Fw: Restless is back in the water in Scotland
Restless of Auckland
Roland and Consie Lennox-King
Fri 18 Apr 2008 03:22
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We left Restless at Silvers Marine in late
September 2007 to have a new paintjob and to winter over while we
returned to New Zealand for Christmas and the southern hemisphere summer.
On the way to NZ we visited friends in Monaco and saw Gilbert on the superyacht
he was working on. We then went to Paris, where Roland went with Oliver to the
Rugby World Cup final. We also stopped in Hong Kong to see Livi and James, and
Jan and family. C had not been to HK for 10 years, and R for 17, so it was fun
to go with James and Livi on the Peak tram and bus to Stanley, and explore HK by
mass transit, train, and tram. We went to the Royal Hong Kong Yacht
Club for dinner and the nightly light show, where all the buildings compete
with coloured lights and beams to make a fantastic display. Jan and
Carolyn took us all out to our favourite Chinese restaurant, the food just
as wonderful as ever. Then we went to Sydney to see C's mum, sisters Bonnie
and Feyona and family, and drove up to Feyona and Andre's farm in the Hunter
valley.
We had a wonderful few months in the Bay of Islands, and
caught up with old friends and went to weddings, a boat launching, and 60th
birthday parties. We were lucky to have Olivia with us for a few days over
Christmas, and her boyfriend James also managed to get to the Bay for New Year.
They are loving living in Hong Kong, and are lucky to have their twin
cousins and uncle Jan and Carolyn nearby. Gilbert is first mate on
superyacht Kokomo, and spent Christmas in the San Blas islands, he is still in
the Caribbean, and returns to the Mediterranean in May. He had a weekend trip to
New York for his friend Rob's wedding, and caught up with cousins.
We returned to Restless via Sydney and Hong Kong, catching
up with family in Sydney, and had an 80th birthday dinner for C's mother.
Then we went on to Hong Kong, where R went on the China Sea Race on 'Cave
Canem', arriving in Manila in time to fly back to HK to catch our flight back to
Edinburgh through Heathrow, where our 3 sailbags got stuck in the Terminal 5
fiasco, we eventually got them back after more than 2 weeks. Thank goodness for
Keir and his warm flat.
Now it is mid-April, we returned to Restless with snow on
the mountains round Helensburgh, and icy cold winds, and even a snowstorm.
The paint job on Restless is fantastic, though we will have to get used to a
wavy waterline since we don't intend to repaint for some years. We were invited
to stay with Scottish friends Jane and Andrew, and Jane took C to many
Glasgow art galleries, Stirling castle, and for walks around Loch Lomond and
Glen Fruin and Duncrynne while R finished off jobs on Restless. We also managed
a quick trip to Garlieston to visit cousin Fiona and Ian, and came back through
Barr, Changue, and Girvan, where C's grandparents retired to from China.
Keir is joining us and we plan to sail south round the
Mull of Kintyre then go through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness, and north to
the Orkneys and Shetlands and across to Bergen, Norway, then to Sweden and
Denmark, and may leave Restless in Gothenburg while we return to NZ for
Christmas and summer again.
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