We have spent a little over 2 months here in Whangamata visiting with family, meeting new family and friends, receiving friends from our Pacific crossing Fleet (The Barnacles), road trips, planning the next sailing season, hanging out and watching movies, filing our taxes, eye doctor and dentist…check…and watching storms pass us by. We have so enjoyed our time here but we are getting a bit restless and feel the need to move on. Here is a long/short recap of our time here in Whangamata!
Horse races in Thames – Way back in January…Lisa, Jake, Alice (Jake’s sister), and Trevor went to the races…unfortunately it poured rain for hours and the races were eventually canceled but they saw one race.
Tauranga day trip – Lisa, Jake and Trevor and I took a quick day trip to Tauranga, a larger city south of Whangamata but still in the Bay of Plenty.
Surfing – Jake was kind enough to take Trevor surfing…Whangamata is known for their surfing so he couldn’t resist. He actually got up …half way : )
Storms – We had 3 significant storms while we were here.
Random wind storm January 4th – We knew there was something coming but had no idea it was going to be this big. We are pretty protected here in the marina but still we saw huge winds! By far this was the strongest wind we have ever felt…thank goodness we were at a dock!
Tropical Storm Fehi – As cruisers…we still keep an eye on weather, even when at a marina. This particular Tropical storm hit the South Island hard and not just with wind but the flooding due to the king tides…the perfect storm!
Ex-Cyclone Gita – It was Originally a Category 1 when it hit American Samoa, where we have friends, SV Beach Flea spending the cyclone season. They are fine. By the time it hit Tonga, it had increased to a Category 4. It made it’s way to New Zealand but was categorized as an “ex-cyclone” losing it’s cyclone status.
Super Bowl LII– Go Eagles!!!! We watched at a Bucks Sports Bar and Grill here in Whangamata. There were only about 12 of us…only 1 Patriots fan.
Dentist – It was time to get a check up so Trevor and I had back to back appointments….I had to go back for a filling due to a cracked molar.
Valentines day – we did absolutely nothing!!!!
Hotel Slow Flight – We love having company and being so far south from all of our cruiser friends we haven’t seen since Opua, Bay of Islands, we were excited to receive guest…plus Trevor and I were about to kill each other spending all this time together (lol)!
Laurel and Marek- Laurel is the daughter of our buddy boat SV Fandango who is still back in Tahiti waiting out cyclone season. Laurel took some time away to travel around Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam…then came to New Zealand. Marek was her travel buddy who will be here on a work visa for 2 years…hoping to work on/around the sailing community. They stayed with us for 3 nights.
SV All Day Visit: Vlad and Nicole – They just put their boat up for sale in Australia and headed to New Zealand for some tourist time before heading back to the States for 4 years looking for the next adventure. Always the life of the party….these two never disappoint! So honored they blessed us with 3 nights at Hotel Slow Flight.
SV Me Too: Clay, Jill, and Briley – On their way to the South Island by van, they made a special detour to spent a night on Slow Flight. Our buddy boat for the last 5 months straight…honestly it was weird not to be around them for so long while we have been in Whangamata but we all picked up where we left off…reunited!
SV Sky Blue Eyes: Karl and Julie – They guys are HILARIOUS!!!!! We love spending time with them…They have been in Auckland…the only other boat we knew who sailed south from the Bay of Islands…everyone else kept their boats in Opua where we all made landfall…it’s no big deal but it’s nice to now someone else is south like us ; )
A little boat work – There are not a lot of boat repair shops or parts here in Whangamata so when we heard there was an upholstery guy here we figured since we are spending so much time here to get some of the things off our “to-do” list. One of those items was to get a new, more water tight, enclosure made. So we made it happen.
The Pipe’s – Rob, Pam, Alice and Jake and Lisa – Saving the best for last…..without family, this time in Whangamata would be nothing! It has been so amazing to get to know the Pipe’s and in true New Zealand style…they welcomed us into their home, their community, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them and their friends. Thank you Rob, Pam, and Alice….Jake for sharing his time with his family, and Lisa for being my sister. Not sure when we will see you all again but official or not…you are family : )
Taxes almost done, CPA license renewed, lots of movies watched…. it’s time to move forward : )
So good to hear you have had such a good time in Whangamata with family and friends. Even though our time there was short, we have fond memories of our visit with you all. We will eagerly await more news about your ongoing adventures. Keep us informed about where you are going–maybe we can meet again somewhere, as you travel the world. Stay safe and enjoy yourselves. Love, Mom and John in Seattle
Hola Slow Flight! Fyi. I spotted an envelope in the office at Bay of islands Marina with your name on it. The women at the counter are are pretty sure its forwarded mail.
Thank you Chris. We had our mail sent from the states and its good to hear it has arrived in less than 8 days. We are planning on being in opua in a week.