sv evi

Well, we’ve been in New Zealand for two weeks today, and it feels like we are getting the hang of life here.

The first week plus was a bit rough — so many bags to unpack, but first we had to clean the cupboards of mildew. The kids played a lot of War.

The Bay of Islands Marina, where we are on I dock, slip 24, is in a town called Opua. Except it’s not really a town — just the marina, a sailmaker, a rigger, a canvas shop, a marina cafe, and the Opua General Store. The kids were a little homesick, and I was worried about making their life here fun, to take the edge of that homesickness. So it was a balance of trying to make sure the kids were entertained, while also trying to get the boat ready to live on, and to sail. We didn’t know anyone, and we didn’t see many kids around the marina.

Luckily there is a little park in the marina — the kids spent a ton of time on this spinny toy:

And they also ate a lot of ice cream — at least once a day, sometimes twice. We let them walk down to the General Store without parents (about 5 blocks away, but along the boardwalk the whole time, so you don’t cross any streets) with a radio to buy ice cream.

We joined the public library in Paihia — we go there quite often to feed Tomu’s reading habit. Libraries are the best!!

When Riki bought the boat in February, he took the mainsail and the genoa down, and stowed them down below. I hauled Riki up the mast to get the halyards down, and Jade was very excited to go up the mast too. The next day we hauled her up, because we needed her to fix the direction the lazy jack lines were led on the shives. We used her climbing harness rather than the bowsun’s chair. She did a great job!

Luckily our friend Ted (who is really Evi’s friend from a long time ago) lent us a car to use these first few weeks because it was really indispensable for getting to the grocery store, etc. I had to get used to cooking in a small galley with different ingredients — the first few nights after dinner I felt proud. Sv evi gets a lot of energy from the solar panels and has strong batteries, so we got a rice cooker and a toaster! Yay. Ted came over for dinner and the girls put on a dance show on the bow.

On Sunday we hiked from Opua to Paihia. I was feeling a little stir-crazy, and I know I always feel better when hiking in nature, so it was time for a hike. There is a lovely track all along the coast. The foliage was beautiful with huge ferns. The kids went swimming, and then it started raining. I hadn’t brought any towels on the hike, just one bandana. They were cold! Teeth chattering and crying. But now every time we pass the beach they say, it’s our swimming beach!