We arrived safe and sound in Auckland, and miracle of miracles our bag showed up,I guess we were just lucky. That was so nice that we didn't have to replace all the cruising guides or have the bag follow us around. The boat buddies that crossed from the Marquesas to Tahiti, Brian and Cathy from Tarun, met us at the airport and gave us a ride to the bus station. We both managed to sleep on the plane and snooze as well on the 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Whangarei. We luckily showed up on the day the merchants were giving a farewell feast to the cruisers so after we moved around some gear and made the bed we headed off to renew acquaintances and meet new friends and have a wonderful dinner.
Cat's-Paw IV was quite musty and dirty below so I spent the next day cleaning up and sorting out the galley. Another cruising buddy gave up a lift to the store so we hit the market and got lots of lovely fresh fruits and vegs. It is fall down here so the harvest is in full swing. There are quite a few people here that we met before we left so it isn't as if everyone has left us behind, I guess lots of people spend more than one season in this area.
We are still on the hard and no date for lift in has been decided. We are busy putting on some new gear we have purchased so a lot of decisions are being made and money being spent. We are adding a wind generator so we won't have to depend on our solar panels for power and we won't have to feel guilty about turning on the lights at night or plugging in the computers. Out fridge has packed it is so we are getting a new thingy (I suppose it must be a compressor) to make it go. Barry says that we are getting a complete refrigeration unit, but the actual fridge part will stay the same.
It is very pleasant to sit in the cockpit at lunchtime and munch away on garden carrots and fresh tomatoes in sandwiches. The temperature is about 20 during the day and cools off nicely in the evening. The days are not nearly as long as they were in Yellowknife when we left so it makes for a long evening. We go to bed about cruisers midnight which is 9:00 P.M. Hope all is well with everyone back in Canada.
