Sailing Right Through Monday

Don’t you wish you could just sail right through most Mondays???  I hate to admit this, but I have not been able to keep up with the days of the week and just found out it was Monday. 

Yesterday was quite a long day before we arrived to Okahune.  Then, it rained last night – hard.  It didn’t make for very good sleeping.  It was still raining as we got up which only made it harder to get started.  The weather forecast showed rain for the day almost every direction we could go.  We decided to just wander up to Rotorua and be prepared for a good start tomorrow.  What we have learned is that the weather has a mind of it’s own. In today’s case, it was to our advantage and she decided to clear up about the time we arrived at Mount Ruhapeu.                                                                         Taupo was a logical place to stop since is was just afternoon when we arrived there.  There is a set of Maori carvings on one of the rock faces on the lake that can only be accesses via the water.  We have planned up to this point to kayak out there.  A trip to the I-Site was in order to see what was available.  It turns out there is the option of sailing out there – and behold – there is space on the boat just an hour after we arrive.  Kayaking is out and sailing is in.  (And in that hour, I was able to find two more skeins of hand spun natural colored wool - a very light and very dark value.  No idea what kind of sheep, but I’m excited.)

We are sailing on the Barbary which was built in 1926 in California to be raced.  Errol Flynn is said to have won the boat in a card game. in the late 1930s.  In 1945, Barbary set out to cruise the world and arrived in New Zealand in 1947.  She also at one point was a part of Greenpeace and not much later broke her moorings in Auckland and was wrecked.  Her present owner salvaged and restored her in the early 1980s to be brought to Lake Taupo.

Straight out of the harbor we get a view of Mt Tauhara that is also a dormant volcano.  We all had a go on what we thought the mountain looked like.  Folklore says it’s a pregnant woman lying on her back.  What do you see?                                                                         The wind was in our faces and the lake was a bit choppy, so we motored out to the carvings.  These carvings are in the Mine Bay which is two over from the harbor.  In the 1970s, a master Maori carver was touring Lake Taupo and admired the flat stone face in the Mine Bay.  Over two summers, the carver created the main 10 m tall carving of the face of one of the local chiefs.  He also created a number of smaller carvings, that included Celtic traditions as a nod to the Europeans.                                                                 The lake was rather choppy, so we did not stay long, but turned back home and unfurled the sails.                                            There is about 6 tons of weight in the bottom of the boat keep it from falling over, but does not keep it from leaning over.  There’s my feet and the water straight down below me! Being raised in a Navy family, James thoroughly enjoyed himself.And here’s our lady again as we come back into the harbour.

For more pictures, check out:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjpeavey2/20100104JRP?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjpeavey2/20100104JSP?feat=directlink