general update...

Hello everyone!  Kevin and I are excited to be starting the next leg of our adventure!  We will try to keep this updated as much as possible, which should not be a problem over the next month while we are on land, but will become infinitly more difficult after we pull out of port.  Just to get everyone up to speed we are now in Napier, New Zealand and have been for the last week and a half.  We have been putting in long days on the boat trying to get it offshore ready.  Right now we have the boat out of the water primarily so we could put another coat of bottom paint on and get our new wind vane mounted, but also to take care of other minor projects easier done out of the water.  Getting the new wind vane is probably one of the most exciting things that has happened (it's real pretty and shiny) and is much sturdier than our previous wind vane. 

Today we got to do some off roading with our rental car.  Our anchor chain was rusted and before we can get it regalvanized we had to get the rust off.  Enter rental care.  Mission: find a dirt road, far enough out of town and away from the main drag as to not draw too much attention, and go crazy!  we spent a good 45 mins dragging the anchor chain behind the car.  It came out much less rusty, but much more dirty - an easier fix!  Now the chain is off getting a nice new bath, ie getting galvanized. 

We've been hard at work on the interior as well.  We decided to give her a nice new interior paint job and it really looks amazing.  Kevin is not sure when the last pain job on the interior was done but it hasn't been since we've owned it. We also cleaned and oiled all of the teak!  the boat is really starting to come together!

Hopefully we can get the boat in shape in the next week, giving us plenty of time to do some siteseeing while we are here.  We made one trip over to Taupo, about two hours away, to pick up our wind vane.  Kevin had it delivered to his friends, Tom and Polly's, house.  We had a wonderful afternoon chatting with Polly. Taupo is a georgous little town right on Lake Taupo, apparenly New Zealands largest lake.  We also spent a few days when we first arrived in Auckland with Kevin's other friends, Bev and Graham. They were very generous to pick us up from the airport and let us stay with them for a few days.  We had a fantastic time catching up with them and doing a bit of siteseeing!    Before we made the jump over to New Zealand we spent a week on the sunshine coast of Australia with Jack and Marlene, a couple Kevin met while sailing in the South Pacific last year.  That week was amazing both because our hosts are amazing people and because of the wonderful site we got to see while over there.  Within an hour of landing I saw my first Kangaroo (and it was wild, not in a zoo), how amazing!  While in Napier we have been staying with another of Kevin's wonderful friends down here, Eva.  She was been great to us not only on this trip but on other trips Kevin has made down here she has graciously offered him, now us, a place to stay!  Australia/New Zealand have some amazing people and beautiful sites!  We are so happy to be down here and getting this opportunity but are looking forward to getting back home to see our families!