Month: April 2013

April 15, 2013 – Tauranga, New Zealand

This is where Legacy will live for the next month or so, until she departs for Fiji…

The motor in reminded us a lot of San Pedro (where we had our boat for ten years)…

Tauranga is one of the busiest shipping ports in New Zealand.

We weren’t here 24 hours and look where we ended up…

We’re going to enjoy lots of good food and drinks here in Tauranga. -Rich

Or: Another two minutes and forty seconds of your life you’ll never get back!

Cruising Season 2013

We managed to catch one more fish during the 2013 season, this time off Rakino Island near Auckland. The neat thing about this fish: it was our first New Zealand species! We grilled it and had it with brown rice and carrot and a nice sauvignon blanc. Excellent! –Cyndi

Also known as “five minutes of your life you’ll never get back” (or 11.9 micro percent of your life, based on an 80 year lifespan).

Summer Season 2013

We managed to catch a couple of fish during our first season here, but this was our very first one! We caught it as we headed down the coast just after exiting the Bay of Islands area. With so many unfamiliar fish species here, we had no idea what we might catch; so it was pretty exciting.

April 14, 2013

With slack tide time approaching, it was time to head to the Tauranga Bridge Marina. It was very strange feeling for a moment as we motored past some large freighters as the scene looked exactly like our home port in San Pedro, California. It was unsettling, like suddenly being jolted back in time, but the moment passed and we were back in New Zealand.

We got into our new slip and checked in with the office to do our paperwork (and got our shore power cord zeroxed!). We then headed to the Last Gasp Cafe (the little cafe right at the marina) to have some breakfast and get a feel for our new home. We liked it, and it wasn’t long before we ran into some friends who were hauled out in the boatyard. One neat thing about being a cruiser is meeting so many people and then running into them in various places around the globe.

We pretty much have the same ritual every time we get into a marina. The first thing we do is to go to the office and get signed in and get restroom/shower/laundry room keys. Then we go check out the marina eatery and have some food. After that, it’s time to wash off the salty boat and scrub our dinghy. It’s a great feeling to get the outside of the boat clean and pretty and have it drying in the sun. After that, internet! We usually have a couple of blog entries to post and we do some TV show procuring. Then comes showers ashore, and finally dinner out.

We didn’t have our car yet. Our friend Robin had driven it down from Opua, and it was currently waiting for us at the home of our friends Colin and Jeanette where we’d pick it up tomorrow. But we could have dinner out at Phil’s Place, the restaurant at the marina. What a treat that turned out to be! It’s a beautiful place with very good food and nice people. We were a little confused by the drum set used as decor in the bar and the Grammy award encased above our table. Turns out the place is owned by the drummer of the band AC/DC. Well, the guy has good taste!

And so began our time in our new place. It was good to be home. –Cyndi

April 13, 2013 – Tauranga, New Zealand

We traded this…

For this…

After cruising New Zealand’s bays and islands for almost six weeks, we arrived today in Tauranga.  We left Great Mercury Island at 4:00 AM for the 14 hour motor.  This is where we’ll make our home for the next month or so while we get the boat ready for the trip to Fiji and while we wait for what we hope will be the perfect weather window.

It wasn’t easy getting up at 4:00 AM but but Cyndi waved this under my nose to get me  going…

Tauranga is a two-Starbucks town!  While I do think most New Zealand coffee shops make better coffee than Starbucks (a subject that is straining our marriage), I do love their Frappuccinos!  -Rich