Goodbye ocean , hullo canal

Carol has decided that blue water sailing is no longer on her 'to do' list. But Canal Boating ...well that is still on her 'to do' list. So new plans are being laid......nothing has been finalised,.... All we can do is wait and see where we end up and how we go about getting there. Goodbye from CHARIOTEER and her crew.

Another week in Paradise

Funny how people ask "have you ever had any bad weather at sea ?"...the answer is almost a lie,as one tends to forget just how bad it has been sometimes, :) but the other night when tied to the marine we had sustained winds of 47 knots !!! We thought we might have been going to join the launch opposite us, but all ropes held. Somperhaps people need to ask what are the strongest winds you have been in and where was it.

We had the pleasure of hosting ( for too short a time ) Frank and Vooma Ratnam who we met in Danga Bay Malaysia. The weather, mercifully, was kind to us for the forty eight hours they were in Wellington. We gave them a taste of Kiwi life and took them up to Andrew and Avrils house for a kiwi BBQ.....Mmmmmmm. The next day we got delayed enjoying TE PAPA, so there was only time for a quick ride on the cable car and then a car sprint to the ferry terminal.

Friday night saw CHARIOTEER full of girls.....the first 'sleepover' on CHARIOTEER for Tayla and Kendra and the excitement meant wide awake bouncing happy girls until late at night...but everyone slept well and the visit was a success.

Life in the tropical climes is so kind to the skin,..... my wedding and engagement rings were a tight fit, my face was smooth with just the hint of wrinkles, my sandals fit snuggly. but now that has changed. My rings slide all over the place, my sandals flop and my face...well perhaps this wee story will give you an idea of my face ....
Danielle ( aged 8 ).....Ma ( that's me) I want to design clothes.
Me.....well go ahead, design,what is stopping you.
D........I haven't got anyone to design for...
Me......there's your mum , nana and me
D......no I want to design for a teenager
Me....I could pretend to be a teenager.
Danielle looked at me, considering the offer. The she patted my hand and said.....
Ma you would have to dye your hair and wear heaps of makeup. :)
The honesty of kids....I just love it. :)

Today Andrew ran a half marathon......the number of people doing that and the 7k walk was amazing........at the finish line the supporters were out in force. We are so proud of our son....... Go Andrew, go.... :)

Birthday delights

The sky was blue, the sun shone and the fish just begged to be caught. grand daughter Tayla caught two Blue Cod but would not have anything to do with them once they got within reach of the landing net. Tayla likes her fish with chips and tomato sauce....not jumping in a bucket with several others.
My birthday sail was a success. No one was seasick and we did some gentle sailing that all the grand daughters enjoyed......even though we could not grant the request to ' do donuts like daddy does'!!!! ( Daddy has a very fast Malibu waterski/ wakeboard boat.)
Summer has been here for three days........but today it moved somewhere else :(
Brian is still busy getting at the rust...but is winning the battle. I am riding my bike to town rather then using the car, and a bit of gentle weight lifting in the morning....got to keep the fitness up.
The kitchen refurbishments are going well. And after a discussion with the paint shop man and Brian I am painting the fence a warm pinky/ pumpkin colour. I did want to do it burnt orange but they talked me out of it... :( but at least it will not be the normal boring colour. :)
All is well in the land of the long white cloud.....marmite, fish and chips, pie and tomato sauce, milkshakes, cheese,beetroot, grand daughters hugs...... :). :)
Hope life is good for you
love and hugs

Bye bye Facebook.....Hullo Blog

So instead of Facebook I shall occasionally do a type of diary letting the interested know what we are doing while tied to the marina.
We are surprised wwhen looking at the calendar to find we have only been back for one month....so much has happened...so many things done and people visited.
We celebrated Tayla and Kendras Fourth Birthday.......three times.....once on the actual day, a few days later we went out for dinner to celebrate the birthday and then a week later the official party...with small children guests and birthday cake.
We went on a long bike ride into the back blocks with the family, and another ride along the riverbank......we enjoyed catching up with special friends over a lovely BBQ meal and and we have busy doing renovations in our house in Wellington !!!! This is all in a good cause, it will help with the cruising kitty.
Brian has been busy attacking the surface rust inside CHARIOTEER which meant all cupboards and other elusive storage areas were emptied into the main cabin.....and CHARIOTEER smelt like a paint factory.
And then I asked if for my birthday on Sunday we could take the family for a day sail and a BBQ on the harbour....so things have been restored to storage areas and CHARIOTEER is all ready to set sail tomorrow morning.
I am hoping for calm, warm weather. Tayla and Kendra have never sailed before and we want them to enjoy the day...and it is very hard to hold a hot sausage when the boats on a lean :)
All of New Zealand is waiting for summer to arrive......but the sun is shy whereas the wind is not......oh well hugs with grand daughters kind of make up for it.
NEW ZEALAND...you just gotta love the clean air ...even if the wind cuts right through you :)

Home again

This is just a short item to let our followers know we wre home, safe and sound. You can find us back where we started from six years ago.
Pier D, No 10, Seaview Marina, Lower Hutt.
We shall post a blog about our trip from Port Victor later.