Kiwi Xmas
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Fri 3 Jan 2014 06:22
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We've had friends on board over the Christmas &
New Year period during which we've sailed round the north end of South Island in
mixed weather very reminiscent of the west coast of Scotland - cold wet &
very very windy, interspersed with really nice days. Here is the team (l-r Julie
Stewart, Ian Macbeth, Alison, me) about to set off on a healthy pre-prandial
walk to Awaroa:
 And here is the Awaroa estuary at the other
end:
 Christmas Day in Greville Harbour, D'Urville
Island:
  This scene was preceded by driving rain and 50kt
winds on Xmas Eve - very exciting as we were tied to a buoy just a few
metres from the rocks.
Christmas dinner is got under way using the newly
refitted and beautifully polished barbecue (unused since 2010 in the Caribbean).
Note the need for two crew in silly hats to cook each chop; it is a
mystery to us how just one female can manage the same task:
 Christmas sunglasses:
 The intrepid crew set off upstream on trackless
D'Urville Island for the obligatory Xmas walk:
 VS in Catherine Cove, D'Urville Island looking
southeast towards Pelorus Sound:
 Under sail in Pelorus Sound:
 And the VS in Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound.
This was Cook's favourite anchorage in the Pacific; he visited 5 times in the
1770s and anchored almost exactly where we did:
 And lastly, a view over Schoolhouse Bay and
Resolution Bay up the Sound towards Picton on New Year's Eve:
 At this time of year the forests are full of
literally millions of chorus cicadas, Amphipsalta zelandica. Here is
one of them, sitting on the fern frond visible in the foreground of the photo
above:
 The sound is quite amazing; you can hear a
recording of a single insect at www.teara.govt.nz/en/natural-sounds/11007/chorus-cicada
Multiply this a thousandfold to get an impression
of the real life experience.
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