auckland
Astra
Jeremy & Sally Paul
Sun 31 May 2009 23:15
|
On arriving in Auckland after a long and rather
tedious journey, with noone there to meet me, and feeling very sorry for myself.
I hired a car and somehow managed to drive to the boat, which is an hour out of
Auckland.
She looked great, Jeremy's books and mess
everywhere, so I felt right at home!!!
On managing to get the fridge and ice maker to
work, I had a little nap followed by a lovely glass of chilled Nautillus
Chardonnay ( that one is for Guy Wilkes).
The weather alternated from quite nice to wet and
freezing. The only problem was I could not get the heating to work, and with not
enough winter clothing I got a little chilly.
I then discovered that Adventure were here and hot
footed over there for a visit. Kathy, Sean, Tara and Kasey who are settling
into life in Auckland, awaiting visas and jobs.
The girls are in a very good local school, learning
to play soccer and cricket, and making a host of new friends .I had a great
time being fed and watered, also reciprocating on Astra.
On Jeremy's arrival I decided to leave him to his
jet lag and go to Wellington to visit George. I went with Morgan, the girlfrieng
of Pete from Zulu. We had a great time with a sobre and non-smoking George, who
as you can see from the picture is looking fantastic.
We both decided Wellington is much nicer than
Auckland as it is smaller and slightly more quirky. Unfortunately the weather
was disgusting so did not get to see much except the inside of a few bars and
restaurants. Oh and a bit of culture, a quick visit to the museum to see the
largest squid on earth. Fascinating.
We were met at the airport by Jeremy and on driving
back to town saw that Shenandoah had returned with Ash swinging from the mast.
He is now Coxswain in charge of ribs. We went back next day and had a quick
drink with him. He is loving the boat and is back in the UK Sept time, whilst
the boat is having a total refit.
Over the next couple of days we got Astra ready for
departure. We also managed to have a farewell dinner with Adventure and go out
to dinner with Ash and Morgan
At 17.30 hrs we left for Opua. Just the two of us.
Very daunting, but quite exciting. After about an hour we decided bring back
George and Ash .....all is forgiven. No scrabble for me, and Jeremy wasn't able
to relax on the blue pillow, and give orders.
We motored the whole way, as there was no wind and
as usual on the nose.
On arriving in Opua we spent 3 days waiting for a
storm to blow over and finally at 11.30 hours on Mon morning we set sail for
Australia. I am terrified.
|