Zinkwazi

It is a glorious day. We were in Huse Bay, Waikeke but got woken early by a nasty roll that would shake our boarding platform so we (well Rob because I stayed in bed) moved. Then Rob had a nap and I went off for a kayak so feeling very virtuous. Pics are of the bay we are anchored in.

Oh dear, slept late and had an afternoon nap and still planning to go to bed early! Oh well, should be all caught up on sleep by the time I go back to work.

Weather has been better after the rain and wind warnings earlier this week. But we’ve stayed put – we did think about going fishing but I felt the need for a nap so we’ve stayed put.

For dinner we fired up the Cobb (a very cool compact BBQ) and had Cajun rubbed pork fillet (thanks Dana and Dave for the spices) with grilled eggplant, mushrooms, courgette and boiled new potatoes. Very yummy.

Tomorrow we are going to sail across to the Coromandel.

Well it has been fun, but back on diet now. Chicken and orange salad with avocado yogurt dressing for lunch. Much to my surprise Rob liked the dressing – he is usually a naked man!

Weather and family stuff have kept us ashore, but finally we’ve escaped on Zinkwazi. Dunno where we are going yet – I want to get out to Great Barrier and Rob wants to go over to the Coromandel. So we’ll let the wind decide and get in some sailing.

Tomorrow we’ll do some fishing and start eating our way through all the provisions we laid in thinking we’d get out sailing with the boys!

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Wind howling through the rigging, ropes cracking, Zinkwazi rocking, and we haven’t even left our berth yet!

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It was a wet gloomy day. Leaving Issy Bay,  Auckland was shrouded in rain:

I counted off the land marks – Iliomana Rock (the stick thing) with Rangitoto behind:

Then Northern Leading, North Head, Bean Rock (which is a spectacular light house):

and then a hop skip and a jump and we were tying up in our berth at Westhaven. We did our usual clean up, washed down the decks, lifted the tender onto the deck, cleaned heads (bathroom) and galley (kitchen), closed all sea cocks (taps on holes in the boat used for various things such as letting water in to cool the engine and letting waste water out of the sink) double and triple checked that alll sea cocks were closed, coiled all ropes and checked all ropes that secure Zinkwazi to the berth were good I also packed up a lot of the food left over from last big sail to take home. And then the drive home to Hamilton.

Posted from Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

We’ve had a fabulous day. Started off overcast but cleared and then got quite hot. Not enough wind to get in much of a sail but a good crossing of the Firth of Thames, including a visit by a dolphin – not that I saw it but I did get a pic of Rob looking for it off our bow.

Elephant Cove is just gorgeous and has already been added to our list of favorite anchorages. After we dropped the pick we dropped the kayaks overboard and went for a long kayak. Including catching up with Gordon on Aurora – we have not shared an anchorage for a while so it was good to see him again.

Aurora at anchor:

Wave rock formation in Elephant Cove:

Once we got back onto Zinkwazi we had a late lunch while we sprawled on the deck till it got too hot. Lunch was cheese and biscuits, smoked mussels, carrot and apple with aioli – very good.

Then we read and lolled around for the rest of the day.

For dinner we had meatloaf with baked potatoes. When my boys were little and I was short of money mince was a staple. Bolognese, lasagna, hamburgers, kofta, meatloaf and probably several I’ve forgotten. But every now and then I make meatloaf. I love it with HP sauce, but Zinkwazi is hiding the bottle I am sure is onboard so it was sauceless tonight. But oh so good with my two secret ingredients – rolled oats and tomato paste. Broccoli and green beans rounded out the meal. In fact I am having to cook extra vegetables these day because Rob is eating a full share and enjoying them. Who says a good woman can’t change a man?

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We’ve had a lazy day. Toasted hot cross buns for breakfast while watching the comings and goings in Issy Bay. Then we lifted the anchor and headed out. Some wind but on the nose so sailing was hard. Temperature has dropped and Rob was worried he’d get wet, but rain held off.

We dropped the pick at about 1:00 – damn chain going out woke me up because I’d fallen asleep reading. But woke up enough to heat some leek and potato soup for lunch.

We’ve never anchored in this bay before. Rotoroa used to be owned by the Salavation Army and they ran a detox facility and public was not allowed to land. I also suspect that as boaties are not the most sober lot they avoided the island in case they got contaminated by the teetotalers.

A couple of year ago we had a picnic and friends bought their bean bags ashore. I appropriated one for the day and it was great so decided to get one for Zinkwazi. Rob was dead against it – and pointed out all the problems of storage etc. etc. But I went ahead and got one – it lives on our aft deck when we we on the boat and on the forward berth when we are not, so that takes care of storage. All on the understanding that it was MY bean bag. But do guess whose arse it cradles most often?

Not mine!

For tea we had chicken casserole with green beans and couscous. Just the thing for a cold day that leaves us in no doubt that winter is coming. Very yummy.

Tomorrow we plan to head across to the Coromandel. We’ve never been to the Happy Jacks so might try to spend the night in Elephant Cove. But depends on the weather!

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Hehehe we are out on the water. After a few weeks of packing, unpacking and cleaning new house it feels like we are skiving off – absolutely delicious!

We got away from Hamilton just after 5:00 yesterday and after stopping for bacon and egg sandwiches at Mercer were thinking we’d be out on the water by 7:30. But we’d forgotten about Auckland traffic! So after inching up the motorway and a quick stop for milk and then unloading wagon and loading Zinkwazi we dropped ropes and headed out at about 8:30.

It was a very dark and still night. Half of Westhaven is being repaired and looks very different with piers removed and we had to carefully thread our way out of the marina. Rob got to practice his swearing when I pointed out we were on collision course with a pole. But once we’d cleared the breakwater it was an absolutely gorgeous night. The city is spectacular at night.

The familiar land marks slipped by, tank farm, Princes wharf, Auckland harbor, North Head, Bean Rock, No. 11 Bouy, Northern Leading Light, Iliomana Rock and finally the port navigation light as we put-putted up the harbour. Lots of boats in Issy Bay but we found a spot and dropped the pick and settled in or the night.

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