Having said farewell to the delightful KC spaniel Douglas, at the end of our house / dog sitting duties (we’ll miss him), we’re back on board Macushla and it feels good to be home.  Neil and Ben of Nautique Ltd who had done such a great job with our new toe rail, suggested that the teak in our cockpit be sanded a couple of millimetres to level off the caulking and to be sure to prevent any lifting through water ingress.  It took us no time at all to ask them to do this preventive maintenance job, given their wood expertise and being equipped with the appropriate tools.  We returned to a cockpit with its teak restored as new – great result!

That same afternoon we took delivery from Innature of our custom made mattress and topper, complete with special woollen covered coir matting for insulation and ventilation. Skipper had already prepared the base a few weeks earlier by removing the V insert fiddle.  Verdict – new mattress is wonderful  – PERFECT in every way.

The stages of a new bed:

A ‘new’ cockpit:

And of course our being in Auckland has meant there’s been a continuation of our culture fest.  This year marks the 400^th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and when, on arriving in Auckland all those weeks ago, we saw that there was a replica of London’s Globe Theatre in the city, called The Pop Up Globe, we were determined to go along.  Unfortunately all the seats for all performances were completely sold out, so it seemed we were to be disappointed until an email from Eventfinda.co.nz pinged in to our Inbox.  The good news was that the successful run had been extended for the 2^nd and final time.

We booked tickets for Twelfth Night and enjoyed a fabulous afternoon.  Live theatre at its best – something we’d not enjoyed for a very long time, with photos (excluding flash) allowed to provide an excellent reminder.

Further cultural outings have been courtesy of the Bridgeway Cinema which, along with a great selection of films, shows ‘Live’ screenings from theatres around the world.   The National Theatre’s production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses from the Donmar this week was truly brilliant.  Next week The Pearl Fishers from The Met…

Photos of The Pop Up Globe and Twelfth Night:

Some of our Bridgeway Cinema Outings: