Life on the Hard in Half Moon Bay

The view from our new home

Monday January 18th 2016

Amelie on the lift at Half Moon Bay Marina

The Boatyard in Half Moon Bay has been home for a week now.We hauled her out on January 12th. The plan is to get her bottom repainted and to get all sorts of work done (sails, minor rigging work, drive oil & seals, prop service, furlers, etc, etc,etc...)

“Living on the hard” means that we still live aboard, we can cook , do school and sleep on the boat, but without the usual soothing rocking of the waves or splashing sounds, we are 10 feet off the ground, surrounded on all sides by asphalt with only Amelie’s Keel and some side supports keeping us upright !  We have a tall ladder leading us back to the ground when we want to go for a walk to the nearby beach or grocery store. I’ll tell you, the 5 minute walk to and from the bathroom and  the various sounds (grinders, air compressors and heavy machinery driving by) has been something we had to adjust to, but we are grateful to have a place to stay while Mark tackles the long to-do list. 

We leave in 2 days for our adventure on the South Island and we are getting pretty excited to go! Before we leave though, I wanted to give you an update on all that we’ve seen and done this last month.

As you may have read in Meg’s last blog entry, we did have a chance to visit a few great nearby places with my sister and niece after their return from their tour of the South Island, it was four days until Christmas and so we packed the excitement in 3 days!

Just to summarize: We marveled at the Glow Worms as we silently floated by them in a boat, in total darkness in Waitomo Caves

The Stalagtites in Waitomo Caves

Our boat ride to see the glow worms in Waitomo Caves

We were thrilled as we spied dozens of Hobbit holes in a perfectly quaint setting beneath rolling green hills as we walked through Hobbiton in Matamata. 

Meg in front of one of the many Hobbit Holes in Hobbiton

The detail in the props makes for a wonderful experience

Hobbit holes under the Large Oak Tree

Walking through Hobbiton in Matamata

We felt the heat in Rotorua, where the volcanic activity allowed us to experience geysers and boiling mud, and to feel boiling water rise up through our toes on the beach at Rotorua lake. 

Steam coming out of the ground in Rotorua

Auckland City as seen from Rangitoto Volcano

The view of Auckland from Rangitoto

Christmas Eve and Christmas day were both rainy but it was perfect for us to enjoy quality family time together. We really enjoyed having family with us this Christmas as it made it all the more special. Playing games, watching movies and eating really yummy treats ! And even if the turkey cost us $90NZ (for a 10 lb turkey!!!), we decided to splurge and get one anyways, it had been a long time since we’d had one! 

On boxing day we sailed to nearby Rangitoto (A volcano Island, just a couple hours sail from Auckland) and climbed up to the top to reap the benefits of its million dollar view of the city, well worth it ! 

Doe vs the geiser in Rotorua

Maori mask

We took a ferry into town on the 27th to go and see the much anticipated new STAR WARS movie. I had quite pedantically kept myself in the dark, not having read ANYTHING about it, no reviews, no headlines and I think we were all pleasantly surprised. It was a good night out! 

The next day we had to say a fond farewell to our guests, with one last stop with them, visiting a butterfly sanctuary on the way to the airport.

Since their departure we have been catching up on schoolwork and the odd boat projects, but since we were in a marina, it all felt very different from what we are used to, being able to take the car and drive off to run errands at a moments notice. 

Speaking of driving, I find that my driving is very different than it used to be. After being at sea where everything goes slowly, I am slightly freaked out by the speed at which vehicles come my way on the road. Oh yeah, I am the biggest geek at the wheel now. I have my ole grandma glasses on, both hands firmly on the wheel, it takes me 5 minutes to back up, moving at a snails pace and stopping and wrenching my neck looking left and right every few seconds, add to this fact a steering wheel  and review mirror which are not where they are supposed to be and windshield wipers going off instead of turn signals and, well, you get the picture I think.

On New Years Eve we stayed up until midnight to see the fireworks at Sky Tower- Matthew was not sure it was worth it (he likes to get to bed early) It was weird being somewhere where the sun is up until past 9pm on New Years, but the cold winds kept us from being too cocky about it being summer, we stayed awake by playing in the playground and enjoying dinner and fresh oysters at a waterside restaurant in the Wynyard quarters of the City. Bringing in 2016 slightly ahead of the rest of the world had a pleasant,somewhat eerie quality about it, well worth staying up past our regular bed time for. 

Waiting for  midnight….N-Y-E in Auckland City

A few days later we decided to go and visit the Coromandel Peninsula, just South of Auckland, My sister and niece had raved about it!  We approached this 3 day trip as a good dress rehearsal for our month long journey through Middle Earth coming up soon.It was a relatively short drive, stopping first in the small village of Clevedon, a friendly place to stop for lunch and to pick strawberries. 

Our drive along the Coromandel Peninsula

Picking strawberries in Clevedon

Matthew enjoys a freshly made strawberry frozen yogourt

Hundreds of sea birds on Coromandel 

Clevedon was also the place where, quite by chance, we stumbled upon a treasure trove for VW Westfalia lovers like ourselves. A man who's name we never got, has a small business there called the "BUSHAUS" and this guy has, over the years, collected over 40 of these fun-loving german camper vans, we enquired, and no, none of them were not for sale, he would rent them out for a nominal fee (and if you passed his 'interview' before he let you take one of his babies) but did not want to part with any of them for any price! No wonder we had trouble finding one to buy here on the North Island!  Once we were done filling our baskets full of fresh and juicy strawberries, we were on our way again, stopping at Miranda’s Hot spring pools for a dip, along with what seemed like the entire population of New Zealand- so we got out of there pretty quickly, and found a quiet campground at the South end of the Peninsula. 

Scenes from our drive along Coromandel

The next day we set out - Our goal: to drive, the entire Coromandel Peninsula in a day. We set out, going West to East stopping every now and then to take in the grandiose views of the ocean. It was marvellous! 

Interesting flora seen in Coromandel

Our drive along Coromandel Peninsula

Driving Coromandel Peninsula

Scenic view point along Coromandel Peninsula

Coromandel Peninsula

The seaside road framed by overhanging trees, overlooking pristine water...then up and over the high hills onto the East coast where sleepy cottage filled villages were bursting at the seams with families taking their summer holidays. We walked the hour long hike to Cathedral Cove to enjoy the fantastic rock formations on the beach. We  loved our day so much that the next day we decided to drive it all again this time from East to West!

Walking towards Cathedral Grove

The kids take a break amongst the rock formations in Cathedral Grove

Cathedral Grove

Giant Hydrangeas

On our way back to Auckland the next day, we decided to stop in again to pick more yummy strawberries in Clevedon and we were told by the farmer that there was a Polo Game which was scheduled to start in less than an hour, so we jumped in the car and drove to the fields, threw together a picnic with what ever left overs we had and for the next two hours enjoyed the excitement of watching a live Polo game. The horses were kept just behind us and we were right in the middle of all the action, what a thrill it was for all of us to experience this, a relaxed yet still quite sophisticated event, it was all very “Horse and Hound”. I was almost expecting to catch a glimpse of Price Harry or William, as we sat with our strawberries and brie cheese, on the lawn, the players greeting us in a friendly way as they trotted by us on their magnificent horses. This was a great way to end three beautiful days away from home.

The Polo game we came across on our way home

A beautiful way to spend a Sunday afternoon

This was a first for all of us !

Since that weekend we have been working very hard and non stop. Meghan has been hard at work with school (7 days a week!) and Mark is crossing off a few items at a time from his list of 101 items. One day, after school, MC took the kids off to a well deserved break to the West Coast (I hour drive). Our destination was Muriwai, to see its famous Gannet Colony and to have a quick dip at the beautiful beach there. We have grown quite fond of these birds (also know as “Boobies” in the South Pacific). It was so neat to see hundreds of them gathered off the picturesque cliffs of the rugged West Coast of New Zealand!  We watched them, in wonder for a couple of hours  before heading back home again.

Having fun in Cathedral Grove, Coromandel Peninsula

Meg braves the cold waters to have the first swim in NZ

Muriwai, Gannet Colony

Gannets are always entertaining to watch !

Gannet Colony, Murawai

On another afternoon we stopped in at Howick Historical Village where the kids learned all about the early settlers in the 1800s. And so this bring us to today. We are getting ready to leave for our one month long trip down to the renowned South Island, just two more sleeps ! Amelie IV will be resting on the hard and we will head out in the 'M Mobile'.  Four wheels instead of a keel for this adventure! We hope to have many scenic stops along the way, and more than a few glimpses of middle Earth, as Peter Jackson envisioned when he filmed Lord of the Rings ! Stay Tuned...

Howick village

Howick Village

Meg and MC celebrate life in Cathedral Grove