Back in Australia: Gold Coast

Since coming back from New Zealand, we have been hanging out in the Gold Coast, and more recently, in Brisbane. When we got back, we spent a week in the marina at The Boatworks, doing some additional engine work and repairs. We were thrilled with how nice Cool Runnings looked after her 3 weeks at the “spa”. She was clean and shiny, with a polish, new bottom paint, and work done on the engines and sail drives…ready to cross another ocean...thanks Craig and his team at Signature Yacht Services and Shed i-16!

In the shed, all sparkly clean!

In the slings in the travel lift – getting ready to be put back into the water

Almost back in the water

The dinghy gets a clean while the cover is repaired

We felt quite at home there. The Boatworks supplies a courtesy car for people staying in the marina, so we were able to shoot off to the shops, and do a bit of shopping and visiting here and there. It is a great service, and made it almost too easy to continue staying there!

This is the "yute" that we got once (here they call "bakkies" or "trucks" "yutes" as in utility vehicle)

And this is me in my little Hyundai!  Like I said, we felt quite at home!!  Thank you, Boatworks for a great service

Our first big engagement once back in Australia, was the “Builder’s Reunion”. Amazingly enough, almost half of Dave’s Building Management graduating class lives in Australia, and thanks to the efforts of Brian Chambers, the chairman and founder of “Dave’s sailing fan club”, we were able to enjoy a reunion with 7 former university mates in total! Brian Chambers and Gavin Cubbin live on the Gold Coast, Richard Wilkinson lives in Brisbane, Andrew Dudley lives in Sydney, Kevin Pickering lives in Perth, and Les Gorvett lives in New Zealand. Thank you to all of you for making the effort to come to this reunion…especially those that flew in: Andrew from Sydney (and a special thanks to his daughter Katherine, who shared her dad with us on her 18th birthday weekend); Kevin who flew in from Perth, and Les who flew in from Auckland, New Zealand! We had a very special time with all of you!

Friday night was dinner at Gavin’s. Thanks to Gavin and his wife Sue for hosting us, and for the delicious curry dinner (bunny chow!). Then on Saturday, we went for a bit of a spin on Cool Runnings and had boerewors on the BBQ.  We flew the drone again for the first time in a long time (You Tube video to follow at some point!), and the builders all had a swim.  On Saturday night, we all went to Brian’s house, where we had a “make your own pizza” night with the pizzas baked in his very own pizza oven. It was so good to catch up with everyone again, almost like old times, but, amazingly enough, a little calmer. You guys are not getting old, are you??!!

Drone pic of Cool Runnings with builders on board!

Cooling off in the Broadwater:  Kevin, Andrew, Gavin, Les and Dave

Builders reunite!  Richard, Kevin, Brian, Andrew, Gavin, Les, and Dave

Gaby makes her pizza in Brian's pizza oven

The next big event to report on, was the day that Ben and Gaby got to spend at a real school! Thanks again to Brian Chambers for organizing this!! I’ve posted Gaby’s account of her day at school under the “Kid’s Cabin” tab, so please feel free to read it there! We rifled through our belongings to try and resemble a uniform, and they packed their backpacks and lunchboxes, and off they went to spend a day at Rivermount College! It was a wonderful experience for both of them, and a big thank you to Carla for coming to pick them up and to Brett and Annie for looking after them at school!

Ready to go!

Who gets to go to school in a dinghy?  

With Brett and Annie Chambers

The second weekend back William and Pascalle Voerman and their kids Alec and Cameron joined us on the boat. The Voermans showed us their backyard, and we had a great time anchoring at Jumpin Pin on Saturday afternoon, and then moving the boat closer to Tippler’s, a popular local boater’s destination, where we spent Saturday night and most of Sunday. At Tipplers, we saw wallabies, which always makes us happy!

Stunning landscape at low tide

Amazing sand dunes

The kids had fun on the dunes

Gaby makes a sand angel!

The parents enjoy a beverage…now, it looks as if only Dave and I are partaking, but I have evidence that Pascalle was enjoying a glass of wine too!

See…Pascalle actually has 2 wine glasses!!  (OK…full disclosure…she was holding mine while I took photos!!)

With William and Pascalle back at the boat

Ben and Gaby enjoyed playing Blackjack!  (no real money changed hands!)

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and we headed back up the Coomera River, dropping the Voerman family off at Coomera Waters Marina, and we went back out into the river onto a mooring buoy.

We spent one more week on the Gold Coast, taking advantage of William and Pascalle’s hospitality, doing a bunch of washing at their house, using their internet, and then on the last weekend, borrowing Pascalle’s car, so we could do a big shop at Aldi!

A dinghy full of supplies...and that's just the 1st trip...two more full dinghy loads after this!

Our final farewell of family and friends on the Gold Coast was on Sunday, March 19th. In the pouring rain on Sunday morning Dave Taylor came to pick us up, and we met with the Taylor/Smith families at Burleigh Beach for breakfast. Then Warren and Camilla, Tanner and Sage came back to the boat to drop us off, and also so that Camilla and the kids could see the boat, which they had not had a chance to do previously.

Bye Warren, Camilla, Tanner and Sage!!

 Later that afternoon, the Voermans fed us once again, and we had a lovely BBQ at their house, together with some of their South African/Australian friends.  A special thank you to William and Pascalle for everything you did for us, for your hospitality and friendship. We will miss you guys!!

Gudrun, Joe, Pascalle, William, Brenda (with Stitch), Dave, Paul and Bridget

The Gold Coast had become like our second home, and it was so easy to just continue to stay, but we had to start heading north, and we wanted to still explore Brisbane, because we had missed it on the way down. We had planned to spend just a few days in Brisbane, but Cyclone Debbie had other plans…more on that in the next post!

The Best of New Zealand: South Island

What an amazing 10 days we had on the South Island, New Zealand! Dave provided more detailed accounts of our time here, while we were traveling, but, as before, we were not able to post any photos. I’d like to take this opportunity to post some pictures of the incredible scenery of the South Island.

A map of the South Island to help orientate you on our travels!

We flew from Auckland to Christchurch, on Monday, Feb 13th and picked up our campervan. We found a grocery store and provisioned for our next 10 days on the road. We spent the first night at Lake Ellesmere, just south of Christchurch. The next day, we drove to Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand at 3,724m (12,290 ft). Weather was not on our side, and we couldn’t see the summit of Mt. Cook, but we still marveled at the spectacular scenery driving along Lake Pukaki and up through Mt. Cook National Park. We couldn’t stay up there, so we drove back down and towards Queenstown. We were headed to Omarama, when we discovered the clay cliffs about 10km off the beaten track. Quite spectacular, and not scenery I would typically associate with New Zealand!

Our campervan at our first stop at Lake Ellesmere

On our way from Christchurch to Mt. Cook

Lake Tekapo

The road to Mt. Cook

Spectacular Mountains

Clay Cliffs at Omarama

The clay cliffs from a distance

We camped at a free campsite outside of the town of Omarama, and early the next day we drove all the way to Milford Sound. We were able to get a spot for the camper at the Milford Sound Lodge, and spent the night there. This allowed us to take the first boat tour of Milford Sound the next morning, which dawned beautiful and clear. The first sunny day we’d had on the South Island! After spending the morning in Milford Sound, we drove back along the Milford Sound road and spent the night at a stunning spot next to Lake Wakatipu, just past Kingston, about 30 minutes from Queenstown.

On our way to Milford Sound:  stunning views of Lake Wakatipu outside of Queenstown

While waiting to go through the Homer Tunnel on the Milford Sound Road, this Kea was checking us out!  The Kea is the world's only alpine parrot and can be found in the forested and alpine regions of New Zealand's South Island

Milford Sound:  You can see the scale of the mountains and waterfalls by looking at the size of the boats

Yes, it was a little chilly!

More Milford Sound

We were so lucky with the weather:  the sunshine shone on the snow-capped mountains

Ben enjoying this incredible experience

Back on land, looking back

Crystal clear reflections

A panoramic view

The fern that is the national symbol of New Zealand

Waiting to go back through the Homer Tunnel.  The tunnel is a 1.2km (0.75 miles) long road tunnel linking Milford Sound to Te Anau and Queenstown

At the other end of the tunnel

The scene that greets you when you exit the tunnel

We just couldn't get enough of this spectacular scenery

Our campsite next to Lake Wakatipu.  We ranked this as our most beautiful camping spot of our trip!

The kids enjoyed playing at the lake's shore

Dave teaches Ben how to skip stones

The 2 crazies in our family go for a dip in the ice cold water!!

Ben practicing skipping stones

Crystal clear water

Presenting the levitating Benjamin!

We left the beautiful campsite and drove through Queenstown, and then on over the mountains through Arrowtown, past Cardrona and Wanaka. Then on through Mnt. Aspiring National Park to Haast. We were then on the coastal road which eventually led us inland again to Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier, where we rested our weary heads for the night!

On a lookout point outside of Arrowtown

A panoramic view of the lookout

Spectacular Lake Hawea outside of Wanaka

Mirror Lake

We see the sea again!  A beautiful, unusually calm Tasman Sea

Bruce Bay:  The most driftwood we have EVER seen on one beach!

The next day (which happened to be my birthday!), we walked to as far as you could get to the terminal face of Franz Josef Glacier. It was about an hour and a half walk, following the path of the receding glacier.

Our first glimpse of the glacier

Following the glacier's path

Real time learning for our students!

The following are a collection of Glacier pics:

The helicopter shows the size of the glacier

Birthday girl! :)

The path carved by the glacier is quite incredible

One last view of the valley

My birthday flowers!!

After our walk up to, and back from the glacier, we continued on, driving along SH6, stopping at a small town called Hokitika, that I clearly remember from when Dave and I were here over 20 years ago! It was here that the kids finally saw a live Kiwi bird (in captivity), which had been on both their wish lists. After this stop, we carried on driving past Greymouth, now inland, in search of a campsite for the night. It was along this road that we stumbled upon the Brunner Mine Memorial. We wish he had had more time to explore this outdoor memorial commemorating the Brunner Mine disaster which happened on the 26 March 1896, when an explosion deep in the Brunner Mine killed all 65 miners below ground. The Brunner Mine disaster is the worst mining disaster in New Zealand’s history.

The beach at Hokitika

Site of the Brunner Mine memorial

The old mine shafts are still visible

The Brunner bridge was built in 1876 and spans the Grey river

We called this a Hobbit House (it was part of the old clay factory)

The kids ride on an old coal truck

The next day we drove up towards Picton, and found a spot to camp overnight, so we could drive into Picton to meet up with our friends on “Moby” the following day. It was wonderful to reconnect with Loic, Benedicte, Victor, Arthur and Anna again! They sailed “Moby” all the way to the Marlborough Sounds and, believe it or not, it was great to get on a boat again! We hope to meet up with Moby in Indonesia, and sail to South Africa together.

Our trusty camper

Sunset at the campsite

The vineyards of the Marlborough region

Boat kid reunite!  With the kids from “Moby”:  Victor, Arthur and Anna

With Benedicte

Cool Runnings and Moby together again! Gaby, Ben, Dave, Gudrun, Victor, Loic, Arthur, Benedicte & Anna

Sailing back into Picton after a lovely afternoon at anchor in one of the sounds

The kids LOVE swinging on the harness on Moby

The picturesque town of Picton

Our holiday was coming to an end, but we still had some important stuff to do! Dave planned a fun, action-packed day in Hanmer Springs, where we got to go rafting, go on a jet boat, and have a family paintball game!

This sign welcomed us

The river we rafted down

All geared up and ready to go rafting!

In the raft with our fellow rafters

And off we go!

After we'd rafted down the river, we got a ride back in a jetboat!

It was a LOT of fun!!

Walking to our game of paintball:  sheep - what's a post on New Zealand without a picture of sheep?!

Ben, Mom and Gaby....ready for battle

After the battle:  Dave and Ben.  (notice the green paint splashed on Dave's helmet...!!!)

Ahhh...that's better!

This incredibly lucky family had a LOT of fun!!

We had a fantastic holiday in New Zealand. While it was a lot more expensive, crowded, and touristy than Dave and I remembered from our previous trip/s there, the spectacular scenery is unchanged, and a treat to be able to enjoy!

Goodbye New Zealand...thanks for a great time!