Kerikeri Cruising Club Marina at Doves Bay

Doves Bay and the Marina taken from the road on the top of the hill.







A view of yachts and launches on their moorings at Doves Bay.







Looking out through the marina to Doves Bay point.






The Marina Office, club boat storage, washrooms, showers and laundry.




The Pohutukawa trees are just coming into flower for Christmas.

House sitting

A native bird the Tui in the garden, these birds look black but are actually very dark blue with a little tuft of white under their beeks.


We used to house sit for friends Brad and Helen at Rangitane and look after their lovely old German Shepherd, which has since died. Now they have moved to the other side of the Kerikeri Inlet and Helen has five chickens, many birds and Anzac the donkey and Cody the miniature horse.



Helen's or should I say Anzac's 'Ass Mobile"




Playing the 'Pied Piper' with three of the chickens.
















Moving the electric fence as Anzac and Cody are rationed the grass as we have not had any worth while rain in the last two months.

The property is surrounded with old stone fences.

Kerikeri Stone Store and basin

The Kerikeri Stone Store is the oldest building in New Zealand and beside it is Kemp House.



Situated in the Kerikeri Basin the store was and still is today accessible by water.


















Until earlier this year when a new by-pass bridge was built there was an old stone bridge across the kerikeri River that all traffic used to go north out of Kerikeri. A view of the rocks and basin, the old bridge was removed as it has caused serious flooding in the past.


The Stone Store with the yacht 'Grandma' on the dock were shallow draft work boats used to tie up.

Moturua Island, Bay of Islands

The owners of the house on shore arrive by Euro-jet helicopter.

















Click on this picture and you can just see the corner of his garage for the helicopter. The tractor had just launched two jet skis.

Dolphins

Anchored in our favourite Bay at Moturua Island in the Bay of Islands.
We had the local pod of Dolphins playing around the boat. Note: Mother and Baby in middle photo.

Volvo uncovered

Ardmachree was pulled out of the water at Ashby's Yard in Opua and was on the hard for nine days. Bill spent his time taking off the engine box which has the galley sinks above that have to be disconnected. Then had the heat exchanger taken off and reconditioned, the alternator was also sent off to be checked out and an new exhaust elbow installed in the exhaust system. Also had the stuffing box restuffed. Kath spent her time cleaning the hull and then had a young man with very strong shoulders and a powerful polisher wax and polish the hull which came up looking like new. Meanwhile below the waterline she cleaned and polished the propeller and repainted the black waterline stripe ready for the underwater hull to be wet sanded. Bill rolled on the teal/blue bottom paint while Kath touched up around the rudder, skeg and thru holes.

Tide Grid at the Kerkkeri Marina

We had to put Ardmachree on the tide grid at the Kerikeri Cruising Club so we could take the boat over to Opua about ten nautical miles away to pull her out. She had been sitting in the marina berth and had only moved for five days last February in the last eighteen months while we had been away traveling in North America. It took Bill three goes to get out of the berth and enough speed to get around to the tide grid due to the amount of marine growth on the propeller and the bottom of the boat..



Mum lying on the dock checking out the oysters on the propeller.






The water is rather chilly and Bill is wearing a wet suit.