Oh yeah.  The projects never quit.  You start on one and then it magically gets bigger.  I was going to just take off the varnish on the companionway hatch since it was peeling – but that led to stripping the “eyebrow” a strip of teak that goes all the way around the cabin.  Once I did that, it led to the cockpit where the teak has not been redone since I bought Charisma in 2007, so I said; “what the hell…” and jumped in on that.  Well, once I took a really close look at the wood to deck joint that led to a whole caulking exercise – which added another two full days of gouging old caulk out, taping the area and all day today putting the new caulk back in.

And you know what?  Unless you know what you are looking at you would never notice all the work.  Oh, well.

Taking off about ten years of old Cetol with the heat gun and a putty knife. Notice the ear protection-this thing shrieks and the project takes all day...

Taping the seam for the new caulk which is basically a very gooey mess until it hardens - hence the need for careful taping of the work.

Some of the caulking requires backbreaking contortions.

While waiting for stuff to dry-there are other projects waiting in the wings.

Ann enjoying her contortion skills polishing the hull. Only 54 more feet to go!

I was just going to "inspect" the windlass. I ended up taking it off the boat, stripping it down and painting it. Now that means a couple more coats over the next several days (if the weather holds) and then reinstalling.

OK, it’s about day three and I’m already exhausted!  And sore!  Check out this picture and you’ll see what the last two days work has looked like.

Typical position crammed onto the deck with the heat gun and putty knife stripping off old Cetol (varnish). Last year I did half the boat and this year the other half.

Another day or so of stripping and then the hard work.  Ann will be doing the taping to protect the gelcoat on either side of the wood and then we’ll start the sanding and bleaching (as needed) followed by four coats of Cetol on the fresh wood and two coats on the rest of the wood that we did last year.  It’s the “not fun” part of owning a lovely boat.  The teak makes it lovely and different from the all-fiberglass more modern boats, but ahhhh, the work!

We’re also been doing a two hour hike up the local mountain (“Parihaka”) each day to help shed all the weight we’ve gained from months of traveling.  The bonus of the hike – it’s to the lookout which has a beautiful view down and across dozens of miles as well as being through gorgeous old growth forest.

Here’s a tip for the sailors out there for “fixing” zippers on canvas-work that have seized shut from salt water corrosion.  Spray them (thoroughly coat) with butane lighter fluid.  It’s an oil, but very viscous and penetrates deeply into the corroded part and breaks down the salt inside.  Try it – it works!  We just used it today on some parts of the dodger we had to break down that haven’t been touched for a couple years and were absolutely jammed.  After coating around and inside the zipper – voila, it opened.

We also had the fuel injectors removed and sent out for cleaning today.  After the contamination incident in Fiji last year, I want to make sure they are absolutely clean and in spec.

More projects coming up, but a lot of wood work to complete in the mean time.   Stay tuned.

(By Ann of course)
Having an accountant on board can be a detriment…she is always working on spreadsheets and following the numbers! And yes, I did compile a beautiful spreadsheet of our travels on the South Island that gives a unique “picture” (the actual number of pictures taken is still being calculated but will be close to a million I think!) of our trip to the South Island. Anyone interested in the exact accommodation names can send me a message!

So here goes…

38 days of travel
23 spent in youth hostels (obviously no age limit)
11 motel/hotels
2 home stays
2 Serendipitous stays- wonderful Kiwis that offered up accommodations

4,069 miles driven by Bob in Lisa and John’s car (Thank you Orcinius!)

1 four pound German Brown Trout caught and released

19 spectacular hikes, and every one different

7 walks (defined as less than an hour)

1 75 meter zip line in the middle of no-where

4 glorious bike rides

5 fishing expeditions (some bigger than others)

1 stay in a castle with a mysterious butler and a horse in the stable

8 rare yellow-crested penguins

1 25 ft swing

2 handmade knives

7 “cultural” events, including whiskey tasting, beer tasting, wearable art and old automobiles

1 Puzzling day in Wanaka

5 fun encounters – 3 with Bob and Linda from Bright Angel, one with Mark and Anne from Blue Rodeo and one with Jon and Carol from Arnamentia (Cruising friends)

5 quilt stores

12 Fishing and Hunting stores

76 Charismas (some things cannot be missed)

2 pairs of padded bike pants purchased to ensure comfort!

1 Guinness Milk Shake -yummy!

1 $200 Ticket for out-of-date car registration

1/2 Bottle of bug spray and 2 tubes of anti-itch cream (and then we left the west coast!)

2 hobbit holes with tracks

1 tap dancing dog

1 glacial avalanche viewed as it boomed and crashed downward

Infinite number of wonderful Kiwis met. And some pretty fun foreigners (like us) too!

Oh, and wonderful memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives!

We’re back. Whew, what an awesome adventure. We were fortunate to have seen and done stuff that we’ll treasure in our memories forever.

But, now we pay the piper. Boat work. Charisma needs her annual going over and there’s plenty to do. At least three weeks worth. First up – varnishing (Cetol to be exact). There’s stripping off the old stuff, taping, sanding and then two coats on the good stuff and four coats on the parts we have to strip completely. I’m estimating for now that about 30% of the old stuff needs to completely come off. Then engine work – I’m going to get the injectors cleaned again just to make sure all is well after last season’s issues with fuel contamination, get the engine guys to check the timing and fix that little niggling diesel leak that I can’t find, but am pretty sure is coming off an injector seal. At the same time Ann gets to do the annual polish/wax the sides of the hull so Charisma is pretty, but also to keep the crud that accumulates from ocean passages down to a minimum (and make it easier to scrub off).

There’s a page and a half of other miscellaneous jobs on the old job list, so plenty to keep us busy. Stuff like “tighten wind vane bolts”, and “clean/grease the anchor windlass”. By themselves each is a two or three hour job, but aggregated on the list…well, you get the idea.

OK, time to get off to work.

Oh, also, Ann will be compiling a list of our vacation south “by the numbers” in the next day or so, stay tuned and I’ll also post progress on the boat work. It’s so exciting I know you’ll want to follow along (groan).

We are now back on the North Island of New Zealand having crossed the Cook Strait a few days ago. We are working our way back to Charisma and Whangarei. When we returned to New Zealand from our visit to home during the holidays we stopped in Whangarei just long enough to unload the goodies we brought back and repack for our South Island tour.

And while we have had a glorious five weeks exploring the South Island due to the generosity of John and Lisa from Orcinius who loaned us their car, we are getting anxious to get back to Charisma. And yes, to begin this year’s list of boat chores that need to be completed so that we can hopefully cruise a bit more of New Zealand prior to heading back to Fiji in May!

But first a lunch stop in Whangaparaoa to visit Jon and Carol on Arnementia. Don’t really know where it is but we’ve seen it on the map between us and Whangarei and with Carol’s thorough directions we will find it!

At least most of it was fun, except for the harrowing parts!

We started the day wearing green and climbing up Conical Hill in Hanmer Springs before pushing on for the three hour drive to Kaikoura.

The trip from Geraldine to Hanmer Springs on Sunday was a rainy one that lead through beautiful gorges..at least we thought they were but the cloud cover was pretty low so we just enjoyed the bottom third of our view. Of course we could not leave the area without seeing more of it so when the day dawned with clearing clouds we packed up, prepared to leave Green Acres ( yep, we stayed there!) and hiked up Conical Hill.

Our cabin at Green Acres.

The reward was a 360 degree view of still more magnificent mountains surrounding a sleepy little valley. I am sure that when winter brings snow to this place it is packed, but today it was sleepy and sunny. Warm weather again! Yay!

We took the scenic route to Kaikoura even though it was longer and windy. We found the perfect lunch spot overlooking a deep gorge with sheep on the hills and a small stream running through it. Good thing we were so high up because I know Bob was itching to go fishing!

Not a bad spot for a picnic.

Obviously Conical Hill was not the harrowing hike. But two hikes in one day! Oh joy!

Kaikoura is a peninsula on the north east side of the island and our last stop on the South Island. Armed with vague directions for the “shorter” hike that followed the waterline, we headed out for hike number two…this one along the coast. It is a beautiful, rugged coast known for crayfish (lobster) and seal colonies. No need to fear crayfish but I will warn you about the seals. Being from the San Francisco Bay Area where seals abound at the wharfs, we were not drawn to the hike by visions of seal encounters. We just wanted a nice, scenic one hour hike.

Peacefully rock-hopping along the bay.

Up close and personal with the seals.

Now comes the harrowing part of the day.

As we wandered further around the peninsula we were aware that the tide was coming in and cutting off a lowland return. We had been told that we would be able to find a path to the bluff so, on we went around the ocean route. High cliffs on one side, the ocean with incoming tide on the other. A couple of cute seals sunbathed as we cleared the first cove. How cute. But it was the bull seals warning us of trespassing violations with their throaty roar and menacing teeth that caught our attention. We hurried our pace to clear their lair only to find LOTS more seals. When we were startled by a bull seal lurking in the cliff shadow just a couple yards from our path we knew we needed to rethink our exit strategy.

Let’s just scamper up this cliff to safety! Well, not so easy. The cliff face was not as solid as it looked (hint: it NEVER is). Thoughts of using our emergency rope braid bracelets that Stephanie made us for Christmas began to take form. Bob figured if he could get up higher on the cliff he could unbraid the rope and use it to help me up. The bracelets are woven, extra strong nylon rope that can be pulled apart in extreme situations. Ever prepared we continued up the cliff face.

Luckily magic footholds sometimes appeared (luck of the Irish?) and we made it to the top of the cliff only to be buffeted by a knife edge ridge to traverse and building winds! Stay low, crawl forward and breathe. And we did. The view at the top, away from the edge…breath-taking! Phew!

Yipes! We climbed up from the water.

Finally, away from the cliff we can relax.

Tomorrow…we have been invited out in a small “aluminium” dinghy of about 15 feet long to go crayfish pot collecting, weather permitting! If you don’t hear back from us call the Kiwi Coastguard!

It’s dark and Ann and I were walking back to the “Bunkhouse” by flashlight, after a delightful dinner/evening with our new friends Philip and Jenny Harper and we hear tap dancing over in the darkness.  Frantic tap dancing!  What in the world?  Shining the flashlight in the direction of the strange sound revealed Harvey (the yellow lab) standing on the roof of his doghouse dancing to beat the band.  Philip was bringing him dinner and boy was Harvey excited.  Mystery solved.

Harvey the dancing Yellow Lab.

The bunkhouse at Philip and Jenny's farm.

How did we get here – staying in the bunkhouse at a farm in the middle of cow country (north of Geraldine)?  Once again, our strategy of “Serendipity” led the day.  Readers of previous posts will remember that Ann was “just talking to” a couple of folks in one of the hostels we stayed at and that led to getting invited to a middle school cricket match to learn more about the game.  One thing led to another and before we knew it we were invited to stay the weekend at the Harpers’ farm and (bonus) go fly fishing in the high country.

Wow.

George, Bob and Philip.

So, it’s now a couple days later and we pull into a lovely tree-lined lane with a beautiful rock wall on one side and a small creek running through it.  This is an 800 acre farm started by Philip’s father, George, after WWII.  They grow corn for feed and raise cows for milk farmers (with apologies to Philip for no doubt not doing justice in these short paragraphs to all the work you folks really do!).  George Harper got a government loan in the late 1940’s and started the farm that Philip and Jenny now run.  And a bonus for us – 89 year-old George lives nearby and was our co-guide on our fly-fishing expedition into the high country!

We set out at 8:30 in the morning in a 4×4 Toyota truck.  Down the road a ways and then turned off on a rough gravel road up into the hills.  First stop – the farmhouse of the land owners to say “thanks” for letting us have access to their thousands of acres in the most glorious lands you have ever seen.  The gift?  A current newspaper!  They live far enough out of town, they don’t get the current news very often.

Entering the backcountry.

After our brief stop there was more driving over bridges, through some small creeks and washboard roads (which they call “corrugated” roads here in Kiwi-land).  Talking about names of things, we also learned that the hiking food we call Gorp, is called Scroggin down here.

The road in.

Finally we got far enough into the high country that George and Philip pulled over at one bridge and announced that we were going to do the “bridge test”.  Huh?  We got out of the truck, walked to the middle of the bridge and peered into the gin-clear water.  No trout. That’s the bridge test.  If there’s no trout under the bridge, you keep going.  So up we went.  The road got rougher.

The bridge. What more can I say but; "breathtaking!"

George doing the "bridge test".

Finally George – who has been fishing up here since, well who knows how long since he’s lived here all his life, announced there was a likely pool “over there”.  Philip stopped and turned off the truck in the middle of the road – there’s no traffic here, and it was time to do some fishing!

Well, almost.  First things first.  We had to set up our fishing gear in case we saw a fish.

Philip and Bob rigging their gear.

Second.  Before doing anything, we stopped for a “wee spot of tea”.

"A wee spot of tea"

Bob and George with their "cuppa"

OK, now fully fortified and prepared, we set off in search of giant brown trout.  I’ll shortcut this a bit and just say it was a day of mythical beauty.  We searched high and low for trout…and didn’t find any.  Philip did however catch a salmon – way up here in the mountains.

The river panorama where Philip caught the salmon.

Philip, Bob and George heading down to the river.

A timeless portrait of George viewing the river.

First fish of the day! A salmon, about three feet long, that Philip caught with spinning gear and a lure in a deep pool.

After a long and wonderful day of tramping through some of the most beautiful country Ann and I have ever seen, Philp announced that we would head for the last possible spot where we might catch a trout.  We backtracked a little but then got out of the car and started toward the other side of the valley from where we had been fishing all day.  George drove the car down the road a bit and waited, later saying, “I got a bit of snooze!”, while we were postholing across a swampy area toward a most incredible trout stream.  Postholing is a polite term for a hellish trek where every third of fourth step your entire leg disappears into a deep watery chasm that grabs your entire leg, threatening to suck your shoe off your foot should you try and remove it too fast.  Grueling.

Philip leading the way to the secret fishing spot. You'd never know there was a creek here if you didn't have a knowledgable guide.

Finally, we reached the stream and all I can say is the hike through hundreds of yards of muck and crud, falling every ten feet, pulling ourselves back up and trudging on was worth it.  This was a mythical fly-fishing stream.  Five to ten feet across, gin-clear water cutting through a meadow of pampas type grass.  Despite the nightmarish approach, this is the stuff of fly-fishing dreams!

Philip scouting for fish in the narrow stream.

Stealthily, we moved upstream.  The stream is so relatively small you have to be very careful to not be seen by the trout as you stalk them.  Once, then twice we spooked a huge trout.  Damn!  The biggest fish I have even seen went splashing away when they saw my shadow before I saw them.

Then finally coming around a corner of the stream, both Philip and I saw it at the exact same time – a huge German Brown Trout rising on a surface insect and then back down into the depth of the stream.  We stopped dead in our tracks and went to our knees.  “Did you see it?”  “Yes!”

The wind was blowing by now making casting upstream of the trout tricky.  It’s really easy on such a narrow stream to either tangle the fly in the vegetation on the edges of the steam, or with the wind blowing, slap the line on the water above the fish and scare him.

Carefully I made a couple false-casts of my dry fly to measure the distance and then let the fly land.  It fluttered softly to the water about two feet up river of the fish.  Holding my breath I watched as it drifted back down past him.  I’m sure he saw it, but he didn’t make a move.  Did I have the right fly?  Did I position it right?  Nothing to do but try another.  So, I pulled it gently out of the water and made a couple more false-casts to shake the water off the fly, measure the distance and test where the wind was going to blow it, I let it again flutter to the water.  Whew, it didn’t splash.  Watching the fly coming back on the current I saw the trout start to rise toward it.  The moment of truth – he was going to hit it!

When he opened his mouth and took the fly, I set the hook and thus started a mammoth tug of war.  What turned out to be a four or so pound trout against my 5 lb test leader. Take in a bit of line, then the trout dives and you have to let a little out lest he break the tiny line.  After about ten minutes of tiring the fish we got him to a place where Philp could ease him into the net.

Fish on! He took the fly, now we have to keep this big guy from breaking the tiny line.

Success!

Success! After a quick photo, we eased him out of the net and back into the stream with many thanks for a wonderful experience.

Of course after such a wonderful experience we let Mr Trout go with a “Thank you” for being a good sport.  We already had our salmon which as it turned out fed Ann and I for two nights with just the half that Philip so generously offered.

After this, all that was left was another couple hundred yards of hellish post-holding, but this time it was met with a six pack of beer that Philip had hidden away in the truck and kudos from George on a good catch.

We ended the evening where this post started – with a lovely dinner with new friends Philip and Jenny and the tap-dancing Harvey the dog.  Our sincere hope is that we can return the favor of such a wonderful experience someday to these generous folks.

Serendipity.  It works.  It’s wonderful.  Try it some weekend yourself.

A few catch up items.

Our backpackers hostel in Duneden deserves a quick look.  It was above a Pool Hall!  Fun.

Pool hall downstairs. Backpackers hostel upstairs. Interesting and fun!

Between Dunedin and the Castle, we toured an Albatross reserve.

The Royal Albatross lives for something like 40 years and has an over 3 meter wingspan...

...which looks like this!

And on the way out of town, we had to stop at Happy Hens!

If there's a place called; "Happy Hens" we had to stop there!

We spent two nights in Oamaru hoping to see penguins.  They were molting, so not very sociable, but at least we saw these signs…

They take their penguins seriously here...

And on the way, we visited the famous Moeraki Boulders.  Formed by volcanic forces and natural erosion…

Ann taking a zen moment with the boulders...

Playing around in the boulders.