Category Archives: Daily Lime

Kiwi Fun

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It is difficult to live and work on the boat while she is on the hard in the boat yard.  We wake up and start working right away (0700) and then work until the sun goes down (2000).  We work on the weekends on projects that don’t get in the way of the contractors.  Work work work.  So, we periodically have to blow off some steam with a little Kiwi fun.

The Seaside Sirens

There was a flyer on the bulletin board outside the boat yard office that caught my eye. It was an advertisement for a one night only show of the Seaside Sirens.  Intrigued I googled it and to my surrpise it was a cabaret.  Oh ya, sign me up for this type of Kiwi fun!  I called a few friends and dragged them along with us.

We stopped by the Quay for a cocktail prior to the show.  Daniela, Mirko (on Yum Yum) and Kara joined Matt and I.  Check out my pretty drink (lower left) called the Autumn Sun.

The Seaside Sirens are mer people and the two sailors have been caught under their spell to do their bidding.  The live band called “The Otherlies” were land based but worked with the mer people in exchange for favors.

And then the show began!  It is not a strip show per se, but they do strip down to pasties.  They had performers dancing, singing, performing on a pole, silks, large ring, and with a hula hoop.

It was serious fun with great laughs and loads of entertainment.  The performers were lovely and put on a great show!

It ended at 8:30pm and we were all starving.  We stopped by several eateries which were open but their kitchens were closed.  Finally we found Loco, a Mexican place that fed us and wrapped up our night.  Kiwi’s know how to put on a good show but they need their restaurants to stay open past 8:30pm!

Welcome Cruiser Party

Whangarei throws an amazing party each year to welcome the new cruisers to Whangarei, NZ!  This year I had the pleasure of assisting (albeit very little) Kara from Town Basin Marina.  The party was held at Aqua Restaurant located at the Hundertwasser Museum.  It was great fun seeing old and new cruiser friends.  Upper left is Kara and I and upper right are two of the amazing performers.

The most spectacular Maori group, Hatea Kapa Haka Group  performed and they did not disappoint!  They take my breath away, brought me to tears with a Maori version of Ava Maria and showcased their local traditions and songs.  It was spectacular.

Christmas Tree Farm

It was nearing Christmas and our friend Kara from Town Basin Marina asked us to come along to get her Christmas tree.  We went to an actual Christmas Tree farm called “Crane Road Christmas Trees.”   The family had a beautiful ranch style home overlooking their gorgeous farm!

Oh how I wish I could have brought home a tree to the boat!  But even though they were “small” in American standards (between 4-6′) they were way too big for our boat.  But they smelled devine and they keep all of their trees in buckets full of water.  

Kara found a beautiful, round tree that we gently stuffed into her car and brought to her house.  She did a fabulous job decorating!

After our tree farm we went to Parua Tavern for a tasty lunch!  Check out this super fun mailbox.

Me having a little fun with a NZ phone booth in Whangarei.  I don’t know how to actually make a call from this phone.

I purchased a wooden vase in Panama for cheap and have been using it on the boat on the rare occasions I get flowers.  It has cracked in several places so I commissioned a new vase out of Rewarewa wood (native NZ tree) and it came out beautiful (the darker vase).

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This show was 22 November.  Our last blog post documented our rudder rebuild, did you read it?

A Whangarei Christmas

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We headed to Town Basin Marina after we splashed.  It was no surprise to find that the Christmas cheer was in full swing!

We quickly put up a few lights and decorations.  Nothing compared to last year.  But I had to do something as I was judging the annual Christmas Boat Light extravaganza.  We did not have much time to do our full decorating, but we showed a little spirit.  if you recall, we won “Overall Best Boat” last year so I had a repuation to uphold.

The judges met for dinner at Local Talent, then headed to a cruiser’s boat called Rewa for drinks while we waited for sunset at 8:34pm!  Yes, it is summer here and the days are long!

Bribing the judges is strongly encouraged so we were gifted with lots of snacks, treats, and cocktails along the way.

Santa is played by Dave on the Rewa, Sharon is in the beautiful red dress next to santa.  The mayor of Whangarei is dressed in his royalty best and Matt was awarded Grinch of the year.

Santa asked that I be the bell ringer.  This was a really heavy and very loud bell.  After an hour everyone was tired of it but Santa insisted I keep ringing it – so ring I did.  That is until the mayor decided it was enough (around 10:30pm) and stuffed it with a shirt to quiet it down.

Lots of boats got into the holiday spirit with music, dancing, lights, and decorations.  It was a really great night!

A week before Christmas I finally got our decorations out.  It was killing me not being in the holiday spirit.  I feel so much better with them out.

Christmas Cookie Galor

I carried on the tradition of baking cookies for friends.  I used to do this with the ladies in our family when I was young and ever since I had my own kitchen I’ve carried out the tradition.  This year I went a little overboard with over 800 cookies (gingerbread, white mice, sugar cookies, peppermint bark), 3 batches of Toffee and 2 batches of caramel fudge!

I put together 12 gift boxes for cruising and local friends!

Myt friend Kara came over to help decorate the large sugar cookies which will be presented on Christmas day.  It was so much fun having her help to decorate – she brought her “A” game!

Of course we had the cookie monster there to help too.

There was some rose wine helping spur our creative side.

And the final product of 60 sugar cookies decorated in a rainbow of colors and designs.

A New Zealand Summer Sunrice from our dock at Town Basin Marina.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events normally.  But I moved this blog post ahead of the rest so that it coincided with the actual holiday season.

Port Denarau Marina Preparations

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We head into Port Denarau Marina for provisions, laundry, a shipment, and to meet my cousin Jeff who is visiting for a few days.  Lots to do in a short amount of time but it always seems like it becomes a hurry up and wait situation.

We made a reservation for a mooring ball from 12-16 October with the hopes of completing all of our errands and projects.  Hope being the operative word.  However, when we arrived they had no space for us on the moorings so they put us in a berth.  Wow, ok.  Scramble to get the lines and fenders out and in we go with 20+kts pushing us around the tiny slip.  But, we made it safely with no issues with the marina’s help.

Early morning on the dock at Port Denarau Marina.

The good news is we are on a dock which makes it super easy to do a lot of our projects.  Matt starts off with washing down the boat using the marina’s fresh water (yeah, not our hard earned fresh water from the watermaker).  While he is busy doing that I take 3 loads of laundry in and make good use of their industrial machines.

Bring on the Heat

Yes, it is super hot and humid in Fji, but I am talking about actual heaters for Sugar Shack.  No, I have not lost my mind (well….).  It is darn cold in NZ and our current heaters onboard no longer work.

Matt had been in communication with Espar Michigan/Espar Parts in MI and with Heatso in CA (both in the U.S.).  Heatso responded with information on the wrong part at first so Matt sort of wrote them off.  Espar responded, but then went radio silent for months.  When they finally responded we were in a red hot rush to get the parts shipped to Fiji while we were here.  Why do you ask?  Well it is easier to import parts into Fiji than it is into NZ.

Long story short, Espar didn’t have all the parts and pieces.  They wanted to ship a partial order and then ship the rest to my cousin Jeff who was flying to Fiji to meet us, but even then they couldn’t get the order together to make it work.  Their communication was less than stellar and their stock was horrific.  They just couldn’t get it organized.

As a last stitch effort, Matt contacted Heatso again.  It was a thursday afternoon.  The owner said he had all of the parts and could ship everything out the next day.  He answered all of our questions, called to confirm all the measurements and pieces, and offered us a 10% discount because we were buying 2 kits (without me even asking – which you know I would have done).

Heatso sent the large box overnight to Fiji Freight in California, our freight forwarder who received it on Monday. Fiji Freight then put it on a plane and sent it to Fiji. It arrived Tuesday, cleared Customs Wednesday evening and was delivered to us on Thursday!  The delivery from CA to Fiji within a week of contacting Heatso and Fiji Freight!  Now how about them apples!  Whoop Whoop!  Talk about amazing service from both Heatso and Fiji Freight.

This will have to be a project for another day, but at least we have the parts!

Errands & Projects

We brought in our propane bottle and got it refilled, made several trips to the trash and recylcing and picked up my cousin Jeff. All made easier being at the dock.  But alas, all good things come to an end and we had to move out to our morring.

We had loads of preparation before our passage.  Matt prepared pre-cooked meals and froze them; we stowed a lot of stuff; got out the jacklines, ditch bag, first aid kit, PFDs, foul weather gear, and priority bag (for computers/phones/paperwork); refilled both diesel and gasoline, tested systems (Iridium, PredictWind tracker), re-scheduled our prewritten blog posts, and prepared our Fiji departure paperwork & our NZ entry paperwork.

Help on the Passage

We did not have much time with Jeff so we tried to make the best of it while still preparing for our passage.   

We enjoyed many tasty meals, but this one at Bone Fish stood out as truly delicious.  I had grilled prawns and the boys had Wicked Wahoo.

Overlooking the marina where we are staying…can you spot Sugar Shack on the mooring?

Hiking Mt. Silo

As we wait for a weather window we take Jeff on a few hikes.  The first weas a walk around Malolo island during low tide.  Super easy, flat walk that is about 4.5 miles.  The next hike is shorter but has a lot of elevation (up and down and up and down).  It is the ridge hike or the hike to Mt. Silo.

Many beautiful views on the way to the peak. I just love the variation in colors in the water.

I tried to capture the boys as they were on the trail, but they are so small and hard to find 🙂

And more gorgeous views.

We made it to the bunker and the top of the highest peak.

We reward ourselves with some great snorkeling along the outer reef and see some marvelous fish, soft and hard corals.

Departure

We were starting to see some weather activity and decided to head back to Port Denarau.  Jeff was heading to New Zealand by plane and Matt and I in Sugar Shack.  

Super fun time showing Jeff around Musket Cove and Port Denarau.

In our last blog post we share our adventures on several different islands.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  This blog occured mid-October.  Did you read our last blog “So Many Islands, So Little Time?”