Bottle of Wine, Fruit on the Vine

In 1931 Napier was destroyed by a huge earthquake. Ouch! Because it was the 30's and the town had to be rebuilt anyway, they decided to go with the times and rebuilt everything with an art deco theme. Today in Napier you can take art deco tours and even go to 30's parties complete with costumes and retro cars. Napier also just happens to be smack dab in the middle of Hawke's Bay which is one of New Zealands ever growing wine regions. With our friends from Chica Bonita, who are flying the coop in a few months and moving to Ireland we set off on a rainy Friday morning to find out just what Hawke's Bay had to offer. After a quit stop at Lake Taupo we arrived in Napier to our rented holiday home. It seemed from all the selection that Napier is primarily made up of homes to rent. We managed to get a wonderful house for a few days complete with a complimentary bottle of wine and awesome view of the bay. Since Mark is now hard at work during the week (and I am hard at work job hunting) we have to make the most of our weekends. Saturday after a trip to the local Farmer's Market we were off on our marathon seven winery wine tasting. Since it seemed like the right time Mark was busy stocking the cellar so we have some nice wines somewhere in Indonesia. We ended the day at Mission Estate which is the oldest winery in New Zealand. It was started by a bunch of French monks who wanted to get their hands on some communion wine no doubt. Sunday was a marathon day for us as well. We woke up to a gorgeous sunny day and spent the morning at the National Aquarium. At the aquarium we finally got to see the legendary Kiwi bird. Their presence is everywhere and is as much a symbol of New Zealand as the kiwi fruit. After the aquarium it was already time to say our goodbyes and make the four hour trip back to Tauranga just in time for us to unpack and put most of our belongings in the forward part part of Scholarship. Remodeling has commenced once again. So this is what it's like to be a weekend warriors again!

The view from Bayscape, our weekend home away from home


This was a painting I liked at Trinity Winery, called Tango
Heather & myself at the National Aquarium This a Kiwi bird, we watched them behind glass chasing each other around and poking each other in the butts. I think this one is babyWe are all bundled up for our morning walk at Mt. Maunganui

Orcas!

Last Sunday we were coming home from the market and noticed a bunch of cars pulled over just outside of our marina. People were obviously gawking at something spectacular. Orcas! Killer Whales!! It was so cool. Just outside of the marina breakwater, right in our backyard was a pod of orcas. Tauranga harbor is very long but has a small opening. They must have chased something yummy in to come all the way in here. We spent an hour in the freezing cold watching for them as they cruised around the harbor. My photos look like well, water so I cheated with this one from the Internet. You get the idea anyway. Save the Whales

Another Year Older...

The turning leaves at a vineyard near WarksworthA few weeks ago we headed up north to KeriKeri to visit cruiser friends Mike and Heather from Chica Bonita. On the way, we took a little tour of Northland. Northland is considered the area at the top of the North Island. It is a really lovely area, and has it's share of nice wineries and lots of agriculture. We spent the first night of our trip in a really neat little cabin on the beach in a town called Waipu Cove.When we arrived in KeriKeri the next day, birthday week was already in full swing with Mike's b-day on June 5th. We had a succulent dinner out with our hosts and our friend Courtney. Then Friday was a big bash at the Chicas gorgeous rented pad on the water.

In between birthday celebrations we took some time to make a few day trips from KeriKeri. We even made it to Cape Reinga, which is at the very tip of New Zealand where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea.

Mark, Heather and Mike checking out the Farmer's Market

A self-portrait at Haruru Falls
This a tradional Maori canoe, called a waka
Part of Cape Reinga The Cape Reinga lighthouse At the end of our week up north, it was time for me to turn another year older. I was spoiled with lots of pressies, a great dinner and even a homemade cheese cake. Oh la la ! I was even greeted first thing in the morning by a pod of huge dolphins right out the window. Everyone should be lucky enough to have their own birthday dolphins!
Me and the hostest with the mostest

Coromandel Penninsula

We recently had some business in Auckland and on the way back home we took a detour through the Coromandel Peninsula. The Coromandel is just east and north of Auckland. We had sailed past on our way south but had not yet gotten a chance to explore it on land. We spent the weekend visiting all the hotspots from the pretty beaches to the Driving Creek Railway. The Railway is a little train that a New Zealand potter built in his "backyard" to collect clay from the hills. He originally wanted to keep the train to himself but found that tourism was a big money maker and since then it has been quite busy. The train which starts at a lovely pottery shop and sculpture garden, climbs up into the hills for a wonderful view of the town of Coromandel. The Coromandel Peninsula is known for it's smoked fish. We must have tried five or six varieties and Mark loved the steamed mussels. The Coromandel is also home to several Kauri groves. Kauris are the largest tree in New Zealand and often the oldest as well. Heavily logged in the past, there are very few left to see. They are now protected and New Zealand is trying to replant and bring them back.

The Many Lives of Scholarship

In previous blogs I have mentioned that Scholarship was getting some work done. Scholarship is now over thirty years old, and as always with boats, one project turns into several. Boat people like us never want professional boat builders or repair people on board for fear of all the improvements they could see. While we were in the US, Scholarship got her bottom scrubbed and painted, her prop shaft realigned and fiberglassed and the surprise repair was the motor mounts. Motor mounts are just what they sound like. They are pieces of wood that our Perkins diesel sits on in the engine room. What Mark found out when he arrived back in NZ was that Scholarships were rotten. This was a great thing to find out as this could have been quite dangerous at sea. Having our engine hurled across the engine room could have been quite unpleasant. The thing about the mounts is they are under the engine, deep down in the engine room. There are a few ways to go about this repair. One is to rip out the cockpit floor to gain access the other is cut a hole in the floor of the cockpit and use a crane and steel beam to lift the engine up to gain access from underneath. Luckily we went with the second one which made this a two week job. The alternative could have taken more than a month.

So I arrived home to a ripped apart boat covered in fiberglass dust and sadly it was unlivable. I say sadly because after 7 weeks away I was ready to come home and unpack. So we had to find an alternative for a few weeks. Mark had many ideas but our fate was decided the night we were camping at Mt. Manganui and met our neighbors Kevin and Diane. They owned the neighboring caravan and were willing to rent it out to for as long as we needed to stay. Mount Manganui is a beautiful place out on a peninsula with a cute little town and saltwater hot pools all right out our door. So this was our home away from home while Scholarship got put back together. Below are a few pictures of our caravan as well as Scholarship getting some of her repairs. The steel beam that lived in our cockpit for several weeks

Did we mention it's winter in New Zealand? Thats us on a walk by the sea near our caravanOur "backyard" complete with Mt. Manganui and lotsa sheep

Living in space smaller than our boat did not stop us from hosting brunch on a rainy sunday morning

The Way Home

After over six weeks in the US it was time to head home. Now when I say home, what I mean is that home is where Scholarship is. Right now that happens to be New Zealand. My twelve hour flight to New Zealand left from Los Angeles which meant that I got to spend more time in Manhattan Beach with my brother Matt before heading the 7000 miles back to New Zealand. I arrived on a Friday morning and we had a fantastic weekend of riding bikes at the beach, shopping a bit for last minute things and we even got to have Mexican food with my cousin Charlie and his wife Johanna. Monday night I was back at the airport boarding Qantas and relieved to find out that I had three whole seats to myself. The trip went fairly fast and I arrived two days later (because of the day I gave up at the international dateline) to a very brisk morning in Auckland. Ahhhh.. the adventure continues.

Wisconsin

After a great weekend of catching up with friends in Minnesota my next stop was home to Wisconsin. I spent ten days with my family and even two of my oldest friends came home for a visit.

Lunch with Mom and Sharon. We are all still bundled up for winter in April.

A visit to see my Grandmas sister Dorothy and her husband Mac at their farm. What a long time it had been since I had seen them.

Mom, Dorothy and me The Sherry-Butt house in Viroqua, WI. Sherry is my Mom's maiden name.
Mom and I with the big Viking
Grampa and I pose for the camera
A visit to my Dad's house in Wausau. Those are my "little" siblings, Lauren and Karl
Me with Laura and Karen who came home for the weekend
Laura with her son Ari
Dinner with the Jankes.
Mom and I out to lunch again. Dave was there too but he was taking all the photos.