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With less than 48 hours before we're scheduled to leave New Zealand, I'm getting pretty nostalgic. We've grown to love it here and will find it hard to leave, even when we know we'll be back here again in November. Today I drove by St. Paul's Anglican Church in Paihia, as I have literally hundreds of times, and finally stopped to take a picture. It's a beautiful stone church set on a parcel of land directly across the street from the beach, looking out to the Bay of Islands.
Ok, I'm breaking a promise here. I had said that I wouldn't post any more potty pictures, however this one was too cool to pass up. During our Girly Grey road trip Jan, Sally and I had tea in Matakana. Here's a picture of Jan at the public washrooms that are situated at the roundabout smack dab in the middle of town.
The Girly Greys (Jan and I) spent the last three days shopping until we dropped, provisioning for our upcoming trip to Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. On the first day we did our best to clear the shelves at a store called Pack N Save. Jan's grocery cart was filled to overflowing (she spent over $800 NZ in the store). I had done a lot of provisioning during the last couple weeks so my grocery bill was a tad less. The following two days were spent doing more of the same - shopping. We stayed with our friend Sally and had wonderful evenings drinking wine, relaxing and visiting. This morning we went to the tea house in Matakana where the road trip idea was cooked up last month and had high tea (Girly Grey of course!) with Sally before loading Jan's car to the hilt and heading back home. I know that both Jan and I will spend tomorrow trying to figure out where to squirrel away all of our loot. Click here to see more pictures from our trip.
It's hard to believe but our 6 months in New Zealand is almost over and we're focusing on getting ready to head 'back to the islands.' It's now fall here - leaves are turning color and the weather is significantly cooler than we like. It's time to head north again - as Tom says - until the butter melts. We've joined the Island Cruising Association rally to Fiji and we'll leave here on May 2nd, weather permitting.
As you may or may not know, there's been a coup in Fiji and the new government has closed down the banks, thrown out journalists and cut off internet access. However, we're told that all of this doesn't affect the outer islands where we'll be cruising. We're watching the situation closely and will make alternate plans, if needed. In addition, our plans are to visit Vanuatu and New Caledonia this season so we're pulling out the cruising guides, dusting off the paper charts that we've had stored aboard, and upgrading our online charts.
We're slowing plowing through our pre-trip "to do" list and I'm once again filling the boat with food. I've already made a good dent in my privisioning for the upcoming 6 months, but this coming week Jan (s/v Baraka) and I are going to drive to Auckland for a multi-day shopping spree. We'll stay with our friend, Sally, who lives less than an hour from the big city.
We've not cruised with a rally before and we're looking forward to trying this out. For more information on the Island Cruising Association and to see the rally itinerary, check out their website.
Do I know my livestock or what?
What, you ask, is a holiday park? Well, I'd best describe it as a hybrid of a campground and a motel. All holiday parks have campsites where you can pitch a tent or park your camper van, and power outlets where RV's can "plug in". In addition, most parks have cabins that you can rent. Some are literally one room with only a bed in it (you share the communal restroom/shower facilities). Other cabins have facilities ensuite and small kitchens, and others have multiple bedrooms. Every holiday park will have a different combination of the above cabins onsite. In addition, all parks have a fully furnished communal kitchen and dining room where you can store, cook and eat your food. They also have community restrooms and showers. Most have a laundry room and some even have wi-fi (woo hoo!).
There are literally hundreds of holiday parks on the North Island alone - some along the shoreline with beautiful views of the ocean, and others inland on the country roads amongst the beautiful green rolling hills lined with grazing sheep. We stayed in cabins at two holiday parks during our road trip in March. Each had ensuite facilities, a TV and its own small kitchen. Cost for each was approximately $40-$50 U.S.
Every holiday park that we’ve seen has a character of its own – mostly funky. For example, the common buildings at Sandspit’s park, shown below, had the look & feel of a town back in the early 1900’s with windows looking in on rooms decked out in antiques and life-like mannequins. We look forward to exploring more holiday parks when we return to New Zealand later this year. We’ll be ready for more land travel after 6 months sailing in Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia!
Our new boat slip NOT! Looks like these boats spend more time in the mud than afloat!
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