Our position

Dawn over Cape Kidnappers

39 28.9 south

176 53.5 east

We left Wellington on Saturday 9th April and headed back out into the Cooks strait with the wind on the nose – as usual.  We turned east out of the straits and the wind turned also – still on our nose.  We past Cape Palister and headed north to Napier, at the same time as the wind also changed direction …. back on the nose again.  It seemed every time we changed direction so did the wind.  It took 3 days to get to Napier and the wind finally changed dirction allowing us to sail in the last bay.  At least we are out of the roaring forties now. 

The art deco architecture of Napier

Napier was badly destroyed by an earthquake in 1931.  The rebuilding of Napier in the contemporary architecture of the time has made it’s fasinating art deco design a real attraction.  We spent a week in the marina watching the weather while we continued to prepare the boat for her voyage back to the tropics.

More art deco

Our position

41 17.3 South

174 47.1 East

Camomile sitting on the side with downtown Wellington behind her

Just to finish off my reports for NZ.  We crossed the Cooks Strait safely again and arrived in Chaffers marina Wellington.  There was a good lifting system there.  Camomile was motored gently into the slings and was lifted but then a rolling platform was placed under her enabling us to clean the hull and service seacocks, etc.  This is downtown Wellington behind her and this is the wonderful Te Papa museum.

The Te Papa museum next door to the marina

Camomile all spruced up and ready to go back in the water

We sat in the slings overnight and the marina staff dropped her back into the water the next day all spruced up.  We filled up with diesel and went back to the pontoon and I got on with the shopping.  The next day was Sunday and we met up with Sharon and Nigel who we had met in French Polynesia last year.  They took us for a drive around the area so we were finally able to deliver the last letter we had collected from the whalers post box in the Galapagos island a year before.  I think the people were a bit wary at first but once they realised what we were doing they were really pleased. 

The main square in city hall

The next day we decided to do a city tour.  We walked through the main square at city hall and along the street to the cable car.  We jumped on and it took us on a short journey up above the city to the gardens where we walked back down towards the parliment buildings and finally we walked around the old St Paul’s cathedral.

The cable car that took us up above the city

The wonderful view from the top

Walking through the gardens

Inside the greenhouses

The Beehive - the NZ house of commons

The entrance to the Parliament buildings

Inside the old cathedral

40 54.2 south

173 50.3 east

French pass

After waiting for most of the day we left the anchorage at 14.45 to go through French pass.  It turned out to be a pussycat although we could see the white water surrounding it earlier we passed through the ‘gate’ without a problem.  We sailed down the coast with just the genny out anchoring in Croisilles harbour overnight. 

Bill caught a fish

Bill caught a lovely fish and we think it was a Blue cod.  The next morning we made an early start and left the harbour just after 8.30.  We had the sails up for about an hour before the wind died so we motorsailed for half an hour then the wind came from nowhere with 30kt gusts.  At 11.30 it just stopped as if someone had switched if off so we motored the rest of the way tying up in Nelson harbour marina at 14.00.

Our position is  41 15.6 south,  173 16.8 east

Nelson, NZ 

Nelson

Nelson was a nice town with some very nice shops, one of which was Spotlight, which is a bit like Hobbicraft.  I stocked up on zips, cottons, and material for my projects.  We also stocked the food cupboards up at Countdown, a very nice supermarket just like Sainsburys!  There was a really good launderette so I caught up with all the washing plus the biggest achievement was we managed to get propane Gas.  We have a couple of old gas bottles that Bill was convinced the kiwi’s wouldn’t fill but I managed to persuade the local garage to fill one of them after I managed to produce a date when the bottle was serviced.  Ironically we think it was a part number that just happened to look like a date 11/07 any way he was happy and I got my gas. 

Amusing sign

After all the housekeeping we were able to have a wander around the town, this sign was outside one of the local pubs, a good way to get more customers in!

Beach on Adele Island

Our position is

40 58.7 south

173 03.1 east

Adele Island, Able Tasman, NZ

After 3 nights in Nelson we left for the Able Tasman National park.  This is a beautiful area tucked up in the northwest corner of South island and is one of New Zealand’s most popular national parks.  It’s named after the first known European to see New Zealand.  It’s a charming combination of native bush and golden sand beaches.  Like some of the other parts of the NZ coast it can’t be reached by road so the only way to see it is by boat or walk. 

Shell sand bar off Adele island

The coastal track takes 2 or 3 days to walk staying in campsites along the way, or it’s possible by sea kayak. We stayed in a stunning anchorage behind Adele island.  It had a beautiful shell sand bar, which we walked along.  It was probably the best anchorage we found in NZ.  There were 3 other boats anchored off the beach so it was a bit crowded!  We left the next morning for torrent bay just along the coast. 

Seal playing with fish

On our passage we watched a seal playing with his fish, he wasn’t at all bothered by us slowly circling him.  After finishing one fish he would disappear for a few minutes then surface with another one, playing with it like a cat plays with a mouse. 

Torrent bay

We moved along to torrent bay, which had a nice campsite but nothing else.  We started walking along the beach but discovered it had sand flies so we quickly retreated back to the safety of the boat.  The next morning we awoke to really awful weather, low cloud and rain so we motored back to Adele island where at least there was a mobile signal to use the internet.  The following day was Sunday but the weather wasn’t much better so we took the dinghy across the bay to Marahau the nearest village to treat ourselves to a ‘coffee and a slice’ a NZ delicacy which we’ve got used to enjoying.  The New Zealanders have a very sweet tooth and most coffee shops sell wonderful slices with all sorts of toppings on them, many include chocolate! 

Seal on the rocks

On the way back we spotted seals playing around the rocks so we took the dinghy in closer to get a better look.  The next day was usual Monday morning weather, blue skies and light winds so we motored further north.  We passed a couple of bays with names like Mosquito bay and Sandfly bay, they didn’t sound very inviting, and anchored in Tonga bay.  This had the best beach in the Able Tasman; it seemed to stretch on for miles.  We walked some of it but the anchorage was very rolly and, as we were on a lee shore, we decided to sail back to Adele island. 

Beautiful Tonga beach

Bill fighting the dolphins for his fish

The Able Tasman was as far west as we were going in this latitude, the next time we will be on 173 east will be when we are on our way to Vanuatu.  We left the next morning to cross the Tasman bay.  It was a beautiful day but no wind so the engine was on.  Bill put his fishing line out to try and catch some fish.  He kept catching blue cod, which we didn’t want because they are very difficult to fillet but he caught one after another and kept putting them back.  Then the dolphins arrived and kept trying to steal them, it was very funny watching Bill telling the dolphins off and cursing every time he brought the line up to find another blue cod.  I don’t think he’s ever caught so many fish before, I think the final count was eight.  Eventually he caught a Terakihi which was delicious.

Dolphin leapingDolphins under the boat in Tasman bay

 

Beautiful dolphins under the boat in Tasman bay

Re-varnishing the boat

We spent the next week doing boat jobs. Bill replaced the Eberspacer heater unit that we had had sent to Kate and we now have a working heater, think we’re going to need it soon. After Bill had revamped the steps at Kate’s the rest of the varnishing looked very tired so we revarnished the main saloon and galley. It’s like decorating at home, everything needs to be put away, curtains taken down, cushions packed away etc. As we still had Kate’s car we were able to visit chandleries, supermarkets, doctors and dentists. So I was ‘topped and tailed’ and Bill had a tooth out and another filled.

Little Camomile next to her giant neighbour in Picton marina

We drove back to Kate’s the following weekend. Originally it was to see Will perform but the earthquake had destroyed the theatre so that was cancelled. We did manage to meet Michael and Ger from Simanderal at the airport before they flew back to Australia. It was nice to catch up with their news. We had intended to go back to Picton on the Tranzcoastal train but it had been cancelled since the earthquake and we had to go on the bus instead. Bill was quite disappointed.

Finally leaving Picton

We spent another week finishing the varnishing and the clean up before finally on Monday 14th March we left Picton. As we left I lifted the fenders, we had been in Picton so long we had barnacles on the bottom of them. We didn’t go far, it took us an hour and a half to motor round to Waterfall bay. It was quite windy but peaceful. The next morning we went on a beautiful walk over the hill to Mahia on Pelorus sound, looped round the peninsular and then down to Mistletoe bay for a picnic and back to the boat.

Walking the Queen Charlotte track

We moved further up QC sound the next day back to Endeavour inlet and the buoy at Punga cove where we had been with Kate and the children. We met Gary and Jackie on Inspiration Lady from Canada there and enjoyed a nice drink and a chat. The next day we walked right to the top of the Kenepuru saddle. It was only 200m high but it felt more. The views were astounding; it felt like we were on top of the world. We walked for several hours, enjoying our picnic sitting on a seat with views across to Kenepuru sound. This part of the world must be one of the best in the world, it’s quite impossible to photograph.

A view of French Pass at sunset

On the Saturday we sailed to the head of the sound past Cape Jackson, across the top of Pelorus sound down towards French Pass. We found a buoy to hang onto just outside the approaches so that we were ready to go through with the tide the next day. We had been given all sorts of dire warnings about going through the pass at the wrong time. It’s a big tidal gate and has white water showing most of the time but there’s about half an hour every 12 hours that’s safe to transit. Hopefully I’ve got my tidal flows correct.

Wednesday 23rd February

The next morning we received the devastating news that our friends Phyllis and Bob, who were crewing on the sailing yacht Quest, had been senselessly murdered by their pirate captors.  We were all stunned.  Neither we or Peter and Margie knew the yacht because it had joined the BWR in Phuket but Phyllis had joined the rally in Gibraltar and Bob in the Marquesas and they had crewed on various boats.  They had both joined us on Camomile for my birthday party last year.  They were lovely people and both so full of life; it’s a tragic end to their journey and our thoughts go out to their families.

Driving through the Kaikoura range

We left Kates and drove with Peter and Margie to Chch to take their camper van back.  We had intended to spend the day in Chch but that was out of the question so we turned north and drove to Hanmer Springs.  Set in the Kaikoura range 380m above sea level Hanmer Springs Thermal pools were an ideal way to relax after the previous couple of days.  There were 15 open-air thermal pools of varying temperatures, their geothermal waters drawn from an adjacent bore.  We spent several hours wallowing.  The three Sulphur pools contained unfiltered thermal water, which left our skin feeling very soft and clean.  We had had enough of the tent so we hired a 2-bedroomed cabin for the night and enjoyed a pizza together that evening.  

Kaikoura coastline with seals on the rocks

The next day we continued up the Kaikoura coastline stopping several times to gaze at the seals basking in the sunshine on the rocky coast.   We stopped in the coastal town of Kaikoura for lunch then continued our drive up the coast back to Picton.  Peter and Margie were booked onto the Interislander ferry to Wellington the following day but they had time to have a look around Picton.  Camomile was safe and sound when we returned.  We bought fish and chips and took them back to Camomile to eat them before we took Peter and Margie to the cabin they had booked for the night. 

Goodbye Peter and Margie

The next morning we picked them up and took them to the departure lounge for the ferry.  It was sad saying goodbye because we had spent a wonderful couple of weeks together but the sailing world is quite small and I’m sure we’ll meet them again one day.

Tuesday 22^nd February

It rained very heavily over night so we waited for a break and quickly put the tent away just before it started again.  We drove over to the hut to cook some breakfast but Peter and Margie thought we had left and drove off too.  Not to worry we’ll soon find them again, we seem attracted to them some how.  We drove back down past Lake Pukaki and turned towards Christchurch. 

Church of the Good Shepard

We stopped at the church of the Good Shepard next to Lake Tekapo on the way.  Built in 1935 to commemorate the pioneer farmers of the area the picturesque small stone chapel has the most amazing backdrop of the milky glacial turquoise lake with Mount Cook behind it.  Sadly yet again Mount Cook was hiding behind the clouds so we didn’t get to see it.

Lake Tekapo

Strangely there in the car park yet again was Pete and Margie’s van; I told you they couldn’t get away from us! 

We had planned the whole trip around the 22^nd and planned to meet Michael and Ger from Simanderal, another BWR yacht, in Christchurch that evening.  They had also flown to NZ from Australia and were doing the circuit in the opposite direction.  Today was our only chance to meet up with them.  I was talking to Margie and trying to call Ger when Bill felt a strange movement in the car….

As we drove towards Chch we heard on the radio that there had been another really bad earthquake to the east of the city.  Many buildings in the centre of town were damaged with many people killed or injured.  Clearly we couldn’t go into the city.  Eventually we managed to contact Michael and Ger but they had been diverted out of the city, ironically we had probably passed each other on the road as we continued to drive towards Chch.  We couldn’t go to the campsite we were going to stay at so Kate very kindly opened her doors to us again and Peter and Margie stayed on the drive.  Barry cooked one of his wonderful lasagnes.  We felt several big aftershocks that evening which is the strangest sensation.

Sunday 20^thFebruary

Waitaki dam

We packed up early and drove away from Dunedin vowing not to book a campsite through an ‘i’site again.  We drove North towards Oamaru where we stopped briefly for a coffee.  We turned off SH1 onto the 83 which runs alongside the Waitaki river.  There are a series of power stations and dams on the river that are fed by the three lakes Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau.  The Waitaki dam was named after the river itself and was also the first dam in New Zealand to be built without diverting the natural river flow. 

Waitaki power station

The stations powerhouse was completed in 1934 just after the dam was built.  Made of reinforced concrete it was 109 metres long.  Over the years it’s gradually been extended, as more power was demanded of it.  It now has a total of seven generators with a capacity of 105MW. We stopped to take a look.  The water was a beautiful milky blue colour.  We continued up the road passing the Aviemore and Benmore dams each one rising up like steps. 

Benmore dam

We drove over the Benmore dam and parked high above the lake for lunch with a view.  We drove past Twizel where the control centre for the power stations is operated. We continued past the glacier-fed Lake Pukaki and drove towards Mount Cook.  Unfortunately it was cloudy and Mount Cook was hiding shyly behind the clouds. We drove as far as it’s possible to go and arrived at the DOC campsite at 900M above sea level.  We drove to what looked like a remote corner of the campsite and there in front of us was Pete and Margie’s campervan, they couldn’t get away from us that easily.  While I caught up with the news Bill put the tent up – well he’s so good at it now! 

Can you see me in the middle of the bridge

As the forecast was better for today rather than tomorrow we walked to the base of the Hooker glacier.  This involved crossing 2 high suspension bridges and traversing the glacial moraine of the Hooker valley.  It was a superb walk with only a gentle incline.  There were beautiful mountain flowers growing next to the path.  It took 2 hours to reach the lake where we were rewarded by the sight of icebergs floating in the silty water.  Alas the cloud base had dropped even further preventing us from seeing the snow capped mountain peaks of Mount Cook and the Tasman.  It was a spartan but striking outlook that can’t be captured in a photo you’ll all have to come and see for yourselves.

Icebergs on the lake at the base of Hooker glacier

We walked back to the camp and cooked out in the open air which although chilly was refreshing. 

Feeding the ducks

The local teal ducks were interested in what we were doing, they were so tame they fed right out of Bill’s hand. We had a peaceful nights sleep although the wind got up and it was blowing strongly by the morning.  Peter and Margie went off to find some different walks but we went to the Cooks village i site where they had a very informative display of the mountains and a museum of mountaineering artefacts.  We drove down to Twizel.  Originally built in 1968 as the base for the upper Waitaki power development Twizel was to be bulldozed once construction was completed but its inhabitants successfully campaigned to retain the town. We enjoyed a tasty lunch in the sunshine but the rain clouds were building again.

View up the Tasman glacier

We drove back up the lake to the car park at the base of the Tasman valley but the rain had started and we had no means of drying clothes in a tent so decided against walking to the Tasman glacier.  We went back to the campsite and took our gas stove and the means to make supper into the hut where we were joined by Peter and Margie and we had a great time catching up but the main topic of conversation was the BWR yacht Quest that had been captured by pirates in the Arabian sea.