Monday, February 13th, Turangi library New Zealand. It has been raining since yesterday late afternoon and thus time to catch up on news, emails and blog ! I cannot believe we have been almost 3 weeks in New Zealand. The libraries are fantastic here, they are open all days from 9.30 till 17.00 and you can use their internet, room, toilets for free. Needless to say today the computer study room was packed with tourists, backpackers mostly from Germany and France. We have been travelling with our camper for 10 days now and it is really the best option for visiting New Zealand !
We stayed about 10days in Auckland with our NZ cruiser friends from the boat Aislado, Vaughn, Sylvia and their daughter Zara. We are very happy we could stay there and take our time to find a suitable campervan! During our time in Auckland we visited the city, did some shopping for the boat and vistited Waitakere Forest Park on the west side of Auckland. New Zealanders are very friendly and relax people, “no worries” is a standard answer. Also the traffic is less hectic than in Belgium, 100KM/HR is the max. speed anywhere.
Auckland city seen from the sailing boat Aislado when we were sailing in the bay.Auckland is definitely a “sailing city”, soooo many sailboats were out that day…Waitakere Ranges Regional park, west of Auckland.The ferns are just incredible !
We picked up our campervan “Burnie” early thursday morning and friday afternoon February 3rd we took the ferry to Waiheke island for a long WE. It was wonderful. We were lucky the weather was perfect, a little breeze, blue skies. Waiheke is an island just a one hour ferry ride from Auckland. It is full of famous wineries and good restaurants, beautiful walks and scenery. We enjoyed a great lunch at the Mudbrick restaurant with the voucher we had received from the girls for our Christmas !! Memorable for sure !!!
“Burnie” on deck of the Sealink ferry bringing us to Waiheke island.We must be in wine country. We visited Mudbrick and Man-O-War wineries.Mudbrick winery and restaurant.Having a memorable lunch at the Mudbrick restaurant.…with a great view…We visited “Headland Sculpture on the gulf”, a 2-yearly event on the coast of Waiheke. We did the exhibition walk of 2km, lots of people but beautiful views and works. This work is from Virginia King and is called Phantom Fleet, a fleet of filigreed and branching vessels that connect nautical, botanical and anatomical worlds.“White bird and white angel” from Semisi Fetokai Potauainehere.Stefan’s favorite: Phil Price, Forbidden Tree, is like no tree in the natural world, it moves with the wind, creates shade but drops no leaves. It needs no water but is alive with movement.Michael Tuffery, Trailing Tangaroa, aluminum frame and rubber jandals.Views during our walk on Stony Batter Historic Reserve.Walk in Stony Batter Historic reserve.Stefan and “Burnie” on one of the many stops.Stefan the happy tramper 🙂
The Pukeko bird or purple swamphen.Pukeko bird.The australian magpie in NZ.Variable Oystercatcher.
We came back from Waiheke on the 7th of February and drove for about another hour to just before Hamilton. From Hamilton to Rotorua, Lake Taupo, Wai-O-Tapu and now in Turangi. The scenery along the way is just beautiful.
Whakarewarewa State forest park near Rotorua with redwood trees 60m high and planted in 1901.View in Whakarewarewa forest.Whirinaki Forest Park was like a fairy tale park… Frodo and Gandalf around the corner.After our walk in Whakarewarewa forest we soaked in one of the natural hot pools of Rotorua. The water was around 37-40 degrees Celsius.Lady Knox Geyser in Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) thermal wonderland.Champagne Pool.The artist’s palette, yellow from the sulphur...green from arsenic…
Active boiling mud pool.The Huka Falls or “great body of spray”, here the Waikato river funnels into a narrow chasm before plunging over a 9m shelf.
Koru spiral – “new life” symbol for the Maori
We are currently in Napier library finishing this blog and looking forward to the Art Deco festival in the next days. We will go south and hope to take the ferry to the South Island in Wellington around February 27th.
Belgium: It is sunday, January 8th, it is a foggy and cold morning while I am looking at the last pictures we took in Apataki…
November 12 2016: Apataki
Picture taken from our last anchorage in Apataki, november 2016.One last time climbing in the mast…Taking off the mainsail and all the halyards under clear blue skies.Cleaning off the salt and the rust.Almost ready to go on land… The exterior is ready.Our last sunset on the water !Sanuk being pulled out of the water on an adjustable hydraulic trailer. Alfred is driving the tractor while Pauline (his wife) is making sure everything is going well. Tony is underneath the boat adjusting the pads.Slowly but surely…Almost there… Tony and a helper are adjusting the metal plates for the trailer wheels.Finally on the hard…Sanuk on the hard ! We were lucky she was taken out of the water early in the morning on the 10th of November because afterwards the wind picked up and changed direction making it impossible to take out another boat that day and the day after!
We take the three days that we are on the hard in the carenage to thoroughly clean the boat on the inside. All the walls get a bleach solution treatment to prevent mold from growing. All lockers get emptied, cleaned and refilled.
While I was cleaning I found a little gecko on board ! They are good to have on board because they eat insects. I wonder if he will be still there when we return.
After 3 days on the hard, cleaning and preparing the boat for the 6 months on land, we were ready to fly to Papeete. It was a gorgeous sunday morning ! No wind, blue skies, the water was like a mirror…
The boat on the right will take us to the airport of Apataki.The day we left, the sea was like a huge swimming pool.“mamie” gave us each a flower wreath before we left. We will be back the end of April.Stefan is ready to leave.The sign for the boatyard in Apataki town…
Ready to leave for Papeete in the 16 seater.View out of the plane, flying over the atoll of Rangiroa. To the left the ocean, on the right the lagoon.
Flight Papeete -> Los Angelos -> New York
After a couple days in Papeete we left for New York to visit with our daughter Meliena (living in Boston). Stefan and I spent a beautiful day at the “9-11 Memorial” in New York City. A total difference from the gorgeous nature in French Polynesia but we enjoyed the City for the day!
The National September 11 memorial and museum is a tribute to the 3000 victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Part of the antenna which stood on top of the twin towers.The foundation of one of the old towers.Billboard: Curious what 2017 will bring for the world order with the new leader in place. They both seem to have their doubts.
