Ready To Go Part 2....

Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first... 
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
 to Lake Ontario Click this link:
  SOUTH CAROLINA

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With FAR less wind than was predicted, Cyclone Cook has almost passed us by.  We have little to no wind and the bay we are anchored in is flat calm.

Our plan now is to depart tomorrow morning (Friday April 14th) here in New Zealand.  We are expecting NW winds around 15 knots and 3 meter seas from the NE.  This should make things a little lumpy for the first few days....  You can check on our latest position by using the link at the top right corner of the page, or by clicking HERE.

A beautiful little girl playing "Pirates" with her brother in Russell, NZ..

The last few days have been spent exploring the area in and around Russell, NZ.  A lovely vacation town with about 700 permanent residents.  This number swells in the New Zealand summer, but at the moment very quaint.

It was also the first national capital of NZ and the safe harbor for MANY whaling and merchant ships in days gone by.

The Russell Boat Club.

 We were invited to the boat club on Sunday evening for a roast lamb dinner.  Great food and incredibly friendly people...

Throughout the village there are beautiful reminders of the towns rich history.

The oldest church in New Zealand.... Complete with bullet holes in the walls...

An old whaling boat...

Maori Totems...

The public wharf.

What can I say?

There are local volunteers who help local boaters with land based services and weather.

While Shopping in Russell, we couldn't help ourselves when we passed a great fishing shop...

You can NEVER have too many fishing rods!

Here in the bay we are surrounded by friends like Amy & David on Starry Horizons, and Ann & Mark from 360 Blue.  The other day Amy and Shelley walked over 20 kilometers!

We were invited to the home of Peter and Angela Mott who for may years operated a business in Auckland, who have now semi-retired here in Russell and who give generously to the cruising community by operating NORTHLAND RADIO.  With thousands of dollars worth of top notch gear, Peter operates one of the most powerful high frequency/HAM stations in the Pacific ocean.

Entirely, with his own resources. he communicates with boats like ours on a daily basis as a check-in facility.  In an emergency he often co-ordinates the appropriate search and rescue centers to help mariners in trouble...

Thank you Peter for all you do!

We will be heading back into Opua in the morning for fuel and to check out with customs.  We hope to be underway before noon.

We will check in via our HF radio along the way.

We leave you with a few more of Shelley's beautiful pictures...

Cheers!