also received the usual (and very welcome) invitation to visit the couple we were closest to. We’ll see how things work out. We quite like the idea of the cinema there which has casual seating and allows next door take away curries in to be eaten while watching movies.
As we wanted to move the boat we soon bade our farewells and headed back to the start. We popped back into the Great Barrier Lodge to see if they would do lunch but their restaurant was closed for lunch. So we headed back to Dignity for a snack arriving about 4 hours after we left. Some 40 minute trip to the springs????
After lunch we headed off to Typhena Bay. It was another upwind motor, something we can easily contemplate with the diesel engines. We arrive and dropped the hook in Mulberry Bay only to find their was no internet service. We then raised the anchor and moved around the corner so we were in line of sight to the cell phone tower. There we had a signal but not brilliant. We managed a quick Skype call to Ben, Sam and Amy who were with our friends Anne and John. It was nice to see them but the video was almost impossible.
Once we gave up on the Skype call we lowered the dinghy and headed ashore to find the shop. We chose the wrong beach and ended up having to climb up the road that passed over (what I believe to be) Mullberry Hill to reach the next beach. There we picked up some fresh bread (turned out to be sour bread) milk and a few other things. We trudged our way back up over the hill, now feeling a little weary, to the dinghy and headed back to the boat.
This morning the forecasts still point to some very nasty weather coming through on Tuesday so we’ll sit here until that’s past us. We have good holding here and protection from the east and north which is where we’re going to be pummelled from on Tuesday. The winds are currently forecast to be 40 knots gusting up into the high 50s.
It has rained a lot overnight and the wind has picked up a bit. It would be nice to get ashore again before it becomes impossible.
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