On Wednesday, the 7th February, Alex, Lucy, and Jane left Bluff for Lyttelton.
It was a fairly uneventful passage, with light southerly winds meaning that, other than a brief period of sailing in Foveaux Strait, progress was mainly by motor. They made good time and arrived in Lyttelton 50hrs later on Friday at lunchtime.
After a clean up and farewells Alex was alone on Rusalka – how strange after 3 weeks!
I (Jackie) arrived by plane (the only way to cross oceans in my opinion!) on Saturday afternoon. Alex was loaned a car by the live-aboard couple on the boat next to Rusalka and so he was able to meet me at the airport. How nice everyone here is!
We spent the next couple of days exploring Lyttelton and Christchurch, which is only a 20 minute bus ride away.
We also spent 3 enjoyable days staying with Alex’s high school friend Anya and her husband Prawindra. I think Alex enjoyed a break from boat life as well as catching up on Oak Park High School history! We visited Akaroa (a cute little “Frenchified” town on the beautiful Banks Peninsula), the cobble beach at Birdlings Flat (paradise for a rock painting addict like myself) the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, and the beach town of Sumner with them.
Banks Peninsula and Akaroa
Birdlings Flat
On Monday, we hope to head off north towards the Marlborough Sounds. It’s only 185nm or about 30hrs, so it shouldn’t be too hard on me!
