Whangerei

Ladybug and I made it into McCleods Bay near Whangerei and we are now moored to a mooring that Rob and Jo, cruising friends from 'Blue Moon' whom we met way back in 2008 in Mexico, have let us use. Jo is a Canadian and works here as a personal trainer and Yoga teacher, while Rob, a New Zealander, is running the construction project for their new home and fitness studio/retreat. They are both in the thick of the building process and seem a little frazzled from dealing with the paperwork as well as all the subcontractors.

The trip from Wooley's Bay where I ended up the night before (just shy of Tutukaka) was done in two lovely tacks. The first tack was for three hours way offshore to the 'Poor Knights' islands (a world class diving destination, I am told). The second brought me all the way in to Bream Head at the mouth of Whangerei Bay. The winds died down as I reached the head of the bay but I was just able to catch the end of the flood and then slack tide and tack up the estuary nearly into McCleods Bay.

McCleod's Bay has an interesting history for me, being a Nova Scotian. The settlers here were Nova Scotians - Scotts from Cape Breton, who emigrated to Australia and then New Zealand before finding a good place to re-settle. I must say I do not blame them for leaving Nova Scotia as you can grow darn tasty grapefruit and oranges here, not to mention raise cattle and sheep without dealing with harsh winters and rocky soil.

I have started buying camping equipment and researching hikes in preparation for Rani's return. The local area has half a dozen coastal, mountain, river, and ridge walks that I will try in the next few weeks. I will also work on Ladybug's deck leaks and arrange to have the anchor chain regalvanized, although I hear that I may have to wait until after Christmas for the latter project.