Birdman Russell

Its the annual Birdman competition being held in Russell this coming Saturday – and would you believe its an estimated 50 knots and buckets of rain – all from the East, the wind would be okay,but not the rain,

unfortunately, if this wind does come down, the ferries will not be running, and I hear the car ferry won’t be either! It’ll be blowing straight in down there.

Poor Toni is about to pull her hair out – we’re keeping an eye on the weather, and tomorrow will know whether to postpone/cancel and run with it!

We’re about to be hit by a weather bomb – a nasty sub tropical cyclone, that has built itself from over the islands (New Caledonia Indonesia) and has just unbeleivably grown, its twisted and changed direction 3 times now, but is on a definate collision course with the top of the north island – including us!

Update tomorrow…..

Another day in paradise

I sit and look out the window where I work on the waterfront the wind is building to 30 knots from the south east, as one, all the moored boats slowly swing their sterns around and face into the wind.A small white inflatable is bouncing along like a cricket the man at the tiller is accompanied by a black and tan dog eagerly looking around , spots the shore an waits in anticipation for land.

A family of 5 tourists are having fun fishing from the wharf one man lets loose with a magnificent cast out wide and with hand in pocket steps back and waits…..SUCCESS so quickly, the rod dips and flicks and up comes a small fish promptly taken off the hook by an obliging Black Back Seagull. Undaunted the man rebaits and casts again. The local fish n tackle shop have been doing a good trade today!

I overhear the chat on the radio between the commercial tourist boats no dolphins and the sea is building to being uncomfortable for their passengers.

A different type of tourist today. Casually dressed (what I call sensible) ready and waiting for the big boats to pick them up, killing time wandering round the town purchasing little trinkets & souveniers.

A small aluminium runabout approx 5 metres long, with 4 pob, cant make up their mind if they really want to go out in this chop, yes no, yes no, its definitely a NO, coming back into the wharf.

Maday call goes out, kayaker clinging to rocks off Cable Bay, in Doubtless Bay got tossed out the kayak which is now smashed to bits on the rocks all stations call to any passing boaties to collect the man from the rocks itd be brave skipper getting in close there!

Oh no, the runabout has made another attempt, really being bashed about by the chop and wind, thats better, run abeam to the waves chuckle theyll be nice and wet when they get into Opua.

Oh how my nanna would love the sea today lots of white horses as she called the white caps really sloppy out there now, and the wind is now gusting up to 40 knots from the South West, better close my window papers going everywhere…..brrr thats better.

Dolphin Seeker has just dropped off its first load of sight seers and shoots over to Paihia to collect their second load. Looking at peoples faces whove just got off, theyre a bit wind blown & rosy cheeked! All heading to the locals restaurants for some lunch and hot drinks, cameras hanging round dads necks while mum carries the bags.

If I hear another exclamation about the property prices next door, Ill scream! Im amused to see that the ones who are the loudest about the prices look very well dressed, whilst the ones who are quiet and dress casually in jeans etc are the ones who quietly buy the properties….

Seagulls are settling into the sand on the beach hunkering down against the wind, the blow should be over by later this afternoon, then well have a nice Easter weekend.

Note for myself, must bring an ashtray over for Stewart, ash and butts all over the ground outside NOT all his, but lets keep the radio rooms looking tidy.

The fishing family have been driven off the wharf by the wind, as they walk slowly past here theyve all got smiles on their faces and the children are talking to mum about how they want their fish cooked please….not sure how shell spread to jack mackerels between the 5 of them though.

Is the weather updated yet? Ill just check – …..yes, well the Bay of Islandshas, but not the Brett & Kaipara areas.

Oh thats right! We took a gentleman diving the other day and he asked Trev to be his witness when he marries his girlfriend at 11 oclock today! For reasons I cant give his name, as its a surprise to their families back home! oooo I hate having secrets! but isnt that just so lovely?
We farewelled another friend back overseas last night I admit, I just DONT do farewells well. I dont have that many close friends so when they come over I revel in them and try not think of them leaving again. I am an open book when it comes to showing my emotions no matter how much I try to hide them from everyone, when I am successful Im told on the one hand thatI look miserable and depressed so let them go and then get told on the other hand that Im doing a Bev this by my friend who has mood swings that look like a seismograph sheet recording. I know you mean well, and its lovely that you care we will miss you especially the chubbly hugs!

Speaking of such I think Ill try the parsnip & apple soup for dinner tonight, its definitely soup weather today, the temperature hasnt risen over 16 degrees all morning!

Oh, just check the weather again to see if its updated and yes it has just cut n pasted and printing out we have a lot of power cuts in Russell so its handy to have it printed out. The other week a couple of seagulls flew into the power lines and shut the whole of Russell down! Nature vs Man….

I dont know about my thoughts of it improving by the afternoon, its getting worse and Im slowly losing sight of Paihia/ Waitangi they are receiving an almighty deluge of rain over there! Oh oh ,the power is flickering, better save this and close down… later

 

Stage II – The Hothouse

What an awesome prezzie!!  A friend of ours is going back overseas in a few months and is slowly dispersing belongings accumulated over quite a few years -

Trev spent the morning brushing down the rust in the old welded joins, then spray painted the whole frame with black paint, after it was dried, we “put on the old girls clothes” and there she stands in all glory – The Hothouse!!

He secured it to the decking as we can’t find anything to peg it down with – and by golly she won’t be moving in a force 10 gale!

As usual, the Wallymeister kept putting in his nose and helped with the supervision.

Wallymeister says - Left hand down a bit!

Needless to say, all we need now is go over to Kerikeri and visist Hardy’s Plant yard to obtain our mixture of soil, compost, potting mix and blood and bone for the containers and some nice fine seedling mix for the hothouse.

Seeds are on way from Kings Seeds, and should be here in two days – woohoo, finally something I can get my teeth into – literally speaking?

Thanks to Scarecrow for all your wonderful advise – Trev’s finding another container for the Wicking Bed, will stay in touch.

My Vege Patch

before

The whole area is completely covered with weedmat and tons and tons of bark chips, I tried lifting the weedmat but underneath there is only yellow clay.

Well, at the moment I can only say its a Vege p… Trev found some plastic 40 gallon drums which we are recycling and he spent the whole of yesterday sawing and sanding off the edges.  We decided to cut two into three pieces, and one  in half lengthways.

 

We have a very convenient trellis on one side of the back deck which will be

recycled-drums

perfect for the climbers – and it receives  the morning to noon sun, then will be shaded from our intense summer heat.  Already I can picture the kilo’s of tomato’s, cucumbers, beans and peas on the plate!

I’ve spent today arranging the circles so they will be able to get the early morning to mid afternoon sun.

Next step is to decide whether to fill the containers with soil, or compost, or perhaps a mixture of both soil and compost.

Better check out the Scarecrow’s site and get some advice from him.  I’m looking forward to all of this, anyone have a simple design for a “Worm Farm” out there?

A good healing..

Moonscape

Clinically, its on the mend, but still spreading across that “huge medium” called a bum, I tried going for a walk today, but kept cramping down the back of my whole leg; perhaps a gentle swim might work?

I’m going crazy not being able to do anything – balancing in the boat is one thing that works the old muscles without you realising it, but actual strong physical work is definately out of the question for a wee whiles yet.

Three Amigos wrecked on Tapeka Point

Oh my, we received a sad phone call from a friend of the owners of the 50foot yacht The Three Amigos.  They were coming into Opua to clear customs for their trip across to Rarotonga.

It was night, and they were following the leading lights to Waitangi when they suddenly realised by the noise that they were in the wrong position and that they were on Tapeka Point, taking evasive action they steered hard a starboard, but it was too late.

Merv (who is on 70 years of age), was thrown through the rigging and had his nose ripped off, but his wife Gaeleen did a marathon save – she threw him overboard and swam him through the 3 metre swells onto the rocks and safety.

The local passenger ferry Bay Belle with Sam as skipper went out and held her spotlight on the couple until the helicopter came and airflifted the couple to Whangarei Hospital.

We were asked to go out and dive the Three Amigos and see if we could penetrate the wreck and obtain their personal belongings. 

The sea had been pretty high due to the recent storms this past week, and by the time we got there, the deck was separated from the hull and the boys were hanging onto the railings from grim death – at one stage they only had 1 to 2 feet of water on top of them when the exceptionally big swells of 2.5 metres slammed over them all.

We pulled the pin as it was too dangerous, feeling absolutely miserable as we were unable to get inside one of the cabins, where Merv and Gaeleens’ lifelong possessions were stashed.

The saddest part of this day, is knowing that these wonderful people have not just lost a yacht – the Three Amigos was their home and their only possession.

We wish you both a speedy recovery,

Bums rush!

Oooo – ouch!  I fell down a flight of 12 steps, those nasty Terracotta Italian tyle steps, and I was wearing my Crocs – I made it to the top okay, turned round, got to the second step down and my foot went out from under me as if someone had grabbed it, consequently I have discovered that at my age, I no longer bounce as I’m sure I did when I was younger!

So, I am typing this standing up, while my back is saying “sit down!” but I can’t for too long…

Would you believe its still raining? I feel sorry for all the boaties waiting for their window to sail back up to the islands, they must be chomping at the bit so to speak.

I’m back on line…

What with the diving and moving house and having all sorts of things happen, I’m back again.

We moved house Easter weekend & were told we wouldn’t get internet or phone for 5 to 15 days, they were pretty much on the money, but I am extremely happy with Vodafone’s services – you don’t get told lies or have things hidden in the  fine print with these people – unlike Telecom!!  Anyway, that’s yesterdays news.

Our new home is so open and  beautiful! No more leaking roof, or mould growing through the paintwork on the walls!  AND Trev has a double garage which in a space of only four days has been turned into a workshop (well, half of it at least.  He’s been down to the Recycling Plant and bought home old doors and wooden frames and built himself a lovely benchtop to work on. Upstairs, we have 3 bedrooms – one of which I have turned into an office, but still with room to put up a fold away bed for unexpected guests.

A separate laundry, 2 bathrooms!! (no more waiting with crossed legs now!) a KITCHEN NOT A K…… a huge lounge dining area and —-get this? — a washing line!!! Two beautiful decks one at front and one at back – we still have our sea views and of course our bush views out the back!

Our new landlords are very caring people, and already have sent in repairmen for the garage door, and the oven door has been replaced, I’m now having to learn to almost “cook all over again” as this oven works as it should – instead of taking 3 hours to cook a chook its cooking in the time it should take!

The Wallymeister settled in beautifully! He still has his high views to look out from, and hasn’t left us once!  He is putting on weight fast and moves an incredible 2 feet from his pillow on the couch to the doormat inside the ranchslider to soak up “more sun”.  He may take a leisurely stroll down the ramp and relieve himself during the day, then returns to his sunny spot and sleeps for the duration – its a hard life being a cat!

We had planned to have a BBQ, but we’ve only had about 3 days of fair weather and its been constant rain since then!  Oh well, we’re not going anywhere for a long while yet!

Bay of Islands Dive Club do the Poor Knights

Yep, I’ve had a holiday from Russell Radio alright, and have thoroughly enjoyed myself boosting our own little business in diving. 

To top my “so called break” we (Trev & myself) went with the Bay of Islands Dive Club and dived the Poor Knights today!  with Bruce of Cray-Z-Dive.

Trev "chilling" taking it all in at Poor Knights

Trev was absolutely serene – diving for himself and although those on board may have been offended because neither of us acted as “Instructor or Divemaster” please believe us, we truly needed “a dive for ourselves and a break from entertaining and instructing in the arts of diving……”

We had been spoiled yesterday at the Cavalli Islands with viz around 40+, but me personally? today I fullfilled a long time dream, I dived the Northern Arch – I was blown away with viz from here to Africa! Can you imagine being a “member” of a Kingfish School?  How about diving with “non plussed stingrays then?”  Oh oh oh , where and when do I take a photograph?!”

Both Trev & I decided on what depths we would go and who would wait for whom when taking photographs -er um, didn’t exactly happen as planned – but hey! come on, who of you out there TRULY STICK TO YOUR PLAN?! not many I expect! especialy with so much happening around you.

We found a weightbelt with about 13 kg’s weight in it, and stashed it on a ledge, on the way back to the Cray-Z-Diver, I could not find it, and kept trying to signal to Trev “where’s the belt?” he kept looking at me as if to say “what the heck are you narked?!” – I gave up after a while, and when we surfaced told him in words -he confessed he’d forgotten all about it!  after an hours surfical, he talked with Bruce, and he went back for it, but after 20 minutes gave up and surfaced without it.

Bruce punched the anchor winch button, and we went forward, back, port (left) and starbord(right) but it woulnd’t let go – so Bruce called for help, and Grr volunteered to go down to free the anchor – “its only 23 metres” they both said – Grr lived up to his qualification as DM and went to jump out, and his mask snapped! – I’ve never seen anything so badly designed in all my life!  Trust Mares to come up with such a stupid idea – self releasing clips!  Consequently we handed him a good old fashioned “liberator mask” and even he admitted on surfacing, that is was a comfortable fit and was soft on the seal,  after attaching the anchor to a lift bag it freed itself after a little help from Grrr, and after a suitable safety stop we were on our way again.

Our Second dive was at Serpent Rock – hmm, like the story about the gynacologist Bruce: and your imagiantion can take you there for sure…this was a one tank dive, a complete circumnaviation around the island from beginning to end – and the fish life was just as good as in the Northern Arch – but there were a lot more Nudibranch than in the Northern Arch.

When everyone was aboard, Bruce from Cray-Z-Dive took us on a wonderful cruise around the Poor Knights and then onto the Pinnacles and the Sugar Loaf,

An Awesome Day!

Wow, so this is what a holiday is all about then? Up early again, getting dive gear sorted, meet at the Waitangi Ramp around 8am, and Bob is out from Belgium on a 7 week holiday.  He’s borrowed his friends Tech BCD – and its an absolute nightmare for him ~truthfully? they’re not that good for quick released in an emergency by the looks of their “bells and whistles”!

Trev took Bob for the first dive at Putahataha and I could see he was going to enjoy this one, sure enough after 58 minutes they both surfaced, big grins on their faces. “you should have seen this & that…..”

Second dive, both myself and Grrr took Bob, and what a joy he is! Someone who loves my style of diving, slowly and watching everything and if something takes your fancy? Take a shot!  Wait if you have too for that sea worm to come out….just marvelous, it didn’t feel like work today, more like I had a companion I had been diving with for years.  After 66 minutes, though we both surfaced beneath Molly, not sure who had the biggest smile today! ha ha…

Grrr was wonderful, I have somehow “popped out a tendon” or something on my left hip joint and it was excrusiating on the boat, and he just grabbed my foot and put pressure on the old foot “up and down”…it helped tremendously….

Bit worried about to hear that Trev when he was at work went all “wonky”…he needs a holiday too…maybe we can both look forward to the winter and go away to Queenstown or somewhere?…..

The vis today at Deep Water Cove was an average of 18 metres and the water temperature around 21 degrees -hmmmmmmmmmm nice!