End of part one

I know that my true destination is Sydney, but to me, it feels like this
is it for the first part of the journey, with enough time on my hands to
continue adapting Papy Jovial to her new lifestyle. I also need to take
care of leaks that, like on any other boat, have appeared mostly when we
started doing several days in a row of sailing upwind in seas that we
less than calm.
Since we arrived, time has been flying so fast that I hardly had time to
update the blog. The arrival in whangarei was as nice and pleasant as I
expected. With the wind, a few squalls, a fantastic scenery and we
arrived at Marsden Cove marina at 9:12 on Monday, 12 minutes later than
I had announced by email to the customs office. Not bad for Papy Jovial
Express.
The welcome from the authorities was really exceptional. We were worried
about the quarantine, the health authorities and all, but in fact, all
went extremely well. Yes we lost our fruits and vegetable, our meat and
eggs AND Marie-Laurence's honey, but we gained a bottle of New Zealand
white wine together with a welcome kit, so overall we did not lose.
In the afternoon, we sailed up the river and came alongside at the
courtesy dock of the Town Basin. More friendliness and welcome. We got
there in time for a cool beer while waiting for Beryl, wife of Gary
Underwood and Adela, mother in law of Nigel, who joined us for dinner.
Beer was followed by much wine, white and red. I don't know if it was
shore sickness or having praised Bacchus a little too much, but walking
down the gangway leading to the pontoon, I lost my balance, tumble and
rolled over like a pro and had my first swim in New Zealand waters.
Early next day, no waste of time. Nigel took me around to get my marks,
buy a cell phone, get some cash, visit the various yards, etc...Then we
had a nice fish and chips in a pub by the river with a wonderful view of
the entrance.
In the evening, we met at the restaurant a french crew that had arrived
on an OVNI (very nice aluminium boat) and are about to visit the country
by car. More wine, but this time, no swim.
Wednesday saw the arrival of Cosinus with Christian and Jean-Louis whom
I had missed in Papeete as I was too lazy to inflate the dinguy and put
on the outboard to go and visit them outside at anchor.
And work on Papy Jovial (cleaning and sorting out) started while
Marie-Laurence was visiting with Adela. In the evening, she had prepared
a very nice dinner that we shared aboard Papy Jovial with Nigel and Adela.
Thursday was cleaning day and moving Papy Jovial to its final berth at
the marina, until it will be time to go for a haul out. In the evening,
dinner with Susanne and Dave of the SSCA (Seven Seas) at Amici, an
italian restaurant where you get a very good pizza and a glass of wine
for 20 kiwis.
David has just started a business of Yacht maintenance and I hope that
he will be able to help me chase the leaks and take care of them. It's
a job that cannot be done by just one person as you have to hold the
screws on top while down below you unscrew the nuts.
We had moved from the welcome dock to rafting up with Cosinus, and then
directly alongside which will be more convenient to do the various jobs
that I need doing for Papy Jovial to be ready for Part II.
On major relief is that I had a professional electrician come and undo
all the bs done by the guy in Tahiti and put everything back as it
should, and as Tom had actually said it should be done. I now have shore
power with the electrical system back to where it was.
This early morning starts with the sailmaker coming to correct all the
imperfections arising out of the lack of professionalism from North
Sails Hampton. But the most important thing today is that this is
Marie-Laurence birthday and we need to prepare a party for tonight. I'll
tell you about it tomorrow . .