Hope we can remember how to do it!

After 2 months away from the boat, we'll have to relearn all the sailing routines. Here's a little video to remind us what sailing's like. It was taken last April as we were sailing from Panama but we've only just got round to editing it!

Growing old doesn't necessarily mean growing up! It's not so painfull

Today (29th March) was Graham's 50th birthday so he decided to mark the occasion, literally. As friends of ours said, "sailors need ink" so in Blenheim he took the plunge and had his first (and only!) tattoo:

It's not so painful!

The design is a Cook Islands one that was on the sails of the Vaka Hine Moana (a replica Polynesian voyaging canoe) that we sailed on in Tonga

The end of the 8 week camping adventure

We've just arrived in Auckland and unloaded the tent from the roof rack into friends' garage for safekeeping at the end of a brilliant 2 months' tour. The car and tent combination worked superbly well and we only slept indoors on 5 nights in the whole trip. The last few days saw some really sunny weather during the day but cold and dewy nights so we took extra care to get the tent properly dried and aired at our last campsite in the Coromandel Peninsula.

Camping with the sheep at Lake Tutira just north of Napier

A great walk above the camp

You need to take the 'falling rocks' road signs seriously in these parts!

We detoured up to the town of Whitianga on Coromandel to have lunch with Staffan and Eleanor - they sail a lovely Halberg Rassy called Salsa and we met them in an anchorage in Spain. They've made Whitianga their base for a few months and the children Andreas and Erika are loving the local school. Staffan writes an excellent blog with daily updates on all sorts of things and he and Graham had a good conversation about how our voyaging experiences might be turned into something useful (in terms of business) back home.

I think we are being followed

Farewell view of South Island from the ferry

Our little cabin at the Eketehuna camp proved to be a very comfy choice so we spent yesterday afternoon relaxing on the veranda.

Home for one night

The campsite has a definite end-of-season feel to it, with only a couple of caravans in residence, so the arrival of a Britz campervan at about 5.00pm made us look up; we were more than a little surprised and delighted to see that it was Heidi and Peter. Quite by chance they'd stumbled upon the very same camp, having spent the morning back in Wellington, quite unaware that we'd be here. So another sociable evening followed that's done nothing for our 'must drink less'  intentions! 

Graham was allowed to indulge his boy scout tendencies and he built a very decent bonfire which we sat around as the sky cleared to provide a stunning star show and the dew fell heavily on the grass around us.

Back in North Island

We're glad to report that the ferry crossing was drama-free; it was pretty windy but the swell was gentle. We arrived in Wellington at 5.30pm  and drove 30 minutes north to a good campsite in Upper Hutt where we met Heidi & Peter from Stormvogel for a great BBQ supper; it was great to catch up with their news after 3 months or so and much wine was drunk.

The following day saw us take a very easy bus and train combination into Wellington where we spent the afternoon in the Te Papa museum before enjoying some very tasty pizza in Cuba Street, which appears to be the happening part of town for cafes and restaurants. We can see why so many people love the city (when it's not blowing a gale - it's known as Windy Wellington) but, to be honest, we like the wild countryside better so we felt that one day was enough for us.

Today (Sunday) we've headed north west to revisit the excellent little campsite in Eketahuna - we were about to rig the tent when we spotted that the cute little cabins (just two on site) were on $25 (£12.50) for the night including free use of a bbq on the veranda, free showers and even a free washing machine. The bargain of the trip, so we're enjoying a spot of (relative) luxury!

A farewell blast from South Island

We left Blenheim in warm sunshine yesterday for a very twisty route up the east coast to a very nice DOC site at the wonderfully named Whatamango Bay.

However as dusk arrived so did the beginning of a 40 knot gale (not even mentioned in the forecast yesterday morning - one gets the impression that weather in the Cook Straight changes quickly). Thankfully we were pretty well sheltered by the trees and bushes behind us but the sound of the gusts roaring down the valley through the trees sounded like an approaching express train! The wind this morning is abating but our hope of a nice smooth ferry crossing might prove to be a tad optimistic!  Ah well.

Last few days on South Island

After a very wet and windy Sunday in Dunedin - spent in the wonderful Otago Settlers Museum (a free and extremely well-constructed museum tracing the early settlers, mostly Scots, who built the city) followed by a leisurely late lunch - we returned to the city centre the following morning to find it transformed by bright sunshine.

As Scottish as...

...with a touch of Irish green for St Patrick's day

Someone else obviously got a bit soggy on Sunday!

We headed north with a bit of the main State Highway 1, which broadly hugs the east coast, and a then a slight detour inland for something more twisty and interesting:

The safety rails on this single-track bridge were pretty rotten and falling apart

We camped at a tiny DOC site (only 6 places, technically, but 9 cars and campers somehow squeezed in) just north of Kaikora on Tuesday night and packed up a wet tent this morning after a night of persistent drizzle.

We're now in Blenheim - centre of Marlborough wine country - in a very tidy camp on the river side, enjoying bright warm sunshine again; the tent steamed briefly when we opened it up. We have just 2 more days on South Island before we catch the ferry on Friday and we are so pleased with our trip. Can't believe that we've had 6 weeks here but it's great that we've camped on all but 3 days and we've seen some wonderful places, ticking off most of the 'must-see' spots without feeling that we've been on the 'standard' camper van route.

When we get back to North Island (and we're very happy that the forecast for the ferry crossing looks good) we'll spend a couple of days in Wellington, where we hope to meet up with Peter & Heidi from Stormvogel, just returned from an amazing trip across a substantial part of Australia. We'll meet up with friends in Auckland at the end of the month and then we'll be back to Maunie to get her ready for voyaging again. A busy few weeks lie ahead.