Author Archives: John

Feb 8-9 Hi All, Another successful few days tasting wines in the largest wine producing region in New Zealand, the Marlborough Region. Over 70% is Sauvignon Blanc which is not one of my favorites but I made do with a few Pinot Noirs and Syrah’s. Kathy liked some of the Sauvignon Blancs, some of the … Read More →

Hi All, The Ferry was nice and very uneventful. From Wikipedia: Cook Strait lies between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. It connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast, and runs next to the capital city, Wellington. It is 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide at … Read More →

Feb 6-7 Hi All, Yes, we have named the woman on Goggle Maps…..GG….sounds like Gigi….you pick, either Goggle Girl or Gigi from the movie starring Leslie Caron….it was our good friends Adam and Cindi on sv Bravo that gave us the thought!!!! So, by using GG we have successfully made it from Napier to Wellington … Read More →

We did Napier proud, the wine region is known as Hawke’s Bay….7 total wineries and the car trunk is full….now to start to drink it all:)))) There are some really good wines here….many will rival those found in California….Napa or Livermore. Both of us continue to be surprised by how good New Zealand wines really … Read More →

Hi All, Kathy and I are back on Mystic Moon after a wonderful 2 months in the USA. We have just started our New Zealand roadtrip. We are currently in Napier, about to spend 2 days sampling the wines in Hawke’s Bay. The Holidays were just a “kick in the pants fun” with family and … Read More →

Hi All, It still boggles the mind that we can travel by plane in 12+ hours what took us all last season to do by boat….whoa!!! Yes, the date is finally here and yes, we are soooooo ready to go back to USA and see family and friends. Gee, John, why are you so ready … Read More →

Hi All, We are here…safe and sound….tied up in our old slip from a year ago…..sort of loving life…..the sort of is it’s dark, cold, and rainy as compared to sunshine, tropical warmth and good friends. We do know/remember many of the marina people but there are no cruiser friends here so a bit lonely:(((( … Read More →

Hi All, Wow ow wow…what a frickin day!!!! The only good thing to say about that front….it’s over, we survived and we made it through with just some minor damage!!! That was one onery front…..much more intense and lasted much longer than expected. I know these waters can get even nastier but for us in … Read More →

Hi All, 3:30am and all is well. This has been another trawler like day….maybe not as good as yesterday but still mighty fine!!!! But……this is changing as I type…..arghhhh!!!! We have not caught up with the big winds yet but we know they are coming as the seas are already lumpy…..ugh. Maybe in a few … Read More →

Hi All, All is well!!!! And this trawler weather continues…..it has now been 55+ hours…..sweet as!!!! We had a one hour period of a squall….wind up to 20 kts but no rain, other than that it has been as low as no wind and then mainly in the 4-8 kts range. There is a huge … Read More →