Entry: May 13, 2003  They are soon to be off to the South Pacific in a one leg hop.  Mark and Gabe are presently at Port Sidney Marina on Vancouver Island, having arrived from Vancouver and will complete their needs here.  SSB problems have delayed the departure slightly but that is being remedied.  Weather off the coast is full of brisk lows so it is a good time to get things ready with the amenities offered in this location. 

Entry: May 17, 2003  7:15 AM   Free Spirit backed out of her layover slip ( D42) at Port Sidney Marina and headed out in cool but windless morning with a route to Port Angeles to clear customs.   All systems are working fine after their modifications on the SSB and some minor stowage was completed.  They are on their way.

Entry: May 18, 2003  10:15 PM    Presently in Port Angeles after a brisk run from Port Sidney.  Winds picked up to 20 knots and Free Spirit had close and beam reaching speeds of 6.5 to 8 knots with a favourable tide.  They reported that they made excellent time.

Entry: May 22, 2003    8:30 PM (2030 Hrs)  Present location is about 50 miles offshore abeam Eugene, OR.  In the last 24 hours they have covered 247 Kilometers.  San Francisco is the predicted destination for Monday and will linger for 3 or 4 days there.  They will then head from San Francisco to the Marquesas and the trip is expected to be about 30 days, putting them there in late June.
Original plan was to depart Neah Bay and head for the Marquesas but weather farther out kept them closer to shore.  You will recall they had a layover in Port Sidney waiting for a weather window.

Entry:  May 26, 2003   5:26 PM (time of email)  Free Spirit has arrived in San Francisco and will be getting repairs done tomorrow on the sail that sustained a rip during the trip down.  Continuation of their voyage will be immediately following the sail repair.

Entry:  May 29, 2003    Main sail has been repaired today and after clearing customs they will depart in the afternoon of the 30th on a favourable tide.  They want to be in the Islands by the end of June.  They have been kept very busy in San Francisco.

Entry:  June 4, 2003    After getting the sail repaired, they departed San Francisco on the ebb and after about 1 hour out, the hard drive on their main computer crashed.  As it is not only an important part of their navigation equipment, it is also a necessity for the emails.  That fact that they were so close for repairs, they came about and returned to SF.  After a total of one week, and all repairs done, they headed off again on this date.  They are presently sailing SW off the coast in search of the NW winds that are supposed to be out there.  (Time of email) 0330 with Gabe on watch and Mark is in the sack.  We discussed their watch times when they were in Port Sidney.  I commented about the sunset and sunrise watch to be the preferred.  It will be interesting to see who gets what.  (I put my money on Gabe)

Entry:  June 5, 2003  Winds are so slight that they have been motoring but have shut it down and are waiting for a breeze.
Entry:  June 6, 2003  Winds pick up a little last night and they got some good sailing in.  They are presently about 175 miles off the California coast and parallel to Bakersfield, CA.  They have light winds, 2 foot swell, 100% cloud cover and 65 degrees F.
Entry:  June 7. 2003  Another great day.  Presently 400 km off shore abeam Santa Barbara, CA.  Temperature is 18 C outside and about 22 C in the enclosed cabin.  All is comfortable and well.

Entry:  June 7, 2003    An email direct from Gabe on Free Spirit indicates that the winds are light making sailing smooth but would prefer a little more wind to get more way on.  She has the "Dog Watch" as she calls it.  0230 to 0530.  They do feel a little homesick at this early stage but that is natural when you have nothing to do but sit in the cockpit and stare into darkness for 4 hours. 
It appears a dead bird it stuck in the rigging at the top of the mast.  Mark wanted to climb up and get it but Gabe thought it would be better to wait.  They still had sails to stow after a sail change so they put of the event until another time. 
Gabe enquired about Wild Spirit (see above) and if he got away on time. (He did).
All things seem to be well.   Location was not given but they are about 3 days SW of San Francisco.

Entry:  June 8, 2003  A blip on the Radar Screen turned out to be another sailboat.  It seems that although everyone onboard were vegetarians except the child that was aboard and they were looking to pick up some meat.  The two little ships came together on the seas and Mark and Gabe sent over some chicken.
Location this date is about 240 miles off shore on a lat. of that of the Mexican / US border.  They have another 2600 km to go to reach the Marquesas.   The sea is reported to be a deeper blue colour and much clearer then the grey colour farther north.

Entry:  June 9, 2003  Light winds have made for slow progress but the weather and sea conditions are beautiful and comfortable.  The sailboat they met with exchanged gifts and chat as the cruised on the port side of Free Spirit.  The owners are two Doctors with their 8 year old son and also their cat.  They are from Newport, OR.  The name of the vessel is "RA".

Entry:  June 10, 2003  Sunnier days now with wind at only 10 kts.  They are making about 100 miles per day and are presently on a parallel with the Isl. Guadalupe, Mexico.   Sunset was beautiful with red skies.   No freighter traffic in the area to report.  Winds expected to rise to 15 kts tomorrow.  All is well as Gabe made Apple Crumble in the galley today.

Entry:  June 16, 2003  During the last week they have experienced good conditions.  Flying fish are reported landing on their deck and an Albatross flew around their boat for about 45 minutes. (A good luck sign for a sailor)   They are presently halfway to the Marquesas.  They sighted more freighters and made contact with them.  The freighters reported having seen them on their radar.   They have been in contact with a 57' Swan that is about a week ahead of them and are also on their way to the Marquesas.  Thinks are good on Free Spirit.

Entry:  June 25, 2003  We have had a number of reports from Free Spirit but waited until now to place them on the site.  They generally gave similar reports that were concerned with freighter contacts, good sea conditions and generally light air as they found them selves in the doldrums for a time.  The managed to attract a lot of flying fish aboard the boat.  A report that came in dated the 23rd of June indicates that they have now received some wind at 17 knots.  This is good as the previous day they only made 95 miles.  A storm is far off to the east of them but is having no effect on them at all.  No freighters have been sighted in the last 24 hours.  More flying fish made their way onto the boat.  Mark and Gabe expect to be on the Equator in three days.  (From the 23rd this should put them on the line on the 26th of June)  Arrival in the Marquesas is expected to be in about 10 days ( July 2)   

Entry:  June 26, 2003  On Tuesday, Free Spirit found the winds very light so they decided to motor as they had an unfavorable current and the drift was moving them further off course then they wanted.  At about 0400, the engine died.  With the light air and unwanted current, they had to hove to while doing the repairs (blocked fuel line).  They had made 60 miles up to the moment of the engine stopping and by the time they had it repaired, a little sleep and topping up of fuel tanks, they had drifted backwards for a net gain of 18 miles for the day.  However, they were pleased when the engine started again.  Gabe went forward and watched the brilliant stars and noted how different the constellation was from what we see back home.  Later, some breeze came up and back to the SE and this allowed they to steer to the SW.  They were making 7 knots in the direction they wanted to go.  On their way again.  At this point, they have been aboard for three weeks.
Water temperature is 26.1 degrees C.

Entry:  July 2, 2003  A series of emails since our last report indicate all things well.  Some squall action so running with a double reef in the main is wise but winds are generally good and progress being made.  They expect to hit landfall today.  Communications may be down for a time due to regulations until the paper work is completed in their port of arrival, Hiva Oa.  They expect to land today at about noon PDT.
Gabe is in the process of sewing a courtesy flag for French Polynesia.  Generally, it appears they had an uneventful trip and this is just how it should be.  Here is a photo of Hiva Oa and the arrival point for Free Spirit.

Entry: July 18, 2003    A couple of emails received in the last few days indicate that Free Spirit has moved to Nuku Hiva, the most populated and largest island in the Marquesas.  The move was made around the 14th of July.  The island's time difference is 2 1/2 hours behind Vancouver, BC.  On July 16 an email was sent that indicated that they are dong very well.  They refueled the boat with 150 L of fuel and picked up some hard to find groceries not available in other parts of the islands.  They will move to a different slip shortly, and with fuel and provisions onboard, they will start to take in the sights.  Life is good.

Entry: July 22. 2003    After doing a lot of sight seeing and general mtc. of Free Spirit, they are headed for Atoll Kauehi, where they will make landfall in about four days.  They are experiencing favourable winds (12 knots) but are getting some squalls.  Cabin Temperature is 32 C and the Water Temperature is 28 C. 

Entry: July 23, 2003    They are making about 141 miles per day.  Speed last night was 7.1 knots in a 2.4 swell.  They are doing 3 hour watches.

Entry: July 24th, 2003    Free Spirit is 7200KM from home (Vancouver, BC)  Last 24 hours saw them at 6.9 knots and covered 159 miles.  Water temperature is 27.1 C and cabin temp. is 30. C.  Contact with the local net gave them some information on the destination of Atoll Kauehi. 

Entry:  July 27, 2003    Mark and Gabe are now in Atoll Kauehi where Mark is celebrating his birthday.  They had some strong winds coming in but this location is very protected.  A five hour wait was endured until conditions were good enough to get in around the reef. Free Spirit and two other boats were anchored about 3/4 of a mile offshore during the wait.  During a rain they collected precious fresh water to top up their tanks.  This location is beautiful with white sandy beaches, palm trees and little grass huts.  The land is very low.  Mark and Gabe will be doing snorkeling and diving while here.

Atoll Kauehi

Entry:  July 28, 2003    Free Spirit is in the company of two other boats at this location and they have been visiting back and forth.  They will go ashore today to do some sight seeing.  Many beautiful fish and coral have been seen while diving. 

New Zealand  - An excellent article was written detailing their travels in New Zealand - Well worth reading .  See Below

_________________________________

This information was provided from Mark & Gabe on their visit to New Zealand
Free Spirit  Spencer 44
Message Received April 27, 2004

Hello All!
It's been a while since our last missive and there's been lots of adventures in the meantime.  We've recently returned from a six week, 10,000 km car camping trip to the South Island and prior to that, a 10 day trip around parts of the North Island.  So get ready - this is a long message.

Starting with the 10 day trip, (North Island), we spent a couple of days refreshing our camping skills on the Coromandel Peninsula, a beach-encircled and largely undeveloped fisherman's and holidayers' paradise.  The roads here are like most throughout New Zealand; narrow, windy ribbons traversing a constantly changing scene of hills and valleys and studded with many a one-lane bridge just in case your attention wanders.  Mark did most of the driving and as we both enjoy road trips this was all fun for us.

Our Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite afforded views of Great Barrier Island where we'd enjoyed fine cruising and tramping, some brutal, in January.  The DOC's range of responsibilities encompasses all national parks, conservation of wildlife, fish, fields, and forests.  Their campsite amenities are of the most basic nature usually offering only a "long drop" (outhouse to most of us), but the sites are picturesquely located.  After a great day on the beach, it began to rain overnight and into the next morning and we therefore indulged in that time-honoured camping foul weather activity - 'took in a movie'. 

Throughout the trip we had to be selective as to what we would spend money on in terms of activities, accommodation or dining, however movies were always an exception.  Yes, we could have perhaps gone caving or paragliding or abseiling instead, but we just can't resist the lure of the silver screen.  Our rating system is based on five stars, with no half points, but an occasional "bomb" for truly abominable flicks.  In Thames that day, we saw "Welcome to the Jungle"  (*)

Standout beaches on the Coromandel are Hot Springs Beach and the low-tide accessible only Cathedral Cove.  At Hot Springs the attraction stems from seams of hot water running under the beach close to the tide line.  Pits are dug, hot water seeps up, and there's much lolling about.  In places the water was too hot for even a big toe!

Gabe's birthday found us visiting friends Helen and Gordon, aboard "Mantra" in Tauranga on the Bay of Plenty.  It was great to catch up and the birthday bash was a blast, including a screening of Tim Burton's latest, "Big Fish" (***).  Together, we went to Rotorua, the famous hot spring and geyser city where more hours were soaked, toured and talked away.  Helen and Gordon headed home while we made our way south to the art deco city of Napier.  An earthquake leveled the city in 1931, and most of the rebuilding, then and since, has been in the are deco style.  We thoroughly loved the architecture, the stained glass, and the ambiance exploring with self-guided walking tours, catching "Cold Mountain" at the exquisite Napier Museum (***), experiencing our first holiday park and visiting surrounding vineyards to sample some of NZ's finest.

A day's drive brought us back to Opua where we reorganized and picked up the long-awaited package with our camping gear (Kiwi friends Helen and Denny had lent us a tent for the first trip) before leaving again.  For those not familiar with holiday parks, we've discovered that most NZ (and Aussie) camping is done at this type of facility.  There are tent, camper and van sites plus standard cabins, kitchens cabins, tourist flats and sometimes motel rooms.  One or more "ablution blocks" contain kitchens and usually dining areas, men's and women's showers and toilets, laundry, TV and internet rooms.  Some have pools and spas and most have children's playgrounds.  They are convenient for meal prep and cleanup and they're dotted everywhere about the country.  Our car was packed with everything including the kitchen sink and we did make use of it all while "free" camping or at DOC sites, but we mostly stayed at holiday parks.  When the weather was inclement, or our gear was soaked, we'd indulge in a standard cabin which are often no more then 8'x10' with as many beds as could be crammed in and sometimes a fridge, kettle and toaster.  The average cost of a tent site is $20 (NZ) and a cabin is $30 - $40.  Such facilities certainly made tenting much easier, but after six weeks we found the lack of privacy wearing.

We headed south again, spending a night in Auckland ("Lost in Translation" ***) in the wake of a couple of strong fronts which brought record rainfalls and flooding to the south of the North Island.  One road was closed requiring a minor detour, and there were downed trees and cleared mudslides, however nothing to cause us too much concern....  other than that this heralded the start of several weeks of generally unsettled, sometimes diabolical weather.  We pressed on for Wellington under overcast skies, but were pleased with a favourable forecast for the crossing of the Cook Straight which can be a nasty piece of water.  A few days earlier ferry sailings had been halted when a car overturned in the heavy seas.  The ferry is expensive, with a complicated pricing scheme varies from $230. to $320 (one way) depending on timing and availability.  At the last minute we were tipped to an upstart line, the Bluebridge, which has an older boat and a slower crossing (three hours), but was priced more reasonably at $190.

The passage through Marlborough Sounds is beautiful, reminiscent of the Gulf Islands ferry passages in BC.  Having arrived in the South Island, and with the weather still iffy, we opted to head down the east coast.  The west coast, also sometimes called the Wet Coast, sees as much a 7m of annual rainfall in places due to the rise of the prevailing westerlies over the coastal mountains.

After a night in Kaikoura, where the steep shelving of the ocean floor makes for great whale watching as they congregate to feed, we were emboldened by the locally fine weather and decided to head cross country for the west coast, even if only temporarily. One of the things we found intriguing during this trip was the rapidity with which the landscape could change.  Over the course of a few hours along the Lewis Pass road we were treated to scenes progressing from golden beaches through pasture land rising through rolling hills and finally into true mountain country.  Locally fine turned to locally wet and sure enough, once into the mountains the weather deteriorated until by the time we reached Lewis Pass we were in heavy rain.  Taking the recommendation of friend Kate, we stopped at Maruia Hot Springs and enjoyed a wonderful soak in the natural outdoor pools, quite undeterred by the weather.  Afterward the road then descended rapidly into Greymouth, where we were glad of a cabin.  Coast to coast in a single day, with time for a good soak.

Having tested and found the Wet Coast living u to it's reputation, we reverted to our plan and headed east again via Arthur's Pass.  This is an even higher pass (920m) then the Lewis traversing fine alpine country where huge glacial boulders and cliffs stud the meadows bringing a Tolkein landscape to mind.  Although there are a number of interesting tramps in this area, the weather was still not cooperating and we pressed on, enjoying some fine views between the clouds, and arriving in Christchurch in time to set up our tent and take in "Japanese Story" (***)

After exploring Christchurch (the botanical garden is lovely and the Antarctic Museum educational) we drove east to Bank Peninsula, named by Captain Cook for the great botanist Joseph Banks.  This volcanic peninsula protruding into the pacific is deeply indented by 11 lovely bays.  The major town of Akoroa was originally settled by the French in the 1840s.  We enjoyed some sunny weather for a spell and flew our stunt kite in the hills above town.  The wind which enabled such fine kite flying increased during the night to the point that one of us had to be in the tent at all times to serve as anchor.  Dismantling camp the next morning was exciting!  With the westerly still howling, we wound along the ridge road to the eastern end of the Peninsula to camp on a beach at Okains Bay.  Here the fabulous Maori and Colonial Museum houses artifacts such as a working blacksmith's shop, a print shop, 12m long Maori fish net traps, a god stick dating back to 1400 and moa leg bones.  The moa was an over 3m tall flightless bird, now extinct, which laid a single egg that could weigh as much as 5 dozen chicken eggs.

Geography and the roads being what they are, our next major stop was virtually all the way back to the Wet Coast where Mount Aoraki/Cook, NZ's highest peak at 3754m, receives 4m of rain a year.  At this point, you're within 40km of the west coast, but there are no passes enabling access across the Southern Alps.  Fine views of the mountain were to be had for the first hour after our arrival before the steadily lowering clouds socked in and the rain began.  We waited two days for the weather to clear, tramping to the terminal face of the Tasman Glacier, devouring the literature and displays in the visitor centre and having a beer in the Hermitage, NZ's most famous hotel.  Our gear was becoming increasingly damp; time to go.

Over the next few days we wended our way along back roads to the east coast, stopping at the "Lost World Centre" where a self-quiding map directed us to the sites of lava pillows, a virtually intact 25 million year old whale fossil, evocatively shaped limestone boulders and other geological points of interest.

Back on the coast we'll remember the pretty town of Oamaru for two reasons: Here the serious bird watching began and here we were rear-ended at an intersection.  The accident was minor, no-one was hurt, but our trunk wouldn't close and that needed immediate attention.  A local panelbeater (aka bodyshop) literally beat it till it closed and in Dunedin the next day this was refined.  A total fix, paid for by the other driver's insurance, would have taken too long so we opted to delay this work until our return to Opua.  The bird watching was far more interesting.....

NZ is home to 13 of the world's 16 penguin species.  The yellow-eyed penguin ("hoiho" in Te Reo, the Maori language) is the rarest penguin in the world, living only in NZ's southern waters.  We were extremely fortunate to see these birds, the first time being at a blind on a bluff adjacent to an old lighthouse.  We'd been sitting for a while when Mark spied four moulting adults shuffle out of their nests to bask in the sun.  Then a youngster hanging about the rocks at the water's edge was swept in, swirled about for an agonizing time and then flung back onto even more inhospitable looking rocks.  It's a tough life learning to swim when you're a penquin.

The Otago Peninsula, just south of Dunedin, offers more superb bird watching, but first we had to wait for car repairs and the weather to, once again, clear.  Dunedin is a bustling university city with a strange hodge-podge of Scottish-influenced architecture.  We became most familiar with the Rialto movie theatre ("Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (*), and"21 Grams"   (****) and some of the antique shops where our collection of old bottles was augmented.

The Otago Peninsula stretches to Taiaroa Head, site of the only mainland albatross colony in the world.  These royal albatrosses ("Toroaingoingo") have a wingspan of over 3m surpassed only by the wandering albatross' reach of 3.6m.  Albatrosses can only take off and land in windy conditions due to their bulk, and we planned a late afternoon visit counting on the inshore breeze to give them the lift they needed.

The visitor centre does a great job of education, but we wanted a better view of the birds and their chicks and so opted to take the DOC tour ($25.00 per) to the top of the bluff where the nests and blind are located.  This areas is fenced off and regularly purged of predators such as cats, possums and stoats.  The chicks are weighed every day and all birds from this colony are banded.  It's a small colony of 90-100 birds and this year 4 chicks have survived, all of which we were able to see from the blind.  The single egg laid is incubated by both parents for 3 months and the newly hatched chick guarded for the first 30040 days.  The chicks are huge, fluffy and blindingly white.  When first hatched they are fed up to 2 kg (1/3 of their body weight) every day in the space of 15 minutes.  At about seven months, the chicks weigh more than their parents and feedings are reduced to once a week.  To our great joy a mother was (as identified by the guide) landed and began to feed her chick a mere 10m from the blind.  With binos we were able to see the chick reaching in to gulp nourishment from her opened beak.  Very cool.  (Gabe's favorite memory of the trip)  Leaving home the chicks make no practice flights, but simply, at around 8 months, step off the cliff into the wind.  They will not walk on land again for 3-6 years and will spend more than 80% of their lives at sea, riding the circumpolar winds.  As we were walking the steep climb up to the blind, adult birds glided overhead, some as close as 4m.  A couple of males were soaring in tandem, showing off and practicing their "flirting" skills.  All worth the price of admission!

Afterwards, another rare treat awaited us at the bottom of Taiaroa Head where the beach is becoming renowned as an excellent viewing location for the little blue penguin (korora), the world's smallest penguin standing tall at 40cm.  We'd previously seen a few in the water while sailing.  Due to the increasingly popularity of this site, the DOC have fenced off the beach leaving an access gate in the middle and requesting that people not venture past it after 1500.  About 20 people had gathered while the DOC official explained that the penguins arrive after sunset and in small groups shuffle up the beach, through the gate and upwards into the hills.  These penguins will travel up to 1km inland over often difficult ground to their nests.  Luck, in the form of the full moon, was with us illuminating their exit from the water.  We were asked to crouch on either side of the fence, not to speak and, as they would trundle u the same road as us, not to leave until at least 15 minutes after the penguins had disappeared.  We were the last to leave.  Halfway up we heard mewing sounds and three or four penguins emerged from the grass and moved toward us.  We crouched to minimize our size and stayed still as the penquins trundled ever closer.  A particularly small one, a chick perhaps?, came to within a foot of Gabe mewing ever more loudly.  After a couple of minutes, we thought is best to leave.  It's our theory that the penguins thought we had food to offer for, surely, had they felt threatened they would not have emerged from the protection of the grass.

Continuing south, we drove along the Catlins Coastal highway, exploring the beaches and viewpoints of this rugged stretch of coast.  Here we saw more yellow-eyed penguins and many seals and sea lions basking themselves on the beaches or rocky bluffs.  While exploring the beaches we were careful not to get between the sea lions and the water as the ocean is their escape route and they can become aggressive if they feel threatened.  Not only are they huge beasts, but they often have a huge smell!  On a beach close to Nugget Point, we spied a solitary patch of white further along and after scrambling u the dunes to avoid the sea lions, came upon a crested penguin sunning itself.  It stood about 70cm tall and was either a fiordland crested or a rockhopper penguin - we'll have to await the photos.  We stayed a good 10m away and observed with camera and binos.  Once in a while it would open its geranium red eyes to stare at us and then continue with its basking.  Save for the sea lions and seals, it was just us and the penguin on the beach and another experience we'll treasure.

Our next city was Invercargill.  The main task here was to prepare for our trip to Stewart Island, the third and furthest south of the major islands of NZ.  We now further extended our supply line, taking a subset of our car camping gear along in anticipation of an overnight stay in a backpackers in Halfmoon Bay on Stewart.  Catching the passenger "fast cat" the next morning, we had a serene crossing and enjoyed chatting with the skipper, a 3rd generation Stewart Islander.  The ferry service is actually owned and operated by Stewart Islanders, not too surprising considering who stands to benefit most from the service.  (It is interesting too that the various ferry services are all privately owned and not considered, as in BC, an extension of the highway system)

The highlight of this excursion was a day trip to Ulva Island via water taxi.  This small "sanctuary" island about 4 nautical miles from Stewart has been successfully cleared of all mammals, including the rapacious possum.  Possums were introduced to NZ in the early 1900s in an ill-conceived scheme to provide an economic opportunity for the harvesting of their fur.  This was a disastrous move for the indigenous birds and even the forests for they have decimated the flightless bird population, especially the kiwi, and have done considerable damage to many native plant species.  Activity is underway to control and eliminate these pests across NZ, but what with propagating at a rate of 1 million a year, this is a daunting task.  In confined areas such as Ulva Island that have been purged, the rate or return of the indigenous birds and plants is prolific.  Never have we heard so much birdcalls whilst tramping.

The weka (same in Te Reo), a flightless bird about the size of a large chicken, has been known to walk up to 300km to return to their home territories.  They are similar to a kiwi in appearance, but with a shorter and stronger beak, and their feathers were much prized by the Maori.  As top predator on Ulva they take their position seriously, and are almost completely unafraid of humans.  We had seen a number of these fascinating birds on our walk, and were pleased to see others on the beach where we stopped for lunch.  After settling onto some large rocks, we were startled by a rustling sound just behind us, and turning around saw that a weka had jumped onto the rock to scrabble at our pack.  We shooed it off, and it immediately ran around in front of us and fixed Mark's sandwich with a beady stare.  While Mark was turning to Gave to point out how cute it was that the weka was fixated on his sandwich, the weka seized the opportunity to leap high into the air and tear a big chunk out of the peanut butter and banana delicacy.  Who knew they could jump so high???  Or that they had such good taste in sandwiches???

Invercargill again. in the same caravan, and next morning it was west to the end of the road where it butts up against the impenetrable Fiordland and then north to Milford Sound.  In all the km we've driven in this country, never has a single day's drive been so stunningly beautiful encompassing ocean, pasture, meadow and mountain scenes.  To say we were gobsmacked all day would be an understatement.  Where the road bends north, the shoreline curves deeply to form Te Waewae Bay.  This Bay is co-managed by the iwi (Maori tripe) and local government who have prohibited all beach access to preserve the pristine nature of the shoreline.  From the lookout we marveled at the rollers coming in, rows and rows of them washing ashore in unbroken crests of 35km across the bay.  Leaving the ocean reluctantly behind we drove through verdant green valleys dotted with huge flocks of sheep and climbed ever higher into the mountains where the waterfalls and sunshine created dazzling rainbows.  The fine weather drew us on past Te Anau, the traditional hopping-off point for Milford Sound, and along the "Avenue of the Disappearing Mountains", so called we imagine because of the rain and fog which often obscures the views.  About 40km short of Milford we stopped for the night at the DOC campground.  The sites closest to the road didn't appeal and we continued along the gravel road to a sheltered spot on the riverbank, passing a sign stating "subject to flooding beyond this point", but thinking... what, us worry?  When the DOC official came by to collect the fee we quizzed her about this.  "No worries" said she, "This bank didn't flood the other day when 400mm fell and there's only 100 predicted for tonight."  Undeterred, we enjoyed our campfire and went to bed just as the rain started.  Not the gentle drizzle that often precedes a rainy night in BC, but torrential from the start and torrential all the next day.  For those who have ever been in a tent with drips falling on your head and puddles forming on the floor, you'll understand it wasn't a pleasant experience.  When Mark asked Gabe in the middle of the night "Are you just totally miserable?"  there was need for nothing more than a nod of the head.

Not even stopping for breakfast, we drove straight back to Te Anu and a warm cabin which soon resembled a local laundromat with the wet gear hanging about.  We had fun exploring the town, but it's too bad there was no movie theatre.  The weather gradually cleared and next morning we made an early start for Milford.  At the end of the road it's possible to go out on a guided kayak tour or a cruise.  Of course, one could also hike the Milford Track, but it was booked solid through the end of April and, besides, we had not come equipped for backpacking trips.  Satisfied with a good view of Mite Peak, we headed back along the highway and spent the day tramping a portion of the Routeburn Track to the 919m Key Summit which afforded magnificent views into the Hollyford, Greenstone and Eglinton Valleys.

The days were still long enough that we were able to drive the 400km to Queenstown and enjoy the effect of the late afternoon sun on the red tussocks covering the lower slopes of the Eyre Mountains.  Queenstown the next morning was quite the eye-opener.  Lonely Planet describes this as a place where the thrills are measured in dollars per minute and indeed that was the case.  Bungee jumping, tandem paragliding, tandem skydiving, jet boat tours, caving, abseiling..... anything to get the adrenaline going, and the pocket book emptied.  Although tempted by the tandem paragliding, which looked like it would provide fantastic views as you spiraled from the top of a local mountain to land in town, we opted for the more sedate and much cheaper option of taking a gondola to the top of the same mountain.  It was a beautiful sunny and warm day, and the views across Lake Wakatipu to the Remarkables (mountains featured at several points in "Lord of the Rings") were spectacular.  Queenstown does have a good cinema, and we took the opportunity to catch "The Missing" (***).

The next day we drove up a 17km windy gravel road to a ski area on the back side of the Remarkables.  From there it was a couple of hours of uninspiring hiking over gravel and boulders, tracking under a ski lift to reach the Shadow Basin Lookout.  The view made it all worthwhile, providing an even higher vantage point than the gondola, with views of Mt. Earnslaw, My. Aspiring, Mr. Akaroa/Cook and way back down Lake Wakatipu.  Another beautiful day, and we returned to our campsite beside the Kawarau rapids tired but content.

We had picked up some information on the 1800's gold rush in this area, and headed out to explore some of the historic town and sites which remain to mark this fascinating era of growth and exploration. Arrowtown retains interesting old building in the town centre as well as the ruins of a large Chinese settlement on the outskirts.  At its peak there were over 4000 Chinese in the area, amounting to almost 40% of the population of goldminers.  The remains of the tiny houses and a store provide a glimpse of the hard life endured by these men.  Further on the road is the Kawarau Gorge (also featured in LOTR) Mining Centre where the Chinese settlement we wandered through had been rebuilt for a movie set.  There too, as sole participants on a tour of the mining equipment, it was a blast to direct the flume of water from a "monitor", a water cannon capable of shooting a stream of 60 cubic feet of water a minute.  Interestingly, some of the mining equipment had come from Toronto.  Next we did some gold panning.  Mark became very excited when Gabe found 8 flakes in her first pan and then more so when tour guide Brett told of nugget recently found bringing returns of $6k and topped it off by saying if we came back the next day, he'd show us some "good" places.  Later, over a fine Devonshire tea, we swapped stories of our passage and his farm where he lives w/o electricity tending to herds of wild deer.

Mark's gold fever subsided overnight, and our next destination was into the hills above Cromwell to tramp around the mining town ruins of Bendigo, Welshtown and Logantown.  A strike in the 1860s attracted up to 2000 miners.  Communities sprang up with houses, stores, and hotels built out of the local schist rock.  By 1880 the gold had run out, and all of these sites were abandoned.  The tumbled ruins of these buildings, equipment 'middens' and shafts of the mines make for interesting exploration.  It was fun to toss rocks down the shafts and count the seconds till they hit bottom; in the deepest this took 7 seconds (you do the math - it was supposed to be over 130m deep).  We enjoyed this so much that we decided to "free" camp for the night next to one particularly scenic batch of ruins; sunset saw us quaffing a NZ pinot noir perched on the cliff above the grapevine-studded valley below.  The shades of pink in the sky were gradually replaced by the dense light of the Milky Way beaming out from the star carpet in an almost 360 degree view (Mark's favorite memory).

After breaking camp and more exploration, we made only 50km the next day and pitched our tent that evening on the shores of Lake Wanaka.  The town of Wanaka is a funky place full of energy, but not to the feverish over-the-top pitch of Queenstown.  We'd moved here in a minute, if only to become regulars at the movie theatre......   It seats about 100 people, all comfortably scattered about in old recliners and couches, with even a Volkswagen convertible for a couple more to curl up in.  Dinner or drinks are available from the small adjoining cafe, and can be consumed in the theatre (many NZ theatres permit alcohol).  The Scottish owner made us all laugh with his intro.  At intermission, the doors were flung open and in wafted the knee-weakening aroma of freshly baked cookies, chocolate, ginger, raisin....  This marketing triumph had everyone stampeding to join the queue.  The film?  "Kill Bill (bomb).

Another gorgeous drive was the one winding through the hills between Lakes Wanaka and Hawea, higher into the mountains and back down to the west coast via Haast Pass.  Here is where we noticed that our right rear tire was again soft, after filling up that morning.  The garage at Haast Beach quickly diagnosed the cracked inner sidewalls and installed two new tires while we took in the exhibits at the Mount Aspiring Visitor Centre.

That night was not among the Top 10 of camping experiences.  The DOC site at Lake Paringa is certainly pretty, but the sand flies were overwhelming.  Slicked with repellant, we made and ate dinner amidst a cloud of these nasty biting menaces and immediately retired to the car to read for a spell before heading abed.  Midnight found us flat on the ground.  This marked the first of our many battle with the stubbornly deflationary air mattress.  Having to blow that darn thing up twice in the night and the inexorable wallowing about as it softened yet again accounted for our exceptionally early start the next morning.

The Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, both easily accessible from the coastal highway, are not what we'd call just another roadside attraction. Nowhere else in the world, at this latitude, have glaciers advanced so close to the sea.  The reasons for this are because of the moisture brought in by the prevailing westerlies, much of which falls as snow at the higher altitudes; because the zones where the ice accumulates on the glaciers are very large so there's a lot of ice to push down the valley; and also because they are very steep glaciers enabling the ice to go to a long way before it melts.  Although they are now receding, both glaciers did advance for a few years around 1985.  We had good views of the terminal moraines (mass of boulders and rocks) marking the end point of the glaciers advance) and the blue ice of both, but due to time and money opted not to go on a quided tramp or take a helicopter ride to the top.

We had been particularly looking forward to exploring Abel Tasman park, not only because of it's wonderful coastal scenery but also because of its historical interest.....  this is where dear friends of ours serendipitously met, lo these many years ago.  After a few inquiries, we decided to base ourselves at Kaiteriteri.  From here we could catch a water taxi into the park and be dumped off with our gear at one of the campsites, allowing us to spend the night in the park even though we were not set up to backpack.  This worked out well; we were ferried along the rugged coastline and dropped off at Bark Bay, right in the middle of the park.  From here we hiked south to Torrent Bay on the first day, and north to Tonga Quarry on the second, thoroughly enjoying the beautiful beaches and the forest tracks on which often glittered brilliant green bugs.  The unusually long tidal flats, caused by the shallow beaches, are frequented on the ebb by oystercatchers (torea pango) and red-billed gulls (akaiki).  The gulls here had us in stitches one afternoon by rapidly stomping their gright red feet along the glistening slick edge of the beach so quickly that they sounded like oceanic egg beaters; they were likely flushing small crustaceans to the surface to pluck up and gobble down, but we could never get close enough to see for sure.

Farewell Spit, extending 26 miles out to sea and separating the Tasman Sea from Cook Strait, is an internationally important bird sanctuary.  The varied habitats of the spit, saltmarsh, open mudflat, freshwater and brackish lakes, ocean sand beach, vegetated and bare sand dunes, support over 90 species of birds, including an Australasian gannet (takapu) colony which represents over 4% (2646 pair) of the NZ breeding population.  This large seabird cannonballs into the water from a height of up to 30m, reaching speeds of up to 145kph and depths of 8m in search of its next meal and watching them is a favorite pastime from the cockpit of "Free Spirit".  As a designated nature reserve, public access to the Spit is strictly controlled with only 4km of the ocean side and 2.5km of the inner beach open for walking.  To see the gannet colony and the lighthouse one has to participate in a bus tour.  As we'd already seen a colony while cruising Great Barrier Island and because of the cost (upwards of $75. per depending on options), we opted for the walking track.  On the inner beach we observed hundreds of black sways with their heads thrust into the water feeding off ell grass.  Crossing the Spit, we slid down a huge sand dune and clambered up and down a few more past small fresh-water lakes studded with oysterchathers (torea pango) and then out onto the ocean side where the Tasman was flinging huge rollers onto the beach.  The wind was fierce that day, whipping sand off the tops of the dunes to create gritty clouds.  Walking close to the water's edge got us out of most of it.  The Spit's unique formation also has a sad consequence, that of whale strandings; in 1991 325 whales came ashore and only a small number were able to be rescued.  Dolphins also occasionally strand here.  Although the reasons marine mammals strand themselves is not known, the most credible (to us) theory is that they become confused and lost due to the huge area of shallow shelving.

Our next stop was an urban one, at the lovely city of Nelson.  Nelson receives more sunshine than any other area of NZ and also supports a vibrant arts and crafts community.  We spent two nights here in a cabin, freed from the tyranny of the air mattress.  Repairing the first of its leaks had been relatively straight forward, and indeed all subsequent leaks were equally easy to fix, once we'd bought more repair goo.  But, maintenance had become an almost daily event and it was a relief not to have to deal with it (since being back in Opua, it has been returned and replaced).  We took in a film ("Out of Time") (**), and checked out as many pottery shops as Gabe could persuade Mark to go into.

We'd almost completed the South Island circuit.  It would have been great to spend a few more days exploring the Marlbrough Sounds area around Havelock, but after almost six weeks on the road, we were keen to get home and cruise the Bay a bit more.  It was a lovely leisurely drive along the coastal highway back to Picton where we had a reservation on the 1900 sailing.  The crossing was uneventful and another cabin awaited us in Wellington.  A high pressure system sitting right on top of NZ had brought great weather for the past few days and encouraged us to make the trip to Tongariro National Park in central north island in hopes of completing what's known as the 'finest one-day walk in NZ" - the Tongariro Crossing, high up in volcano country.  We camped at the DOC site right inside the park (and yes, the air mattress leaked again...), but the weather deteriorated, the forecast was for 80km winds at the peak and it was raining when we awoke.  We packed up and went to Auckland for the weekend.

Of NZ's approximately 4 million people, almost one third live in Auckland.  South Island, by comparison, is home to less then 900,000 although it probably receives the bulk of the 2.1 million tourists who visit this gorgeous country each year.

We drove straight downtown, arriving just in time for the matinee showing of the only 5-star film of the trip ("The Station Agent").  Too bad we hadn't paid more attention to the parking costs; we were relieved of $26 upon leaving!  Being Saturday night we checked out the night life and found Auckland to be a happening place with lots of live music.  Next day we had a blast at the Maori Big Day Out Music Festival which coincided with the launching of the Maori television station.  Sitting in the sunshine from 1000 to 1600, we enjoyed hip hop, reggae, blues, country, gospel and fold music.  The young MCs were funny and great at encouraging audience participation, especially that of the kids who they would get up on stage to either sing or performing the traditional haka/war dance.  Prime Minister Helen Clark even stopped by for a few words.  With the music over and a theatre next door, we say our last film of the trip ("Monster" (****).

After that it was home again, home again.  We were both ever so pleased to round the corner in Opus and see "Free Spirit" riding quietly on her mooring.

And for the future, well, as this is being typed we're heading back to Opua after a week of cruising and tramping in the Bay and also coming to the end of our South Pacific sojourn.  Gage heads back to Canada on May 2 and to work shortly thereafter while Mark will stay in NZ for a couple of months doing boat maintenance.  "Free Spirit" will go on the hard here for a year while we figure out our next steps.

It has been an amazing year.  We would encourage all of you if at all possible to take the time to follow your dreams.  The work and sacrifice have been returned 10, 100, 1000 fold.  A very big thank you to everyone for the invaluable help- the family, Janice for the banking, Margaret for the e-mail handling, Ron for the vigilance on the radio, Ron the hospitality and help in Sidney, Perry, and the Bluewater Cruising Association for the fostering of dreamers.

Mark and Gabe