Blogging by Ann…

After two weeks land cruising we are back on Charisma. What an incredible trip we had. And we only hit about half of the North Island of New Zealand! We drove through gorgeous country, enjoyed fabulous hiking, learned (at least for me) how to mountain bike and even enjoyed kayaking on the biggest lake on the north island. And no words could do it justice! The most amazing part…everyone tells us that this is nothing compared to the South Island! Next year we will hit the South Island and let you know!

Our return was bitter sweet. We were having a fabulous trip and would have loved to extend it but not only was Charisma calling us but we needed to get back to complete our wedding plans! Yep, the big day is this Saturday! We promise to post pictures!

Our to do lists (they are never ending) include wedding tasks and the final boat chores. Yesterday I was able to finish covering the seat cushions in our main cabin and I am very pleased with the result. And Bob is pleased to have it done AND the sewing machine put away. It takes up a lot of room.

Bob was able to repair a leaking prism in the deck today and found a sheared screw that held on the hand rail, which he also repaired. Two leaks repaired! Yeah! Tomorrow sends Bob up the mast to replace the bent windex- thank you boobies, and the VHF antenna. Important jobs.

This morning Bob test drove a stand-up paddle board. And I got to play too! It was a beautiful morning and one cup of coffee was enough to get us going! Did I tell you how much I love paddle boarding? Sorry spin class, this one gets me outside too and if I don’t fall in the water, which neither of us did, it is a lot of fun, good exercise! So now Bob has one too (thank you Marily and Tom for this part of our wedding present) and now we can play together since I have one we bought in Mexico!

Ann testing MY new board!

Again, testing MY board, but also using her new, super fancy paddle...

Home sweet home, exciting days ahead!