Some evenings, the sun and the clouds combine to make one of those magical times where everything is washed in a golden light. We had just such an evening on Valentine’s Day, which takes place midsummer here in New Zealand.
Whether enjoyed over a candlelight dinner back in America or bathed in warm evening sunlight “down under,” this is a holiday we love to celebrate at a restaurant. This year we had a particularly nice dinner at the Pear Tree restaurant in Kerikeri, who really knew how to make it special.
A very happy Valentine’s day dinner.
The gorgeous view from The Pear Tree.
Below, a gallery of photos from our beautiful evening drive back to Opua. -Cyndi (Click on any picture to enlarge.)
We were sitting down to lunch at the Pear Tree restaurant with our friends. The server described the beer selection, and one sounded intriguing to me: the Erdinger Weissbier, a German wheat beer from Bavaria.
I wasn’t sure I had made the best selection after everyone else got their beer, but mine was a special beer that “takes a while to pour.” Finally, I saw a waiter coming with this foot-tall glass of beer. It seems when you order an Erdinger Weissbier, it comes in a special glass, an attention-getting glass as everyone looks to see who’s getting the big-ass beer in the funny glass. I was hoping this beer would be worth the time and fuss.
All my doubts vanished after I tasted the beer: It was amazing, one of the best beers I’ve ever tasted. I would order it again even if it does make me an involuntary participant in a dinner show. I guess this is, in fact, a German discovery and not a New Zealand one, but I stumbled across it here so New Zealand gets credit. –Cyndi
Sitting at the Pear Tree restaurant with Dean and Sabine. (Kerikeri, New Zealand)The Erdinger Weissbier arrives at last! (Kerikeri, New Zealand)Rich and I with Dean and Sabine—it’s a strange picture but we like it. (Kerikeri, New Zealand)
Boat work and bleeding go hand-in-hand for me. I don’t think I can remember a significant boat project that didn’t result in at least one cut. This one below is from our now-completed, electric sheet winch installation.
I think there are at least ten cuts visible in this picture!
Before we left California, we replaced a lot of equipment on Legacy. By a lot, I mean that we basically saved our favorite couch cushion and replaced everything else. We’d hoped to get the boat work done a month or two before our scheduled departure to the South Pacific but we didn’t. We finished the morning we left and as a consequence, our shakedown cruise was the 7000 mile trip to New Zealand. One of the things that didn’t work as expected was our new Furlboom roller-furling main sail. It is just too hard to get up and down by hand. We bought a Winchrite electric winch handle, but it is really pretty weak and can’t handle the loads any better than I can. Now, we have an electric winch, installed and ready to go (that’s where the cheers come in).
Our new Lewmar 40 EVO electric winch.
It was a bigger task than I thought it would be. The motor that drives this winch is huge. It took up most of the utility combing box. To protect the motor, we sealed the box with a plastic cover. If the sail goes up and down easily with this beast, it will be more than worth the loss of the combing box.
Finished.
We can’t try it yet because we have no sails. The new sails we bought weren’t quite right either and they are being fixed now.
We have quite a list of tasks ahead of us. We’re replacing our old sail instruments (oh yea, we saved them, along with the cushion) and we’re fixing, tweaking and tuning a bunch of other things. We needed about five things repaired under warranty and most of that is underway now. Here’s what our list looks like.
To Do List
We’re getting a pretty good jump on the boat work. We plan to leave New Zealand in the beginning of May, depending on the weather. We’d like to have plenty of time for shakedown cruises before we head to the tropics (Fiji). What’s your bet? Do you think we’ll actually have time to do some testing this time?
By the way, we’re planning to add a section of cruising equipment reviews to our web site soon. We’d really like to let anyone interested know what’s worked and what hasn’t. -Rich
Of course we took a ride on the Kawakawa train! The ride isn’t long because the refurbished section of track ends at an old bridge, then the train has to turn around and come back. They’re working on lengthening it, but they depend on donations and the progress is slow. For now, it’s a lovely ride on an authentic steam engine train through the countryside. Here’s a gallery of photos. –Cyndi (Click on any picture to enlarge.)
A very happy Valentine’s day dinner.
