WHITIANGA, MERCURY BAY, COROMANDEL PENINSULAR 

19TH MARCH, 2013

We have spent the last three days up river in Whitianga.  Firstly to meet up with an old school friend Alex Elson who is a vet here secondly to shelter from the tail end of a Cyclone.

We had a lovely seafood dinner out with Alex on our first night after drinks at her delightful house just on the edge of Whitianga with it's menage of horses, Pugs and cats. The house, although new, is designed in the old style as a traditional colonial cottage with a veranda and filigree/fretwork around the guttering area and veranda with Wisteria growing over it.  It was originally in the centre of town near the marina but, as many New Zealanders do, she had it lifted up and taken further out of town where she had brought some land.  

The 'weather' came in the following morning, Sunday, and it was horrible even the idea of taking the dingy across the river to go to the cinema in the afternoon was cancelled it was v. windy and v. wet. so we hunkered down below decks and got on with below deck jobs and read our books and caught up on emails.

Yesterday was a better day the sun came out for awhile and Alex and her house guests came on board for coffee in the morning.  J and I went ashore later to get some stores and then in the evening we were picked up by  Dave and taken up to Alex's house for dinner.  She had been given a wild pig so she had slow cooked it in the casserole with loads of veg and spices, it was delicious, I provided desert of an Apricot Tart tatin, easy to make on the yacht.  As for many Kiwis 9.30 p.m is late so we were driven back to the marina just after the heavens had really opened with a huge monsoon rain storm, we were able to leave during a window in the weather.  Baled out the dingy and headed back to the yacht, or shot back as it was about a 7 knot current coming up river!!

Today we are beginning to head back to Gulf Harbour.  The wind direction is in our favour which is good but this morning gusts of 40 knots are expected so we are delaying our departure until midday.  The idea is to head up the coast of the Coromandel Peninsular to Port Charles/Sandy Bay to anchor for the night and then head around the end and back to Gulf Harbour by tomorrow night.  We will then tidy up the yacht then leave her to head over to Sydney for a family wedding for three nights.