Waiting for weather!
We have spent the last two days waiting patiently for a break in the weather before cruising to Nelson. Not wanting to waste our time here we took a climb to the top of Paratutu Rock in 30 - 40 knot winds to get a look at the great views on offer and it was definitely worth the effort. It was a little tricky scaling the rocky path in jandels but attracted a few interesting looks from the hard core trampers! We came back to the boat and within an hour we began drifting, dragging our anchor which meant start engines immediately, lift the anchor and try a reset. We did this and laid out an addition 10M of chain to ensure we held through the night in 40 knot gusts with a 25 knot base. Our sleep rope is getting a very hard time and we needed to protect this from fraying with a rubber sleeve (did the trick).
This is definately one way to learn about extreme boating, never a dull moment. With broken sleep we got through Thursday night to visit the Len Lye Museum in Queen Street. What an amazing building first of all, a real asset to the City, the kinetic sculptures were amazing and appear ahead of their time. There were 10 large art works that portrayed his cultural interpretations and his beliefs around evolution ( I would have any of them on my wall at home).
We visited Puke Ariki museum which has amazing displays and history related to local Maori ( Crown confiscation of land was appalling)! There have clearly been many Maori atrifacts found in this area and many are now on display for all to enjoy. I was fascinated to see the creativity around the ‘tools to fish’ and the techniques employed to catch them. Some simply ideas such as creating rock pools at low tide to trap fish on an outgoing tide. Rocks were plentiful and there were natural pools in the volcanic rock to work with.
Our plan is to cut a track to Nelson at 6:00am Saturday, we expect a rough trip till around noon (Mid Cook Straight) when winds drop to around 20 knots and then 5 knots in the Nelson Marina. Both Robin and I are looking forward to a full nights sleep (this will be our 4th night of continuous high winds). We expect the trip will take us 10 hours ( less if we can run faster than 12 knots). Nelson will see Joanne join us for 2 weeks cruising through the Marlborough Sounds. For Jo it is all about the destination, not the journey, which is wise after the experiences we have had to date! This is serious fun though, we have had a lot of laughs and lots of little challenges that create an edge to what we are doing. We are forming the tapestry of an amazing adventure in our stunning country.