Tuesday, December 16, 2008
We Made it!
First of all, THANK YOU STEVE AND SUSAN!! You gave not only James and I an incredible journey(not to mention work!), but you also gave my Dad the experience he will never forget! You are amazing people and we wish you the very best! Hopefully we'll meet up again soon!
After the arrival of Amber's Dad on November 13th, we were headed to New Zealand. Of course before we entirely left Fiji though, we had to show Mike the beauty of Musket Cove Resort:-) We took him out to the island and went snorkeling, hiking, played with the scuba hookah, and tried our best to show him a traditional kava drinking ceremony complete with the chanting, grunting, and horrible face making! Upon completing our island exploration, we departed South on November 16th with sunny skies and gentle breezes. Of course life doesn't always act so kind however, and that night the seas showed Mike how quickly they can change moods, throwing big rough waves and lightening bolts at us. James wasn't a bit worried, but we thought it would be a good time to explain where all emergency equipment was, just in case;-) After that squally night, the days and nights passed without much wind, meaning we motored alot. We didn't mind because that meant hot showers and blended smoothies for sunsets! Not exactly like typical Mai Miti crossing! About 2 days out of Opua, New Zealand, the winds and swell picked up and we got a chance to do some incredible surfing on Surprise. James had the time of his life standing back at the helm surfing down waves at 15kts!! With such good speeds, we managed to pull into port just before the worst of the weather hit us. We couldn't have been happier for a stable bed when the pouring rain and 40-50kt gusts howled outside the boat that night. Mike couldn't have been happier just to see land again and other people:-) He never did stop rocking though even after stepping out onto solid ground. He was a great trooper though and with his help we enjoyed alot of extra sleep:-)
Once we arrived in New Zealand we jumped from anchorage to anchorage making our way down to Christ Church; Surprises final destination foe now. The land of New Zealand was incredible with it's rolling, grassy hills, hidden waterfalls, and very friendly people. One of the friendliest Kiwi's we met was Alf who we luckly met in Kauai last summer. This man had helped us out tremendously during the Makini delivery when we lost our hydrolic steering out of Kauai; towing us around in his car and taking us to the best snorkeling spots:-) So now over a year later, we ran into him this time in his home land near the town of Tauranga. It was great to treat him to a beer, and have a soak in the hot springs pools with him! One other friend we ran into down under out of complete coincidence, was our old geology buddy, Olaf. He departed Hawaii many years ago and since then we hadn't really spoken to him. Then next thing we know, we see him at a tiny internet shop in a small town of New Zealand! Small world!
On December 3rd, Mike's time as a pirate was up, and it was back to the states he went. Surprise still had over 700 miles down to Christ Church, so James and I chugged along making a few stops to the wine country before making our way through Cooks Straight, taking us to the South Island. We had an incredible time sailing past active volcanic islands, spewing huge sulphur steam clouds while groups of dolphins followed us along the way! We also caught a good sized tuna! Life was good! Then life figured we needed a little challenge and threw rough seas and strong winds at us for the last night before getting into Christ Church. The forecast called for max 30kt winds, and one meter swell, but that's not exactly what we experienced. Gusts of 45 and seas MUCH bigger were more like it! But Surprise handled everything very well and by the afternoon the next day, we were motoring in the channel to Christ Church(hand steering I should mention. The autopilot went out on us that morning about 6am. James was the brave strong one who hand steered through the biggest waves and coldest weather:-) . We even had the world's rarest and smallest dolphin, the Hector dolphin, greet us on the way in. The rough night, made the entrance even that much more rewarding!
After arriving to Christ Church, Davie Norris and his family(Surprise's boat builder), treated us soooo wonderfully! For some reason they took us in(they said "Direct orders from the boss Steve:-) and loaned us their green VW Beattle, a cell phone, and anything else we could want! We were able to explore the area freely and in style;-) before my departure back to the states for Christmas holiday. With that, this story is put on hold for now....James is currently traveling New Zealand and is going to spend Christmas with our friend Alf and his family. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and if you're still reading this after all this time, thanks for keeping up with us:-) We miss you all...love, James and Amber
After the arrival of Amber's Dad on November 13th, we were headed to New Zealand. Of course before we entirely left Fiji though, we had to show Mike the beauty of Musket Cove Resort:-) We took him out to the island and went snorkeling, hiking, played with the scuba hookah, and tried our best to show him a traditional kava drinking ceremony complete with the chanting, grunting, and horrible face making! Upon completing our island exploration, we departed South on November 16th with sunny skies and gentle breezes. Of course life doesn't always act so kind however, and that night the seas showed Mike how quickly they can change moods, throwing big rough waves and lightening bolts at us. James wasn't a bit worried, but we thought it would be a good time to explain where all emergency equipment was, just in case;-) After that squally night, the days and nights passed without much wind, meaning we motored alot. We didn't mind because that meant hot showers and blended smoothies for sunsets! Not exactly like typical Mai Miti crossing! About 2 days out of Opua, New Zealand, the winds and swell picked up and we got a chance to do some incredible surfing on Surprise. James had the time of his life standing back at the helm surfing down waves at 15kts!! With such good speeds, we managed to pull into port just before the worst of the weather hit us. We couldn't have been happier for a stable bed when the pouring rain and 40-50kt gusts howled outside the boat that night. Mike couldn't have been happier just to see land again and other people:-) He never did stop rocking though even after stepping out onto solid ground. He was a great trooper though and with his help we enjoyed alot of extra sleep:-)
Once we arrived in New Zealand we jumped from anchorage to anchorage making our way down to Christ Church; Surprises final destination foe now. The land of New Zealand was incredible with it's rolling, grassy hills, hidden waterfalls, and very friendly people. One of the friendliest Kiwi's we met was Alf who we luckly met in Kauai last summer. This man had helped us out tremendously during the Makini delivery when we lost our hydrolic steering out of Kauai; towing us around in his car and taking us to the best snorkeling spots:-) So now over a year later, we ran into him this time in his home land near the town of Tauranga. It was great to treat him to a beer, and have a soak in the hot springs pools with him! One other friend we ran into down under out of complete coincidence, was our old geology buddy, Olaf. He departed Hawaii many years ago and since then we hadn't really spoken to him. Then next thing we know, we see him at a tiny internet shop in a small town of New Zealand! Small world!
On December 3rd, Mike's time as a pirate was up, and it was back to the states he went. Surprise still had over 700 miles down to Christ Church, so James and I chugged along making a few stops to the wine country before making our way through Cooks Straight, taking us to the South Island. We had an incredible time sailing past active volcanic islands, spewing huge sulphur steam clouds while groups of dolphins followed us along the way! We also caught a good sized tuna! Life was good! Then life figured we needed a little challenge and threw rough seas and strong winds at us for the last night before getting into Christ Church. The forecast called for max 30kt winds, and one meter swell, but that's not exactly what we experienced. Gusts of 45 and seas MUCH bigger were more like it! But Surprise handled everything very well and by the afternoon the next day, we were motoring in the channel to Christ Church(hand steering I should mention. The autopilot went out on us that morning about 6am. James was the brave strong one who hand steered through the biggest waves and coldest weather:-) . We even had the world's rarest and smallest dolphin, the Hector dolphin, greet us on the way in. The rough night, made the entrance even that much more rewarding!
After arriving to Christ Church, Davie Norris and his family(Surprise's boat builder), treated us soooo wonderfully! For some reason they took us in(they said "Direct orders from the boss Steve:-) and loaned us their green VW Beattle, a cell phone, and anything else we could want! We were able to explore the area freely and in style;-) before my departure back to the states for Christmas holiday. With that, this story is put on hold for now....James is currently traveling New Zealand and is going to spend Christmas with our friend Alf and his family. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and if you're still reading this after all this time, thanks for keeping up with us:-) We miss you all...love, James and Amber
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