11th-14th July 2009: Sydney

On my way home from NZ, I stopped off in Sydney for three days. I had a new relative to meet, a few friends to see, and wanted to fit in a little sightseeing.

It turned out to be a sociable stay. Kate, a colleague of Tim's, very kindly picked me up from the airport to drive me to my hotel and waited while I got settled in. Perhaps too kindly; Sinclairs at Bondi has a quirky feel and a very friendly and helpful host. By the time he had finished showing me round and giving me maps and useful information, I fear Kate's brother may have demolished the lasagne she had left in the oven.

Bondi Beach

In the course of the next couple of days I was plied with gin and tonic, cooked dinners, and generally welcomed by Kate, her brother Jon (who cooked me a delicious roast even though I'd never met him before), and ex-colleagues Rich and Nick. I also had the pleasure of meeting my three-month-old second cousin Lorelei, who frankly cannot be real. When I arrived she was asleep; she soon woke up and spent some time grinning at me; she then had a meal and went down for another nap. Is this really what babies are like?

In between times I fitted in a few touristy things, starting with a visit to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to see the Aboriginal art. I just love those bold colours and spotty crocodiles, although I am woefully uninformed about the meaning underlying the pictures.

I also walked the Manly Scenic Walkway, which wasn't honestly all that manly, being a well-graded 10km walk that any girl could manage. It was certainly scenic though, taking in surf, beaches and the native bush of the Sydney Harbour National Park.

Tourism-wise, the highlight of my trip was whale watching. This was something I had never quite got round to doing in Auckland. I'd love to say it was because I knew it would be better in Sydney. I discovered that Sydney is situated next to a highway for humpback whales, which every year swim north to the tropics to breed, right past the mouth of the harbour. My boat - a triple-decker ferry-like affair, but fast and with plenty of viewing space - located a passing humpback in minutes. We spent at least an hour watching two of these amazing creatures rolling along, surfacing to breathe, and diving with that classic tail-flick.

Humpback whale

19th April 2009: Sailing on Thelma

We were offered another day's sailing on the classic yachts, and this time were back on Thelma. We are starting to know quite a lot of the crew, and I had a lovely day chatting to Nanda and to Tony's wife Fiona.

The sailing went extremely well for us, even down to the forecast rain holding off until we were home. Tony really is a very good sailor, and was helped by a gentleman named Bruce who sat in the cockpit planning tactics with him. Thelma crossed the line first and a leg ahead of any other boat we could see.

Our return to the dock was more exciting than usual. As we moored, an unfamiliar yacht came in beside us. A crew member had fallen off our sister ship Waitangi, and this yacht had picked her up. The poor girl was pretty shaken. It was her first time sailing and she didn't know what had happened; we later heard that the boom had nudged her off the afterdeck. She was wearing a lifejacket and was picked up quickly, so hopefully no great harm done.

After tidying the boat we went for a drink with the crew, and I got talking to a lady who had been with us on Thelma. Chatting about flat sharing and the kitchen equipment we collected over the years, she mentioned that she had lost most of her belongings when she was on a ship that sank. Gosh, tell us more about that, we said.

We found ourselves listening to a story that could have been straight out of a book. In 1982 she had been crewing on a classic tall ship which had leaky planks, and in some heavy weather the leaks had let in more water than the bilge pumps could handle. The ship sank pretty fast, and our storyteller swam to one of only two life rafts that had been released. One crew member drowned. They then waited a week (a week!) to be picked up by a passing ship that happened to see their torchlight. Apparently the captain had decided to ration the water on the life rafts to 30ml per person per day.

We were told all this in a very matter-of-fact manner. But seriously. Can you even begin to imagine?

5th April 2009: Sailing on Panmure Lagoon

At their excellent BBQ on the 4th, Claire and Graham invited me to come sailing with them at Panmure Lagoon Sailing Club, a small club in south Auckland.

The people there were friendly, and it's remarkably good value:  NZ$25 to hire a nearly-new Laser. The race that day was up and down the Tamaki river, taking about 2 hours. There wasn't much wind - good for me since I hadn't sailed a Laser for some time.

I did quite well, coming third (out of twelve or so).  My sailing skills aren't too rusty after all! I'll have to go back and see if I can improve.

14th March 2009: New Zealand National Maritime Museum

This was my first trip to the Maritime Museum. Tim had been on his own last year before I joined him in NZ. I am quite familiar with a couple of the exhibits, however: Thelma and Waitangi get a free berth at the museum in return for being on display.

The museum was pretty good. The best bit was the display on Maori canoes. The Polynesians used outrigger canoes to make immense ocean voyages exploring the Pacific islands; an incredible feat given the size of the islands compared with the size of the Pacific. There is a 76-foot voyaging canoe on display in the museum, with a sturdy deck between the main hull and the outrigger. Seaworthy but still insane.

A fair chunk of the museum was closed while a new wing is built in honour of Sir Peter Blake. Sadly I don't think we will still be here to see it open.

7th March 2009: Auckland International Boat Show

Soph and I decided to pay a quick visit to the Auckland International Boat Show which was being held in the Viaduct Harbour, just near our flat.

It was much the same as other boat shows I've been to: lots of boats (obviously) and toys for boats, all invariably very expensive. This show also seemed to have a surfeit of marine loos, for some reason.

The London Boat Show in Excel is certainly bigger and more swanky, but this show had a slightly more realistic feel to it. Perhaps this was because Auckland is supposed to have one of the highest boats-per-capita ratios of any city.

1st March 2009: Canoeing on the Puhoi River

We drove over to Puhoi to go canoeing on the Puhoi River. We saw the cayaking setup there when we came though before, back in August, and have meant to come back ever since.

We picked up a two-person canadian canoe, and set off to explore the river. You can get a kilometre or so upstream before it becomes a bit fast-moving and you have to get back.  After another kilometre in the other direction you reach the estuary, and drift along through the mangrove swamp until you reach the sea. Good relaxing stuff for a Sunday afternoon.

13th-15th February 2009: Sailing on Waitangi

Tim and I spent another weekend racing classic yachts in Auckland. This time there were three days of racing, in the Southern Trust Classic Yacht regatta, and we were asked to crew on Waitangi, Thelma's sister ship. I joined Waitangi for all three days and Tim for the Saturday and Sunday.

The main difference between Waitangi and Thelma is that Thelma, a couple of years newer and more advanced, always wins the races. I was quite pleased to find we had consistently come third in our class, until I found out there are only three boats in our class... the other being Rainbow. We had a great time anyway, and met the usual selection of new people ranging from novices to those whose full-time occupation is sailing round the world.

Sadly the weather wasn't quite as fabulous as on previous occasions sailing Thelma and we got fairly soaked in both salt and fresh water. When the boat heels over, those who are doing jobs on the lee side can be up to their waist in the wash over the deck. We'll have a word with the weather man and see if next time we can stay a little drier.

9th-11th February 2009: Taupo

On my way home from the Tongariro Northern Circuit, I spent a couple of days in Taupo. Lake Taupo is bigger than Singapore. It is beautiful, but its size is disappointing in a way; I could hardly see the land on the other side so it was more like being by the sea.

The first day I walked to Huka Falls. They are part of the Waikato river, the only river to flow out of Lake Taupo and the longest river in New Zealand. Near the lake it's immensely clear and blue; at the falls it is channelled into a narrow gap making the most impressive rapids I've ever seen, then rages over a 10m drop. The photo doesn't really do it justice - you'll have to visit it yourself.

Huka Falls

The next day I went for a sail on the lake aboard Barbary, to see some Maori rock carvings. Seemingly I'm destined to find classic yachts wherever I go; this one was built in 1926 and belonged to Errol Flynn, reputedly after he won it in a game of cards.

Barbary

More photos here.

8th February 2009 - Louis Vuitton Pacific Series

With Sophie continuing the four-day Tongariro Northern Circuit, I went over to the North Head to watch some of the America's Cup boats sailing in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series.

Alinghi leads BMW Oracle Racing up the first beat

There were three races scheduled, and the first one (between two Italian crews) got away on time at about 11am. The wind was dying though, and I spent the next 5 hours or so waiting in blazing sun for the next race to start. They did complete the other two races. The 2nd was between Alinghi (Swiss) and Oracle, and the third was between Emirates Team New Zealand and Team Origin (British). Pleasingly, the British team won.

Team Origin crosses ahead of Team New Zealand

These crews showcase some impressive match-racing skills, maneuvering 25-metre (82-foot) boats to within metres of each other. It's entertaining to watch, although it might be a little bewildering for those who aren't into their sailing. The scoring/ranking system for this event was particularly opaque - check out the wikipedia page.

More photos here, but you'd better like boats...

23rd-26th January 2009: Sydney

The CHP annual partners' dinner was in Sydney, so we headed over for the bank-holiday weekend. We also took the opportunity to visit Sophie's cousin Matt and his wife Celine, who live in Darlington, a suburb of Sydney. Sophie and Matt spent Friday evening catching up on the last 10 years.

It was Sophie's first trip to Sydney, so we set out on Saturday to see a few sights. Unfortunately the weather wasn't cooperating: 42℃ is not an ideal temperature for wandering around. Gusts of wind in the botanic gardens felt like an oven door being opened nearby. Eventually we escaped to the Sydney Shangri La, our CHP-provided hotel for the next two nights.

The CHP dinner was at Guillaume's restaurant, in one of the sails of the iconic Opera House. The seven-course extravaganza was predictably excellent, and the matched wines were also very good.

Sunday was busy. We went for a 15-minute seaplane flight in the morning, giving us excellent views of the harbour, its bridge, and the beaches. After that we met up with a few other CHPers to board the 18-foot-skiff spectator ferry, which follows the fleet during their races. These overpowered sailing boats are excellent to watch, particularly with beer, as their crews struggle to keep them upright and guide them round the course.

After the sailing, we met Matt, Celine and some of their friends on Bronte beach for a relaxed few hours. Tim went for a swim and nearly got carried off by a rip-tide, but all finished well.

Monday was Australia day and Syndey was packed. We had a 3:30pm flight to catch, but we managed to catch sight of the annual Ferrython (a race between ferries, obviously). We also saw some funky close-harmony singing at The Rocks before heading to the airport.

Tim, Sophie, Celine and Matt

More photos, from the seaplane and of skiffs, here.

31st December 2008 - 1st January 2009: Milford Sound

We were picked up from the Divide shelter at about 2:30pm by a plush Real Journeys coach to take us on an overnight cruise on Milford Sound. The coach ride was part of the experience: the scenery as you approach Milford Sound is an awe-inspiring sequence of vertical kilometres of precipitous rock walls and churning rivers.

The rain that day was heavy even by Fiordland standards, so the waterfalls were (apparently) even more numerous and impressive than usual. Even the excellent coach driver/guide was getting excited by the amount of water coming over the Chasm waterfall. This was definitely the best waterfall I'd ever seen, the second time that had happened that day.

The Homer Tunnel which cuts through into the otherwise inaccessible Milford Sound is a particularly impressive feat of engineering and has a fascinating story of depression-era job creation.

We boarded the cruise ship at about 5pm which took us into Milford Sound. Possibly the best view was of a rocky overhang, a kilometre above us, with waterfalls coming off it. Instead of dropping into the sound below, the water was being blown upwards, forming its own cloud.

The peak in the centre is over 1500m high.

The boat picked up a mooring buoy in a sheltered bay, and we had the chance to do some sea kayaking before dinner. Dinner itself was very good, likely improved by the previous three days' dehydrated dinners. We just about stayed awake until midnight and sang the obligatory Auld Lang Syne on the foredeck (at 11am on the 31st in the UK!) but were in bed at 12:02, exhausted but happy.

Early the next morning the ship headed out to the mouth of the sound, then slowly worked its way back to the harbour where we had started. More breathtaking views, etc. The coach then met us and took us back to Te Anau, dropping us at Keiko's B&B where we were staying for the night.

The ~100ft Milford Mariner, pictures of which you can see here, is dwarfed by the walls of the sound.

22nd - 24th December 2008: Marlborough region

From Kaikoura we headed for Marlborough Sounds, spending a couple of nights in the DOC Cowshed Bay campsite. Before we got to the Marlborough wine region we'd already seen at least a dozen vineyards, with many more to come. We stopped at the Montana Brancott winery to taste and buy a Pinot Noir for dinner.

The drive from Picton to Cowshed Bay was a little longer than we'd bargained for - almost two hours of bendy roads punctuated by one 5-minute stretch that was more or less straight. It was worth it though. We slept between Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru Sounds - the former bright blue, the latter equally intense but a bit more greeny - surrounded by lush forest and right by the beach.

The following morning we slept in - our only lie-in of the holiday, as it turned out - then went for an amble on part of the Queen Charlotte Track. The views over both sounds in the sunshine were spectacular and compete for my best view of the holiday.

Having lunch at Black Rock shelter, we met a group doing the Queen Charlotte as a guided walk. Day 3 of the walk is reputedly tough so they were delighted when we told them they were only an hour and a half from their hotel. We met them later eating a slap-up meal in the Portage Resort restaurant - the difference being that while they returned to their en-suite rooms, we had a 10-minute walk to our luxury site ($12 for the night).

Christmas Eve dawned rainy, with no sign of let-up. After some indecision, and helped by the sales skills of the amusing Frenchman hiring kayaks, we took a double kayak for a paddle in Kenepuru Sound. After some leisurely exploration around the mussel farms, we decided the wind had got up and we'd better head for home. Coming round the lee of a point we saw the most obvious wind line imaginable - glassy calm water where we were, chop and white horses a few metres off. Sadly we had to paddle upwind through it to get back. We felt we had earned our lunch though, unlike most of the bored couples in the cafe waiting for the rain to stop.

From there we headed back to Bleinheim, where we were booked at Herzog winery for dinner. Our first shower in four days, at Watson's Way Backpackers, was very welcome and we felt quite presentable afterwards. As soon as we got to the restaurant, however, it became apparent that we were woefully underdressed in jeans and flip-flops. Still the service was impeccable and nobody batted an eyelid. We had a fabulous five-course tasting dinner, each course with its own wine, which cost nearly as much as our week's campervan hire. A fine flashpacking moment.

21st-22nd December 2008: Christchurch & Kaikoura

On 21st December we set off for our summer holiday - two and a half weeks on the South Island.

The holiday feeling started straight away with a hilarious driver on the Auckland airport bus. He was a very jovial chap who kept stopping to wait for people to visit cash points, not caring that the cars behind him would have preferred him to go when the traffic light was green! He raised a laugh by ticking off a couple saying a fond farewell at the bus stop.

A couple of hours later we were in Christchurch. We spent an hour or two there, catching sight of the Botanic Gardens and the inside of a supermarket before heading off with our camper van. We had a Jucy Crib for 8 days - a converted people-carrier/minivan with a bed in the back. It was rather cosy but served us well, handled like a car and allowed us to overtake lots of larger conventional camper vans.

We reached Kaikoura that night, ate a tasty dinner at the White Morph, and more or less managed to assemble the bed in the dark with a bottle of wine in us.

The next morning we were out early for a guided kayaking trip around Kaikoura's fur seal colony. It was pretty good, but we were a bit hampered by a Japanese couple in the group who spoke no English and couldn't get the hang of making the thing go forwards... Still we enjoyed paddling close to a few swimming seals and admired some more on the rocks.

High spot of the outing was when we brought the kayaks back to the beach. Paddling at the shore we were a few feet away from two huge sting rays in the shallows - one of them must have been 6ft across.

We finished up our Kaikoura visit with barbecued crayfish at a beachside stall, before heading north up the coast - we had a long way to cover in a week.

6th-7th December 2008: Yacht race to Waiheke

Together with a few CHPers, we joined Thelma for another classic yacht race and a night on Waiheke Island.

The race itself was very cruisy, downwind all the way from Devonport to Patio Bay with just one jibe. By the time we got there, though, Tim was in the bad books of the after-deck crew - he spent the race watching the gennaker and asking if we could just sheet in a bit... now ease off... no, sheet in again...

We spent Saturday evening at an excellent barbecue hosted by a gentleman called Bert, who has an idyllic bach in a bay only reachable by boat. It's a bit like Guy's beach hut but three times the size and with a proper fridge. Sorry Guy :) Rum flowed freely all evening, along with a surfeit of meat and much merriment.

One or two CHPers seem keen to get into sailing after this. We did point out that you don't always get two days of perfect conditions: warm sunshine, 15 knots of breeze pointing the right way, and someone else's fabulous 100-year-old racing yacht. You can't beat it.

22nd November 2008: Sailing America's Cup yachts again

For the second time, we attempted to take a kayak trip to Rangitoto Island. This trip was my leaving gift from work in the UK, but has been cancelled twice due to high winds. This time, with the forecast for 25-35 knots of breeze, we thought we'd fill in the spare day with some sailing on the America's Cup yachts in the harbour - new experience for me and a load of CHPers, and a repeat experience for Tim. (The load of CHPers will probably become a bit of a theme from now on, now the team out here is up to strength.)

The sailing was great fun, with the true wind speed hitting 40 knots at one point. The boat got quite tippy at times but always felt very stable and solid, cutting through the chop rather than being tossed about. Prize for getting the most drenched goes to James, who always seemed to be sitting on the lee side (the downhill side) when the big bits of spray came in.

15th November 2008: Sailing on Thelma again

Thelma, the yacht we sailed on previously, needed crew for another race so Tim went along again.

The wind was a bit stronger this time, and unfortunately we managed to break the boat about 20 minutes into the race: The belaying pin holding the peak halyard snapped, causing half the mainsail to flog and causing a fair bit of panic while all the sails were dropped. We were forced to retire from the race and return to port.

There was a professional photograher about, taking pictures of these very impressive boats.

That's us on Thelma in the foreground, just before the start.

8th November 2008: Classic yacht race

Having been given a pointer by someone at Tim's client, we wangled a day crewing the classic yacht Thelma in a race in the Waitemata harbour.

Thelma is a gaff-rigged cutter, built in 1897 and recently refurbished. It was an excellent day's sailing in sunshine and 15 knots of breeze. We were both on the foredeck involving a lot of hauling on sheets (Tim) and a day of tailing them (Sophie). We loved it, and Thelma took line honours. For non-sailors that means we were first over the finish line, but we probably didn't win on handicap-adjusted time.

Hopefully we will be able to sail on Thelma again soon - she races regularly and apparently often needs crew.

Update - The picture to the right is of us sailing on Thelma...

10th-13th October 2008: Bay of Islands

Chartered a yacht for a long weekend's sailing in the Bay of Islands. Freewheeling was a Davidson 28 of circa 1980. Sturdy and easy to sail, with vintage decor and yellow patterned glass windows on the lockers. Fairwind Charters were helpful and efficient and we will use them again.

Had a fantastic weekend with perfect easygoing wind of 10-20 knots. The Bay of Islands could have been designed for sailing (Slartibartfast, was it you?) crammed with pretty bays - always one available to shelter you from any angle of wind.

High spot of the weekend was finding a pod of dolphins, we think 6-10, who swam and played around our yacht for several minutes. We were also offered some uber-fresh snapper by a fishing yachtie in one cove, but preferred chilling out with some wine to attempting to gut fish.

Great chilled-out weekend, and good for Sophie's sailing skills to be one of two people rather than the usual one of 6 or so. Photos here.

Itinerary:

Friday: collected boat 5pm, motored from Opua wharf to an anchorage in Pomare Bay.

Saturday: sailed to Motuarohia Island and climbed the hill. Sailed around Piercy Island and back to Oke Bay for the night.

Sunday: through Albert Channel and drifted round Urupukapuka Island. Played with dolphins in Paradise Bay for a while, then sailed round some islands and anchored in Opunga Cove.

Monday: North around Tikitiki Island. Anchored for lunch west of Te Pahi Isles. Through Kent Passage and back to Opua about 3:30pm.

16th September 2008: Sailing on ex-America's Cup yachts

Tim went sailing on a 1995 America's Cup yacht which is now run as a tourist attraction out of the Viaduct Marina in Auckland. I took some photos of the yacht from the previous flat.

Excellent fun - the crew are really enthusiastic and happy to let you get involved in the sailing to whatever level you want. Almost everyone on the boat had a go at the helm. We sailed out to near Rangitoto island, back past the marina and under the harbour bridge, then returned to the marina.

The boat was remarkably stable, which I supposed shouldn't be a huge surprise given it weighs 24 tons, 18 of which are in the keel bulb. It nonetheless felt hugely powerful, and was certainly fast.

Interesting moments:

• Sailing circles around a random 35 foot yacht which was going half our speed.
  
• The mast only just making it under the bridge. (or so it seemed from on-board)
  
• Getting buried under about 400 square metres of gennaker in the bow

Must go again sometime.

24th - 27th July 2008: Port Douglas

Went to Port Douglas, Queensland for CHP Australia annual company conference. Stayed in the Sea Temple Port Douglas.

Friday:
Tim went white-water rafting on the Barron River with CHP. Good fun, good screaming from a few people.
Sophie went for a short walk in the Mossman Gorge. Pleasant undemanding walk, about an hour through rainforest with occasional pretty views of an overgrown rocky stream in the gorge (with overgrown rocks to match).

Saturday:
Sailed on Sailaway IV to the Low Isles for snorkelling at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef (http://www.sailawayportdouglas.com/). Saw lots of green turtles, giant clams, and some funky fish. Mostly soft coral, ie. greens and browns, at Low Isles - think the other trips further out would have given us more bright colours and more wildlife variety.

Sailaway IV was a good fun 60' cat and they let Tim helm the boat home :)