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Depsite not having a day off this week, oh the joys of having to take every shift that comes along, i still managed to fit in a couple of activities to keep myself happy.
Firstly, harking back to my time in Paihia....hurrah me hearties i got to get out on the open seas (well lakes) again! After being told i wasnt needed in work 10 minutes before my shift started (grrrr) i hot footed it over to our office and scanned the leaflets for a quick trip to fit in before the afternoon shift.....shining out in the sea of adventures this time was SAILING! woooohoooo, remembering my passion for yachts i got myself and Hippo booked on and headed down.
Now this isnt just any old sailing boat......it was an absolute beaut! A 70ft actual America's Cup Yacht this time, with a sail bigger than most peoples houses! Got to learn a little about the Americas cup gossip too, NZ had been winners for 2 years running, 1997 & 2000, only to lose the cup in 2003 to Swizterland who had poached most of the NZ original crew! They've had to borrow sea from Spain to host it in
Looking like a pro...
...just before walking off and forgetting i was supposed to be doing something with that nice big wheel.2007 as traditionally the boats have to be able to sail into the race starting point.
Anyway it was a gorgeous way to spend a couple of hours as we motored out onto the lake and then winched up the sails and glided off, enjoying a 'privildege normally only reserved for billionaires and elite professional yachties' apparently and now cleaners! Posing for the obligatory 'at the helm' shot (wind in hair: tick!) i wandered off happy in my own little Claire world only to be shouted back and reminded that i was actually steering the thing...oops!
With some boring days at work in the interim the next excitement was another boat trip of a very different kind, this time on the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw (vital stats 168ft long, 24ft across, and weighing a beastly 330 tonnes, compared to 22 tonnes for the yacht!.) If anyone saw Billy Connaly's trip round New Zealand this is the boat he shoved coal in. Helen, my friend from up in Paihia, had the afternoon off so we wrapped up warm and steamed across to the western shores of Lake Wakatipu before disembarking onto Walters Peak Homestead where we fed some sheep,
some deer, some huge highland cows and then ourselves as we were presented with afternoon tea and delicous scones. How very english. Then watched some of the sheep dogs at work and even had a go at shearing a sheep and spinning it's wool. Helen proved to be a natural at this, i however was rubbish!
Back on the boat to indluge our titanic-esque fantasies for some classic posed shots on the bow of the boat, much to the amusement of the captain as we froze in the cold trying to look poised and dramatic!
Sadly this week is my last week as front liner for the hippo, a fantastic time it has been and i've had some wonderful opportunies to do things i never would have done otherwise. Still trying to decide where to go and what to do after here but for the moment i'm happy to stay in QT, will have a little more free time to go and climb some hills and do some walking which i'm looking forward too a lot. Hello again cleaning! claire x
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