We arrived in New Zealand in Opua on Saturday March 3 after a
swift 7 day passage from Australia.
Many
thanks to our weather router Bruce Buckley for assisting us on our passage
across the Tasman. After a small
stop in Marsden Cove to check a blockage to the port engine ( all clear, no
problems) we motored in to Opua for our Customs and BioSecurity clearance, then
around to our berth in Opua Marina.
Ben’s
wife Helen arrived from Auckland along with our sailing buddies Kate and Steve
(Blue Summit) for welcome drinks on Lettin’Go then dinner at the Opua Sailing
Club for traditional Fish’n’Chips.
Sunday saw us enjoying a fantastic breakfast at the marina cafe
then into Kerikeri to replenish the fresh produce before our departure on
Tuesday. Ben and Helen provided
their transport and assistance with getting ourselves organized. Ben had
another trip up the mast, this time to the very top to straighten one of the
wind vanes that had a visible bend - probably the result of a seabird trying to
land on it during the last few days of our passage.
We enjoyed the Sunday Roast at the
sailing club to round off the day. It
was sad to farewell Ben and Helen on Monday, Ben had been with us for over a
month since arriving in Australia to help us our before we departed for NZ. Many thanks to Ben for all his
assistance and to Helen for supporting us from afar.
We enjoyed our motor/sail south to the Hauraki Gulf passing a traditional waka sailing canoe and the
Queen Mary 2 as we departed the Bay of Islands. What a contrast.
We had overnight stop at Matarouri Bay then on to Kawau Island to meet up with Blue Summit where Kate &
Steve hosted us for dinner. The next morning saw us leaving in heavy rain and strong winds before it eased for a great day sail down to Waiheke Island where
we met up with some fellow rally boats from last year.
Bonnie Lass - Rob and Jenny whose
back yard we plan to explore are giving us visitors (Lettin'Go & Blue Summit) a tour of their favorite anchorages,
walks, restaurants and wineries. More of that in the next post.
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