Month: December 2013

January 1, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand

As we’re in one of the first countries to start the new year, we can tell you from experience that it’s going to be a great one for all of us! Here’s how it started for us…

Happy New Year! May all of your dreams come true in 2014.

December 24 – 31, 2013

As I write this during New Year’s festivities celebrating the arrival of 2020, I can look back over the places we’ve spent New Year’s Eve since setting off in May of 2012. This list includes:

Opua (NZ) 2013, Auckland (NZ) 2014, Mooloolaba (Australia) 2015, Tauranga (NZ) 2016, Gippsland Lakes (Australia) 2017, Opua (NZ) 2018, Opua (NZ) 2019, and Nelson (NZ) 2020.

All of these places have been special, but our favorite has to be the time we were in the Auckland’s Viaduct Basin during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. It was a magical time in several ways.

First off, our location within the Viaduct Basin in Auckland could not have been better. The Viaduct Basin is a waterfront area filled with a combination of yachts (including the headquarters of Emirates Team New Zealand and their America’s Cup yacht), restaurants and bars, international tourists, and in general is Auckland’s #1 hotspot. As you can imagine it’s festive and busy, but it also has quiet and low-key areas out of the fray, and we were in one of those areas.

This gave us the great combination of being in a comparatively quiet area, yet able to walk about a block to the start of busy, high-energy areas. We could enjoy that for a time, but when we’d had enough we could retreat back to our quiet corner. We had the best of both worlds. Below, a map showing a brief overview of the Viaduct Basin.

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Another advantage to being in the Viaduct was that while many places in Auckland close for the holiday season, making it perhaps the only place in New Zealand that actually gets quieter during this time, the eateries in the Viaduct remain open as it’s too profitable a time to be closed. Plus we were next to the Sofitel Hotel which had a wonderful little cafe (21 Viaduct Cafe) that was always open for a quick and delicious breakfast.

Our Viaduct location was also close enough to downtown Auckland that it was easier to walk there than drive; so we got lots of walking in, always a good thing and hardly noticeable as we quickly got used to the distances. By the time we’d get to our destinations then return to the boat, we’d done miles of walking that we hardly noticed, miles that would have been drudgery on a treadmill. And even with many places closed, enough stayed open that there were plenty of things to do downtown.

Being in Auckland also put us in a central location which enabled us to see some friends. Often when we tell people that we’re cruising sailors traveling around the world, they get this impression of us being lone vagabonds, far from family, friends and home, just the two of us adrift on this big planet. They marvel at how we do it, and how we must get along well to spend so much time together. But the reality is we’re part a larger group of people doing the same thing, and Rich and I actually spend more time around other people than we ever did when we lived on land.

This year, we made the drive to Whangarei to spend Christmas with our friends from the sailing yacht Lisa Kay, who had rented a home while having work done on their boat. We were joined by our friend Dean from Local Talent, his son Dylan, who was visiting from the US, and Brad from Kindred Spirit. Aside from the fact that it it was summer instead of winter, this gathering had the same feeling as good holiday gatherings spent with family or friends back home, the kind where you arrive, kick off your shoes, are given a glass of wine, and everyone’s glad to see each other.

Later, we all joined in making the big turkey dinner, drinking more wine, watching a movie, and basically enjoying ourselves. We were supposed to leave the next day, but after breakfast mimosas and a lazy lunch, we all opted to do another dinner (and for us, spend one more night). You know it’s a good gathering when people choose to keep things going rather than looking to make the earliest possible escape from annoying relatives in the group.

Once we returned to Auckland, we had a visit from other cruising friends, Alex and Iris from Aleris. They were staying in Gulf Harbour but visiting Auckland to rent a car. We spent a day together enjoying breakfast at our Viaduct 21 cafe, an afternoon shopping for boating supplies at Auckland’s numerous boat stores, a late lunch at the Urban Turban, and then having them introduce us to to their great find for dessert: Cafe Melba (which Rich and I made a point to later return to later for breakfast). Then they were off to the airport to pick up their rental car, but it had been fun to spend some time together.

Not long after this, we got to spend an evening with Dean and Dylan as they passed through Auckland. We all had dinner and a very nice evening at a great Mexican restaurant in Auckland, a place called Mexico. And not surprisingly, we ran into other cruisers during our time in Auckland as it’s a city so many of us pass through. It was a really nice time of seeing friends and acquaintances.

We also did a few local outings and continued our research into marinas. Talking to Alex and Iris had confirmed our fears that Gulf Harbour’s marina would, for us, feel too remote. We checked out Pier 21,* a small downtown Auckland marina frequented by cruisers, but it didn’t appeal to us at that time. Another little marina, Orakei, was a bit outside of the city but very much appealed to us. Alas, they had no vacancies for the time we needed.

We decided to reconsider Auckland’s big marina, Westhaven. We’d rejected that idea previously, but maybe if we had our car with us we’d enjoy it more? We made the long walk to visit it again, but by the time we arrived at the marina’s office, we’d lost all interest in staying here. It was just too big, too run-down, too noisy, too far from downtown, and from the prices on the door, too expensive!

So, that left us with a marina called Bayswater, which we had checked out earlier. This marina was actually outside of Auckland, across the Auckland Harbour Bridge in a suburban area known as the North Shore. It was nice but driving, not walking, distance from the closest town. If we wanted to stay there we would absolutely need our car, currently with friends in the city of Tauranga. We’d have to take a 3-hour bus ride there to retrieve our car, then drive it back to Auckland. And since we planned to sail our boat to Tauranga before the end of the season we’d subsequently have to take the bus back to Auckland to retrieve our car once again.

Such is the life of having a boat, a car, and a big country to see. Yes, it can be a pain to sail to another area then have to return in order to retrieve our car. And of course it’s a shame to have to rent a car for a quick excursion when we own a perfectly good one that happens to be inconveniently far away. But as problems go, there are worse ones to have.

Rich and I made the decision right off the bat that we would never miss out on things because we didn’t have our car nearby. If there’s something we want to do, such as go to that Christmas gathering or experience a local sight, we’ll rent a car with no regrets. But for anything longer than a few days, we’ll make the trip to retrieve our car. Since it looked inevitable that we’d end up in Bayswater, we made a plan to do so after we made the move there.

The cherry on the sundae of this time was New Year’s Eve. I was thrilled to learn the show would take place from the roof of the Auckland Skytower because we could see that from our boat! It turned out to be a great evening as our usually quiet neighborhood became busy with people walking by and parties spilling out on the apartment balconies. As it turned out, midnight would arrive at low tide so much of our view from the boat would be obscured by buildings. No matter, we could head up to the walkway for a great view.

We went up early so we could walk around the Viaduct and soak up the atmosphere. All the restaurants were packed, the ones with younger groups loud and raucous, the ones with older people more subdued and serene. Going back to the boat we found a lot of people gathering around the Sofitel Hotel as that walkway area had a terrific view.

We first headed to our boat and opened a bottle of champagne to toast what had been an incredible year with hopes that this coming one would be just as good. Then we headed up to the walkway to see the fireworks show. Below, the view before the show started…

As midnight approached there was a countdown, then the fireworks began. There were popping fireworks, raining fireworks, spewing fireworks, and a period of machine-gun like effects with pops of light shooting out. What a show! And all of it surrounded the top of the tower like petals around the center of a flower, giving the show a unique look. Everyone was crying out Happy New Year when the show began, then singing Auld Lang Syne. It was an amazing end to an amazing year. –Cyndi

*Re: Pier 21–it didn’t grab us back then, but we later went there and loved it.

January 1, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand

Legacy’s getting lots of attention in her berth here in the heart of Auckland. This guy spent about 10 minutes studying her while we sipped cappuccino and watched from the deck of the Sofitel coffee shop. I’ve had some great conversations with passersbys about boats, sailing, New Zealand and the ocean. They usually start with “You made it here all the way from the United States?!?”

December 23, 2013

One task we needed to get to quickly was figuring out where we could keep our boat for a month after leaving the Viaduct. We actually loved staying there, even with its inconveniences (a public toilet, no shower, expensive parking). The tradeoff was being near the most exciting, vibrant part of this wonderful city of Auckland and all that it had to offer. But it’s expensive to stay in the Viaduct, and a two-week time period was about all the splurge we felt able to make. We needed to find something more affordable for the remainder of Silly Season (the summer holiday period).

We had some options in mind, and one of them was not actually in the city but 30 minutes north, in a marina on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. This peninsula houses some of Auckland’s most popular suburbs, the inner third of which is particularly thick with neighborhoods. The middle of the peninsula is greener with more upscale homes, a large golf course, a country club, Gulf Harbour and its marina complex, and houses lining waterways. The outer third of the peninsula is devoted to parkland.

Our first mission after picking up our rental car was to go check out the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and the marina at Gulf Harbour. While we were there we could also go see Shakespear* Regional Park which is both a wildlife refuge and a park for people to enjoy. It included Army Bay, a possible future anchorage for us, the lovely Te Haruhi Bay, and Okoromai Bay, very popular with those who enjoy digging for clams. Below, a map of the peninsula. (*Yes, it’s spelled correctly as it’s named after a New Zealand family, not the poet/playwright.)

 

And so we headed that way. It was interesting to drive along this peninsula that we’d seen from afar when we visited the Hibiscus Coast to the north. We were also familiar with this area because of Gulf Harbour Radio, the net run by ex-cruisers David and Patricia who do a daily radio net and weather forecasts for those making the passage between New Zealand and the tropics. We’d heard quite a bit about Gulf Harbour, so it was interesting to see it for ourselves.

As we headed out on the peninsula, our first impression was it was indeed a suburban mecca, but the kind with towns and little shopping areas so it had some charm. Below, a typical looking area of an inner-peninsula neighborhood.

I was surprised how long it took us to get to Gulf Harbour Marina, then surprised again as we got a look at the size of it. It was huge, and surrounded by condo and apartment-type buildings and marine businesses. It looked new, very upscale, and pretty spiffy. After taking this in, we went and talked to the office about the possibility of visiting here. The woman there was very nice and said to just let her know when we wanted to come and she’d find us a spot.

We took a walk around and looked at the yard, the yacht club and bay, and the boats. We were impressed, but there was one drawback: this area was pretty far removed from things, confirmed when we went to go look for a grocery store and didn’t find one nearby. Could we be happy in this rather remote area for a month? We’d have to think about that as we checked out a couple more marinas.

After the marina we headed out to the park area of the peninsula, starting with Army Bay. It was a nice place with a stretch of beach and a beautiful pohutukawa tree, not what we’d call a must-see, but nice all the same. (You can click to enlarge and scroll through photos in this post.)

After that we headed across the peninsula and found ourselves at Okoromai Bay which had a cool view of the dormant volcano on Rangitoto island behind people digging for clams.

Finally we got to lovely Haruhi Bay and took in the feeling of the park which had low hills, lots of green grass yet also a dry feeling, and peaceful bays. We wouldn’t call this a must-do, but it’s worth seeing if one is in the area. Should we end up staying here, I planned for us to do some hiking in this park.

So while we didn’t make a decision this day, it was a relief knowing that we had at least one option for a place to park our boat for awhile. We could now go join our friends in Whangarei for Christmas with no worries for our immediate future. –Cyndi