Cruising New Zealand

A lot of time has passed.  Sorry for not keeping in touch.  Following is a brief summary of what’s been happening with us.  First and foremost – we are well.  After Eelco’s time on the Janette last November, we spent some family time in Holland.  No it didn’t snow. 

We explored the inland of Netherland by train and had a great time.  I fell in love with the quaint town of Delfts.  Maastricht in the south was super interesting.  For instance the ‘wall of Jerigo’ around the old city – fascinating.  I didn’t realize the walls were so wide.  We walked on top of the wall where they had veggie gardens and fruit trees growing between the canons.  They had bakeries where people queued in the streets and the bread bought by its weight – absolutely memorable delicious.

End of January we were back in New Zealand and did the regular haul out, scrub and paint.  Also some major maintenance like galvanizing the anchor and chain and installed a new anchor winch.  Yes, the old one said ‘ten years were enough’.  And then we could finally take off to explore the northern tip of New Zealand.  We enjoyed our cruising time there.  The Cavalie Islands were great, Whangaroa a sheer delight and Doubtless Bay fascinating.  In Mangonui was an art gallery in the old courthouse where I could stay forever.  The air, the feeling, the life of the place, the paintings, the crafts, were vibrant, different, alive and inspirational.  And there was this Maori goddess swirling from out of the sea with all kinds of sealife mingling with her long wavy hair.  Her features were fine, clear, delightful and powerful – Mother of the Sea.  

I loved it.

 

On our way back we were homesteading in sea anchorages.  In one such place we rode out a severe gale coming from the SSE.   However when the storm decided to turn to the west, we all of a sudden had a problem.  In wind of 50 kn(100km/h) and flattening rain, we scurried to weigh the two anchors back on board and motored to the leeside of the bay.  But there it was open to the sea and big swell was running.  Judged by the onlookers arriving on the beach in their cars in the pouring rain, seeing a yacht there, and especially in those conditions, was not an everyday occurrence.   We survived it all, thank God.   

We connected again with old time sailing friends, caught a few tuna and revisited beautiful bays.  Even Dingo from Oz caught up with us and we were honoured to receive a warm loaf of the best home baked bread.  Mylady is now resting quietly on the Kerikeri River in New Zealand.  I’m visiting my granddaughter in Texas and Eelco is collecting freedom chips for us.