M/Y Iron Lady

Many of the small towns and cities we have visited have simply wonderful museums detailing their local history. They do not require all day commitments – typically one to two hours. Akaroa was no exception and had one of the best small museums we visited. It included a wonderful 30 minute video on the region. Well worth the time if you get there. Most of what follows is from the museum.

Akaroa (Long Harbor in Maori) was formed from the caldera of ancient volcanoes some 2 million years ago. There are actually three calderas that form the bulk of the Banks Peninsula which was originally a distinct island from the South Island. Over eons, a land bridge formed creating the peninsula.

The entrance to the harbor and its cliffs, while forbidding looking, is an ancient reminder of that volcano.

Despite its rugged, desolate and forbidding appearance, Akaroa Harbor is actually a great all weather haven. The entrance is deep and fairly wide so that even in a huge following seas it is safe to enter. Motoring up the harbor 4 miles or so there are all kinds of protected spots from almost any wind direction to securely anchor.

The Maori’s first came to Akaroa from the North Island. While the exact date is not known, it is estimated to be over 1000 years ago. The first Europeans arrived in the early 1800’s. Interestingly, the French were the first to come here and the town has a distinctly French flavor – street names, cafes and restaurants all.

An early French explorer came to Akaroa and negotiated the purchase of land with the local Maoris. He then returned to France to organize a party to return and settle here. At or about the same time, the British were negotiating with the Maoris and signed the Treaty of Waitanga on the North Island in 1840. When the Brits heard that the French were laying claim to Akaroa, they rushed here and had the local Maori Chiefs sign the Treaty negotiated in Waitanga as well.

The French returned to see the Union Jack flying over the harbor and a British ship of war lying at anchor. Instead of war, however, the British respected the French claim and the French took up residency here. A British warship was even stationed here to help keep the peace in the early rowdy days of whalers and merchant traders.

The town is simply lovely and is now known as the honeymoon haven of Canterbury.

It is also home to one of the few Presbyterian Churches we have seen in NZ.

Favorite sons of Akaroa include Frank Worsely who who was Captain aboard the Endurance for Shackleton’s disastrous expedition to the South Pole. After the Endurance became trapped in pack ice, Worsely accompanied Shackleton on the James Caird, a 23 foot open whaler on an 800 kilometer journey to South Georgia where they knew there was a Norwegian whaling station. On the journey they endured freezing temperatures, hurricane force winds, monstrous waves, ice and risk of capsize. Their voyage on the Caird is considered, along with Captain Bligh’s small boat voyage after the mutiny, to be one of the greatest small boat voyages in history. After withstanding brutal weather and monstrous seas, they made landfall on the uninhabited south coast of the South Georgian Islands. It was deemed impossible to put back to sea to round the island to the north coast and a number of the men were incapable of travel. Worsely and Shackleton then made the decision to trek across the interior mountains and glaciers without the aid of maps in the dead of winter to reach a Norwegian whaling station. The Norwegians reported that Worsely and Shackleton were barely recognizable as humans when they arrived.

Very tough men these. Life is very much more civilized aboard Iron Lady.

The cliffs at the harbor entrance to Akaroa (Maori for “Long Harbor”) were a welcome sight after a long, stormy night. While both the wind and seas had abated, none of us really felt like carrying on so we motored down the harbor just in awe of the rugged volcanic land scape. While just 75 miles from Christchurch, the road to get here is windy and difficult so the permanent population is just 600 or so people. It is a popular resort, particularly for Honeymooners, so in the summer the population can swell to over 7000.

There are two arms at the upper end of the harbor and we chose to anchor off the village itself.

The views of the surrounding countryside were spectacular.

The first order of business was some rest, but it wasn’t long before Joe and I got the urge to go fishing so we thru in Beer Can and headed back out to the harbor entrance. These views are of the same cliff area as the earlier pictures, but now with more light.

Joe and I didn’t do too well with the fishing, but we were visited by a pod of Hector’s Dolphins. These friendly little fellows come right up to the boat and seemed to enjoy interacting with us as much as we did with them. They are highly endangered and you are not permitted to approach them – you must let them approach you. We must have seen 20 or so and there are only 50 or so left in the harbor.

The wind started to pick up again so we headed back to the boat and town. While we were playing with the dolphins, Deb was sussing out the town.

If that sign strikes you as French, you are correct. Akaroa’s origins are French, but more on that in my next post.

The Admiral made the command decision that the crew would eat ashore.

Finally, a shot of Iron lady as we headed back to the boat.

With bit of a reward from Mother Nature.

and the crew slept soundly.

We may have been bound Stuart Island but Akaroa was a delightful treat – more in the next few posts.

After waiting for a weather window (and recovering from winery tours), we finally got what looked like a 3 to 4 day window to head south. Our intended destination was Stuart Island at 50 degrees South but Mother Nature had other plans for us.

BTW, I have been advised by a number of old salts that our departing log entries should never state departing “to” a place – always “bound” or “headed toward”. It is considered bad luck to specify your destination explicitly – only your intentions.

More about where we ended up later but in this post, lots of pictures as we were leaving Queen Charlotte Sound via the Tory passage.

Morning of our departure as the morning mists and clouds cleared.

Some nice shots as we proceeded down the sound.

The sounds are also home to commercial Salmon farms.

The end of the Tory Channel is extremely narrow and the commercial ferries also run thru here.

We met one head on in the narrowest stretch. Tonnage rules – he with the most tonnage wins – we got out of his way.

The narrow channel with all the water contained within the sound also generates some very impressive currents.

The trip down the coast during the day was beautiful.

And yes – that is snow.

As the day went on, the winds began to build.

A “small” disturbance had been forecast. Turned out to be anything but small. After nightfall, the winds continued to increase – right on our nose as we approached the Banks Peninsula. Lots of distant lightning hinted of more bad stuff ahead. Around midnight, the winds had increased to a steady 35 knots with gusts to 40 knots. By 0200, we had steady winds over 40 knots with gusts to 50 knots and monster square waves. We were taking a very serious pounding and pulled the throttle back as well as bore off to keep the boat in the water.

By 0400 we made the call to seek safe harbor. Around the corner on the Banks Peninsula was Akaroa – a wonderful all weather harbor. As the sun rose, the harbor was in front of us and a wonderful sight it was. More about that and the damage this “small” disturbance did to Akaroa and surroundings in my next post.

New Zealand is home to 13 different wine regions, but the Marlborough Region simply dwarfs them all. Approximately 3/4 of the countries wine production occurs in this area. The majority of the regions 200 wineries (yes – 200) are in the Wairau River valley.

The region is blessed with a microclimate of warm sunny days and cool crisp nights that produce world class Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurtztraminer and Rieslings.

While some might attempt a suicide run and try to visit all 200, we spent 2 days visiting 4 different wineries and that was just fine thank you very much. Many of the wineries offer excellent dining in addition to wine tasting at their cellar doors. With such a variety to choose from, we called on some of Joe’s friends who lived in the area to recommend some smaller boutique wineries – ones with a great local reputation, limited production and great ambience. Sorry to all of you NZ wine junkies – none of the wineries we visited export to the US.

In no particular order, we visited Seresin (we had enjoyed an excellent Seresin Pinot Gris at a restaurant), Scott, Rock Ferry and, our favorite, Gibson Bridge.

All of these wineries sported walls full of awards – but being small, most of the wine never leaves the country.

We had a wonderful lunch at Rock Ferry.

The nature of the microclimate was brought home to us as we traveled back to Iron Lady in Picton – just a short 40 minute drive from the Wairau River valley. You could see the gathering clouds over the mountains. The sun disappeared and the rain started as we approached Picton while it was still delightful behind us.

There is an old expression that wine doesn’t travel well. I suspect that it is more a function of wine being situational. By that, I mean that wine is simply part of a broader experience – people, beautiful surroundings, good food and knowledgeable folks at the cellar door that make the whole thing fun – and those things are important to making a wine memorable.

Given that (and the fact that you probably can’t get any of the wines we had anyway) – I have no specific recommendations other then to say we were not really impressed with the reds from the Marlborough area.

Other than that, we did find that the ample supplies we bought and took with us around New Zealand on Iron Lady traveled just fine

Time to get back to some kind of timeline on posts. After transiting down the Tasman on the west coast of the North Island, we arrived in Queen Charlotte Sound (first time we were there). After our arrival, we rented a car to explore the area including the Marlborough wine region and neighboring sounds. We decided it would be fun to explore part of the neighboring Pelorous Sound by kayak.

The trip was beautiful – here are some shots of both Queen Charlotte and Pelorous.

The kayaking was an interesting experience – after a bit of instruction, we geared up. Joe had a solo kayak and Deb and were in a tandem.

Problem was, I didn’t fit. The kayaks have pedals that you use to steer the boat with a small rudder. They couldn’t be extended far enough forward for me to get my feet on them. The result was that I got the front seat and Deb got the back and the steering duties. The second problem was the equipment – the spray shield and life jacket smelled like some kid had peed on them and they had been put away wet. Oh well.

The views from the water were great.

We chose about a 3 hour trip. As the afternoon wore on, the wind came up. We had been told that it is best to be off the water when the winds get to 20 knots. How true. Deb and I found it very difficult to make headway and no matter which way we seemed to go, the winds seemed to be against us.

There was an out via a small portage that we decided to take to get back to the boat livery. It was then that I discovered that getting in to a kayak is much easier then getting out. The opening was simply too small for me to extricate myself. Deb and Joe thought it was hilarious as I struggled like a beached whale.

And no, I won’t post any pictures of the beached whale routine.

Lessons learned – buy a kayak that I actually can fit in – get my own spray shield and life jacket that don’t stink.

Then it was off to Havelock as it was their big annual event – the Green Lipped Mussel Festival. The crowds were ridiculous and the event ended in an hour so we passed and headed back to the boat (but bought some mussels on the way).

Best

The beer and wine are being chilled as I write this.

Today is very special to us for many reasons but the big one is that we have completed a total circumnavigation of the North and South Islands of New Zealand.

Our actual track is shown in red.

To start the celebration, we thought a few fireworks would be in order. Since we have none on board, we decided on the next best thing – at daybreak we anchored up, dropped the dink and went ashore to an active volcano. A lot more to come on that (and all the other posts that I am so far behind on).

The actual completion of the circumnavigation occurred just a few hours later as we passed Whangamata offshore as we head for Great Mercury and a few weeks touring the Hauraki Gulf before heading back to Whangarei and home.

Big John – our 6068 John Deere propulsion engine celebrated a bit of a birthday today as well. We just turned over 1000 hours on the engine. Using an average of 9 knots, this milestone translated to a total distance traveled around New Zealand since leaving Whangarei of just over 3000 nautical miles.

Thanks Iron Lady – what an adventure – and Happy Birthday Big John – no beer for you. Well, maybe a few drops poured into your coolant overflow bottle once you cool down.

Cheers!