New Zealand, 2003
(Return to the sailing adventures of La Boatique)
The Christmas Lady's Race on the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand.
The very fast racing boat named Outlaw came in first. At the helm of Outlaw was Fiona Solley, while I, wearing the orange life jacket, manned the foredeck. The foredeck position is challenging and is the most dangerous position on the boat. Janice Sands and her husband, Richard ,are the owners of this great boat. Pictured are Chrissy Wadsworth-Smith, Janice Sands, Fiona Solley, Amanda Sands, Emma Delacey, Judi Ingram and me. Gary Mathews rode along and took this picture.
Gulf Harbour, New Zealand, my home for most of the month of December
Julie and I wearing Julie's nautical fashions.
Pictured at work on her web page is Marie-Louise Ansak from the cruising sailboat, Dessert First. Marie-Louise lives alone aboard her boat. Marie-Louise is my idol. At 75 years old she is still going strong and traveling the world. She crossed the Pacific the same year La Boatique did. (She gets crew for ocean passages.) I had often seen her boat during my ocean travels, but never had the chance to visit with her until now.
Catheral Cove on the Coramandal Penninsula in New Zealand, an inspirational place. Julie and I visited the Croamandal Pennisula on our way south to Tauranga. In Tauranga I "jumped ship" and spent the remainder of Decmember aboard Maritime Express with Henry and Gail.
Cathedral Cove
At Hot Water Beach people come to dig their own hot tub in the sand. The trick is to get the temperature of the tub to be just right. Often the water in some places was boiling hot while in others was quite cold. The sandy hot tub Julie and I used had one spring of hot water and one spring of cold water. Depending on where we dug, we could make our tub water hotter or colder. People seemed to be always digging since the sandy walls often colapsed just when the people thought they had the perfect pool.
Click on this picture
to see a video clip
Pictured are Henry, Gail, Sue, Robin, Allen, and Robin's mother. We walked along Lake Okareka near Rotarua, New Zealand. Henry and Gail live aboard Maritime Express and spent years cruising beside La Boatique. Some of Henry and Gail's adventures are featured in the book, The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique.
During our walk along Lake Okareka we came across wild black swans.
Allan Kilgour, pictured below, described to Henry and me camping during the winter over hot volcanic ground. The video clip shows the boiling mud next to him. The sulfur smell was difficult for me to tollerate, but he could not even smell it since he has spent most of his life in this volcanic area. He knew from experience where we could walk and where we should avoid.
Click on this picture
to see a video clip
Maritime Express
Sue walking a path along Mt. Whangunie
We found these pippies for our lunch
New Zealand Pictures from November and December 2001
New Zealand Pictures from January and February 2002
New Zealand Pictures from Novemeber and December 2002
For the complete story including never before seen fantastic pictures and maps order the Book.