Tramping around in NZ

Yes, Marcy is still in New Zealand. The interior projects are done and the fiberglass dust is finally out of the boat.



Ginger tells us what she thinks of fiberglass dust.

To celebrate completing the big project of re-installing all of the ports (writing this in heavy rain we’re glad to report that they don’t leak…yet) we took a “great walk” the Tongariro Northern Circuit, around a couple of volcanoes in the Tongariro National Park.






The trails in this park are heavily used, so it is good that most of it is very well engineered, with stairs, bridges, gravel, drains, and reinforcing walls.



Sign posts and wands are everywhere.



They use a helicopter to bring loads of gravel for the trail bed.



Fall is well underway at this altitude,



so we were grateful for the sleeping huts available each night.







We met and traveled with a cheerful and fun loving group of Kiwi nurses and paramedics. James is a good guide - as a ski patroller for the nearby resort he knows the area well. We hope they'll stay in touch. Maybe we'll see them in our travels.





We left the park with sore joints, blisters, and aching shoulders - and very grateful that we got a chance to see this part of New Zealand.





We’re eager to embark on the next leg of the voyage. With luck on the last few jobs – anchor roller, rigging items, rudder seal, provisioning – we’ll be sailing north to Opua in a couple of weeks. We’ll take off from there, when the wind looks good, to head for New Caledonia.