Aboard The R. Tucker Thompson For The Bay Of Islands Tall Ships Race: Part The First

January 14^th was our big day on the Bay, passengers aboard the good ship R. Tucker Thompson as it participated in the annual Bay of Islands Tall Ships Race. The Tucker is a 60-some foot gaffe-rigged schooner that is owned by the RTT Foundation, whose principal purpose is providing life skills education to young people via seamanship [sic]. They finance this noble purpose by taking tourists like us out on day and evening excursions for a taste of tall ship sailing and of the beautiful Bay of Islands. Also some scones and BBQ chicken.

We did the standard day-sailing way back in 2008, and enjoyed it immensely. Our original booking this year turned out to be a lousy weather day, but Vicki somehow got it changed to a bright and fair Saturday, which happened to be the day of the race. So instead of cruising lazily around the Bay, stopping for lunch and play on a small island, we got ourselves into a full day of non-stop sailing with a little side drama (the race) as well. And plenty of beautiful boats to look at. Not that the Tucker really raced. Its purpose, we surmised, was just to participate and lend a little photogenic majesty for all the other participants and observers. Nonetheless, most of those aboard, in addition to the young volunteer crew, seemed quite familiar with the ship, the Bay, and with sailing generally.

In the following, I won't attempt a narration of the race nor of the sailing. Apart from watching some 1930's Hollywood swashbucklers, I am pretty clueless about it all. So just enjoy the pix of the beautiful Bay and of the many boats and crews doing their things. BTW, a "tall ship" is anything over 30 feet or so, appropriately masted and rigged for sailing; there are several different classes. Though built in the 1980s, the Tucker has the look of a 19^th century vessel, and also the handling. So I have read. The Tucker also uses canvas sheets, rather than the dacron that is most common these days. FWIW. Just Google "R. Tucker Thompson" and you'll find plenty of information about the foundation, the founder, and the seagoing namesake.

Glamour shot of the Tucker

We always try to sit near the bar, even when I'm doing dry January;

Vicki's doing it, too, in a show of support and solidarity...nyuk, nyuk, 

nyuk

Old salts

"See how the main sail sets"

New Zealand...

Maneuvering to get to the starting line (between two harbor buoys)

...but not over it...before the gun

Go over the line before the gun and you have to go back...which,
under sail, takes a while...

Looking back to Russell

Crew member fine-tuning something or other; 
passengers were invited to go aloft too, harnessed,
belayed; some did

Some beautiful boats passing us toward the starting line

Just about every boat, participant or not, took pix of the Tucker

Bay of Islands scene

Looking past the Bay to the open sea (Pacific)

Captain Marcel checking up on things--really personable, very effective
communicating with the young crew as well as the passengers

Much pitching about on the smaller boats

Botanical Update

 

If you followed up on my recent pix of the Gomphocarpus, you'd know
that said plant is considered really good eatin' by Monarch butterflies

Here's one stuffing him/herself in Russell; wait, no, maybe it's two
Monarch butterflies, and they're not munching on the Gomphocarpus...

My earlier speculation that spring is late here and that the
Pohutukawas are not fully bloomed...was dead wrong...it was a
warm early spring, the trees bloomed in November and December
before we got here, and the later December and January storms
blew most of the delicate petals away...oh well...next time....

Whangarai To Russell

It took us two lazy days to cover these 80km, although some of the time we spent walking the Tutukaka Coast beaches, setting up at the Russell Top 10 holiday park, and visiting Russell's little harbor.

On the way out of town, we stopped by Whangarai Falls and 
thought we'd do a bit of the garden walk; but rain was threatening...

On the bridge over the falls...good advice for any
bridge

On to Tutukaka Beach

Moi, there

Other end of the beach

Alas, the Mermaid Pool was closed; so we moved on

We thought we'd spend the night by a look-out with this view;
but then thought it maybe a little too lonely, and so camped at an
approved site on the estuary at Ngunguru

On to Russell, England's original foothold in New
Zealand

On the harbor in Russell, blooms on a Pohutukawa

Beautiful old colonial mansion

A Cook Island Pine...you can tell by its lean...

Out in the harbor, the good ship R. Tucker Thompson, which we will
ride in the Tall Ships Race the next day

Along the harbor shore

On the veranda of the Duke of Marlborough hotel and restaurant;
no two chairs the same

The great Morton Bay fig tree; planted in the 1860s

Hundertwasser In Whangerai; And A Botanical Curiosity

We're still moving slowly. We spent the day after our cliff walk holed up in a campground: rain and winds of 25-35 mph were (correctly) forecast for the next 24 hours, and we figured, why bother? Today, Wednesday, the 11th, was far better, so, after a bit of shopping in Mangawhai, we drove on, partly inland, partly along beautiful beaches and seascapes, to Whangerai, and parked in an approved overnight spot in a carpark near the regional stadium. 

Here I must remind the reader that the "wh" in Maori is pronounced as an "f." Seriously. So if someone says "whuck you," be offended, or at least attentive. And pronounce "Mangawhai" and "Whangerai" correctly. But I digress.

After lunch, we walked into the old town area, and, somewhat to our surprise, wandered into the Hundertwasser Art Centre. As students of this blog will recall, Friendensreich emigrated to New Zealand late in his life, built a farm near here, and lived out the rest of his days (except for consulting gigs) in harmony with Nature. He also designed the Hundertwasser Toilets in Kawakawa, something we've seen a couple times before, and had resolved to bypass on this campaign. We'd seen his toilets in Vienna just a couple months ago, not to mention other things, and think that we have discharged whatever obligation we may have had to further appreciate his work. But we had to look into the Art Centre, designed by Hundertwasser himself in the 90s, but not built until more recently. It is indeed recognizably authentic. The museum gift shop, I might add, easily surpassed anything we saw of the sort in Vienna. FWIW. 

On the way back to the camper, near some of the older historic buildings, we came across one of the more unusual plants we've encountered, a Gomphocarpus, from Africa, aka the scrotum plant or the bishop's balls. You saw it here first...

PS...a very loud rock concert at the stadium caused us to move to the TI out on the highway; lots of musical refugees here tonight.

At an RV/marine store in Whangerai...why there's a kettle shortage
in Auckland

Seeing the dome in the distance, we thought it might be an orthodox
church

But no, it's Hundertwasser Art Centre

Undulating tiled floors, just like the other Hundertwasser buildings
we've seen

The aforementioned excellent museum gift shop

Hundertwasseresque snail teapot

Fuller view

Tiny house adjacent to the museum/centre

We think the flag on the right is the Hundertwasser flag

Getting bilingual at a playground; Maori is still not on Duolingo!

The plant: Gomphocarpus

Thank you, Google Lens