Fw: 35:47S 174:20E New Zealand
Toucan
Conor & Marion Wall
Sat 21 Apr 2012 09:59
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We are nearly at the end of our time in New Zealand having arrived here on
the 2nd November 2011. The plan now, once the weather improves, is to move back
up to the Tropics and continue our journey westwards. First stop should be Fiji
or Vanuatu both about a weeks sail from the Bay of Islands. We have really
enjoyed NZ and although we had no desire to visit in the past we feel very
fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend such a long time here on our
journey around the world.
Photos speak louder than words so here are a few from our collection.
  Believe it or not but this was once a ‘Kauri’ tree before someone
carved a spiral staircase into it. Me at the bottom and Patricia coming out at
the top.
Toucan’s time in New Zealand has been spent in the bay of Islands and later
in the Town Basin, Whangarei (about 100 miles north of Auckland). Having
purchased a car on arrival in NZ we have toured extensively both North and South
islands firstly with Shay and Patricia (brother and sister in law) and then on
our own for 6 weeks around the south Island.
 90 Mile Beach at the top end of of the North Island, you can
actually drive it for about 50 miles and the Coaches use it as a highway, tide
permitting.
    The big tree is New Zealand’s largest ‘Kauri tree’ next photo is
the Giant Redwoods, then the Silver Fern, common throughout NZ and one of their
national emblems. The last photo is just a nice photo taken by
Marion
    Some more vegetation, see the size of the person (me) in the first
photo, and would you fancy living in one of those houses with the towering trees
beside it. The ferns in NZ are just stunning, so many different varieties, this
one was about 3 meters across, photo taken from a walkway high up the tree
canopy. Final photo is known as the Christmas Tree as it flowers at that time of
year with red flowers.
It’s hard to imagine the beauty of
a country that you have not yet visited but having been to a few myself in my
lifetime I have to say that the scenery, vegetation and the walks of New Zealand
takes a lot to beat. The shear scale of the landscape with the forever changing
topography and ever changing light as weather in these parts changes mighty
quickly, is often breath-taking.
  Hells Gate Geothermal Park in Rotorua. A fascinating town with
amazing geology, hot springs, geysers,boiling mud, sulphur vents
etc..
  Sunset and Sunrise
  Pancake Rock formation on the West coast of the South
island.
  Foxes Glassier: One of the few places in the world where the
glassier extends to almost sea level, remember it’s summertime here now.
    Some of our photos of Milford Sound, which is actually a Fjord not
a Sound.
    The longest wire bridge in NZ, not sheep, where lepraucans live and
another fern photo.
More photos to follow:
At the time of writing this we are
busy preparing TouCan for the next stage of out trip around the world.
Antifouling, anodes, etc. etc. We expect to leave NZ around the end of April
when the risk of a Cyclone is much reduced, and the onward route should take us
to Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Australia and the Great Barrier reef to Darwin,
then possibly Bali, Christmas Island, Coco Keeling, Rodrigues, Mauritius, La
Reunion, Madagascar and South Africa.
As your sailing season is about to
start in the UK, Marion and I would like to wish everyone in CSC good sailing
and ‘may the wind always be at your back and the sun warm upon your
face’.
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