Saturday 16 March

Russell, Bay of Islands
We have had a really great day. We spent it on Lion New Zealand, the 80 ft yacht that Sir Peter Blake used in a round the world race about 25 years ago. He came second! In his previous attempts various bits of his boats had broken off so Lion was specifically built to be much stronger and sturdier, with the result that she was much heavier. He then commissioned another boat and went on to win loads of stuff. Lion is now used to take small groups of people sailing in and around the Bay of Islands. It is the most beautiful boat and we had a fantastic day with Dave, the skipper (who was born in Norwich when his father was stationed at RAF Watton) and Kerry. The experience as well as the actual trip was very good because they involved people in the sailing process, winding (grinding) sails in and out. There were some scary moments as we take led and the boat was at nearly 90° with the sea, or so it seemed to me. We could have done a motorised tour of the Bay and the Islands, just taking in the sights (sites), but this was so much better.
The rain still hasn't happened but it's quite overcast. We really are on countdown now with just two more full days to go. Off to Whangerei tomorrow, then probably on to Auckland and home.