Author: richwest3

February 7, 2013

Rich wrote a post about Kawakawa, a small town about 10 minutes south of Opua: (Part One).  More specifically, he wrote about Kawakawa being famous for trains and toilets, and then focused on the Bay of Islands Railway where they restore vintage trains.  Here, I’ll add in more about the toilets.

Rich did mention that the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser lived in the town and designed the famous public restroom here, officially named the Hundertwasser Toilets. Hundertwasser has a unique and distinct style, and while he may be most famous for the toilets, you can see his work throughout the town.

And here are the famous toilets:

And here’s the famous toilet tree. I don’t know the anything about this artist, but you get a close-up view of the tree if you take a train ride.

I don’t know if I’d call this the train town, the toilet town, or the Hundertwasser town, because each of these things contribute to the town’s uniqueness.

I’ll finish with some pictures of the Bay of Islands Railway.  The old train station is a sweet place, and the work they do to restore the old trains is a labor of love.–Cyndi

February 7, 2013

The small town near us called Kawakawa is known for two things: trains and toilets.  The Austrian artist, Friedensreich Hundertwasser lived and worked in Kawakawa and designed what are now very famous public restrooms located at the entrance to the town.  Kawakawa is also the home of the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway.  There’s a wonderful little cafe at the train station where you can dine amongst the train cars.

We had breakfast at the cafe and it was great.  As it’s only about a ten minute drive from our marina, we could get to be regulars here.  We also had a wonderful tour of the restoration efforts underway.  As we were looking around, Dennis invited us in and showed us all the wonderful things they’re doing.

The have a bunch of cars and engines that they are restoring.  Below is the steam engine that they use to give rides on weekends (weekdays, the train is pulled by a 1958 vintage diesel engine).

There are a number of cars being restored.  We stepped into this one (below) and could feel the history and tradition.

There’s also the boat that Friedensreich Hundertwasser lived on and used as a studio.  He was a patron of the vintage railway and they jumped at the chance to preserve his quirky boat.  -Rich

February 4, 2013

We were lucky enough to be invited over to Laura and Susan’s house (expats who’d been living here for years) to watch the Superbowl.  What fun we had!  This was a very vocal group – all routing for San Francisco (because the Ravens had beaten their beloved New England and they held a grudge!)  It would have been a little better if the game’s outcome had been different, but no matter, we had a great time. -Rich

February 7, 2013

Proof of life -before sunrise!  In the two months we’ve been here, this is the first sunrise we’ve seen.  What makes this surprising is that while in the tropics, we used to sit in the cockpit almost every morning, drink coffee and watch the sun come up.

I found there’s a good reason we don’t do this here… it’s COLD!  -Rich

February 7, 2013

Yesterday, we got an email from our friend Tom warning us about an 8.0 earthquake in the Solomon Islands that it could generate a tsunami.  This was the first we heard of it.  Google quickly told us that it could effect our area and that there had been an alert issued.

Within an hour, the alert had turned to a warning and our area was included in that warning.  We were told we could see a 1 meter high wave (about three feet) at 6 or 7PM with strong surge for the following two to eight hours.  We added a few lines to the boat, warmed up the engine just in case it was needed, ate dinner and watched.  Nothing.

We decided early on that it was too far to go to get Legacy safely out to deep water if a tsunami came. Instead, we’d grab a few things and drive up the nearby hill.  Thankfully, it looked like it wouldn’t be necessary this time.  By about 9 PM, the warning was canceled and we slept well.  We never felt or saw anything.

This whole thing felt a little strange as we’d just seen the movie “The Impossible” a few days ago.  It’s an incredible movie about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.  If you haven’t seen it, put it on your list.  It’s very well done!  Now just a few days later, we were living with the possibility of a sequel, IRL (in real life)!  We’re sure glad that didn’t come to pass.  Our thanks to all of you who emailed with warnings and concern.  All’s well on Legacy and we’re continuing to enjoy life in New Zealand. -Rich