Where are we

Sunday 27 October 2019

On the way to Whangarei

We left Opua for an extremely short sail to anchor off Paihia.  We have walked twice from Opua to Paihia on the coastal path so that gives you and idea how far it is, about 8 km. On the last walk, I set my scratched and battered camera down during a rest/water stop and neglected to pick it back up. By the time I noticed I didn’t have it, we were in Paihia and far too pooped to go back and look for it. It is a tough walk for us, but it has been reported lost and I hope that it comes back to me.

(I do have lots of photos to share but they will have to wait till we’re back in a marina.)

We shopped, walked along the bay and got Tim a hair cut. The wind has been cutting enough on the aft deck that neither of us fancied getting the clippers out.

I’m on a permanent search for rhubarb, so I try to shop often in the hope that someone somewhere will have some.  On our first visit to a good sized food shop, I bought two bunches and made rhubarb crumble to my Mom’s recipe, which is far too good not to share. I particularly like this recipe because the main ingredients are in the oral tradition, easily doubled, tripled or quadrupled should you be so lucky to have that much rhubarb and the result is poetry to my palette. You can find it at the end of the blog.

Sadly, there was no rhubarb to be had. The shop where I previously bought it, said they never order it so it had been sent by accident. I asked our driver, Morgan of Raven Taxis, where I could get rhubarb and she told me that in NZ rhubarb is a winter vegetable and I might well be out of luck, but I will not give up the hunt.

As we drove back to Opua, Morgan told us a little of her heritage.  She is a blond, fair skin and narrow featured Maori.  She told us her ancestors pre-date the arrival of the Polynesian Maori and are thought to have been Viking. (Viking! My head is spinning at the thought of that journey.)  Her tribe name is Toe, might be spelled Toa.  They were named after a blond coloured beach grass, Toetoe. There are many tribes or ‘Iwi’ in New Zealand.  List of New Zealand TribesToetoe information sheet.

Yesterday morning we left Paihia and the Bay of Islands along with a huge number of other boats.  Monday, today here in NZ, is a public holiday and the weather has been wet and wild for the last week, so everyone is taking advantage of light winds and flat seas.  We motored out of the bay to the east and are heading south in short half day hops.

Last night we anchored in Whangaruru, which is ‘Sheltered Harbour’ in Maori. It really is a large sheltered harbour and the beaches along the coast are lined with small hotels and B&B and nothing else. The guests fish, canoe and enjoy the unspoiled beauty of the area. Not far from here is an old whaling station in a bay called Whangamumu, a more grisly name than Whangaruru as mumu is Maori for the colour red.

Today we are having a lovely sail with the wind on our beam to Tutukaka. I do love the Maori names, but I couldn’t find a translation for this one.  There is a small marina, sport shops and a residential area in the hills surrounding the bay.  We’re looking forward to the walk from the village to Tutukaka Head to see the old light house.

The wind in due to come up from the south for a few days, so we will hangout here until that changes. Our next stop we be Whangarei.

As promised, Mom’s Rhubarb Crumble

For every 3 cups of rhubarb, use one cup of sugar.
For every cup of sugar, use one egg.
For every egg, use one tablespoon of flour.
For every tablespoon of flour, use one third of a nutmeg.

Put washed, trimmed and cut into 1cm pieces rhubarb into a baking dish, Whisk egg, flour and nutmeg till light and frothy.  Pour over rhubarb and lightly coat rhubarb.  Bake in a moderate oven until a bubbly crust just begins to form.  Sprinkle the oat topping over the par-baked rhubarb and then bake until bubbles are seen in the middle of the crumble. I make a small hole in the middle of the crumble to make spotting the bubbles easier.

The Crispy Oat Topping hasn’t a recipe as such. I toss together at least a cup of oats, a couple tablespoons of flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar and enough melted butter and oil to lightly coat the oats.  Not enough oil and the topping won’t brown. FYI a ‘cup’ is 8 fluid ounces.

The egg, flour and sugar bakes into a custard, the crumble is crisp and oaty and it’s made with rhubarb. What more could one want. For me there is no dessert like it. It’s good warm with vanilla ice cream and equally delicious cold straight from the fridge.





Wednesday 16 October 2019

Getting to New Zealand

We left Tonga for a 200 mile sail to Minerva Reef in the company of Bruno's Girl, upping anchor within minutes of each other.

We had a late morning start, so that we'd arrive at around noon after two nights at sea.

After a mixed passage of sailing and motor-sailing we arrived at Minerva Reef on the 1st of October.

We had expected to find other yachts there but we had the place to ourselves.  It is an easy entrance, wide and clear of any obstructions.  The reef is huge and it took us over a half hour to motor from the entrance to the South East corner.  We were expecting reasonably strong winds from the SE and anchoring close to the reef kept the seas flat.

We also expected the reef to be more of a feature.  On the chart it is perfectly round and quite clear of obstructions.  There are coral heads but they are widely spaced and we had no trouble anchoring.  As we were the only boats there, we did have a lot of choice.
 

Reef at low water (with Claudia) and reef at high water.  The water was a remarkable deep clear blue.  We had expected to stay a couple of nights at least but with a forecast of ever decreasing winds, we decided to press on after only one night and start the 800 mile passage to Opua, New Zealand.


       

We had a lively start, but that didn't stop Bruno's Girl and ourselves from doing a bit of photography. It isn't often that you can get good photos of you and your boat under sail so we made the most of it.  You can see that we are both well reefed down - Larus with just jib and reefed mizzen and Bruno's Girl with a reefed jib and 3 reefs in the main.  The swell from the South was quite large but we were catching it on a good angle through the trough and across the peak.  The last photo is of Larus taken when Bruno's Girl was at the bottom of a trough with a wave in the way. Taking photos of a moving boat from a moving boat is not easy!  It is Tim's favourite though and I had to include it.

By the next morning the winds had dropped and then popped up from the SE. Later they swung around to the SW, so first we tacked East and then we tacked West.  After sailing 80 miles in 10 hours we were only 25 miles as the crow flies south from where we first started.  What was interesting was that Bruno's Girl had chosen to motor due south and they had covered about the some distance so were still only a few miles apart.

           

Our first full day on passage.  That might have been an albatross we saw, or possibly not.  We definitely saw squalls all around us but we never felt a drop of rain.  The sea view through the window in the roof of our sprayhood taken by me from my perch on the windward side of the cockpit.  We were trying very hard to keep some south in our direction in a SW wind.  Sea spray and Tim sitting comfortably on the leeward side of the cockpit.  A pretty sunset to end the day.



      

The second full day where we had little wind or no wind at all.  Day three started with a sunrise with squalls that never came near us but generate a little wind which did give us 10 knots of wind on the beam.  In the flat seas, we easily managed 6 knots of above.

Tim calculated we used motored for just over half the time, but we were quite contented with our easy journey to New Zealand.

    

Our first view of Bay of Islands, New Zealand.  On the Quarantine Dock at Bay of Islands Marina, Opua.  The dock is not attached to shore, but after being visited by Customs and Immigration and Bio Security, were able to go to tied up to our berth in the Marina.

We spend the first few days putting the boat back in order, washing off the salt, doing laundry and making use of the free wifi in the Crew Lounge.

There is a local shop but the it is very expensive so when we finally got a warm and sunny spring day we took the coastal route to Paihia, the next town which had an actual supermarket.  The 8km needs to be walked during low tide because parts are under water at high tide.  It was a long lovely walk.

                                         

The walk from start to finish.


   

Last but not least is a plug for the local Fish and Chip shop.  The fish and chips are really good.  I like Bluenose best though Tim prefers the Snapper.  What is really special about this shop are the pies, particularly, in my opinion, the Pork Belly and Apple Sauce with strips of caramelised crackling on the top that stick to your teeth like toffee.  This is Heather, the owner of the shop and maker of the most beautiful pies.

Today we will be leaving Phillip, Claudia and Bruno's Girl in the marina while we head out to do a little exploring of Bay of Islands.  This will probably be the last time we will see them before they head back to the UK for an extended stay.  Wah! We've spent a lot of time together since we first met in Curacao at the start of the Suzy Too Rally. Wah! We will miss them.

Nancy and Tim


Sunday 13 October 2019

So here we are in the archipelago Kingdom of Tonga. (No we're not, we're in New Zealand but I started this so long ago I must get it posted)

Weather here is quite different and more changeable than in the Caribbean.  Like the Caribbean the tradewinds come from the east, but in the Pacific the 'Weather' comes up from the south and travels west.  We've just had an example of this here in Tonga.  The easterly Tradewinds move around to the north, then the west and then the south.  There is a marked difference temperature from the warm Tradewinds to the much cooler winds from the south.  Its all very back to front having only experienced the Northern Hemisphere sailing.

Suwarrow, Northern Cook Islands  - A Real Treasure Islands

 http://www.cookislands.org.uk/suwarrow.html#.XXQiLW5FxRQ A Real Treasure Island

Suwarrow was a 5 day sail from Bora Bora and a three day sail to American Samoa. It is nicely positioned to break up a long passage.  We were glad to stop for a few days as the passage from Bora Bora, though starting out in light winds and 12 hours of motor sailing, it soon picked up.  

The entrance into Suwarow is well charted but that doesn't stop it from looking rather wild in a strong cross wind.  Once behind the main island and the reef, it was an oasis of calm with clear turquoise water and a welcome party of one.  Being the only boat there, meant we had our pick of the anchorage and could take out time choosing the area with the least coral heads and the most white sand.

   

You don't see much of Suwarrow until you are almost there.  The second photo is looking to the left as we approach the Pass into the calm waters behind the reef.  The anchorage was empty of other boats and our welcome party consisted of one small curious black tip reef shark.

 

The anchorage when we had it all to ourselves. On shore was the storm proof house and offices for the Rangers set well behind the beach.  The beach area was set up as a communal area with hammocks and swings for cruising yachts to use..

On arrival, Suwarrow rangers come aboard to complete the Customs and Immigration process.  We neglected to radio from the anchorage and got a bit of a telling off by not contacting the Cook Islands for permission to visit and not contacting them via the radio as Tim had gone ashore to clear in.  We had sent numerous emails from Tahiti, the later ones requesting a reply, so we had done our best in that instance but we should have called once at anchor.

Of the two rangers, Harry and John, only Harry came aboard.  He was friendly and a wealth of information.  They might have been a little of sorts when Tim appeared on the island because they were in the process of dealing with the contents of their freezer which had just failed.  They had been stuck in cooking defrosted meat to make it last a little longer.

The loss of a freezer is always a big deal, but in this instance it was an even bigger deal as they bring all their provisions for 6 months and don't expect to see another ship until it comes to take them off the island at the end of the season.  We asked what they needed but they said they'd be fine.  I think we heard that a new (or at least working) freezer was being delivered not long ago.

It's a hard life now but it was even harder when Polynesia was first colonise - Polynesian Culture and Colonisation.

The snorkelling was very satisfying.  The shallow water off the beach in the anchorage was very much a fish nursery.  The coral heads that keep getting mentioned are volcanic stone pillars whose tops have been colonised by corals.  As you approach one, the cloud of tiny fish around it contracts closer and closer to the coral, with the fish getting closer and closer together until they disappear between the branches of the coral.  As you move off they creep out and reverse the process.

Coral heads can make anchoring very difficult and anchor chain can get wrapped around them as the currents and winds change.  We spend a lot of time choosing where to drop the anchor and haven't had any major problems.

The sharks were the smallest we'd seen as well.

The most exciting snorkel was on one of the deeper reefs that was a known Cleaning Station
for manta rays.  We got lucky on our second try and in an area of deep water, a reef rose to within a few metres from the surface. The highest point was a peak that the manta we saw would approach from down current, to hover in the back eddy behind the peak while tiny fish came out to nibble parasites and the like from its skin.  It really was a wonderful experience.

Three days was a short time to spend in Suwarrow but we had packages awaiting in American Samoa and we headed out with the first favourable weather forecast.


 
Approaching the largest of American Samoan islands, Tutuila, you can just make out the buildings that line the coastal road.  Behind the land directly ahead is Pago Pago Harbour, which is huge and very commercial.

 

The capital of Pago Pago lines the harbour edge along with enormous fishing boats, small marinas and the tuna cannery.


   

We had some spectacular rain showers while we were there.  One of administrative buildings in Pago Pago, pronounced Pango Pango, had a fantastic undersea mural.  Tsunami evacuation route signs decorate the coast.

  

The daily market with everyone selling taro root, breadfruit, coconuts and bananas.  The Saturday market generally has a wider range of produce, some local and some imported.  There were small supermarket and a Costo/Macro type place where we bought Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese.  This is something we don't often get even the Caribbean. The tuna canning factory behind 'Joy of Shamrock Quay' and two young ladies racing Laser dinghies.  A photo from a bus window of a section of the coastal road.

Once we'd collected our packages and topped up our stores we made an over night passage to Samoa, formerly Western Samoa.

We left American Samoa in the late afternoon and arrived the next morning Samoa at the same time as American Samoa, but 1 day ahead.  The International Dateline follows a wobbly path south between the two Samoas and the Cook Islands and the Tonga Archipelago.

   

A panorama of the anchorage and Larus, with blue sail covers, in Apia Marina.

Our stay in Samoa was going to be relatively short and we had two options. We could stay at anchor for an month or use the marina for a week for about the same price.  As a week was closer to the time we had in mind enjoyed the very reasonable electric and free water on the dock.  We did laundry and rinsed all the salt from Larus.

Many of the Polynesian people of American Samoa and Samoa are related and a ferry service links the islands and there is much to'ing and fro'ing.  While we were in Amercian Samoa, we saw a traditional funeral made up of family from both islands.  The two sides of the family sat on opposite sides of an open space (it happened to be a carpark across from the laundromat).  Small gifts and large woven mats were carried across the open space to the family on the opposite side.  A lady I spoke to in the laundrette said that much of the gift giving is ceremonial and the mats kept and used in future funerals.  One family would come out of the exchange better off but I have no idea how that was decided or calculated.  As the funeral went on, the lady I was speaking to said it was tradition but it did seemed like a lot of work.

The Samoan Cultural Centre was a highlight for me.  Just behind the Tourist Office in Apia is an area reserved for teaching visitors about the traditional Samoan way of life.




I wove a traditional Samoan food bowl and a simple headdress all the while listening to traditional music.

Traditional cooking is men's work as much of the preparation is hard physical work.

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Like starting a fire with two bits of wood and a coconut husk, picking coconuts, opening coconuts, grating coconuts, squeezing the cream out of coconuts.

We also saw traditional tattooing which is a family and community affair.  Men's traditional tattoos take 12 days for the 12 parts to be applied.  No one has to have a tattoo, it is a choice.  The process is very painful and although there is no shame in not having one, there is for not completing the full tattoo.  The ink is applied with a tiny funnel on a stick (very like the wax applier for Ukrainian Easter Eggs).  The end of the funnel is sharp and is tapped with a stick to injected it into the skin.  Family members providing support and comfort throughout the process.  The tattooist is a family member and the tradition has been carried on for generations.  We saw a tattooing in progress but you could only sit quietly and watch and absolutely no photos.

More cooking.  Young taro leaves are used for a dish that we have had from a number of local people we met, particularly in Tonga.  The leaves are arranged in the palm of one hand.  A filling of meat, fish or vegetables in placed in the middle and then moistened with coconut milk they are then wrapped in tinfoil.  This probably replaces traditional banana leaves of the like.  The also cook taro root and bread fruit which is served at every meal.  They are the local 'potatoes'.

        

A fire is built over a pile of round rocks.  When it is ash they, reposition the rocks in a flat layer with banana leaf tongs.  They then pile the food on top, longest cooking on the bottom, and cover it with banana leaves to keep the heat in.  We ate the food cooked at the end of the tour.  It was delicious!

We also saw traditional crafts like wood carving and making 'tapi' cloth from the inner bark of the mulberry tree. This is hard work too and is done by the women.


                   

I think the photos are self explanatory and the blog too big and is starting to behave badly so I will post quickly and get started on a new one.




Photos and blogs to come - Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora, more Tonga and New Zealand.