The rest of the passage to Tauranga was slow-going but pleasant. The local weather forecast had called for light winds in the morning that were supposed to fill out to 20 knots (gusting to 30) in the afternoon, so we sailed downwind using just the jib for much of the day, waiting in vain for the strong winds. We finally gave up and set the asymmetrical spinnaker in the early evening, and our speed increased to a whopping 3-4 knots.

There was quite a bit to see around Cape Colville. The first thing I noticed was the awesome size of Mount Moehau, as revealed between two layers of clouds. Then there were the random, football-stadium-sized rocks and larger islands obstructing our path, and when the sun came out, the green forest ridge of the Coromandel Peninsula. We also had an close encounter with a small whale (Dallas saw its fin, but as usual, I only heard it) and had several dolphins swim around the boat. It is common for tourists to pay good money while here in NZ to go out on charters to try to catch a glimpse of dolphins, so it feels especially fortuitous to see them when we aren’t even trying.

The hazards were well marked on the charts

 Dallas and I split the night watch into two shifts. He took the first shift through the hazard-ridden area. Naturally, just after he maneuvered us through the “hole in the wall” (a narrow passage between two large rock formations a mile or so off the coast) and just before I came on at 2:00 a.m., the light winds died altogether. After an hour of wasted effort to get the spinnaker to fill, albeit under beautiful, moonlit conditions, I took the liberty of firing up an engine. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal, but at this point, both engines malfunction on a semi-regular basis. I think we’ve mentioned that the port engine is hard to start for some as yet unknown and potentially serious reason, while the starboard one seems to have a minor electrical problem. The bright side is that once started, both of them work well.

No wind to fill the spinnaker during the night

A beautiful sunrise with clouds hanging out atop the distant islands

 The engine problems provide some indication of the state of the boat as we limped into Tauranga Bridge Marina. Between the starboard trampoline hanging down, the ripped sail cover, the missing paint along the boot-stripe of the hulls, and the algae already starting to form along the waterline, Pura Vida has more wear-and-tear than most of the other boats here at the marina. I suppose these are battle scars that demonstrate how far we’ve come and in what conditions we’ve been, but Dallas and I are both really looking forward to trading them in for some improvements in terms of both function and appearance. It seems like all of the resources we might need for this are available here (especially once we have a car), and the staff at the marina are extremely friendly and helpful.

Hailing the marina to announce our arrival to Tauranga Harbour

The city of Tauranga seems to have a lot to offer in terms of recreation as well. It is considered to be the hub of NZ’s aquatic recreational activity, which is perfect for us. There’s also a town center with plenty of pubs and restaurants, although it’s not quite as close to the marina as we would like…Dallas and I had our hearts set on finding some authentic Mexican food after going without for the last 9 months, but after finally pulling ourselves away from the unlimited hot water and internet (two of our favorite creature comforts are back!), it was almost closing time for the restaurant we found online, so we literally jogged the 2.5 miles to the restaurant in our jeans and flip-flops. I have to admit that as the sweat dripped down my just-washed-and-primped face, I was feeling a little sorry for myself, but that all changed when we arrived at the restaurant in time to eat their incredible food. I think it would have been delightful even if we’d had Mexican food recently, but since it had been so long, it was mind-bogglingly good. Dallas thoroughly enjoyed his food as well but ate more than his share of the extremely spicy green chili (habanero?) salsa–much hotter than we are used eating to back home.

Today I made my way back to the town center area by bicycle to the grocery store. It was a nice, quick ride, although I was a little concerned about getting a ticket for not having a required helmet. (My helmet didn’t make the cut when we down-sized last year.) Guess I’ll have to figure out where to buy one soon.

Grocery shopping is probably pretty mundane for those of you back home, but as with the Mexican food, after going without for so long, it is much appreciated. Not only am I not accustomed to having so many choices of foods (or should I say any choices) having been in the islands, but there are also many products (e.g., curries and soups) sold here that we don’t have back home, so these had to be examined and considered. I was definitely the slowest shopper (probably not a first!), the girl staring at all of the varieties of bread while others quickly grabbed their bread of choice and hurried on. Pedaling back to the boat in the rain with food loaded into my backpack, bicycle crate, and the plastic bags hanging from the handle-bars, I must have looked pretty funny, but I have come to enjoy being conspiciously strange in a strange land. Saying that, I will really enjoy traveling in the comfort of a car once we find one to buy!