Last Days in New Zealand

Top of Mt. Ruapehu seen from the plane

Almost three weeks ago, Mark and I returned to the North Island by plane from Christchurch. We settled into Axel’s “office flat” in Auckland for the remainder of our time in New Zealand. It is so generous of him to let us stay here and we are very fortunate and happy to have friends like Axel and Liz! Since one of the reasons we left our boat was to focus on work, our business and being in a western environment, that is exactly what we have been doing these last weeks. Pressurized, hot showers, unlimited Wifi and electricity, a normal kitchen with a full size fridge and plenty of space to walk around or hide in another room… we have it all in this apartment, in the middle of the city! Mark has gotten a lot of work done in regards to research, testing and software development for The Wirie pro and we are glad to report that The Wirie business is doing really well, thanks to an article about our product in the renowned sailing magazine Cruising World. I managed to write some and work on my photographs.

On our days off, when the weather was pleasant enough, Mark and I did some walks in and about town. One day we climbed Mt. Eden, one of the 50 dormant volcanoes in Auckland, for a nice 360 degree view. Another day, we walked all the way from the city to Mission Beach, along the windy waterfront. We even went to the cinema to see Mad Max – Fury Road! The last time that happened was five years ago, when we saw Avatar in a movie theater in St. Martin and our friend Ed, on SV Nini watched Darwin for the evening. Every day, until they left on vacation, we also spent some quality time with our ex-cruising (SV Gudrun) friends/accommodating hosts and enjoyed the company of their five month old son Arno. He is such a pleasure to cuddle and be with!

Arno and his space ship

The weather, although pretty rainy, has not been too cold recently, which is great. Or, we have gotten used to 15 degree temperatures (upper 50s Fahrenheit) and wearing long clothes and a jacket! In between rain showers, we manage to walk to the grocery store, and this weekend we hope to visit one of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf. We’ll take our umbrella. It will be quite the shock to our bodies again when we head back to Irie in Moorea, in a few days. Unfortunately, she hasn’t sold yet, so we will have to make new plans. We dropped her asking price again, to a more than fair $129,000, so if you know anyone who is interested in a well-maintained, lovely catamaran that is ready to go cruising in the Pacific islands, let us know! :-) Details about “Irie for sale” can be found on www.catamaran-for-sale.com

See you back in French Polynesia!

Arno loves cameras, just like his daddy!

Liz handing Arno his favorite toy

The Sky Tower in Auckland; Mark and I keep calling it "the Needle"

Walking towards Mount Eden, seen in the background

Mt Eden's grassy crater and the city center in the distance

Suburbs of Auckland, seen from Mt Eden

View from the top of the volcano

Arno, king of the flat!

Church near Albert Park, Auckland

Rail workers fixing a joint

The container port of the city

 

Mission Beach - not the prettiest, but nice as a city beach

 

Saying goodbye and thank you to our friends Axel and Liz, who are going on a holiday with Arno

From French Polynesia to French Flanders

Flying to Belgium from wherever we end up with Irie has rarely been easy or cheap. This time was no different except that French Polynesia is – really – very far away from Belgium and that it is – really – in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere being the vast Pacific Ocean. It took a dinghy, a taxi, a night in Papeete (Tahiti), four planes, about 24 hours of flying, a car, and a few days to make it from Irie in Taiohae, Nuku Hiva to my parents’ house in Berlare, Belgium. The whole journey went as smooth as could be and relatively quick as well and “just like that” I am here! Being in cold Europe, however, feels more surreal than ever before. It is as if I traveled in time and in space, everything being so different from what I am used to back there. It was quite a shock to be part of western civilization again.

After a few days of meeting people, staring at all the choices in the supermarkets, taking very enjoyable showers, using the internet the way all of you do, listening to the noise of city traffic and neighborhood dogs, and getting used to the convenience of jumping in a car, flushing the toilet, putting dirty dishes in a dish washer and grabbing food I love out of the fridge or cupboard, my mum and I left on a five day vacation to northern France, a region called French Flanders.

Our first stop was Lille, where we braved the drizzle to investigate what the city center was all about. We found a few interesting looking buildings and walked all the way out to one of the old city gates. Once in our hotel further south, we enjoyed the comforts of a clean and modern room and an amazing three course dinner with a glass of wine. This was my first taste of the culinary spoils that would follow over the next days. In the morning, we drove out to a very impressive Canadian war memorial, commemorating the 60 000 (!) Canadian soldiers who died during the Great War (WWI). The memorial grounds reminded me of the ones in the US: spacious, clean, park-like and well-kept. We made a detour to the restored trenches which I found very interesting. My hat and gloves complimented my heavy winter coat. All was needed to endure the biting cold of the outdoors.

In the afternoon, we walked around the city of Lens, where the few buildings worth mentioning were spread out. With map in hand, we crossed the city and had our exercise, taking pictures while we were at it. To conclude the day of sightseeing, we stopped at the new addition of the Louvre Museum, Louvre-Lens, the main reason of our trip to the region. All the relics and masterpieces are showcased in one big room, according to a time line. Chronologically, you can compare different styles of architecture and other culturally different art forms, invented and created during the same time period. It was an interesting way of exhibiting, albeit a bit chaotic. Entrance to the museum is free and so are the electronic tour devices with informative commentaries.

After a second tasty and extensive breakfast, we left the hotel near Lens, to trade it for another one in the center of Arras, one of France’s prettiest cities. The historic city center was an easy and not too cold ten minute walk from the hotel. Mom and I explored most of the town that day, appreciating the architecture of the beautifully restored sixteenth century buildings and market squares and the view from the Belfry. Another great dinner restored the calories we lost during our day of walking. The weather stayed dry, so more walking and exploring another part of Arras followed the day after. In the evening, we revisited the two main squares – Place des Héros and Grand Place – where the surrounding buildings were lit up – very cool! - and where we had a yummy dinner in the cellar of one of these beauties.

The weather turned colder and greyer and my tummy could take no more after another buffet breakfast, so we left Arras. But, before returning home, we stopped at the citadel in Lille. We had hopes of visiting the old bastion, but were denied. A regiment of the French Army is stationed there, so we had to make do with a healthy hike around and in between the massive walls. I really like the way these monuments offer exercise and nature so close to the city.

Every area has its highlights, but my favorite in French Flanders is the center of Arras and when Mark’s memories of French Polynesia and the French have faded a bit, I’d love to take him there!

Belgium - near my parents' house - in winter time (when the weather is "nice")

Showing oma where we are located at the moment and where I flew from

Lille - the main square

Lille - the vieux bourse

Lille - one of the old gates into town

The environs of Lens - mining country

Canadian War Memorial on the Vimy Ridge

Some of the 60 000 Canadian soldiers who gave their lives during WWI

The marble monument is quite impressive and touching

Reconstructed trenches at the frontier of one of the big battles

Church in Lens

Old masterpiece in the Louvre-Lens museum: The empire of Time standing on the world, with Fortune holding the sail and Death the rudder... 

Louvre-Lens museum

Arras: Approaching the Belfry in the city center

Arras: Place des Héros - a square full of restored sixteenth century houses

Arras: City Hall with its Belfry on Place des Héros

Arras: For ages, these houses had to conform to a building code - being of stone and brick and with no overhang

Arras: along the same square, the red building on the left is the oldest in Arras, one of the few who survived the extensive bombing during the Great War (1914-1918)

Arras: Painting on the ceiling of the cathedral

Arras: The massive cathedral right behind the abbey

Arras: Mom and the clock of the Belfry

Arras: Place des Héros, seen from the Belfry

Arras: A view from the Belfry gives a different perspective!

Arras: Delicious food at the hotel's restaurant

Arras: Entrance to the town's citadel (built in the 17th century)

Arras: Mur des Fusillérs - a wall near the citadel where over 200 members of the resistance were shot and killed during WWII

Arras: British War Memorial and Cemetery

Arras: Town hall and Belfry at night

Arras: Lit-up historic houses of Place des Héros

Arras: Our last dinner out in the cellar of one of the historic buildings

The Scoop in Taiohae

Mark and I have been in “the capital” (of the Marquesas) for almost two weeks now and most of that time has been spent online. Stuff on the internet to-do-lists accumulates over the months and slowly but surely we are ticking some items off, like health insurance and boat insurance dealings, sending full size pictures and articles for writing assignments, making the layout of the previous blog posts a bit better :-), research for boat and other  reasons, necessary behind the scenes work for the Wirie, and so on. Trying to shake off that zombie feeling you get from sitting hours behind the computer, we went ashore frequently to take care of some doctor, pharmacy, hardware store and supermarket visits. The town of Taiohae is very spread out, so it takes a while to walk to some of the shops, but the locals are very friendly, offering rides when they see a protruding thumb along the side of the road.

The hardware store was a bit of a disappointment and the bank machine only gave out bills of 10.000 francs ($110) – which they refused to change in the adjacent bank for smaller bills without the receipt (which Mark never asks for since it is a waste of paper) - but other than that, you can find quite a bit here, non-cruising related. For necessary boat parts, hiking shoes and Tevas, we will have to wait another six months until we reach Tahiti. Maybe… There is a cool church, and some tiki sites, and a walk along the big bay is pleasant, but hot. The anchorage is on the bottom of a collapsed volcano, so the surrounding “wall” (= jagged hills) is quite picturesque.

The rumors of sharks are true. Apparently, the bay is “filled with hammerhead sharks”, which we have not seen yet. But, presence of the grey shark is a fact. Every time the fishermen get back to the dock and clean their catch, they toss the unwanted fish parts over the side, into the bay, where tons of hungry six foot sharks, violently snatch them up. Once, Mark and I just arrived ashore in our dinghy when that happened. The trashing of the grey beasts created waves in the water and the splashing with their tails got us soaking wet! We try to take quick showers and avoid the seawater when we are bleeding. We did dare to be in for an hour or so on a clearer day, because Irie’s bottom really needed scraping and cleaning. Since the sharks get fed daily, they shouldn’t be hungry outside of their meal times, right?

Just like in the good old Caribbean days, we do take it easier on the weekends and try to have some fun. Last weekend, the guys – and girls – from SV Iona joined us for a walk to the “Sentinels”. It was good exercise to climb the well-kept and nice trail up a hill and the view was worthwhile. On the way back, we saw the cemetery lit with candles and filled with singing voices. The celebration of the dead had just finished by the time we arrived down there.

Every evening during the week, a local group is practicing their singing, drumming and dancing skills for the festival coming up in mid-December. It promises to be a fun and spectacular cultural event. We still hope to make it back to Ua Huka for that. There are a few restaurants around, but so far, we have only tried the yummy and relatively affordable food at “the snack” closest to the dock. A decent plate of poisson cru (raw fish cooked in lemon juice with some veggies) with rice and avocado costs about $5.50. A visit to the fancy restaurant is still on the agenda!

City hall in Taiohae

Beach right off town, close to the shark feeding "platform"

Tiki site - site of one of the first Marquesas Art Festivals

What do we have here... a big grey shark!

 
 You don't want to go swimming here!!!

 
View of the Sentinells, with Ua Pou in the distance