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Till the butter melts

On the move. Heading north till the butter melts. We have been cold long enough, so in search of warmer tropical coladas.

First 100 miles toward the destination of Minerva reef done and dusted. Started off slowly with scraps of the new sails providing enough power to shake out the 8 months of cobwebs with regard to sailing. After a couple of gusty conditions some more canvas came out and just like that we are making good time north.

We check lots of things related to weather before heading off. Wind, wind direction, waves and their direction, rain, cape (energy that creates havoc), and even phases of the moon. Full moon passages are sweet cause it helps spot the dark clouds even at night. What sealed the “time to go” on this voyages was the thermometer would be rising, the forecast showed a nice steady increase day after day. So we set off to watch the New Zealand butter melt.

Marsden cove clearing out of New Zealand

Sugar Shack is on the Move! A New Passage

We have left New Zealand after spending just over 8 months in Whangarei, Town Basin Marina! Technically, we took a 2-week trip to Great Barrier Island so Sugar Shack didn’t spend “all of that time” in the marina!  After many, many projects we are finally ready for the next passage!

This trip will begin on Tuesday, 4 July 2023 where we will depart Marsden Cove Marina and head toward Minerva Reef.  This passage should take us between 6-8 days.

We hope to spend between 4-6 days at Minerva Reef which are two submerged atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!  During high tide, the reef disappears and we will be anchored in the middle of nowhere.  More on this to come in a future blog.

Minerva in the middle of the Pacific

Minerva in the middle of the Pacific

The next passage will take us from Minerva Reef to Nuku’alofa, Tonga. This should take us betwen 2-3 days at sea.

During this passage time we will do “live blogs.”  So, I have suspended all previously scheduled blogs.

Redwood Tree Walk & Swing Brudges

Rotorua is the home of the famous Redwood Tree Walk across 28 swing bridges and 27 platforms.  You are over 20 meters above the ground as you walk 700 meters across the sky.  It is thrilling.

The swing bridge walking trail is shown in the first top left photo.  Matt is showing you how wide these majestic redwood trees can grow.  The widest tree in Rotorua is 72m tall and 12.6m wide.  

It is easy to feel insignificant amongst these giant trees. 

A local artist was hired to bring light art features to illuminate the redwoods at night.  David Trubridge created over a dozen pieces throughout the forest.

This is the tallest platform on the redwood tree walk which requires you to climb up a long flight of swing stairs.

The biggest rule is to NOT touch the trees.  It requires great restraint to not touch these beautiful trees, but the boys push the limits (they didn’t actually touch the tree).

New Zealand is doing a lot to save the forests and regrow their trees.  But in the lower photo you can see what deforestation has done to this country.

A spectacular adventure and so very beautiful.  There are dozens of walks in and around the redwood forest as well.  We opted to do the short 30minute walk as we had to head off to the Polynesia Spa.

Events from this blog occurred in mid-March.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  We take a float plane over Rotorua in our last blog post – did you miss it?