Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas in Whangarei



   
After leaving the Bay of Islands we headed south and stopped in several nice places with funny names like Whangaruru and Tutukaka.  We enjoyed calm bays, nice views, blue penguins and several spinner dolphin escorts.
 


We arrived in Whangarei over two weeks ago and what a nice place it is.  This town is located about a 2 hour trip up a river with water depths that required we time the trip near high tide.  We chose just before high so that we would get a current push up the river and the rising tide would float us off if we managed to run aground.  We came in with no problems and we wedged in a space on the docks just big enough for us between some very expensive boats.  We will stay here for several weeks.


Our stay has been a blur of arranging for some boat work and cleaning up the boat.  Most businesses shut down from December 24th to January 10th, so I spent a lot of time getting people lined up to do jobs when they return from their holiday breaks.  It is amazing to have so many choices for getting things.  We have been used to seeing so little, we would buy something immediately even if it was only close to what we needed.  Now we are back to checking prices from store to store and between several versions of what we need.

Several of our friends that crossed the Pacific with us are here on the dock.  We have enjoyed visiting with them and having easy access to many stores.  There is a nice playground so close that we can see Emily playing right from our boat.  She has made many friends and the people here are very friendly.  The bicycles are down and we are all settled in.

We had a nice dinner with more than 20 cruiser friends on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas day with Dirk and Ann on Sail Away at their daughters’ home in Whangarei.  They were very gracious inviting us into their home and had a piece of ham on the grill that could have fed the entire dock.  We opened our gifts Christmas morning and Santa did pretty well according to Emily.
 
The captain is surfing the internet trying to figure out the best (safest) way between Darwin, Australia and the Mediterranean Sea.  We can’t leave New Zealand much before late April 2011 because of hurricane season.  There are a few rallies but most do not leave us enough time to explore Fiji, Vanuatu and the Great Barrier reef before we need to be in Darwin, Australia.  The best rally we have found only runs every other year and luck would have it that 2011 is an off year.

Cruising Indonesia requires special permits for the boat and crew and we have heard that many officials demand tips and kickbacks just to do their jobs.  Since that is one aspect of cruising that does not appeal to me, joining a rally would leave that duty to the rally officials.  And piracy is still a concern between India and the Red Sea and cruising in company with others gains the attention of the coalition force escorts that patrol that area.

Any advice out there from my readers?

Tom

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Merry Christmas from Miss Sue, Rocco and Groton, CT!
How about contacting the Coast Guard? Would that help provide a bit of security?
Happy New Year to all!
You can find Rocco on Facebook at Sue Palmieri

Last Samurai said...

Check out this site http://www.sailindonesia.net/home/home.php
Rick

Joseph Lawler said...

Looks like you've picked a great place to spend some time on land. I'm sure you'll do a lot of exploring - enjoy it! As usual, great pictures! As for future cruising plans - remember, "there's safety in numbers".
Happy New Year.
Uncle Joe

Anonymous said...

Hey Tom Kim amd Emily,
You know what I think, just fly there. and then home.

This suggestion is from your Mother

Alan Head said...

Tom,

Looks like you've lost some weight. Is that from stress, hard work, or a fish diet?

Happy New Year!

Alan Head

Tom, Kim and Emily said...

Alan,

Good to hear from you. Not much stress out here, but lots of work keeping the boat running and walking from place to place. We eat the same amount of fish despite my poor fishing record. How are things back at the sub factory?

Tom

Geoff and Pat Craigen said...

We've been silently following you and congratulate you on your achievments so far.
Chocobo has been through Indonesia and you may find some information on their blog http://www.chocobo-voyage.blogspot.com/
We're still happily enjoying the Caribbean.
Fair Seas .. Beach House

Alan Head said...

Tom,

I grabbed one of those temporary assignments and set sail for the UK. We landed in October to start a 2-year stint. We've finaly settled in enough to think about seeing the sights... heading to the Canaries in March to catch some sun (we're at the same latitude as Hudson Bay, and 9 hours of daylight is not enough when you work 8 of them).

Alan

Jane Elix & Simon Elix said...

Hi Tom, Kim & Emily, are you aware of the Darwin to Dili rally in July? Probably doesn't leave you with enough time for Fiji, etc. but it's a rally that has a great reputation. We're considering doing it this year, now that we're back in Darwin living a "normal" life. We still have our cat, only now it is a secondary feature of our lives, moored out the front of our house. Hope to catch up with you in Darwin. Fair winds, Jane (SV Elixir).