Helpful

Our planned stop on the outskirts of Auckland was supposed to be for two days. It ended up being two weeks. Initially, we stopped to have a small repair done to our mast track. While that was being done, the riggers noticed that two shrouds on the port side had broken wires. Therefore, we needed to replace those shrouds and their matching shrouds on the starboard side. The silver lining in all of this is the people we have met here. New Zealanders are nice.

The weather was hot on our first day in the marina. Having spent the last year or so in the tropics we didn’t find it too bad but others did. Our slip was a long walk to the grocery store but we didn’t mind. We were ready to stretch our legs after several days of being on the boat. We grabbed our backpacks and started walking. Along the way a woman in an SUV stopped near us. As we approached, she rolled down her window, commented on the heat and offered us a ride. We were almost at the store and were enjoying the walk so we declined but still, it was amazingly kind of her to offer.

Another example is a couple we met while anchored in Putiki Bay, Waiheke Island. What started with us asking them for the best place to leave our dinghy onshore, led to getting together for coffee the next day and them giving us a cruising guide to New Zealand. They also invited us to stop at their home further up the coast. They even offered to arrange a mooring for us and to watch our boat when we did our road trip the next month.

A final example of kindness comes from the riggers we used in Half Moon Bay–Independent Riggers. Richard the owner of the company was great. He helped with much more than just the rig, like arranging a slip at the marina and connecting us with the various trades people we needed. He even lent us the company van so we could get a propane tank filled and do a big grocery shop. I do question the wisdom of loaning a van with the company name and logo emblazoned across the side to a tourist that hasn’t driven a car in 18 months and hasn’t driven on the left side of the road since he moved away from Indonesia in 2005 but it was very kind of Richard all the same. I can assure you, I was on my best driving behaviour. I didn’t speed. I stopped for all pedestrians. When switching lanes, I smiled and waved to the drivers that let me in. I did get honked at by a driver behind me when I was a little slow off the line at a traffic light. The light had only been green for six nanoseconds when he honked but still, I kept smiling and even he got a friendly wave.