ENJOYING NELSON

Now the engine is fixed I am ready to continue the cruise up to the North Island.  The beautiful high pressure in the Tasman has disappeared and is replaced by a procession of lows marching towards New Zealand.  The weather man calls these complex lows, they are bringing fronts, rain and strong northerly and westerly winds.  Not what I am looking for.  The short breaks between the lows passing through are not long enough to sail around the top of New Zealand.  Amid all this uncertainty I will stay snug in Nelson and enjoy life here until the weather turns stable with a few days of settled south westerly winds.

I have had a nice relaxing weekend.  On Saturday the heavens opened and the rain was persistent all day.  Luckily, I was invited to the Waimea Club for the afternoon.  A nice club with sports on the screens.  There was good company, a good selection of ales, I had a pleasant time out of the rain.

On Sunday I was invited out again, this time to a birthday party.  Another good outing with buffet lunch and the best of all bars – a free bar.  I returned to Truce in the late afternoon feeling no pain and had a long siesta.

After my decadent weekend I thought I better make amends and give Truce some attention.  On Monday morning cleaned up the deck, restowed the spare anchor and warp I had been keeping on deck.  Stowed the dinghy and cleaned the slime which had accumulated on its bottom.  The dinghy is now all clean and lashed on deck in case the weather turns good for sailing.  Then I topped up the water tanks and cleaned the bilge.  All is shipshape again and we are ready to go.  The afternoon was warm and sunny, so I took a stroll into town for a wander around and brough some fresh groceries and meat for dinner.

Tuesday morning brought strong winds with lashing rain.  Not wanting to stay on board in the rain I headed off to the McCashins Brewery and joined a brewery tour.

The tour was excellent and informative. I joined a small group of five people and we got to see the whole brewing process from start at the grain mill to the finish at the bottling line. We sampled the wort, sniffed the hops and chewed the malted grains. Delightful aromas and tastes.

The conclusion was an opportunity to sample some of the brews.  After a few samples I really was not sure which was the best.  Heading out of the brewery at the end of the tour a was surprised with bright sunshine, the rain had disappeared.  Just at that moment a bus came along and for $2 I was transported into town.  What a good day.