Dec. 5th Lonestar and Gizzy

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40 05.89 S

177 12.36 W

Motoring 7.6 knots

Wind: 4 knots

cloudy & cool



Crew: Cyrus reading, Dre eating an apple, Colby found celery & peanut butter.. brooke about to make dinner 6:15pm local time



Comments:

As we entered the long entrance to Gisborne (or Gizzy) harbor, we instantly smelled the fresh cut pine. Not a little whiff, but as if a forest had been cut,,, and it had. Giant cranes lowered giant trees into the holds of a giant rusty Panamanian barge... called.. wait for it... "Sea Sparkle". I would have to say that I have never seen a vessel less like a 'Sea Sparkle" than this one, so of course I had to smile. A dredger must of heard we were coming and was clearing the entrance as we approached... apparently word on the street is that a 'big bastard' was coming in. As we look to figure out what Lonsta is.. locals yelled from the docks "You that 4 meter draft boat?" "YEP!" I yell back.. they just shake their heads. 😊

We see the Lone Star restaurant at the Southern corner of the harbor and find an open dock covered in gull poo. We tie up and here comes Trev. This is who I had been speaking to. He swaggers up the dock with comfort and casualness. His cropped hair is just barely sprouting tidbits of Grey and his belly shows he enjoys fish and chips... a local staple. We greet him and Cyrus asks if he needs to go to his office to fill out paperwork. He smiles and pats the silver fishing box he is carrying.. "Mobile office mate" he smiles. Cyrus laughs and chats easily as we wash down Volpaia after a salty run. Gizzy is a sleepy little town that is attempting to grow.. in good ways such as cafes, new parks and family friendly festivals and not so good,such as an ugly attempt at condos on the waterfront and Marina luxury resorts, that do not take into account the fact they are not in Florida. We are in the heart of Maori land and it shows. The boys find themselves in bars as the only whites and find out all sorts of interesting tidbits from land rights, sovereignty to cannibalism. I find that my experience with Maori's differs greatly being female. They treat me with a kind smile and ease. When I am not around, the boys find different conversations appear.

The fields that were cut for farming are now being planted with pine and farmed... logging is the heart of Gizzy... Pine is everywhere. Forestry is the talk in town.

This is also ground zero for 'first contact' in history. This is a classic story of cultural misunderstandings. We sailed into the same bay as Capt. Cook and his men did. Cook, hoping to trade with the locals, came ashore with men (who were armed of course) and were met with the classic Maori greeting.. the Haka. Most of you know of this. It is one of the scariest dancing-chanting-tongue wagging- big eyed-intimidating ceremonies you will ever see. It is a challenge.. it is deep rooted and the way they greet. Captain cooks men shot and killed 6. (oops) They then fled and being they did not get anything good by trading but killed people, he named it "Poverty bay".. a very unfitting name that has stuck. The history is rich here and the land wide and open.. fields and forest glide over stretching hills, creating a green landscape that smells like heaven. Intoxicating flowers are exploding everywhere... bugs, bees, flowers and birds are busy celebrating spring and I am in love with it. Oh, and by the way, Cook did sail a bit to the North where he named the "Bay of Plenty" for the area where he calmed down and successfully traded with kind locals. Talk about a cultural misunderstanding.

It is also the town where the first sunrise is seen... Lots of firsts. Peter and Brett came by and in the tradition of the 'firsts', Peter spent a couple days learning to surf! He had a great time and it was fun to see them.. we miss them still.

Now we are on our way to Wellington... Todays highlight were our escorts. Think of fireworks... the color, fun, energy and explosive festiveness that fireworks simply are. Now if that was put into the body of a marine mammal... it would the common dolphins. They are spectacularly beautiful with swirls of white, Grey and gold. And I have never seen such silly, crazy, energetic, fun animals.. ever. They played alongside us, surfing our bow wake for about 2 hours. I watched them jump, twirl, barrel roll, surf upside down,,,body slam, bump, fluke and mate with gleeful abandon right on our bow. They were goofy, playful, social animals that were quite aware of me.. sitting at the bow with my camera. I would get nods and looks... one took a good look at me and picked up speed... flew through the air and breached sideways, sending cold sea water to my torso. I hid my camera... laughed and he looked at me again... and repeated this... 3 times. My marine mammal guide calls them "Gregarious bow riders"... they couldn't be more right.

For the fishermen: We caught a King fish and Kahawa today as well... the kahawa being a keeper and have fresh fish for tomorrow (it is too rolly for me to cook any fancy fish in these conditions). Dre' brought them in happily and is pleased the new lure he built is working!

All is well on board~



Brooke

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