Lisa visits

Our daughter Lisa made the long journey from Seattle to visit Marcy in December.

The original plan of sailing down to Auckland to pick up Lisa was foiled by a week of nasty weather. So after her 30 hours of air travel and layovers we met her at the airport, drove her another 3 hours, took a ferry, and dinghied out to Marcy at anchor.



Lisa recovered quickly from jet lag and jumped into Marcy’s routine. We gathered seafood, had a nice dinner, and set off down the coast to Whangarei.







Marcy was escorted by a pod of big dolphins as we left the Bay of Islands.



We enjoy seeing all the gaff riggers and even square riggers out sailing here in NZ.



Tradition is respected, and one can even see a figurehead every now and then.



Marcy dropped anchor for a “tramp” (Kiwi for hike) a couple of times on the trip south. The green hills were wonderful to see - sheep rule the landscape. The sheep create and mow gigantic lawns, and leave little pies and the occasional discarded tail scattered about.



We headed up a river to a small city, Whangarei, where we had reserved a spot for Marcy at a boatyard.



Being in boatyard, Peter’s instinct was to work on the boat. Of course Ginger and Lisa were pushed into service.





It soon became apparent that, after some boatwork, some tourist activities were called for. In short order we rented a car, drove to Auckland, bought a “beater” car, drove home, then drove back to Auckland to visit the maritime museum, toured a visiting Russian sail training ship, drove home, explored some caves, visited a vineyard, and hiked among some giant Kauri trees. Oh, and did we mention Sheep World?





















Then, before we knew it, Christmas was here.







Peter’s Christmas dinner was a carnivore’s delight.



We enjoyed our new tattoos. (Thanks MommaSara and Edie!)



Then, it was time to deliver Lisa back to the airport in Auckland and say goodbye….