Right this minute we are anchored in a beautiful cove in Whangaroa Harbor. We’ve been here a few days very much enjoying the scenery. We went on a five hour hike climbing to the top of a ridge nearby, also kayaked and Mike wind-surfed on the new windsurfer. The weather has been holding well. A front with 35 knots of wind was forecast for today, so we holed up in this protected anchorage, but the weather hasn’t materialized yet. We got here by heading out of Opua on Sunday morning and sailing to the Cavalli Islands where we anchored overnight. The water was glass calm that night so we slept well. Often it can be too rough to be comfortable near the Cavallis although last year, when we came here to dive the Rainbow Warrior, it was just as calm. The following day we sailed over to Whangaroa and are taking each day as it comes.
We dropped by the Gamefish Club, but they were hosting a big tournament and the place was pretty well taken over by activities. Yesterday was Waitangi Day (a national holiday celebrating the signing of the Waitangi Treaty by the British and the Maori in 1840 and considered to be New Zealand’s founding document). School starts back up again today, so we’re anticipating the anchorages may be a bit less crowded from now on. Jan T. wasn’t kidding about Whangaroa not being a busy metropolis! I was blown away by Boyd’s General Store – the worst collection of knick-knacks, gewgaws and souvenirs I ever saw…but very limited in groceries and no paper for the printer.
We’re thinking, but not absolutely committed, to driving down to Wellington to be there when the Volvo World Cup racers are in port. Regardless we will take a week’s driving trip somewhere and do some tourist stuff un-boat related.
Emails from Rod in the Philippines tell us he has managed to get the loan of a guy’s sailboat to single-hand for a week, a catamaran I believe. He says it is held together with bamboo and string, and the sails are made out of rice sacks. I’d love to see a picture! There are about 50 whale sharks in the area this time of year and he has been swimming with at least a dozen of them, last count.
We’re enjoying Raven’s improvements. Rod and Mike have figured out that they’ll be able to see MaxSea charts on the new TV from the deckhouse by peering down the hatchway. We’re leaving those connections up to Rod as he does such a nice job hiding the wires. Mike is a typical mad engineer with wires everywhere if left to his own devices. We once had a car with a coat hanger for the radio antenna! The TV is terrific. I had my doubts from an interior designer point of view, but it looks great and fits right in. We have watched all eight DVDs of the Horatio Hornblower A&E series, which were thoroughly entertaining. And we can play slideshows of all my photographs for wall art!