Category Archives: New Zealand

A Whangarei Christmas

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We headed to Town Basin Marina after we splashed.  It was no surprise to find that the Christmas cheer was in full swing!

We quickly put up a few lights and decorations.  Nothing compared to last year.  But I had to do something as I was judging the annual Christmas Boat Light extravaganza.  We did not have much time to do our full decorating, but we showed a little spirit.  if you recall, we won “Overall Best Boat” last year so I had a repuation to uphold.

The judges met for dinner at Local Talent, then headed to a cruiser’s boat called Rewa for drinks while we waited for sunset at 8:34pm!  Yes, it is summer here and the days are long!

Bribing the judges is strongly encouraged so we were gifted with lots of snacks, treats, and cocktails along the way.

Santa is played by Dave on the Rewa, Sharon is in the beautiful red dress next to santa.  The mayor of Whangarei is dressed in his royalty best and Matt was awarded Grinch of the year.

Santa asked that I be the bell ringer.  This was a really heavy and very loud bell.  After an hour everyone was tired of it but Santa insisted I keep ringing it – so ring I did.  That is until the mayor decided it was enough (around 10:30pm) and stuffed it with a shirt to quiet it down.

Lots of boats got into the holiday spirit with music, dancing, lights, and decorations.  It was a really great night!

A week before Christmas I finally got our decorations out.  It was killing me not being in the holiday spirit.  I feel so much better with them out.

Christmas Cookie Galor

I carried on the tradition of baking cookies for friends.  I used to do this with the ladies in our family when I was young and ever since I had my own kitchen I’ve carried out the tradition.  This year I went a little overboard with over 800 cookies (gingerbread, white mice, sugar cookies, peppermint bark), 3 batches of Toffee and 2 batches of caramel fudge!

I put together 12 gift boxes for cruising and local friends!

Myt friend Kara came over to help decorate the large sugar cookies which will be presented on Christmas day.  It was so much fun having her help to decorate – she brought her “A” game!

Of course we had the cookie monster there to help too.

There was some rose wine helping spur our creative side.

And the final product of 60 sugar cookies decorated in a rainbow of colors and designs.

A New Zealand Summer Sunrice from our dock at Town Basin Marina.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events normally.  But I moved this blog post ahead of the rest so that it coincided with the actual holiday season.

Sweet As….New Zealand

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New Zealand, specifically Whangarei, has been our home for the past 8 months.  We have had an amazing time exploring this beautiful country, meeting new friends, and getting lots of much needed work done on our beloved Sugar Shack.  As our Kiwi friends say, ‘sweet as’ time!  “Sweet as” means “good, right, ok, excellent, great… in Kiwi”

Sugar Shack spent most of her time tied to the dock at Town Basin Marina while she got her make over.  Many locals knew us by Sugar Shack as she was a constant for so long.

Lots of Work Done:

We managed to get a lot of work done on Sugar Shack.  The boat was under construction and in complete chaos for nearly 6 months.  

  1. (2) New Lithium House Batteries
  2. (5) New windows on the cabin
  3. Rebedded all of the other windows and painted protective covering
  4. New Dinghy and new chaps to cover her
  5. New Interior cushions
  6. New Exterior cushions
  7. New Cockpit enclosure
  8. New Main sail and Genoa (by North Sails)
  9. New Stack pack
  10. New Stainless Steel countertops
  11. New Ceiling panels and new interior lights
  12. New artwork and pillow covers

She looks like a new boat….almost.  Just a few more things to do when we come back.  Sweet as!  You are probably thinking…what “come back?”  Yep, we decided to come back to New Zealand next season (which is just a few short months away).

Next Season

New Zealand has the expertise and resources to work on Sugar Shack.  So, we decided to come back to replace our bottom paint with copper coat.  This requires highly skilled workers to apply the copper coat properly. We are also considering a wrap around Sugar Shack to make the side of the hulls look better.  Still in the researching and contemplating stages on the wrap.

Hopefully, we will come back, haul out for a few weeks, then spend the rest of our time sailing around New Zealand as opposed to sitting at the dock.

But with a nightly view as sweet as this…who can complain?

Our blogs run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  We left New Zealand in early July.  

New Zealand Jade

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Jade, Green Stone or Pounamu are just a few names of the many names for New Zealand Nephrite.  This greenstone plays a vital role in Maori culture.  It is considered a treasure or “Taonga”.  Jade is only found in the South Island of New Zealand, known in the Maori language as  “Te Wai Pounamu” (“The Greenstone Water”).

Only one Maori tribe has rights to collect and carve NZ pounamu / jade and they are from the west coast of the South Island. This tribe is the largest in NZ and is called Ngāi Tahu.  Only members of this tribe are allowed to collect, harvest, and carve NZ jade. And you have to be born into this tribe in order to have access the stone.

All pounamu is sourced from riverbeds and boulders in the South Island, especially the West Coast. The colour and markings of each stone vary according to its river source.

Jade can be found in other parts of the world, but it is a distinctly different type.  Jade in NZ is very difficult to carve because it is very hard and is not typically translucent.  Chinese jade for example is softer, easier to carve, and often see through when you hold it up to the light.  Thus the cost is much less expensive.

New Zealand Greenstone

Below are large pieces of jade.  In the upper left photo I am kneeling by a typical boulder found at the river bed that has been exposed by hundreds of years of water wearing its surface to expose the beautiful jade.  The dolphin in the lower right is a piece from China.

I could not resist. I had to get a kiwi made of NZ greenstone and I bought a pendent which is a symbol of strength and hope.

Tbeautiful greenstone is in many shops but you have to be very careful not to buy a piece made from a foreign country.  I was told to ask the merchant where the jade was made and by which tribe or carver.  The answer will easily reflect the origin of the stone.

Events from this blog occurred in May 2023.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind live events.  In our last blog I introduce you to our new ghost who was very mischievous!