Our cruising adventures begin! We’ve had great weather and quite a variety of activities to keep us busy. We flew to New Zealand from Tucson via LAX) and arrived Saturday morning. From the airport we headed straight to Gulf Harbour where Raven awaited us. The day was spent getting settled on board – unpacking suitcases, stowing our belongings, and adjusting to the dramatic change in time zone. New Zealand is 19 hours ahead of Tucson and we lost an entire day during our flight. But we’ll get it back on our way home-).
So far we’ve had great weather and quite a variety of activities to keep us busy. The morning after our arrival we took care of a few more chores and errands, and then we set sail for Great Barrier Island which is about 40 miles east of the mainland. That took most of the rest of the day – we anchored in Whangaparapara Harbor and took the dinghy ashore for a quick look around and a short exploratory walk – saw our first Kaka which is a native parrot, mostly brown in color.
We took a short steep hike from Smokehouse Bay to a high spot with great view – lots of huffing and puffing and good aerobic exercise. Good thing, though – because it turned out next on the itinerary was a serious hike to the highest point on the island – Mt. Hobson. We were promised a great view at the top, but a drizzly wet cloud settled in and instead we got a pretty good soaking and no view at all. The accomplishment was worth it however – the highest point on Great Barrier Island, some 3000 feet above sea level. The last bit to the summit was a seemingly endless staircase (800 steps – Carol counted) courtesy the Department of Conservation. The wet conditions added to the challenge as the track was slippery, especially in the steep places of which there were many! You can see Mike was grateful to make it all the way to the top! We gobbled our sandwiches as our reward, quickly before the bread got soggy, and headed down again.
Home again, all in one piece – for a delicious dinner of wine (lots), salad, cheese and crackers – and then early to bed. High fives all around though, for having finished quite a challenge in good shape.