Unfortunately the weather gods have chosen not to smile on us yet. Our weather agent, known here as Santa Clause, has advised us that two thumping great lows are crossing the Tasman at the moment and now would be a very bad time to go. He literally wrote WAIT in capital letters in his advice! So we wait... but not without hope. The lows havent hit us yet and the boat was ready as were we to leave Auckland so we got permission from Customs to clear out of a different port to the one we cleared in and have moved about 140 nautical miles up the coast to the northernmost point of departure, Opua in the Bay of Islands.
We left Auckland yesterday afternoon at about 2pm after a final franctic morning of handing over the car and some final provisioning at the Auckland gourmet fish market which sells items that are Steffie's essentials for any passage including seven or eight different varieties of cheeses, dips, onion relishes, gourmet italian sausages and well you get the picture. We were all in high spirits as the sun shone down on us when we left and the trip out of the Harbour was very pleasant as we relaxed in the cockpit, everybody was happy just to be underway again and to breathe in the fresh air. The night however promised to be bitterly cold and it was! We had no wind for the first few hours so averaged about 7 to 8 knots under engine before a headwind came in and we were able to make the waypoint under sail averaging about 6 knots in a 10 to 12 knot breeze. Steffie slept from about eight and i put the kids to bed before following them at about ten. Alfred showed me the radar and gps and wind shift alarms so that I can help out in passages in the future but naturally my primary job is to look after the kids so its more important that I have energy during the day to keep them occupied. The wind picked up when I went to bed and I had not yet fixed my lee cloth so I spent about 60% of the night clinging to my mattress like a gecko as we keeled over heading upwind. She sailed beautifully though and I was not a bit seasick! Thanks Stugeron!!!
Our last week in Auckland was a good one. The kids finished their last few days of school in NZ and we had a farewell party at lunchtime at the school where all the kids indulged in a sugar high of chocolate donuts and lollipops! We also fitted in a farewell lunch at the Sushi Train, a farewell trip to Devonport on the North Shore for lunch at a pub called the Brewery and a dance with the kids at the jukebox and a childfree lunch at a Korean BBQ restarurant near the boat which was great. We ordered the traditional BBQ and picked a choice of four meats - Beef Bolgolgi (finely sliced marinated beef), marinated pork, chicken and pork belly and then we received a side dish of lettuce leaves and salad and some condiments. In the middle of the table the waitress bbqed the meat for us on a gas burner and then we piled it into lettuce cups and away we went yummo!
Just so happened that the Americas Cup started here on Saturday as well so there has been heaps of publicity in the paper as the Kiwis are Emirates Team NZ proud! Plus it helps that the captain Dean Barker is a bit of a hottie! On the Saturday night after the kids had gone to bed Steffie, Alfred and I wandered over to the Team NZ sheds - just behind the boat - for the live site viewing. The council had erected a huge screen and there was drinks and food etc. It was a fantastic atmosphere - the race didnt start until 1 but it opened at 11. Dissapointing that Team NZ lost that race but given that the teams are now 2 wins all it promises to be an awesome series.
Our weather man informs us that Wednesday 4th of July should be ok to leave so we shall spend the next few days exploring what appears to be the rather 'sleepy' town of Opua and I shall keep you informed!
