Tag Archives: whangarei marina

Sweet As….New Zealand

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New Zealand, specifically Whangarei, has been our home for the past 8 months.  We have had an amazing time exploring this beautiful country, meeting new friends, and getting lots of much needed work done on our beloved Sugar Shack.  As our Kiwi friends say, ‘sweet as’ time!  “Sweet as” means “good, right, ok, excellent, great… in Kiwi”

Sugar Shack spent most of her time tied to the dock at Town Basin Marina while she got her make over.  Many locals knew us by Sugar Shack as she was a constant for so long.

Lots of Work Done:

We managed to get a lot of work done on Sugar Shack.  The boat was under construction and in complete chaos for nearly 6 months.  

  1. (2) New Lithium House Batteries
  2. (5) New windows on the cabin
  3. Rebedded all of the other windows and painted protective covering
  4. New Dinghy and new chaps to cover her
  5. New Interior cushions
  6. New Exterior cushions
  7. New Cockpit enclosure
  8. New Main sail and Genoa (by North Sails)
  9. New Stack pack
  10. New Stainless Steel countertops
  11. New Ceiling panels and new interior lights
  12. New artwork and pillow covers

She looks like a new boat….almost.  Just a few more things to do when we come back.  Sweet as!  You are probably thinking…what “come back?”  Yep, we decided to come back to New Zealand next season (which is just a few short months away).

Next Season

New Zealand has the expertise and resources to work on Sugar Shack.  So, we decided to come back to replace our bottom paint with copper coat.  This requires highly skilled workers to apply the copper coat properly. We are also considering a wrap around Sugar Shack to make the side of the hulls look better.  Still in the researching and contemplating stages on the wrap.

Hopefully, we will come back, haul out for a few weeks, then spend the rest of our time sailing around New Zealand as opposed to sitting at the dock.

But with a nightly view as sweet as this…who can complain?

Our blogs run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  We left New Zealand in early July.  

Town Basin Marina Whangarei

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Town Basin Marina is conveniently located in the heart of Whangarei.  There are shops, restaurants, marine stores, markets, bakeries, and all sorts of places to spend your money all within walking distance.  And it is just so beautiful at night with all the lights twinkling and reflecting in the water.

We had massive rains and floods during our stay.  Locals said they had not seen it rain like this in over a dozen years.  Unfortunately, with the heavy rains, comes the debris, broken trees, branches, trash, and muck down the river.

Lucky for us, the marina returned to its normal beauty within a few days.

The tide is between 2-3 meters at the Town Basin Marina making the ramps fun to walk on.  Notice the difference between the gazebo and Sugar Shack and the angle of the ramp.

Claphams National Clock Museum

Just pas the marina office is Claphams National Clock Museum which includes one of the world’s largest sun dials and a working ball clock!

Not sure I ever figured out how to tell time using the sun dial, but it sure is a work of art in the center of Town Basin, Whangarei.

The Whangarei Ball Clock

Is it a kinetic sculpture? Or is it a cultural attraction? Is it a clock? It is all these and much more. The Rolling Ball clock is now in place in its prime location adjacent to the museum. The time is indicated by balls that roll onto timing racks with markings for hours, minutes and seconds. There is always something to marvel at anytime during the day!

Inside the museum is a rare collection of unique and funny clocks.  As you enter the museum, you are greeted with everyday household items and musical instrument clocks converted into clocks.

Telling time using the balls

The Town Basin Time Ball 

Many small and unique clocks that surprise and delight the eyes.

Great old grandfather, grandmother, and grand daughter clocks line many walls inside the museum.

Do you have any interest in a clock museum?  Normally, I would say, well….not really.  However, I found it rather interesting to learn about the evolution of the clocks.  And it was great fun to see the variety of crazy clocks this man collected.

Glass Artistry

One of the many stores boasts of beautiful, colorful hand blown glass work.  I marvel at the beautiful colors, shapes and designs.  This store was unique in that it allowed you to view the hand blown glass technique first hand.

Hundertwasser Art Center

Hundertwasser Art Center is a marvel in its mere presence in the marina!  We always know how to get back to the boat, just by looking for the big gold icon!

This museum is dedicated to Wairau Maori Art.  The museum also honors and promotes the legacy of visionary, painter, ecologist, and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser.  It was great fun wandering around the grounds and facilities

Car Show

One Sunday, Matt and I stumbled on a small car show in a parking lot.  They had a really nice variety of collectable cars!

Gypsy Fair

A caravan of gypsies came to Whangarei offering treats, games, and artisan pieces.

The Canopy Bridge

the Canopy bridge lies at one end of the marina.  The sails, masts, and spares of the boats at Town Basin Marina inspired the look and feel of the bridge.  At night the Canopy Bridge lights up in vibrant colors in a beautiful art show.  The Whangarei community comes together periodically for festivals, art shows, and markets held at the Canopy Bridge.

Te Matau a Pohe 

Matt and I had the opportunity to walk across the Te Matau a Pohe (fish hook) bridge several times as we cross from one side of town to the other.

The hook bridge is simply beautiful whether you walk on it or sail below it.  And this beautiful star tree just takes my breath away.

Artwork All Around Whangarei

Many beautiful tikis are scattered around the parks of the city.

I loved this piece…

So many beautiful sculptures and artwork around Whangarei.

This is one of my favorite pieces.  The Camera Obscura is a huge structure that winds you inside into a dark center where the light (lower left corner) reflects everything it sees from the outside inside, but upside down.

And this young lady just seemed to speak to me

One of our tasty meals at The Butter Factory

Town Basin Marina at Whangarei is a cultural hot bed and shopping Mecca all at our fingertips.  A quick hop, skip, and a jump from our slip at the marina.

Events from this blog occurred in early November.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  In our last blog, we are welcomed into the country of New Zealand.

New Zealand Welcomes Sugar Shack

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As luck would have it, we arrive at Marsden Cove, New Zealand around 3:00am.  Not a good time to navigate new waters in the dark of night (not even a full moon out).  Tricky, do we attempt to go in without tracks or knowledge of the area or do we motor in circles until daybreak?

As we are contemplating our options, another boat called Only Time pops up and look like they are heading to the same place as us.  Sweet.  We call them on the radio and ask if we could follow them in.  Not ideal, but certainly better than circling around for hours!

Marsden Cove has a beautiful statue of waves lit up at night.

Once tied up to the “Q” dock or Quarantine Dock we grab a few hours of sleep before the officials come aboard.

The next day, we are greeted with customs, immigration, maritime/border control and bio security.  The first three went super well as we had all the documents completed and prepared ahead of time.  I was sorely disappointed that they did not ask to see proof of a clean bottom!  Especially since I spent over 4 hours cleaning it before we left.  Ugh!

The last person to come onboard is bio security.  NZ is very, very strict about what you can and cannot bring into the country.  You have to declare everything and they have the right to take anything that is on the list.  For example:

Prohibited Items

  • Fresh fruit, produce, vegetables
  • Eggs, dairy, milk, cheese, creams
  • Meats of any kind
  • Passage meals.  Yep, all the meals that we made for the passage that we not consumed, got tossed in the trash.  Over 8 meals!
  • Honey
  • Nuts, seeds, rice, popcorn, bay leaves
  • Sea Shells, wood products, feathers (yes, I have them all onboard)

So, after we filled two trash bags full of prohibited items he left.  Our fridge and freezers are now empty…good thing we are in a place where we can replenish them.

We are now officially allowed to cruise the New Zealand waters!  Success!  

After we are cleared into the country, we have to get off the Q dock and we can take down our yellow Q flag and put up the NZ flag.

Town Basin Marina

We untie from the dock and make the 2 hour motor from Marsden Cove Marina to Town Basin Marina which is up the river.  As we motor along, we are greeted by beautiful green hillsides and lovely homes.  

On the way to Town Basin Marina, we have to cross under the Te Matau a Pohe (Fish Hook) bridge.  So, we hail the bridge operator and ask him to stop traffic, raise the bridge, and allow us through.  Pretty cool experience.

We tie up to the visitor dock as our regular spot is not available yet (we arrived 4 days earlier than planned).  But we are tied to a dock and near shore!  Super excited! Sugar Shack is right in front of the marina office with the red roof (with fenders out).

This marina has several side tie slips and then slips on poles where you tie to a pole in front and behind you.  We opted for the side tie slip which is more convenient, but more expensive.

We make a quick run to the grocery store, “Pak and Save” where we find Stubbs BBQ and Vegimite!  There is a nice cafe right on the dock where we stopped for lunch (see Sugar Shack in the background).  Can you tell we are very much enjoying New Zealand so far.

Stay tuned for next week when I show you all the cool things to do in Town Basin, Whangarei!

The events from this blog occurred in early November 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  Did you read about our passage from Fiji to New Zealand in our last blog post?