New Zealand - North Island

APRIL 12 – 17, 2015

NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND

WELLINGTON, NEW PLYMOUTH and the WAITOMO CAVES

We boarded the Inter Islander ferry again and crossed over to Wellington. We were back on the north island. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and is affectionately known as “Windy Welly” because of the blustery, cold, grey weather (seriously, don’t bother styling your hair here).The city has a lot to offer with theatres, museums, great shops, gardens, farmer’s markets and lots and LOTS of food! Cuba Street is the place to go for a meal and there is also an evening market, with food trucks galore, serving every type of cuisine imaginable. Thank goodness our pants had an elastic waistband…yummy!

New Plymouth was one of my favorite cities. Theo preferred Queenstown, but I liked it here better because there were hardly any tourists around. I felt like I was able to experience the way city life truly is in New Zealand. Everyone was extremely friendly and they were, obviously, very proud of where they live. The beach and mountains are close by and the city has a lot to offer.  New Plymouth has it all and I loved it.

Our last stop before returning to our boat was the Waitomo Caves. This place is a huge draw for tourists because of the glow worm boat tours. Theo and I skipped that and went caving instead. We did not know about this sport until we began traveling in New Zealand.  After being strapped into a harness, we repelled 330 feet to the bottom of a gorgeous cave. It was early in the morning and the light was streaming in through the opening. We attached ourselves to a secured rope and climbed through the cave and up and out the other end. While exploring we saw some really interesting rock formations and the popular glow worms too. I would love to go caving again sometime…it was so much fun.

Preparing for our decent

Three hundred feet to go!

Almost to the bottom of the cave.

The early morning sunlight peaking into the cave

Glow worms during the day...gross.

Completing a very long climb out of the cave

APRIL 18 – MAY 9, 2015

WHANGAREI MARINA

NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND

It felt good to be back on our boat and finally sleep in our bed. We had been gone for 42 days and that is a long time! Anyway, we unpacked and (very slowly) began getting the boat ready for our sail to Fiji. Theo and I are very comfortable in this marina. We have gotten to know Whangarei and have made friends here. Of course most of the people we have gotten to know are sailors, and since winter is coming to New Zealand, they are sailing away as well. Hopefully we will cross paths with some of them again.

Enjoying the International Rally of Whangarei

A stunning night at the marina

As I am writing this, Theo is studying the weather reports intensely. The weather is worsening here and we have been waiting for a good weather window to begin sailing north. It seems we will be leaving within the next few days. We are also planning to stop at Minerva reef (a submerged atoll between here and Fiji). There is amazing sea life and diving there. Here we go again!