My sisters Janet and Margaret visited us for two wonderful weeks, which gave us an opportunity to show off New Zealand. Whangārei experienced a record rainfall in April with 16 inches (402 mm) of rain compared with an average of 4 inches, but we didn’t let that stop us. We still hiked and visited many unique places around Whangārei. One of our favorites was just across the street, hiking to the peak of Mount Parihaka where an obelisk serves as a war memorial. Historically, Mount Parihaka was a Pa site, which Māori natives used to spot enemies and defend their territory. We returned later that night to see the glowworms, which with the respite from rainy days looked like a galaxy of stars.

Sharing our home with Janet & Margaret and the memories of their visit makes me so happy! We got to show them some of our favorite haunts, they meet some of our cruising friends and neighbors, and a got taste of the boating experience at a marina. Of course, our grey water pump died the day before their arrival, which meant in addition to hauling water onto the boat, we washed dishes in a basin, then hauled the water out. They shopped beside me in pursuit of dill weed, which we discovered are called dill tips here and not as readily available as dill seeds. Who knew that even labelling the tops of spice jars could be so much fun? Every time I cook, I’m reminded of their visit and laugh.

When we were in high school, Rebecca Smith Moles was a Rotary exchange student from Tasmania, Australia, and lived with our family for six months. Becky (as we called her) and I have kept in touch over the years, with increased contact given our travels to the Southern Hemisphere. Becky and her awesome husband Terry “hopped the ditch” and came to New Zealand to surprise Janet and Margaret! It was amazing how after almost 50 years (what?!) we reconnected so readily. We so enjoyed our time sitting around various tables talking. We also had a lovely hike to the Whangãrei headlands, and a not so lovely drenching on the return… Just new memories.

Anzac Day

Observed on April 25, Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day traditionally commemorates those who served in the Gallipoli (Turkey) campaign during World War I. It has since been expanded to honor those who’ve served in subsequent conflicts and peacekeeping missions. Practically every community we’ve visited has some sort of War Memorial and/or an Anzac Bridge, and most cities have ceremonies similar to the one we attended. Fundraising volunteers sell red poppies in advance, which were among the first plants to grow in battlefields.

In the pre-dawn darkness, the crowd assembled and the participants lined up in parade formation. From the boat we walked across the red-lighted bridge to join them. The brief parade marched to the memorial, followed by speeches about veterans’ service and sacrifice. The bagpiper accompanied the laying of wreaths by a huge variety of veterans support groups. I’m sure he was relieved when the emcee invited other groups to lay their wreaths after the ceremony. The ceremony concluded at the break of dawn and the crowd quietly dispersed.

Even the US based KodiakCake pancake mix purchased at Costco has an Anzac Biscuit recipe on the back. The quiet reflection and extent of community involvement amaze me, and as always make me question when we’ll learn…

Hundertwasser Art Centre

Since our arrival to Whangãrei, we’ve been across from the Hundertwasser and we finally visited. Friedensreich Hundertwasser was born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna, Austria in 1928. When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, he and his Jewish mother were forced to relocate to a different district, and 69 of his relatives were deported and later killed in Nazi concentration camps. This childhood formed quite the artist, architect, ecologist and deep thinker. In 1973, Huntertwasser traveled to New Zealand as an honored guest to attend an exhibition of his artworks in Auckland. He loved New Zealand and later bought a farm in the Bay of Islands, on which he planted 100,000 trees to improve the soil, water and air quality. His work includes award winning architecture around the globe, a stamp for the United Nations, and ideas on composting toilets, to name a few. We plan to visit his architecture if we’re in an another city with his buildings. The creation of the Hundertwasser Art Centre was controversial because he was not a native, and yet the centre has significantly contributed to the character of Whangãrei’s waterfront. We will become members so that we can wander the planted rooftop whenever we want. I’m also looking forward to knitting socks with Huntertwasser yarn.

What’s Next

We pulled the boat from the water the day after Janet and Margaret left. We’ll sand and paint the bottom with anti-fouling paint, which reduces the critters that attach to the boat. While Herman does the bulk of the boat work, I’ll focus on provisioning, paperwork, and other preparations for our upcoming season in Fiji, Vanuatu, and possibly New Caledonia. Maybe we’ll also finish our South Island blogs.