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   DECEMBER , 2009
HOLE IN THE ROCK


November 17 – 22, 2009

We didn’t get out to Whangarei Heads and Liz and Craig’s mooring as planned.  We still had lots of cleaning to complete before our friends from Canada arrived and we decided to stay put for a few days.  The weather by the time of the weekend was not conducive to staying on their mooring in McKenzie Bay and we were glad that we made the decision not to move.  We never did hear from Liz and Craig that weekend and, as their visit to their bach had not been definite, we believed that they had stayed home in Auckland.  It wasn’t until we heard from them a few weeks later that we learned that they did indeed go to their bach (they forgot to email us or bring our mobile number) but they worked steadily all day to clear their land of old foliage and dead branches to get it ready for a rental over the Christmas period.  They exhausted themselves and ended up in bed for the night at 1930h.  We will see Liz and Craig next when we go to Auckland the day before we fly home to Canada in February.
Whangarei is a shipbuilding centre of New Zealand.  These two ships were located in adjacent shipyards very near the yard where Bella Via spent its time on the hard.  The tall ship, Spirit of New Zealand, was undergoing a refit

and the tugboat is new construction.  Each prop on the tug is more than 6 feet in diameter and they are mounted on pods that are able to rotate the props for steering.


We went into the Whangarei Town Basin Marina for a two-night stay on Sunday, November 22.  In between washing the boat down with fresh water, scrubbing bathrooms and floors, and provisioning at the grocery store, we had time to meet and enjoy the company of a young family from Quebec.  Dany and her husband Rene, are circumnavigating with their four children and had just arrived in New Zealand from French Polynesia. 
Dany and Rene are retired from the Canadian Military.  They and their children (Thomas, Catherine, Nicholas, and Antoine) left Quebec one and a half years ago for their circumnavigation.  Paul enjoyed teaching the children to sing “One Bottle of Pop” and if we had been with them longer, he would have offered to do the children’s home-school math lesson.  We hope to spend more time with this lovely family in the coming months, as we appear to be on the same long-term cruising schedule.


November 22 – December 10, 2009

We had a marvelous two and a half week visit with Pat and Brad.  We went to as many anchorages as we could in order to give them a taste of the great cruising ground on the east coast of the North Island.  Brad navigated Bella Via through over 250 miles of travel, as we went north to the Bay of Islands for five days and then south towards Auckland.  Here are pictorial highlights of their visit to Bella Via.

At 1600h, on November 22, Pat and Brad arrived on the bus from Auckland to a spic and span Bella Via.  We were very excited to have them return for a second visit from Canada.
On our way to Bay of Islands, we got a closer look at the Hole in the Rock near Cape Brett.  Paul and Brad got into the dinghy and took pictures while Mary and Pat motorsailed by the opening.

Brad and Paul then went through the hole by dinghy and were able to get some great pictures of Bella Via from the other side.  Paul says the inside was cavernous and spooky.
We shared an anchorage with James and Di (far left and far right, front row) from Bellatrix and their friends Mark and Lisa.  We enjoyed sundowners on the beach with a few games of boules.  A few days later we met James and Di in Te Puna Inlet and had dinner on Bella Via to celebrate James and Di’s 36th wedding anniversary.  Di provided the gourmet meal and we provided the larger space!

Here is Pat hauling in a kingfish (our first), which is very delicious to eat and a good fighter when being landed.  Although Pat had only just learned how to handle the rod and reel, she caught on quickly and soon had her fish aboard.
Brad caught and landed the second kingfish of the day.  At 75 cm this King is relatively small since they grow up to 180 cm weighing 100 pounds.  Paul has seen such a large kingfish draped over the shoulders of a Kiwi fisherman some months ago.

Paul and Brad took on dish duty every evening.  It was the least they could do since Mary did all of the cooking.  We tried our best to get Pat to relax because she was on vacation.  All the rest of us are retired.
At Roberton Island we did the steep climb to the top, which afforded a magnificent view of the Bay of Islands.  Here is Pat completing the last of the climb with Bella Via in the background.


In our two weeks with Pat and Brad, we travelled over 250 miles.  Our last few days were spent in the Hauraki Gulf, home of the America’s Cup races several years ago, and where we stayed at a few of the many islands.  Our favourite island is Waiheke, and is only a short sail from Auckland or 30 minutes by ferry.  There are sheltered anchorages all around the island.  There are beautiful beaches, bush reserves, and villages with a very relaxed atmosphere.  We stayed at Oneroa Bay on the north side for the last couple of days of Pat and Brad’s stay and enjoyed shopping in the village, dinner in a beachside restaurant, and a bus ride to two wineries.

December 10, 2009

On our last day with Pat and Brad we sailed into Auckland, the most populated city in New Zealand.  We had tried to book a berth for two nights at one of the several marinas, in order to clean the boat and provision before our next guests arrived on December 14.   Alas, the only marina to answer our email message could not accommodate us.  We decided to just tie up to a designated ‘30-minutes only’ pontoon.  This strategy worked well and we fondly said good-bye to Pat and Brad as they headed off to the international airport for the long flight home to Canada.

December 11-20, 2009

We spent these few days back at Waiheke Island, preparing for the arrival of Mary’s cousin Bill, Bill’s wife Brenda, and Brenda’s mother Lucy – all Canadians but living in Brisbane, Australia.  Bill has earned the title of “our most frequent visitor”, as this will be his twelfth stay aboard Bella Via in five years.

On Monday morning, December 14, we motored over to Matiatia Harbour (pronounced Ma-teeah-teeah), where the ferry terminal is and awaited the arrival of our next guests.  The wind was predicted to change to southwest later that evening and we hoped that it would not be too uncomfortable in Matiatia, as our guests were not arriving until late in the afternoon and we didn’t want to travel after they arrived.
Here is Paul bringing Lucy, Brenda, and Bill to Bella Via from the ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay on Waiheke Island.


It was quite lumpy in the harbour by morning and we left shortly after everyone arose.  We headed back to Oneroa on the north side.

We had six wonderful days with Bill, Brenda, and Lucy.  There was good shopping in Oneroa Village and we played boules several times on the beach.  Bill hired a car for one day and we toured several wineries and had a wonderful lunch. 

We had enough time to do an enjoyable circumnavigation of Waiheke Island and spent our last night anchored just 30 minutes from the Matiatia Bay ferry terminal.

Here is Bill in his favourite spot on the boat.  Mary always jokes that she never has to look for Bill.  He is always fishing on the back steps.  Unfortunately, the fishing was poor on this trip.
Here are Lucy and Brenda relaxing in the cockpit.  If you look closely, you can see the reflection of Bill standing on the step and fishing, in the window just behind Brenda’s head.


December 20 – 22, 2009

We said good-bye to our cousins from Brisbane as they boarded the ferry back to Auckland and their flight back to Australia.

We headed back to Oneroa Bay and settled at anchor.  The wind was predicted to be out of the southwest for two days and then change to light northeasterlies.  We were hoping that we could stay comfortably in this bay until after Christmas as this is where the Catholic Church is and we wanted to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

We will spend the next few days getting ready for Christmas and for the arrival of our next guests.  Our Australian friends from Tin Can Bay, Bob and Julia, arrive on the 28th for a two-week stay.  It has been over one year since we were last together and we are looking forward to their visit.

We want to wish everyone a very peaceful, happy, and healthy Christmas and holiday season!  May you make every visit with a loved one a memorable one.

 

    Journal 2009
    
Swimming with Dolphins