Tramping. That’s what we do. And it’s awesome. In New Zealand, hiking is called tramping. And we’re here for it. Literally. We did a lot of tramping over the last week, despite Kim’s cracked rib (it seems to be healing nicely, thank you very much). Actually, before we left Russell, we ate at Green’s which is a well-known curry spot. They do both Indian and Thai curries. It was delicious, but that’s not why I mention it. They have a robot deliver the food. That’s my first robot experience. The robot rolls out of the kitchen, comes to your table, and… sits there. Then the server comes over and moves the food from the robot to the table. So, TBH, I’m not really sure what the point is. Couldn’t the server just bring them from the kitchen? It would be faster-the robot’s not exactly a speed demon. Anyway, it was new.
We are still in the Bay of Islands area but today will begin making our way south to Auckland. We’ve visited Urupakapaka and Motorua Islands and hiked up, down, and all around them. Lots of sheep. Lots. Of. Sheep. The vistas have been gorgeous-really, the photos don’t do it justice. And except for one day of rain, the weather has been fantastic. We actually broke out shorts one day! So exciting. We’re currently anchored in the Rawhiti area, surrounded by sheer cliffs. It’s quite stunning. Yesterday, I went ashore and hiked part of the Cape Brett Trail. Cape Brett is a 9 kilometer spit of land extending out into the Pacific. It’s one of the premier trails on North Island. Kim sat this one out because there was a LOT of elevation. I didn’t go the entire way-that’s an overnight trip. I went 4 miles our and then back. That’s a LOT of up. Like, a lot. 2,400 feet of elevation over that 4 miles, with about half of it in the first mile. The views from the top were worth it, though. And I have to say that as I approach my 60th birthday, passing 20-somethings on the trail feels pretty good. Not that it was a race. Of course it wasn’t. Just out for a stroll.
Meanwhile, back aboard Meraviglia, I found a bolt on the deck. It was a cute little bolt, just laying there in the gunwale looking up at me. Now, the old Bob, who lived on land, would have picked it up, deposited it in the trash, and gone on about his day. The new Bob, who knows that CONSTANT VIGILANCE is the only thing keeping Meraviglia from falling apart, went on a hunt for a hole without a bolt in it. Do you have any idea how many bolts and screws there are on board? No. You don’t. Honestly, neither do I. But it’s a lot. So it took me a while to find the empty hole. Turns out it was one of the bolts holding our solar panel array to the top of the bimini. At first, I figured the bolt had worked its way loose from the nut. But then I discovered that, no, the nut still had part of the bolt inside. Instead, the bolt had sheared off. This is reasonable. The bimini sways and flexes a lot in heavy winds and seas, so stuff happens. Replacing it should be a piece of cake, right? Well, for the old Bob, sure. But the new Bob thought “Hmmm, if one bolt is sheared off…” There are 8 bolts holding the solar array to the bimini. I checked them all. Drum roll please! They were ALL sheared off. Every last bolt was sliced in two. What was holding the array to the bimini? Gravity and God’s grace are my only answers. I’ve been having visions of the entire array flying off the boat while we sail. Yikes! Anyway, three hours later, after some swearing, the loss of one nut over the side, and getting reacquainted with my rivet gun, we are once more fully secured. And we add another item to our pre-departure checklist. Last night we discover an oil leak in our engine. So that troubleshooting is in progress. Sheesh!
I need more tramping. I write this as we are sailing south towards Auckland. We’ll probably take 3-4 days to make the trip, weather permitting.
