Why did the chicken cross the road? Well after a week away in Niue, I should really have the answer to that question. There are chickens crossing all over the place, and dogs, and cars swerving to avoid the potholes in the white crushed coral pavements. Surprisingly we didn’t see a single accident, squashed chicken…
In 1774 Captain James Cook attempted to land on a tiny volcanic coral atoll in the South Pacific, about 1500 miles North East of New Zealand. The locals however had other ideas, and Captain Cook was attacked with spears and he retreated and sailed off naming the tropical paradise “Savage Island”. Thankfully these days the…
I am very proud to have had another article published in the September 2017 Boating New Zealand magazine. This time I wrote about beautiful Banks Peninsula – our home sailing grounds, and some of the fabulous places that we have in our backyard to explore. You can read the article on the Boating NZ website…
Isn’t it amazing that after 14 years, I am still learning things about my boat?! One day Andrew casually asked when the last time was that I replaced the water hoses on the motor. “Ummmmmm… hoses, what hoses?? Oh those black ones…? – nope never replaced them” I replied. “Well you do know that if…
Three years ago Wildwood was in bad need of a new topside paint job. But instead of getting her painted I decided to have her wrapped instead. At the time I had lots of questions about boat wrapping and many people asked me to keep them posted with how the wrap performed compared to regular…
“After years of ‘pot bashing’, it is time to learn an actual instrument to enhance our summer raft ups.” announced Nicci’s email. I wasn’t offended – anyway, our pot bashing she speaks of would have to be the most melodic kind of pot bashing you have ever heard… but regardless, I was happy to move…
How much power do you use? It is not normally something we would even usually think about in a house. You come home, turn on all the lights, the heat pump, start cooking in the oven, use hot water in the shower, blow dry your hair, put your dishes in the dishwasher, turn on the…
Before you start wondering if I have completely lost the plot, STOP! Those who follow the Astrolabe Sailing Facebook or Instagram pages may have noticed the odd photo of my beautiful boat Wildy absolutely covered in bird poo. Now for someone who is very ‘boat proud’ and who thinks her boat is the most beautiful…
Shhhh….! I am going to let you in to a little secret… I am sure that if you come to New Zealand then of course you will want to visit places like Rotorua, walk the Tongariro Crossing and go bungy jumping in Queenstown. Just like every other tourist does when they visit New Zealand… yawn……
Dear Batteries, I am sorry. Can you ever forgive me? I have neglected you all these years, I can’t believe you haven’t given up on me. I jump aboard every week and simply expect you to do your job, getting very little in any love or attention back from me, and yet you continue to…
Astrolabe Sailing 