Our friends Nic and Caitlin live way down south on the other end of North Island, just north of Wellington. On a good day, it's a thirteen-hour drive from our boatyard in Whangarei. It's hard to believe this country is that big. Luckily, our other friend, Rick, from Duplicat, has since moved to a house in the country, which is right at about the halfway mark. He offered to put us up for a couple of days. Begonia and Duplicat last passed each other off the Victorian coast in the middle of the night as we each circumnavigated the Australian continent going opposite directions.
Rick and his partner, Nina's, place was just what Maryanne and I needed. It is quiet and peaceful and there wasn't a whole lot to do, other than hang around and catch up over a bottle of wine; we even had a morepork (small native owl) visit outside our bedroom window one night). Rick is a real polymath who seems to have a high level of knowledge about practically everything. Nina is a chef and baker with her own business, whose skills did not go unappreciated by us either. They were very generous with their company and delicious food and we really appreciated the break.
During more energetic moments, they lent us bikes and we all rode into town for a pint over which to continue the conversation. We enjoyed lunch out, and dining in. We also got to visit the Hamilton Gardens, in their second-nearest town. That place has some amazing spaces. I particularly liked the Ancient Egyptian Gardens and the Surrealist Garden, which has giant 'trons, moving mechanical trees, made from topiary.
A visit to Hamilton Gardens; an unexpected gem
Our visit was much too short. They always are for us. Before we knew it, we were waving goodbye and being handed a couple of bag of craft sourdough bread "for the road".
Several hours later, we finally fetched up at Caitlin and Nic's house in the last hours of daylight. It was sooo good to see them for the first time in over four years. They have since sold Mahana and now spend their time living in their newly-acquired house between "voyages" on their converted bus.
The house is interesting. It was designed by the architect to resemble (I think the writeup used the word 'evoke') a caravan parked on the other side of a dock from a boat. What could be more perfect for those two? It's bright and airy and has lots of space under the high ceilings. The 'dock' starts as the walkway to the entry door, continues as the main corridor, and then ends behind the house as a series of multilevel decks looking out over the garden and the beach beyond. If you have ever seen one of those brochures for a spa that is trying to convince you that theirs is the most soothing place in the world, Nic and Caitlin's house is what they are trying to look like. Of course, even better than that is that their house comes with the two of them. Throw in a bottle of wine under the stars and I think you would be hard pressed to find a better antidote to boatyard stress.
In the morning, as promised, Nic led Maryanne and me to his workshop for what he called a conference. What we actually got were lessons from the master himself. Like Premek, Nic is an attentive and patient teacher. He has the tools and he knows how to use them. After a few pointers, so did we (the basics at least, and the confidence that we really could do this).
Nic was a patient and wonderful teacher
Maryanne was especially keen because the joinery projects had gradually become her domain, while I was moved over to projects better suited to the tall, like doing acres and acres of hull waxing. Maryanne also feels like she was let down by her early education, which pushed the boys into wood shop, while the girls were taught to "iron a husband's shirt.". I'm sorry, but I do a much better job of ironing my own shirts than she does. I don't want her anywhere near them.
Now it was her chance to rectify that bit of patriarchic thinking, and she dove into it with gusto. Nic did the part of the work that would be so much easier with an actual table saw, but mostly, he taught Maryanne to catch her own fish, so to speak. Then, he filled our little rental car with a bunch of his good 'spare' wood. He also lent us his own tools, on the provision that we get them back to him down the line somewhere. He even added a list of EXACTLY what to ask for at the hardware store on the drive home, so that Maryanne would look like she knew what she was doing to all the lumberjacks there.
There are a host of beaultiful walks from thier doorstep in the delightful settlement of Waikawa Beach
We were taken on their "magical mystery tour" bus to see the Otaki River Estuary
And squeezed in a spot of blueberry picking too
We filled out the balance of our time with Caitlin and Nic with scenic tours in their bus, walks on and around the beach, where you could just see South Island in the distance, and of course, nice, long conversations about anything except fixing boats. Well, maybe there was a little of that, too.
We broke up the long drive back with a fun stop for coffee and a chat with Lyndon (of the boat Parera, now sold) at her new home in the suburbs of Auckland; While we keep in touch via the odd electronic message, we hadn't actually seen her since 2019 in Great Barrier Island. Lyndon sent us off with a bag of cakes much to Kyle's delight. Again we forgot to take pictures!!!
We really appreciated the break and the kindness and generosity of our friends (and the food!!), and we would have loved to spend much longer with each of them, but we were also anxious to get back to our projects aboard Begnonia, conscious of the ticking clock of time, the long list of remaining tasks, and a hard date to return to the water.
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